First off I just want to give a big shout out and thanks to the guys at Wide Open Performance in Sandy. This is truly a top notch facility with a great staff of knowledgeable people. They were great to answer my questions, gave me good pricing on the package, and let me hang around the shop while they worked on my truck. I would recommend them to anyone and my truck will be going back to them for future work!
Ok, now onto my review of the Black Maxx.
I have now had the unit in my truck for a month and 2K miles, and I am still impressed by the truck daily. I wanted to get some time on my truck before I posted a review so some of the newness would wear off and I could give a better review with true impressions.
Power-This is my first tuned diesel that I have personally owned but Im not new to powerful diesels. I am overwhelmed by how strong the truck runs with just the HOT files loaded. Most of the time I run it on the mild setting and very occasionally do I bump up the power. The power comes on smooth with clean pull throughout the RPM spread. I have been amazed at how easy the truck is to drive while providing GOBS of power when its called upon. The tunes can produce good smoke if wanted and can also be driven totally smoke free, its entirely up to the operator. I like this ability to be driven with or without smoke purely because I dont want people keying my truck for being a douche with smoke but I do want to roll coal time to time.
Temperatures-Nothing gets out of line in this area. The truck runs every bit as cool as it did stock. I find this astonishing given the power increase. I have yet to see a EOT over 210 or a ECT over 205, this is all while towing too. Very impressed with how cool things stay. Also the highest EGT I have every seen is 1285. I have to say this is quit a feat for a big power tuner.
Shifting-During relearn things get hectic hear, but maybe I'm just paranoid. My trans has settled into a groove that provides clean precise shifts 95% of the time. I have had some issues with 3rd gear grabbing harder than the other gears but nothing that I would consider an issue. Its mainly in the city when I am driving that it does the "hard" 3rd gear shift. I will try to load up a different tune and re learn too see if it helps this out. Otherwise the shifting feels good and has been solid. Right now I am running the 60mph lock up that came on the BM but I will bump that down to 50mph lockup. Thats just a personal preferance.
Gauges-The gauges on this unit are good, not what I would call outstanding but they are good. The Black Maxx has the ability to monitor multiple important parameters with good visual ability to display them. I do wish it would monitor torque converter slip tho. The unit is easy to change gauge preferences on with only three clicks to switch into the screen that lets you choose your settings.
Shift on the Fly-This is a freaking MUST! I love this feature, it is so nice to have the ability to leave the truck on Mild 90% of the time and not be hard on components then bump it up to Wild or Hot when its needed. I can not imagine going without this feature. This is what sold me on the Black Maxx, and I cant say how happy with it I am.
Fuel Mileage-I know H&S cant talk about this, but I sure as hell can. I went from a hand calculated average of 11-12 mpg to an astonishing 17-18 mpg hand calculated. Even better I have been getting right around 14 mpg towing my wakeboard boat to lake powell. The savings in fuel alone will pay for my BM within the year.
Some other notes, I went with a 5" flow pro exhaust with a 6" tip, the set up looks great IMO and has great tone. Even with no muffler it is still quiet when im not on it, but really comes alive with some RPM. Great sound
AFE stg 2-TURBO WHISTLE
awesome sounds come from this intake, Jacob talked me into the stg 2 because of its ease of cleaning and that it allows for more turbo noise. Very happy with the quality of this intake and the sounds it produces. Great product.
Overall I am very pleased with my set up and look forward to driving my truck all the time. Sorry for the long winded review but I felt that another H&S review would be good for the board! Thanks again RockinJW and the team at WOP
09-09-2010, 05:57 PM
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