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91 CAI tune vs Diablo (93 CAI) tune

33K views 24 replies 8 participants last post by  DodgeHemi61 
#1 ·
i've seen a lot of people say that the Diablo tune is too aggressive and if you can't get your hands on some good 93 oct gas, that your performance will actually suffer because the bad gas will cause the aggressive timing to be reduced. well that seemed logical to me. so when i got my intune, the first thing i did was put on the 91 cai tune. and wow what a difference. it's the best thing ever.

then my water pump broke. meh, it's under warranty. whatever.
so i restored the factory tune, had the car fixed, and got it back.

and with the 91 tune, i've been using 93 gas and experimenting until i found a station my car liked. finally decided texaco is definitely #1 for my car. so when i got my car back home with the stock tune again, i decided to try the diablo tune. i have been using the 91 tune for a while and i wanted to see if the diablo 93 tune felt better or worse.

well boy howdy, let me tell you what.

the diablo tune is nothing short of "holy sh*t i might die". i must have good gas because this blows the 91 tune away hard.

it's worth it to find good gas and try this tune out if you have the chance.
 
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#2 ·
Hey, Jeep, I commented on your post in another thread about this, then saw thi thread.
What brand of fuel is your car liking? I use 1. Chevron 2. Shell 3 Exxon, 1 being the best.
Are you logging any ST KR with the 93? I can get it down to usually 3* if I use some NOS octane booster racing formula with 93 fuel on the 93 tune.
The custom tune I'm using now lowers knock sensor sensitivity, so 2* pulled is all I've had with it.
If you like the 93 tune, I would bet you would really love a custom tune.
 
#3 · (Edited)
no i'm not logging anything. and i have yet to drive the car in the heat of the day so my opinion may change when it starts breathing the hotter afternoon air.

to be honest i am not well versed on what happens on the electronic side of our motors. having come from the jeep world, im much more mechanically inclined in terms of strength building than as a performance tuner. i've only ever had jeeps and this is my first actual car and i've only had it 10 months... so there's a lot of new things i didn't realize i didn't know. learning the ins and outs of tuning... that's definitely a new one for me.

i'd love to get with a group of local people around here and do some dyno/track time. just to compare notes. but i haven't found that yet. so i'm just trying to learn on my own with you guys all here on the forum, which is how i learned everything i learned about jeeps, but it's a slow process.

on the 91 tune, my car ran the best on texaco. #2 shell, and #3 everything else. there are no exxons around me and only one chevron and the guy that runs it is a bit of a ******... so i don't go there. <---- ha ha doosh is censored.

it definitely did NOT like wawa, race track, hess, or sunoco.

it REALLY liked the non ethanol from wawa before i got the tuner, but since it's 89 oct i can't use it anymore.
 
#4 ·
I highly recommend you log short term (ST KR) and long term (LT), just to be on the safe side.

There is a lot of information you can learn here, and the DS forums, as well as knowledgeable members (FlatTop is very helpful). If not for these forums, the knowledgeable guys willing to help, I wouldn't have known to data log, and probably would have holes in a piston. After I started learning the stuff I didn't realize I too didn't know, I have found the technology to be very interesting, and have enjoyed learning about it.

And definitely stay away from race track gas! Some of the worst knock I've logged was on that crap.
 
#5 ·
well i'm going back to the 91 CAI tune. my plan was to drive the car around let it get to operating temp and then do some logging... but once it warmed up and was in the 1pm florida sun on the hot road... it fell so flat on it's face that i'm not going to bother. i'm just going to go back to the more conservative tune for now.

maybe when i get another 180 tstat i'll try again, because that made a huge difference in how the engine ran after it warmed up... but i just had my water pump replaced under warranty and they threw out my jet tstat and put a stock one in... and since it's under warranty... i just chalked it up to a loss rather than argue about it and risk a warranty restriction. they're only $30 and a hour of work. but regardless... the diablo tune runs like a beast in the morning, but in the heat of the day it falls flat.
 
#21 ·
back in march i said...
well i'm going back to the 91 CAI tune. my plan was to drive the car around let it get to operating temp and then do some logging... but once it warmed up and was in the 1pm florida sun on the hot road... it fell so flat on it's face that i'm not going to bother. i'm just going to go back to the more conservative tune for now.
and now that it's summer, i went back to the stock tune this morning. even the 91 tune with 93 gas, trying to suck in that 100 degree air with 96% humidity was killing it. i guess the heat was making the computer pull all the timing out like it did with the 93 tune. It's just a dead dog. especially when it shifted. the engine bogged every time. and if i went WOT, it was laboring way too hard for the first few seconds.

so i went back to the stock tune this morning.
No MDS
10% throttle boost
and no other changes. and the car is driving the way it should again.

i guess the stock parameters are better suited to the florida summer heat.

i might need to quarter off and insulate my CAI some. and get a 180 tstat again sooner than later.
 
#6 ·
yep. been on the 91 cai tune today... not as fast, but definitely more reliable and predictable. it doesn't fall flat in the middle of the day after the car warmed up like the diablo tune did. oh well.
 
#8 ·
it'll be cold for a week or so again next winter. i'll try it again then.
 
#9 · (Edited)
Now if you want the best of both worlds, Get a 91 octane custom tune and run 93 fuel. That is what I have been doing and it is great. The car runs like it has a 93 tune but no issue with spark knock. Plus the trans has a nice firm shift, and there is no torque management BS going on when it shifts. :grin2:
 
#16 ·
Good gas is the key with any tune.............stock, 91, or 93.


I've been using "pure gas", which has no ethanol, and is available in my area, and in areas where I go on road trips.


The 91 pure gas made a noticeable difference on just the stock tune. The car idles smoother, pulls harder to redline, and gets about 2 mpg better than using 89 or 91 with ethanol.


For those that have this in their area, I highly suggest that you try out a couple of tanks, and see what you think.


www.pure-gas.org
 
#17 ·
The 91 pure gas made a noticeable difference on just the stock tune. The car idles smoother, pulls harder to redline, and gets about 2 mpg better than using 89 or 91 with ethanolhttp://www.pure-gas.org
i can confirm this, i only have 89 pure around me though. so i can't use it.
if you do the math, the extra mileage you'll get is enough to justify about an extra $0.50 per gallon. so don't let the high price of real gas scare you off.
 
#22 ·
I would recommend a custom tune. I have a custom 93 dyno tune on mine and it is night and day different from the canned tunes (used both 91 and 93). A custom tune will get rid of any knock/timing issues and make the engine run efficiently, like it is supposed to. I use nothing but Shell 93 and have not had any issues thus far, but this thread has reminded me that i should probably data log sometime soon and make sure i am still running with no knock and not too lean or rich with A/F.
 
#23 ·
i was having no trouble w/ diablo 91 tune running 93 oct, but looking at diff between ambiant temp & iats & did some minor change to my k&n, which basically is plastic version of the mopar. i used plumbing tube insulation, cheap stuff, around the top to push right up against the hood & then used adhesive heat shielding tape on the inside. it helped the difference in temp some but not completely but a cheap way to try to keep engine heat out. not pretty by an stretch, so if you show yours, i wouldn't do.
 
#24 ·
yeah, that's the route i'm going to go. i'm going to insulate the intake. get the 180t again, and hope for the best.

custom tune will come... eventually...
 
#25 · (Edited)
You might want to put the stock air box back in the car and see how the engine runs with a 91 tune. You will find that most aftermarket cai kits will suck in hot air from the engine compartment, and this will cause you to loose all kinds of power from a heat soaked engine. And the Jet 180 stat is a good idea also.
 
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