RobertRyan wrote:
Fair point. If you want a long life do not veer from the factory tune.
This is not always the case. Contrary to what many believe, modern engines are not tuned for longevity as the primary concern. They are tuned to meet emissions above all else even at the expense of engine longevity. After all, you can't sell an engine or vehicle if it doesn't meet emissions first.
Take the EGR and DPF's on many diesels. The EGR creates excess oil contamination and the DPF regen creates fuel dilution harming the longevity of the engine just to meet emissions. You also have the factor that many US diesels are also tuned to handle higher altitudes as well, and you can add power when you aren't in such conditions. Basically you are adjusting the truck's power level to how you are currently using it instead of the "vanilla" tune made to meet emissions and for many different duty cycles.
Same with my old Ecoboost F150. Although still in safe parameters, my laptop recorded considerably more knock on the factory 330 rwhp tune (since the timing was programmed to meet emissions) than I did on my 390 rhwp custom tune. Same thing with my friends direct injected GM 5.3L on his custom tune. Basically what the tuner did was remove all the programming that was made to meet emissions, which was actually doing more harm to the engine, and thus increased power.
Although I do find it funny that if the factory adds 40 hp or 100 lb-ft just through computer programming year over year then that is fine, but if an aftermarket tuner does the same then everyone looses their mind.
