WHAT:
THE PERFORMANCE MANAGEMENT TOOL (PMT) IS THE LATEST AND GREATEST PERFORMANCE ELECTRONICS MODULE FROM BULLY DOG TECHNOLOGIES. WE TESTED ONE ON A STOCK 2007.5 GMC DURAMAX LMM.
HOW MUCH:
$1,175-WWW.BULLYDOG.COM,
(866) 285-5936
WHAT IT DOES:
IF YOU HAVEN'T HEARD OF THE PMT BY NOW, WELCOME TO TODAY. BULLY DOG WAS ONE OF THE FIRST COMPANIES TO OFFER A PERFORMANCE PROGRAMMER AND COUPLE IT WITH A DIGITAL DISPLAY WITH USER CONTROLS (TRIPLE DOG AND OUTLOOK MONITOR). THAT SETUP ALLOWED THE USER TO SCROLL THROUGH AVAILABLE PERFORMANCE SETTINGS, CHANGING FROM A TOWING TUNE TO A PERFORMANCE TUNE IN SECONDS, MONITOR ENGINE PARAMETERS AND SET LIMITS AND ALERTS.
THE PMT IS THE SUCCESSOR TO THAT DESIGN, AND IT'S TAKEN THE PERFORMANCE MODULE/MONITOR TO A WHOLE NEW LEVEL.
THE PMT COMBINES THE FUNCTIONS OF A PERFORMANCE PROGRAMMER, MONITOR AND GAUGES INTO ONE UNIT.
PROGRAMMER: THE PMT FEATURES THREE PERFORMANCE LEVELS (TWO FOR THE LMM DURAMAX). THEY ARE 1. TOW, WHICH ADDS APPROXIMATELY 30 HORSEPOWER; 2. PERFORMANCE, WHICH ADDS A CLAIMED 75 HORSEPOWER; AND 3. EXTREME, WHICH ADDS 115 TO 140 HORSEPOWER DEPENDING ON MAKE AND MODEL. THE LMM DURAMAX PMT ONLY HAS THE TOW AND PERFORMANCE LEVELS MAINLY BECAUSE THE LMM REACTS SO WELL TO TUNING (BUT ALSO BECAUSE IT HAS ISSUES WITH PERFORMANCE TUNES AND THE DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTER (DPF)).
MONITOR: THE PMT FEATURES A LARGE HIGH-RESOLUTION COLOR, ADJUSTABLE BACKLIT DISPLAY. THE MONITOR IS A TOUCH-SCREEN SYSTEM, WHICH MAKES CYCLING THROUGH ITS FEATURES VARY EASY. THE PMT WILL NOT ONLY DISPLAY ENGINE DATA LIKE MOST SCAN TOOLS, IT WILL GRAPH IT IN A STREAMING DATA CHART. MONITORING FUEL PRESSURES, AIR OR WATER TEMPERATURES, TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURES AND OTHER PARAMETERS WITH A STREAMING GRAPH MAKES INTERPRETING THE DATA EXTREMELY SIMPLE. THE TOUCH-SCREEN MONITOR ALSO DISPLAYS THE CURRENT POWER LEVEL AND ALLOWS THE USER TO READ, DISPLAY AND CLEAR DIAGNOSTIC TROUBLE CODES (DTCS). THE SAFETY FEATURES OF THE PMT ALLOW FOR DEFUEL LIMITS TO BE SET BASED ON EGTS (TWO PYROMETER LOCATIONS), COOLANT TEMPERATURE, BOOST PRESSURE AND TRANSMISSION TEMPERATURE.
GAUGES: AFTER YOU'VE SELECTED YOUR POWER LEVEL AND SETTINGS, THE PMT SERVES AS AN EASY-TO-READ GAUGE THAT DISPLAYS UP TO FOUR PARAMETERS SIMULTANEOUSLY. YOU CAN ALSO CHOOSE DIGITAL OR ANALOG DISPLAY (THE ANALOG SETTING CREATES A DIGITAL NEEDLE THAT LOOKS JUST LIKE AN ANALOG DIAL GAUGE). THE PMT CAN MONITOR ABOUT 15 PARAMETERS OF THE VEHICLE, INCLUDING:
- PYROMETER 1
- PYROMETER 2
- BOOST PRESSURE
- SPEED
- ENGINE RPM
- COOLANT TEMP
- INJECTION PULSE WIDTH
- THROTTLE POSITION
- INTAKE TEMP
- BAROMETRIC PRESSURE
- BATTERY VOLTAGE
- OIL TEMP
- INJECTION CONTROL PRESSURE
- TRANSMISSION TEMP
- LOAD
NOT ALL MAKES AND MODELS MONITOR ALL OF THE ABOVE ITEMS, HOWEVER. OUR LMM UNIT DOES NOT MONITOR INJECTION PULSE WIDTH, THROTTLE POSITION, BATTERY VOLTAGE OR OIL TEMPERATURE.
WHAT STANDS OUT:
SCREEN: YOU GET YOUR MONEY'S WORTH IN THE COLOR TOUCH SCREEN WITH CLEAR DISPLAY. IT'S EASY TO READ IN BROAD DAYLIGHT AND CAN BE DIMMED FOR NIGHT DRIVING.
USER INTERFACE: IT DOESN'T GET MUCH EASIER THAN HAVING A TOUCH SCREEN AND LOTS OF BUTTONS. THE OLD OUTLOOK MONITOR HAD A SINGLE FIVE-WAY TOGGLE SWITCH THAT FEELS MORE LIKE PLAYING WITH AN ATARI THAN A PERFORMANCE TOOL COMPARED TO THE PMT. ONCE YOU BECOME FAMILIAR WITH THE SCREENS AND BUTTONS, NAVIGATING THROUGH SETTINGS AND GAUGES IS QUICK AND EASY.
GAUGES: WE LIKE THE 4+1 GAUGE DISPLAY STYLE. YOU CAN HAVE FOUR DIGITAL READOUTS ON THE LEFT SIDE OF THE SCREEN SHOWING YOU THINGS LIKE EGT, BOOST, TRANS TEMP AND VEHICLE SPEED (THE PMT CAN ALSO CORRECT FOR OVERSIZE TIRES) AND HAVE ONE OF THE FOUR DISPLAYED IN A LARGER ANALOG GAUGE ON THE RIGHT SIDE OF THE SCREEN.
PERFORMANCE: SINCE WE TESTED THE LMM DURAMAX PMT, WE WERE LIMITED TO TWO SETTINGS, TOW AND PERFORMANCE. BUT YOU WOULDN'T KNOW YOU WERE MISSING A LEVEL BY RUNNING A STOCK LMM IN THOSE TWO. THE TOW SETTING SHOWED A 70.1 HORSEPOWER INCREASE OVER STOCK ON CUSTOM AUTO'S (208-522-7166) SUPERFLOW CHASSIS DYNO. THAT'S 40.1 HORSEPOWER MORE THAN BULLY DOG'S MARKETING MATERIAL SUGGESTS YOU'LL SEE. WHO CAN COMPLAIN ABOUT A 130 PERCENT RETURN ON INVESTMENT? THE PERFORMANCE SETTING GAVE OUR LMM TEST TRUCK 102.1 HORSEPOWER OVER STOCK, 62 MORE THAN THE TOW SETTING. NOW YOU KNOW WHY THE PMT ONLY OFFERS TWO SETTINGS FOR THE LMM DURAMAX.
HOW DOES THE ADDED POWER FEEL? IF YOU LOOK AT THE DYNO CHARTS, YOU CAN SEE THAT THE TOW SETTING FOLLOWS THE STOCK LINE ON THE CHART VERY CLOSELY, JUST PICKING UP ITS EXTRA POWER THROUGH THE MIDDLE AND TOP OF ITS CURVE. IT SMOOTHES OUT THE POWER DELIVERY OF THE LMM, PICKING UP POWER AT LOW RPM AND HOLDING IT WHERE THE STOCK PROGRAM DROPS OFF A BIT. FROM THERE, IT'S A STEADY CLIMB TO THE EXTRA 40 PEAK HORSEPOWER.
THE PERFORMANCE TUNE IS ALL ABOUT HOLDING A STEADY, SMOOTH LINE FROM LOW RPM TO PEAK POWER, JUST SHOOTING PAST THE STOCK PEAK BEFORE HITTING ITS MAX 100 HORSEPOWER HIGHER. NOTICE ON THE GRAPH THERE ARE NO HICCUPS IN THE POWERBAND ONCE THE TRUCK HIT A 1:1 DRIVE RATIO (5TH GEAR ON THE 6-SPEED ALLISON). THE POWER DELIVER FROM THE PMT'S PERFORMANCE SETTING IS A RESULT OF COUNTLESS HOURS OF R&D BEFORE THE FINAL TUNE WAS RELEASED.
ON THE STREET AND WITH A LOAD (AN 11,000 POUND FIFTH WHEEL TRAVEL TRAILER), THE PMT SHOWED SIGNIFICANT IMPROVEMENT OVER STOCK. RUNNING EMPTY WITH THE PERFORMANCE TUNE TURNS THE LMM INTO A STREET RACER. IT FUELS LOW FOR A QUICK SPOOL AND FAST THROTTLE RESPONSE AND MAINTAINS TORQUE AND POWER FOR SMOOTH POWER. TOWING IN THE TOW SETTING GAVE THE TRUCK AN ADVANTAGE GOING DOWN THE HIGHWAY. WE HAD A COUPLE ISSUES ON ONE PULL WITH THE TRUCK'S WATER TEMPS GETTING TOO HIGH ON SMALL MOUNTAIN ROADS, BUT THE PMT WOULD EITHER DEFUEL OR DROP THE PROGRAMMING BACK TO STOCK WHEN THAT HAPPENED. ALSO, ANYTIME YOU ADD PERFORMANCE TO ONE OF THESE LATE-MODEL EMISSIONS DIESELS, YOU ARE INCREASING THE AMOUNT OF SPENT FUEL AND LOAD ON THE DIESEL PARTICULATE FILTER. OUR LMM'S DPF CLOGS MORE FREQUENTLY NOW, BUT THE PMT DOES HAVE MANUAL BURN-OFF MODE.
ONE OF THE BIGGEST UPSIDES TO INSTALLING THE PMT ON OUR DURAMAX IS THAT OUR FUEL ECONOMY INCREASED BY ABOUT 2.2 MPG ON AVERAGE, EMPTY OR LOADED.
THE DOWNSIDE:
IT'S HARD TO FIND A DOWNSIDE TO SOMETHING THAT MAKES YOUR TRUCK FASTER AND EASIER TO USE. THE PMT DOES CARRY A HEFTY PRICE TAG. AND, WE'D LIKE TO SEE A BETTER WAY TO MANAGE THE DPF. WE KNOW THAT'S NOT BULLY DOG'S PROBLEM, BUT BEING PUNISHED FOR HIGHER PERFORMANCE BY HAVING TO DRIVE AROUND IN BURN-OFF MODE QUITE FREQUENTLY GETS A LITTLE ANNOYING.