Black Bear Tune: cold feet

Obviously I'm late/early for the last/next sale, and it's not a truly small issue for me. Anyone have advice to help me pull the trigger other than "Just do it!"?

2013 Denali, 6.2L, stock except for K&N intake (was going to be my only mod). 79k miles.

And do I understand correctly that if I bolt on something else later (e.g. Exhaust) BB will issue a new tune via email to switch it up?

Finally, can they delete DOD/AFM at the time of the original tune?

LurkingLuke said:

Anyone have advice to help me pull the trigger other than "Just do it!"?

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Go find someone who has had their vehicle tuned. You can't see the lights in our eyes. You can't hear the enthusiasm in our voices.
(You're basically someone who has not yet eaten an In'n'Out Burger. EAT IT ALREADY.)

LurkingLuke said:

And do I understand correctly that if I bolt on something else later (e.g. Exhaust) BB will issue a new tune via email to switch it up?

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You should ask BlackBear about how they handle these details.

LurkingLuke said:

Finally, can they delete DOD/AFM at the time of the original tune?

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No - but they can disable the feature so that V4 mode is permanently avoided.
Deletion of V4 mode hardware requires mechanically removing V4 mode stuff & replacing it with V8 stuff.

I only used BB them one time. One they started charging extra for updates, I was out. Sold that ride anyway.

LurkingLuke said:

Obviously I'm late/early for the last/next sale, and it's not a truly small issue for me. Anyone have advice to help me pull the trigger other than "Just do it!"?

2013 Denali, 6.2L, stock except for K&N intake (was going to be my only mod). 79k miles.

And do I understand correctly that if I bolt on something else later (e.g. Exhaust) BB will issue a new tune via email to switch it up?

Finally, can they delete DOD/AFM at the time of the original tune?

Click to expand...

Just do it! You won't be sorry.

It really wakes up the 6.2 and it makes the transmission (the tune makes adjustments in both the engine and the transmission) feel much more solid through the gears. You can get the tune adjusted (at a minimal cost) for every subsequent mod that you make that would impact the tune (cam, headers, etc.).

LurkingLuke said:

Obviously I'm late/early for the last/next sale, and it's not a truly small issue for me. Anyone have advice to help me pull the trigger other than "Just do it!"?

2013 Denali, 6.2L, stock except for K&N intake (was going to be my only mod). 79k miles.

And do I understand correctly that if I bolt on something else later (e.g. Exhaust) BB will issue a new tune via email to switch it up?

Finally, can they delete DOD/AFM at the time of the original tune?

Click to expand...

We do provide the tune update service free of charge for the first year after the initial purchase. After the first year, tune updates will range from $40 to $150 depending on the modifications or changes and the complexity of the update. We do try to keep the update fees as minimal as possible. We did provide free tune updates for as long as you owned the vehicle for nearly 15 years but when the pandemic hit in 2020 and the lockdowns were put in place, we were overwhelmed with update requests. Throughout that year, we had far more update requests than new tunes each day and couldn't get our list below 100 updates. That trend continued into 2021 so by the summer, we had to change our update policy.

Thanks BB and all. Round is in the chamber, just waiting for the opportunity to pounce on the trigger. I've bought my wife some nice stuff lately and I should just go for it.

It was the "Just do it!!!" that pushed me over the brink, I mean edge, heh. Ordering tonight. Wish me well! I'll try to give detailed info re: how it went and how it's driving once installed.

LurkingLuke said:

It was the "Just do it!!!" that pushed me over the brink, I mean edge, heh. Ordering tonight. Wish me well! I'll try to give detailed info re: how it went and how it's driving once installed.

Click to expand...

It's going to get better and better the more you drive it and it learns/adapts to the new tune.

The favorite part of my tune that Justin did was in how the transmission performed afterwards. He's done 2 of my 3 trucks and will be doing the 3rd one sometime this year.

My otherwise stock 5.3 put down 318 rear wheel horsepower last night with its BlackBear tune.

I baselined one of my 6.2s last night at the race track. It is completely stock and put down 373 rear wheel horsepower. We'll see how much the tune increases the horses.

First hiccup: Is there not a ~$400 option for 2013? I wasn't prepared to spend $700. Ill try to call tomorrow to get more info.

If you have one of our AutoCals already, you can purchase tune and license at that price. If you do not, a new AutoCal would be needed. Please do feel free to call in though and we can go over everything with you.