Coyote's Escalade

[theycallmecoyote]

Quick update: drove 12 hours round trip to south Texas for a bachelor party this past weekend and that firmed up pretty much all of my decisions. The amount of understeer and body roll in this rig is absolutely bonkers, Hotchkis sways have been ordered. The throttle response absolutely does not feel like that of a vehicle with over 400 hp. Working with Diablew on intake and custom tune. Will report back with results.

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Just got an update on the sway bars. Looks like they're back ordered and best guess is a ship date in December. Anybody have a bead on someone who would be stocking such a thing instead of shipping direct from mfg?

 

[gat0r]

Summit says est. ship date 10/26, but i suspect it would really be same as from hotchkis
maybe call Jegs

looks like other places all say, call for avail.


may also look for Eibach or hellwig bars

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Everybody likes pictures! This was the day I picked her up. Disregard the blue painters tape, dealer had installed a new windshield for me. You can kinda see in the second pic, lower grill on the passenger side is popped in with a broken tab. Ordered a replacement but not sure exactly how to get the original part out, any thoughts?

 

[theycallmecoyote]

AFE Momentum GT was delivered at 1:17 today and I was rolling out of the driveway for a test run at 2:17. Install was super straight forward (as it should be for an intake) even with the full box construction. Two things surprised me on my test run 1. How quiet it is when going easy on the throttle, or just cruising and 2. How loud it is when you even just barely get on it! I guess that's the nature of the full box design? I can't really say if I notice any real performance increase, but I am definitely satisfied with the sound and I'm VERY excited to see how it pairs with a fresh tune.

My Diablo inTune should be here today as well, so I should be able to report back today or tomorrow with some seat of the pants results on the canned tune + CAI combo, which, oddly enough, was my original question in the first place! Then I'll send some files off to Lew for a custom tune and we should be in business.

As an aside: I had mentioned ordering the Hotchkis sways from a vendor (non-site-supporter, they just had a good price) but they weren't able to ship until mid December. I cancelled that order and went straight to the source, ordered a set direct from Hotchkis today. We'll see if that changes anything on the ETA or not.

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Received the Intune i3 and installed the canned 91/93 tune. To say this made a world of difference would be an understatement! I know it's basically preached as straight from the bible around here, but for anyone on the fence about mods, or where to start, this is it. Power is now on demand across the powerband, no more "thinking about it" or having to smash the throttle in order to get her moving. So much more predictable power delivery. The "firm shift" program definitely helps as well. It's still not exactly where I want it, but we're definitely getting closer. Gonna put a couple hundred miles on it over the next few days and then send files to Lew for the custom tune. Dunno if anybody's even following along at this point but I'll update regardless.

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Oh and one more thing: I trimmed the valence just a minute ago and I couldn't be happier. Since the PPV chin spoiler doesn't fit the Escalade and there aren't any aftermarket options, this is the route I had to go. The valence was all chewed up and warped when I bought the truck, and only a week later was about 10X worse. Something had to be done!

View attachment 260729

 

[STORMIN08]

much nicer appearance !

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Well worth the little burns up and down my arms from hot flying plastic

 

[adventurenali92]

Always fun to hear an owner get to experience a tune. I drove my 20@6 Denali xl for two years before I tuned and wouldn’t dream of going back to not tuned. It’s amazing how a tune changes to drive ability of these rigs!

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Always fun to hear an owner get to experience a tune. I drove my 20@6 Denali xl for two years before I tuned and wouldn’t dream of going back to not tuned. It’s amazing how a tune changes to drive ability of these rigs!

It truly is night and day. I had a dash mounted Edge Evolution on my previous truck ('07 F150) and it was the same. Really opened up the power band, allowed me to see real time performance and data, adjustable tire size, gear ratio, shift points and firmness, all sorts of stuff. Loved that thing. I think that's my only gripe with the inTune is that it's really just meant for flashing, not mounting, and that it's slow as molasses. The Edge took maybe 30 seconds to read, copy, write, and be done. The inTune takes considerably longer.

 

[CMoore711]

As an aside: I had mentioned ordering the Hotchkis sways from a vendor (non-site-supporter, they just had a good price) but they weren't able to ship until mid December. I cancelled that order and went straight to the source, ordered a set direct from Hotchkis today. We'll see if that changes anything on the ETA or not.

Curious if ordering your sway bars directly from Hotchkis changed the delivery ETA or not?

 

[theycallmecoyote]

I can't say either way at this point as I haven't received a ship date, but that being said probably not much different. I also read on another forum one user had ordered in March and still hadn't gotten the goods, just massive global supply chain issues due to COVID. Understandable I guess, and I'm not driving much right now anyways, though it would be nice to have that checked off the list.

Not much for an update to the thread either, weather is shit right now and I'm waiting for it to clear up before I do any data logging.

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Custom Diablew 91/93 tune is in and loaded. Taking a nice long road trip for a wedding in the TX hill country, will report back with results.

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Ok so after loading the custom file and putting some mileage on for the fuel trims and everything to get relearned, I sent Lew a WOT file so he could put the final tweaks on. That one got turned around real quick (like same day) and I got the final file loaded in. Rinse and repeat with about 100-150 miles for everything to relearn the new tune, and I have to say, I am very happy with the results. No more hesitation off idle, crisp power delivery, gears hold a little longer and shifts can be felt but not so hard as to jolt. Getting on it on the highway, this thing just hauls ass. I love it!

The only thing I'm not in love with right now is actually not tuning related, it's the intake. The AFE Momentum GT has a great, throaty, deep, growl to it, but only at very specific RPMs. So, when I get on the throttle, yeah, it sounds great and I love it. When cruising, it's super quiet, you wouldn't even know it's there, and I love that too. However, when cruising and just gently accelerating (like to change lanes or what have you) it's kinda on/off/on/off where it's shifting through and around the audible/not-really-audible RPM range, and it's honestly a bit obnoxious.

Now, the AFE comes with a rubber plug that can be fitted to the bottom of the airbox, it's about 2" x 4" if i recall correctly. I left that plug out because I wanted it as wide open as possible. I'm thinking if I pop that plug in, it may shift the resonance frequencies enough that it isn't so....obnoxious? Will give it a go and report back, gonna have to find the damned thing first though! Lol.

 

[STORMIN08]

please report the findings...

i generally trim the factory airbox to allow more air in through the grille area ( NEVER HAD ANY ILL ISSUES RELATED TO WATER)...in this case, i am considering the momentum, but am leaning towards the airaid mit as it is purely cosmetic for this ride, i just dont care for the large silencer hiding the engine.

 

[STORMIN08]

also, do you feel the custom tune was worth the price over the canned 91/93 tune ? not sure how many adjustments you could have made to those tunes, but overall is it that noticeable ?

i am still leaning towards diablo, just not sure of the custom tune is worth it... i only drive it a couple days a week, otherwise it is the wife doing most of the daily work.

 

[theycallmecoyote]

Update: found the rubber plug in my storage unit and popped it in the AFE box. Made a WORLD of difference. Where before it was burbly and gurgly (not really in a good way) and what I described earlier as on/off/on/off at certain throttle inputs, it is now a smooth low growl/rumble. Absolutely in love with it again!

Shawn, I think it is definitely worth the custom tuning. From stock to canned, it was night and day, but there were still little things that would have bugged the crap out of me. From canned to custom, it was night and day all over again! For one thing, the canned tune doesn't turn off AFM and all of that, and while it firms up the shifts a little, it doesn't do anything to change the shift points. The custom tune firms up slightly again over the canned tune, but also increases a bit how long the gears hold. Highly recommend custom!

P.S. - for those worried about the back and forth to get the custom tune done, it really isn't that big of a hassle at all. As many others have said about Black Bear, my experience with Lew (Diablew) was excellent, top notch communication and instructions pretty crystal clear. I don't think you could go wrong either way but if you're looking to get tuned, 100% go custom.

 

[sealandsky]

Ok so after loading the custom file and putting some mileage on for the fuel trims and everything to get relearned, I sent Lew a WOT file so he could put the final tweaks on. That one got turned around real quick (like same day) and I got the final file loaded in. Rinse and repeat with about 100-150 miles for everything to relearn the new tune, and I have to say, I am very happy with the results. No more hesitation off idle, crisp power delivery, gears hold a little longer and shifts can be felt but not so hard as to jolt. Getting on it on the highway, this thing just hauls ass. I love it!

The only thing I'm not in love with right now is actually not tuning related, it's the intake. The AFE Momentum GT has a great, throaty, deep, growl to it, but only at very specific RPMs. So, when I get on the throttle, yeah, it sounds great and I love it. When cruising, it's super quiet, you wouldn't even know it's there, and I love that too. However, when cruising and just gently accelerating (like to change lanes or what have you) it's kinda on/off/on/off where it's shifting through and around the audible/not-really-audible RPM range, and it's honestly a bit obnoxious.

Now, the AFE comes with a rubber plug that can be fitted to the bottom of the airbox, it's about 2" x 4" if i recall correctly. I left that plug out because I wanted it as wide open as possible. I'm thinking if I pop that plug in, it may shift the resonance frequencies enough that it isn't so....obnoxious? Will give it a go and report back, gonna have to find the damned thing first though! Lol.

Regarding the rubber plug - The question I'd ask myself is whether or not the air entering the hole where the plug was is hot or cold. If the bottom of the airbox is open to hot engine compartment air then I'd leave it in.

 

[theycallmecoyote]

The plug is on the bottom of the airbox, whereas the main opening is in the stock location and considerably larger than stock. I really don't think that 2x4 rectangle will have any noticeable effect on airflow/performance, at least not that the computer/tune can't account for. If I didn't have the option per the mfg to put that plug in I'd probably have sold the whole unit and gone with something else.