Bullydog GT

[GreatDane92]

So i was looking into getting the bullydog GT tuner because ive heard many good things about it both on the web and on these forums.. My dad raised a good point to me however and i was wondering if someone with a better understanding of what the tuner does could answer it for me.. Essentially my dad asked my, "If there were a way to better tune the car to get a gain similar to what Bullydog claims, why wouldn't Nissan do it at the factory so that they could advertise the car as more powerful and economical?" if anyone could explain to me how the bullydog would really help i would appreciate it..

[CoupeVQ35CVT]

The difference in power you might gain is due to tuning/adjustments.

While what your dad said is true, there is an optimal balance between power and fuel economy. Take for example the Altima and new Maxima. As marketing goes, they decided to keep the Altima at 270 hp, and to get more power, you gotta pay more for the Maxima, if you want 290 hp, out of the same engine, and pretty much similar exhaust/etc. layout.

In fact if we follow your dad's logic, then Nissan should already include a better y-pipe, and cat-back exhaust. But they don't because the stock setup is tuned more so for daily driving, which is usually 1500-4000 rpm range, where the engine spends most of the time and so is tuned from the factory to have more available torque there. With larger diameter exhaust tubing and aftermarket y-pipe, you are sacrificing some low end/rev torque for high RPM performance. Again it's all a balance and Nissan takes the average non-boy-racer to be the overall customer and driver.

The GT tuner takes the curve of power and economy and tunes it toward more power by giving the engine more/less fuel depending on rpm/load and so you get more power, at the cost of more fuel usage perhaps. I too don't know the exact details, but that is a simple way to explain it.

Any exceptions I can't think of aside, the Maxima and Altima share the same engine as far as I know (as in parts used etc), and are only really different in their power ratings and fuel economy due to tuning. If it were up to the consumer we'd all want our Altimas to cost $26k and come with 300 Hp like the anniversary edition 350z did for a while....with pretty much the same engine with a few hotter parts, and tuning.

I've actually been looking into getting a tune done to my Altima from Uprev to get any extra juice I can from the stock engine of mine, having already added a cat-back exhaust and aftermarket y-pipe to improve exhaust flow. Maybe I could reach or breach the 300 crank horsepower rating (stock being 270), and reach the same level of performance of an older 350Z, without spending 4 grand?.... Wishful thinking? Maybe not. The tuning service costs about $500+ but unlike the Bullydog, which only has a generic template to increase hp, the custom tune would properly take into account my aftermarket parts and other variables to get the most out of it, safely.

[GreatDane92]

okay, so basically it will get me some better performance and sacrafice some gas, that much i can live with... Also would it be really worth it for my car given that it is a 2.5? if my stock engine isnt even pushing 200 whp will there be a real noticeable gain from a tuning?

[Ranga14]

From what I understand and all the 2.5 guys I've talked to, they've seen huge gains, even more so than 3.5.

As for fuel economy, mine has increased, dramatically on the highway. As per the mpg reader on the tuner, I'm getting 22 city, 32 highway. Those figures are BEST case from what I've received. The 32 mpg was on a 500 mile trip non stop and going 70ish mph and not really changing speed very much. Also keep in mind that I have a lot of other mods that help with the fuel economy as well.

But back on subject. I recommend the BD Tuner, it's well worth it considering it's cheap compared to most other mods and it gives you power you can definitely notice.

[GreatDane92]

ok, hopefully i can try to find one a little cheaper than 345$ somewhere.. how is the install? does the tuner overwrite my current ecu setup? if i want to uninstall the tuner, how easy is it and does it leave any residual data on my ecu or will it return it to the exact stock setup?

[QR25DE]

ok, hopefully i can try to find one a little cheaper than 345$ somewhere.. how is the install? does the tuner overwrite my current ecu setup? if i want to uninstall the tuner, how easy is it and does it leave any residual data on my ecu or will it return it to the exact stock setup?

You can go back to stock no problem. It programs via the OBD2 port so it's super easy to use. Not all ECUs are supported so you may have to send a rom dump to BullyDog to get your ECU supported.

Can check ebay.

[mmx23z]

but the tuning is super noticable, even between the premium & regular settings & takes 15 mins to go back to stock super quick,
i also have the header though which is another highly noticable mod, but with these 2 mods alone it doesnt feel like the same car... i already have a stock accell. video on youtube ill tryin mae 1 after the bullydog & header for you! i also have a 2.5 cvt

[crayzitalian3]

i do like my tuner and i did see an increase in performance, but I was debating for a long time to sell the tuner and get an uprev tune. i think**** that it will give you a bit more power, how much?? idk

[dom_cull]

i do like my tuner and i did see an increase in performance, but I was debating for a long time to sell the tuner and get an uprev tune. i think**** that it will give you a bit more power, how much?? idk

you should sell it....to meeeee

[dldjros69]

Do it already nick