Let the games begin, the utilitarian Hypertech is ready to face off against the eloquent Diablosport Predator.
Add one part extravert, an uncanny ability to be in the right place at the right time and if it exists, a gene for luck, and you’ve got my older brother. And this time he’s scored a free tuner from Hypertech to be used in his 2007 Mustang GT. All he has to do is let them do a comparison with his car using the Hypertech tuner and a Diablosport Predator tuner. Part one of the comparison will be at the drag strip to see which tuner completes the 1/4 faster. Part two will take place on the dyno to see what numbers these tuners output.
The specimen
The car to be tested is a 2007 Mustang GT convertible with 4.10 gears, a custom exhaust, C&L intake, Steeda throttle body spacer and a Diablosport Predator tuner.
My brother is a true old school enthusiast and avid drag racer. And for drag racers, a Mustang is a beautiful thing.
…Check back friday for the 1/4 mile results…
Test #1: The drag strip
After several weeks of uncooperative weather, we finally had a break and headed to Memphis Motorsports Park on a Thursday night to test the Diablosport Predator and the Hypertech back to back. Minus the high humidity that night, the temperatures were ideal sitting around 65 degrees as the sun set. Once a few practice runs were made, it was time to begin the test. I wish I could say that one of the tuners blew the other one away but that would prove far from the truth. Up first was the Diablosport Predator. After several runs, a best time of 13.5 in the 1/4 was yielded. Not groundbreaking for a Mustang but not bad either. Now it was time for the Hypertech. The Hypertech, like the Diablosport takes only minutes to set up. It simply connects to your factory ecu through the consult port, downloads the factory tune for safe storage and then uploads the tune you choose based on your mods. With the new tuner installed and the car back on the track, the Mustang ran a breathtaking … 13.5. We tried both tuners several more times and could go no faster with either one leaving the numbers game in the drag racing test a complete draw.
Test #2: Driving characteristics
Fortunately, 1/4 mile times are not the end all be all of handheld tuner performance and as such, one subjective test that we included was the way each tuner affected the drivetrain. Both the Diablosport and Hypertech modify the shifting characteristics of the automatic transmission in the Mustang GT with the Hypertech handling the transmission much better. In the Diablosport, the shift engagement can seem rough at times with the car almost bucking in certain spots. On the otherhand, the Hypertech always offered smooth shifting and seemed to stay in the powerband better, giving the upper-hand to Hypertech in test #2.
And the winner is …
Neither. Long story short, another tuner has come into the picture that makes the Hypertech vs Diablosport debate mute. My brother installed an SCT tuner into the car along with underdrive pulleys and butterfly delete kit and the car is running a whole four tenths of a second faster in the quarter for a best time of 13.34. Not only that but the new tuner adjusts the automatic transmission to such an aggressive shift that the transmission almost feels like a cvt. You hardly notice the shifts, it just pulls and pulls. So the answer to the original debate is SCT.
