Ok...so I've been cruzing over posts on my holiday and it's pretty hard not to notice how everyone raves about the Smarty.

I notice that Smarty are distributed by NADP here in Edmonton, AB, Canada. When I went in there two years ago I asked for a really great tuner and they sold me a Diablosport. I assume they must make more money on Diablosport or maybe it is "safer" for the general public so they don't get complaints about subsequent repairs...?

I have the Diablo set to the second highest level and it's pretty good - but it's all I have known. Anyone made the switch from Diablo to Smarty and can comment on the change?

If I change to a Smarty, I see one can get either the S-06 PoD, the S-06 and the S-04. So if I wanted the best, I take it it's the S-06 PoD I would want?

 

Smarty pod is adjustable on the fly by leaving the smarty hooked up to the OBDII port

The regular Smarty S-06 you set which level you want to run along with all the other different settings and reprogram your ecm.

I would defiantly run the smarty over the Diablo.

 

S06. It's twice the programmer than the Diablo with more adjustable parameters than you can believe. Free software upgrades and customer support like no other!!!! I have the POD and it's pretty handy!! Sell the Diablo and hold on tight with the Smarty............

 

If all you want is some more power than the Diablosport Predator is definitely a great deal. The Smarty is far better with all the features and custom tuning but it will cost you a bunch more. I would have preferred a Smarty but I could not pass up the deal I got on my Predator.

 

In what way is the Smarty much more progammable?

Since being in the diesel world, I have been suprised at how limited the tuning is - no offence to anyone and it could simply be my limited knowledge of tuners.

From what I read, it seems people just stack this on top of that - and this seems to be simplistic. I assume tuning diesel is this way because one doesn't have to worry about compressing the air/fuel mixture and getting pre-detonation as is the risk in fuel injected gas engines. So in diesel, my impression is that that there is a lot of guessing: i.e. if you're blowing too much black smoke then you need more air, so you get a better turbo to do the job.

But what if I wanted it really perfect, that the fuel injection was perfectly tuned to my truck, and every modification I have made, not a generic program that works for the general public?

With gas engines, tuning seems to be much more refined. For instance, with my '87 supra I had a plug-in air/fuel computer ($400) that one could completely modify the fuel injection curve in 200 RPM steps, from idle to 6500 redline. One would use a dyno and air/fuel probe to see they had the correct ratio throughout the entire RPM range. I had added injectors that were 25% bigger, so we initially tuned it 25% less fuel injection. But once we slapped it on the dyno and really did tuning properly, BOY did it ever run BEAUTIFUL - soooo much better! And furthering this, there were complete computer replacements I could have chosen ($1000 - $2000), replacing the entire "brain" of the vehicle - now THAT was some serious tuning!

So I am not sure why someone has not yet invented a DIESEL air/fuel probe (or diesel particulate probe) that enthusiasts could monitor/record the balance between air and fuel, to tweak the injection throughout the RPM range on a dyno so it was running perfectly. That way you wouldn't be wasting fuel, and you would be getting more power and better fuel economy.

Maybe I'm missing something here...

 

If you know exactly what you want, and you have the supporting mods to handle it, I think that Marco can do anything you want. Out of the box it is very adjustable but it's not like EFI Live for the GM trucks.
There are a lot of other things the SMARTY can do like change tire sizes and enable high idle etc. None of the other downloaders are capable of even have the features of the SMARTY. I'm on the bandwagon now and I have never even tried one. I'm just not that concerned with all those features so my Predator is fine for me. Heck, I don't even have it on my truck right now. That's how much I care about extra power nowadays....

You don't need a probe to tell you if your diesel air/fuel ratio is right. Just look at your tailpipe when you put your foot into it.....

 

I'm not sure what "Marco" is...

I don't agree with the looking at the tailpipe method. It makes no sense that we diesel enthusiasts put on a performance air intake for maybe an extra 10 - 20 horses and some better fuel milage at a cost of $200 - $500....then on the other hand we have no tool that allows one to strap your diesel on a dyno for $100 bucks and have someone tap into an 50 - 100 extra HP with a perfect tune, maximizing it for every mod you've made, ensuring all that diesel is being burned.

In my supra, I had increased the injector size 25% and did the dirty tune of knocking it back 25%. It ran 350 ft/lbs of torque. A little black smoke came out the back. I could have left it there. But once it was tuned properly on a dyno, maximizing the a/f ratio, it ran 450 ft/lbs of torque - that's a HUGE increase for a $400 tuner and $100 bucks for an hour dyno time.

I wonder if the nature of the diesel engine, being able to not worry about pre-ignition, has made the whole process (and manufacturers)...well...a bit lazy?

Again, no disrespect to anyone. All I am saying is: maybe we're missing something here that could tap the potential of our trucks all that much better...?

 

Well i disagree with that the Predator does have a high idle and tire change settings as well, although you cannot adjust timing like you can with the smarty for what i paid for my Predator and puck i have no problems at all and have plenty of power from it, with that being said i do have twins on the way so as soon as i decide on a trans to get and the twins go on ill see how the predator works compared to a smarty....... I am in no ways bashing the smarty i plan on getting one myself to see what diff either make on the dyno. And what ever makes the most power and lower egt ill keep

 

As mentioned before, EFI live for the GM's is very much in line with what you are talking about. There are some tuners ( an example DP-Tuner for one) for for the Fords that do live tuning in your truck and are capable of monitoring up to 3200 parameters to set the tuning to it's maximum potential for your engine. I could be wrong, but it seems that this has not caught on in the Dodge/Cummins side as of yet or if it has I haven't read about it.

I have a Smarty Jr. and love it, even promised the wife that this truck would stay stockish. But....., I have also wondered how much is left on the table for the guys that are running the larger HP #'s. Realizing that the Smarty has some adjustabilty, how can you use the same tuning for a guy running Flux 1.6 stix vs. 4.0 stix?, stock vs. aftermarket cam? The combination possibilities are endless. How much more efficiency could be gained from the ability to adjust the timing, duration and etc incrementally and on the fly while strapped to a dyno?

 

Compare customer support and you will be wishing you never owned a Diablo... We all are giving you information that we know, not what you want to hear.

 

"Marco" IS MADDS Electronics which is the company that makes the SMARTY.

D. Beard, So your Predator gave you the option of enabling the manual high idle??? I know my Predator does not and the U7131 I had on my old 07 did not either. I'm not bashing the Predator by any means. I'm just saying that it does not give you many of the options that the SMARTY does.

As far as the "tailpipe method" goes, sure it's not exact or very scientific. On the other hand, if your truck is making great power but it's only smoking a little bit then you have a well tuned setup. If it's smoking like a freight train then you know you need to move some more air in order to be more efficient......

 

i ran a U7131 before i bought my smarty & i was able to enable high idle & also change tire size.

i ran the predator for close to a year & its not a bad programmer at all if your into "canned tunes" what i mean is you download a tune & forget about it you cant change any parameters like RP, TM, timing, etc. like you can on the smarty.

If your after better fuel economy then i would go with the predator as i always saw better fuel #`s outta my predator than the smarty.

Lets put it this way... both tuners have there place in the diesel world, both are quality pieces. You or anyone else needs to decide for your self what features are important to you & weigh the options before spending the money.

 

It's tough to get good answers sometimes...there's a lot of bias and opinion without testing and fact... no offence to anyone. That's why I am after what the differences are (facts) between the two so I can see if the jump is worth it. I was hoping someone else would have done the switch to tell me what they found, or at the very least could tell me what features the Smarty has over the Diablo. Right now it feels like I am reading magazine ads!

Yes...my Predator can change tire size and high idle feature. And I'm pretty sure I can change speed limiter too...but I could be wrong on that one. From the responses so far, although no one has really come out and listed all the differences, I understand the Smarty has one up on the diablo with being able to change injector timing? Anything else?

And I still respectfully disagree with the tailpipe method - how can you say it is a well-tuned setup when 99% of diesel enthusiasts have never strapped their truck to a dyno and had it tuned using a monitoring probe to really know if their truck is well-tuned? That's a big guess. Again, with past experience with gasoline fuel injection tuning, I bet dollars-to-donuts we diesel guys missing out on some serious HP gains, better engine response, and better fuel economy from not having such methods readily available.

As for customer support for Diablo, I've never needed it so it's hard for me to comment. My brother has and had no problems there...they told him to send in his Diablo and they simply replaced it. Like any company has, there are bad days and good days, so if lots of people have had problems with them, ok, it's a bad company...but this is the first time I've ever heard anyone comment about it.

We're all passionate about our truck and what we've done to them. I appreciate that as much as anyone...but we need objective facts...

 

With all due respect, I think you should stick with the Predator and spend the $800.00 on something else. The Smarty has 10 different power levels, one of them which is a half power level(excellent for immissions testing), and your choice of timing or non-timing tunes. You have the 3 different tunes. Standard Revo, TNT Revo and TNT-R Revo. The POD lets you chance power levels on the fly which is awesome. Predator has it's "canned tune with a few power levels", that's it. Diablo customer support, when you need it, is horrific(this is from many issues with Fords and a few Dodges)!!! EGT's are lower with the Smarty on any tune even the higher HP tunes than the Predator. Seems like you just don't want to switch but that's ok too as you already have a programmer and $800.00 would go good to many other performance products. By no means am I trying to cheerlead you into a Smarty but I KNOW the difference...

 

I know this is a little off topic but I see you have Carli ball joints. Are they uppers or lowers and how have they been...