If you're considering custom tuning for your diesel truck for the first time, you've probably run into the question of which flash tool to go with. With so many options on the market, and so much buzz around certain tools it can be difficult to decide which one will provide the best tuning experience and features. In this article, we'll break down some of the most popular custom tuning flash tools on the market today—HP Tuners, EZ Lynk, EFI Live (SPADE), MM3, Edge CTS3 and Black Box Devices—to help you make an informed decision for your diesel truck.

What Is a Flash Tool?

Before we dive into the specifics, let’s quickly dive into what a flash tool is. A flash tool, or programmer, is at its core a diagnostic device/tool that will allow you to upload custom tunes to your truck’s ECU (Engine Control Unit) through the OBDII port of your vehicle. These tunes will go on to adjust various engine parameters like fuel delivery, timing, boost pressure, and transmission settings to optimize your truck’s power and performance. The right flash tool will allow you to easily tune and monitor your diesel's performance, giving you the advantages of diagnostic insights at your finger tips and comprehensive control over your vehicle.

Let’s take a closer look at each of these popular flash tools and what they have to offer.

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Smarty MM3 Tuning Update! 

We have been testing the new Smarty MM3 Tuning for the 1998.5 - 2016 Cummins. The software/hardware is the newest solution for custom tuning.  Until now, the  limited amount of accessible tables in the 1998.5-2002 tuning platforms made fine tuning challenging for highly modified Cummins trucks leaving them smokey, noisey,  and generally not as smooth as other similarly modified trucks tuned with more advanced software.  Now that we have access to said tables, we will be able to create clean, efficient power with these trucks.

One of the most exciting features to the new Smarty MM3 is Live Tuning.  The live tuning ability allows our tuners to make real-time changes to the calibration on the dyno or during a road test where in the past we had to wait 7-12 minutes to implement one change.  As you might imagine, live tuning will significantly shorten the developement cycle and allow us to quickly  fine-tune a wide variety of modifications on-site at CPS.   The second advantage to the live tuning software is the ability of the customer to change tunes (power levels etc.) on the fly on any of the supported platforms.  These power levels will be supplied along with the base tune to customer at the time of sale (idealy).  

Our discussion with the developers of this software/hardware package lead us to believe that improved scan tool functionality is next on the priority list.  We would expect to see a very high sample rate scan tool along with several dozen of the most important PIDs in the near future for beta testing.   This tool is critical to the development process.  Without a strong scan tool we cannot validate our work, the better the tool - the better the final product and the better we can help our customers troubleshoot accurately if they need to.

• Learn More about the Smarty MM3
• Read our first article about the Smarty MM3
• 500 RWHP, Emissions Intact Performance