When you click on links to various merchants on this site and make a purchase, this can result in this site earning a commission. Affiliate programs and affiliations include, but are not limited to, the eBay Partner Network.
I am considering replacing my old Edge Evolution for three reasons:
1. The pins in the OBD cable plug move around and the display looses power and comes back on randomly, AND I can't find a replacement cable.
2. Because the cable has been discontinued, Edge has offered me a 25% discount on any replacement product ordered directly from them.
3. I have been wanting to try a custom tune for fuel savings (the Gearhead tow tune seems to come up a lot) but I need a way to load it into the PCM, so either a hand held tuner or monitor/programmer is required, unless there is another way I don't know about.
So I've been looking around at the CTS stuff and wondering how much is enough, and trying not to spend a pile of money on something that won't work for my needs because I overlooked some detail, like their requirement for tune vendors to be Edge approved. There is an option for a back-up camera, but do you have to use their kit, or can you use any back-up camera? Do any of their canned tunes make the Evolutions worth the extra cost, or will they destroy you transmission like the ones in my old Evolution? Will it infer boost numbers without a boost pressure sensor? What is required to add pressure sensor or EGT monitoring with the EAS system?
I could probably splice a new OBD plug into the cable of the old Evolution, but there seems to be a lot of advantages to upgrading. Your thoughts please.
You could also buy an inexpensive tablet and mount and have your own custom gauges. I use a different program than most but it has worked great for many years. If there is a PID, you can build the gauge.
It is much larger than my last 8" but I personally love it and it gives me all the info I need. The system I use allows for 3 pages of gauges, so the subsequent are small to fit more, but I have every PID monitored I need.
I have the CTS3. Overall I like how compact it is, but you’re right it’s pricey. I did the EGT add on and that too was pricey, but considering it’s a complete kit the benefits IMO outweighed the cost. When I went to do the fuel pressure monitor I absolutely couldn’t justify it. I ended up going with Glowshift for that. I strictly use either the tow tune or the economy tune and I have to be honest, I can’t tell much of a difference between the tunes. My 05 is a ZF6, so maybe the tunes make a difference in the trans tuning. The engine seems to run the same, turbo sounds the same, PIDs seem pretty close to the same, no change in mpg, no smoke. I have never loaded up any of the performance tunes and stay strictly now in the tow tune.
Let me know if you have any specific questions. (Edited for grammar )
Last edited by Baylinerchuck; May 3, 2026 at 05:49 AM.
I have the CTS3. Overall I like how compact it is, but you’re right it’s pricey. I did the EGT add on and that too was pricey, but considering it’s a complete kit the benefits IMO outweighed the cost. When I went to do the fuel pressure monitor I absolutely couldn’t justify it. I ended up going with Glowshift for that. I strictly use either the tow tune or the economy tune and I have to be honest, I can’t tell much of a difference between the tunes. My 05 is a ZF6, so maybe the tunes make a difference in the trans tuning. The engine seems to run the same, turbo sounds the same, PIDs seem pretty close to the same, no change in mpg, no smoke. I have never loaded up any of the performance tunes and stay strictly now in the tow tune.
It sounds like there is no benefit to running their tunes for you, so why do it?
Originally Posted by Baylinerchuck
Let me know if you have any specific questions. (Edited for grammar )
You mean like these from my original post?
"There is an option for a back-up camera, but do you have to use their kit, or can you use any back-up camera? Do any of their canned tunes make the Evolutions worth the extra cost, or will they destroy your transmission like the ones in my old Evolution? Will it infer boost numbers without a boost pressure sensor? What is required to add pressure sensor or EGT monitoring with the EAS system?"
Mostly what I want to know is how everything works with the EAS system. What do you need to get started, and how to build onto it for additional monitoring? If only they had a diagram for how it all goes together.
It sounds like there is no benefit to running their tunes for you, so why do it?
Placebo effect I guess. There are 2 other tunes I could use if I want to. I’m guessing economy and towing are more shift point adjustments than actual tunes. I also have the Atlas 40 FICM tune which has helped throttle response and may be negating the economy and tow tunes. I don’t really know, and there is no data from Edge on how they tune as one would suspect.
You mean like these from my original post?
Ouch, be gentle ole fella, don’t hurt yourself.
"There is an option for a back-up camera, but do you have to use their kit, or can you use any back-up camera? Use any camera. The drawback I read is you have to manually switch out of the PID monitoring screen to view the camera. I opted to get a double DIN receiver and wire a camera into that screen. It automatically comes on when I go into reverse. The Edge system seemed archaic to me.
Do any of their canned tunes make the Evolutions worth the extra cost, or will they destroy your transmission like the ones in my old Evolution? Again, ZF6, so the canned tunes don’t impact my trans. I can’t help you here.
Will it infer boost numbers without a boost pressure sensor? Boost pressure in the Edge matches my factory boost gauge. It reads data from the OBD connector so however the PCM is reading it is how it’s displayed.
What is required to add pressure sensor or EGT monitoring with the EAS system?" You need their specific add ons which get pricey. When I was looking into everything I found the cheapest way to add on to the base CTS3 was to buy the EGT monitor kit which has everything in it. The second link you attached. It has everything needed for the first connection and getting the EAS add ons into the engine compartment. From there you can buy the additional add ons. If I remember correctly, the additional add ons for pressure etc were almost as much as the entire EGT kit.
Mostly what I want to know is how everything works with the EAS system. What do you need to get started, and how to build onto it for additional monitoring? If only they had a diagram for how it all goes together.
To make things more confusing, they offer two products with different descriptions and prices, but with the same picture:
The more expensive kit comes with a harness to wire in digital switches you can control from the Edge. Totally unnecessary for us since most of us have upfitter switches. The less expensive kit you have linked is the EGT kit I bought. I like it. Kid tested, mother approved.
Do any of their canned tunes make the Evolutions worth the extra cost, or will they destroy you transmission like the ones in my old Evolution?
Pretty sure it was the Juice with Attitude that did shift-on-the-fly tuning that was hard on the automatics, nothing intrinsically bad with Edge transmission programs until you started screwing with the PCM data in real time. The guy who ran PHP did a lot of work for them at some point, he made great tunes but Edge wasn't the right platform for the 6.0 the way it was for the 7.3 once the original Evo got killed off.
Personally I liked the canned SCT trans tune better than whatever the Edge had in it, and now I've used that for so long I don't remember what the stock tune was like TBH.
I'd get an SCT X4 and try out what it comes with, then if you don't like it go to Gear Head for a package.
I had problems with my original Insight CTS so I opted to do stand alone EGT and fuel pressure gauges from Isspro, was a lot cheaper than getting locked into the EAS ecosystem with Edge. You should be able to use any pressure or temp sensor you want, you just might have to swap the connector on the EAS pigtail to get it to hook up. The sensors are the easy part, the EAS plug pigtail is the part you pay for.
EAS pigtail should accept any RCA camera inputs, don't have to use their actual camera. At one point I'm pretty positive my dad had a single yellow wire RCA camera in a license plate frame wired directly into his Insight, but the newest gen might require an EAS input.
I'm trying to sell an Ex for a friend, he did a head unit with an android app to run gauges and did the backup cam through it, super slick set up that doesn't involve a separate module on the dash anywhere. That's probably the way I would go if I was doing a clean sheet install of everything, paired with an X4 tuner.
Last edited by texastech_diesel; May 4, 2026 at 09:32 AM.
"There is an option for a back-up camera, but do you have to use their kit, or can you use any back-up camera? Use any camera. The drawback I read is you have to manually switch out of the PID monitoring screen to view the camera. I opted to get a double DIN receiver and wire a camera into that screen. It automatically comes on when I go into reverse. The Edge system seemed archaic to me.
I need to call and see if the camera use has changed with the CTS3 plus. I thought I read somewhere what it automatically pops-up when it goes into reverse.
Originally Posted by Baylinerchuck
Will it infer boost numbers without a boost pressure sensor? Boost pressure in the Edge matches my factory boost gauge. It reads data from the OBD connector so however the PCM is reading it is how it’s displayed.
It's the same with the old Evolution. That's good to know, one less pressure kit to buy.
Originally Posted by Baylinerchuck
What is required to add pressure sensor or EGT monitoring with the EAS system?" You need their specific add ons which get pricey. When I was looking into everything I found the cheapest way to add on to the base CTS3 was to buy the EGT monitor kit which has everything in it. The second link you attached. It has everything needed for the first connection and getting the EAS add ons into the engine compartment. From there you can buy the additional add ons. If I remember correctly, the additional add ons for pressure etc were almost as much as the entire EGT kit.
Pretty sure it was the Juice with Attitude that did shift-on-the-fly tuning that was hard on the automatics, nothing intrinsically bad with Edge transmission programs until you started screwing with the PCM data in real time. The guy who ran PHP did a lot of work for them at some point, he made great tunes but Edge wasn't the right platform for the 6.0 the way it was for the 7.3 once the original Evo got killed off.
When I bought my first 6.0 I was very impressed with how crisp and clean the shifting was. Then I ran the Edge transmission tune for a few days, and it was never the same. Ed at FICM Repair has confirmed that it was an issue with the early Evolutions.
Originally Posted by texastech_diesel
Personally I liked the canned SCT trans tune better than whatever the Edge had in it, and now I've used that for so long I don't remember what the stock tune was like TBH.
I'd get an SCT X4 and try out what it comes with, then if you don't like it go to Gear Head for a package.
I had problems with my original Insight CTS so I opted to do stand alone EGT and fuel pressure gauges from Isspro, was a lot cheaper than getting locked into the EAS ecosystem with Edge. You should be able to use any pressure or temp sensor you want, you just might have to swap the connector on the EAS pigtail to get it to hook up. The sensors are the easy part, the EAS plug pigtail is the part you pay for.
It really doesn't seem that expensive to do the add-ons IF you buy a kit that covers multiple pids. Yeah you pay for the head unit, but the add-ons don't cost more than what I've been seeing for stand alone guages. I was shopping Auto Meter digital fuel pressure gauges and they're anywhere from $250 to $300 each.
There is something to be said about not putting all your eggs in one basket, but price doesn't seem to be that far off the map comparatively.
Originally Posted by texastech_diesel
I'm trying to sell an Ex for a friend, he did a head unit with an android app to run gauges and did the backup cam through it, super slick set up that doesn't involve a separate module on the dash anywhere. That's probably the way I would go if I was doing a clean sheet install of everything, paired with an X4 tuner.
When I bought my current truck, it had a double din stereo unit with a back up camera, but it was terrible and I couldn't get rid of it fast enough. What head unit is in the Ex?
The CTS is a little spendy, but I've had them in 3 of my past diesels & was very happy with the performance. The only add-on sensor i ever used was the EGT probe though. All of their EAS stuff gets expensive really fast...
I've got the CTS3 with EGR and pressure sensors for fuel & coolant. Very spendy, but very nice having everything in one spot with alarms, etc. I bought mine in late 2020 before the prices of everything got outrageous.
Plenty of firmware issues, but the current one (from about 3-months ago) seems to be pretty stable. It used to have an issues where the external fuel pressure sensor alarm would "wake up" the CTS3 after the truck was shutdown and keep it on, beeping for all eternity. About 50/50 of the time. Now it will come alive for about 5-seconds beeping and then shutdown.
Last edited by FiveOJester; May 8, 2026 at 01:37 PM.
The CTS is a little spendy, but I've had them in 3 of my past diesels & was very happy with the performance. The only add-on sensor i ever used was the EGT probe though. All of their EAS stuff gets expensive really fast...
Have there ever been days when it was so hot, that the touch screen didn't work or it was really faint?
When we get into the 105+ ambient temp zone here, the display on my old Evolution starts to fade out, and its worse if I have to park in direct sunlight.
Rezvani's Latest Post-Apocalyptic Monster Is a Ford F-150 Raptor Underneath
Slideshow: Called the Fortress, the 850-horsepower pickup combines Raptor underpinnings with military-inspired features, survival equipment, and a starting price of $285,000.
)
