When the Hurricane twin turbocharged straight six engine replaced the venerable 5.7-liter Hemi as the key powerplant in the Ram 1500 lineup, many people were concerned about the ability to upgrade the new powerplants. It is no secret that truck owners love to modify their ride and the 5.7-liter Hemi had a huge selection of aftermarket options ranging from simple items like cold air intakes, catback exhaust systems and basic tuning devices to full-blown engine builds with forced induction. With the Hurricane engine being very new, the aftermarket is relatively small, but for those Ram 1500 owners with the twin turbocharged 3.0-liter engine who want to begin upgrading – the Diablosport Pulsar Cat6 inline tuning module is a must-have.
For those who do not know, hurricanes are classified by category and the system using the numbers 1 through 5 with 5 being the highest. A category 6 hurricane is a hypothetical classification for a hurricane that is so strong that one has not yet been recorded in history, so in short, the Diablosport Pulsar Cat6 compares the output of the Hurricane engine to storms so strong that they have not yet been experienced. It is a fitting name for an item that adds so much power so easily. The Diablosport Pulsar Cat6 is a fairly simple device that plugs into a few points under the hood and inside of the cab. The system is controlled remotely by an app on your phone and the Cat6 provides a handful of options. It can pull/clear diagnostic codes, it has a huge gauge suite that offers far more than the factory gauges on even the high end RHO performance trucks, it sharpens throttle response and, most importantly, it adds gobs of power to both Standard Output and High Output Hurricane engines.
Once you have installed the Diablosport Pulsar Cat6, which takes about 10 minutes with the help of the DIY video provided by the folks at Holley (Diablosport’s parent company), you access the system with the app on your phone via Bluetooth connection. The main focus of the app is the tuning settings, with one for Stock, one performance tune for 91 octane gasoline and two performance tunes for 93 octane gasoline. For the Standard Output engine on which I tested the Cat6 system, Level 1 adds 30 horsepower and 50 lb-ft of torque, Level 2 adds 50 horsepower and 80 lb-ft of torque and Level 3 adds 63 horsepower and 103 lb-ft of torque.
It should be noted that all of those horsepower numbers are not added at peak, so the 420 horsepower Hurricane does not offer 450, 470 and 483 horsepower with the varying tune levels. Instead, they add those power numbers at torque peak, around 3300rpm, which means that you gain the most power where you actually use it. While it would look nicer from a marketing perspective to have those numbers at horsepower peak, which is up around 5,000rpm, the added power makes a much bigger difference in the heart of the powerband. Rather than just making extra power at the top of each gear for a second, just before the shift, the Cat6 provides all of that added horsepower through the mid-range that drivers use the most. As for the torque gains, they are at peak and when using the Level 3 tune, the Hurricane SO delivers over 504 lb-ft of torque at the wheels around 3,300rpm.
The Diablosport Cat6 also sharpens throttle response a tremendous amount, and while I have long been skeptical of “throttle boosters”, there is no question that the sharper throttle coupled with the added power creates a far sportier feel. My Big Horn has drive modes and when I switch from Auto to Sport, there is a clear change in throttle response. That improvement in throttle response is multiplied dramatically with the Cat6, doing away with any of the delay that comes with the factory gas pedal function and response.
I have driven my stock 2025 Ram 1500 Big Horn with the Hurricane SO engine back to back with a Cat6-tuned truck with the same engine that is owned by a member of my family. Even when set to the Level 1 tune, the Cat6-tuned truck gets off of the line quicker and then pulls away much harder through the mid-range. When we stepped up to the Level 2 and 3 tunes, the Cat6 truck is so much faster than my stock truck that it isn’t even a race with the stock truck. It truly is shocking how much performance this simple system adds, making the 2025 Ram 1500 a ton more fun to drive. Also, the owner of the truck has reported that under normal driving conditions, there has been no decline in fuel economy since the Cat6 was installed.
For those wondering just how quick a Hurricane SO truck is with the Diablosport Pulsar Cat6, Matt Fikac of Moes Performance got his truck into the high 12-second quarter mile range with just the tuning device and a cold air intake. He has also put a High Output truck with the Cat6 and an intake in the 11-second range, showing that this unit adds big power and performance across the full range of Hurricane-powered Ram pickups.
The other test for the Cat6-tuned truck was taking on my tuned Hemi Ram. My 5.7-liter Hemi in my Ram 1500 has been Diablosport Predator tuned since I got the truck 18 years ago. It ran 14.90s in full stock trim with the tune, so knowing that the Cat6-tuned trucks are in the low 13s or high 12s, I knew that my Hemi would struggle to keep up, but struggle is an understatement. From a dig or a roll, at a variety of speeds, the Cat6-tuned Hurricane SO Ram 1500 pummeled my tuned Hemi Ram 1500.
In addition to adding all of that power, the Diablosport Pulsar Cat6 offers a diagnostic mode, but the truck on which we installed the unit has not thrown any codes, so we have not had a chance to use that feature.
Finally, the Diablosport Pulsar Cat6 features a gauge suite with all sorts of measurements that are not offered in the factory gauge cluster – even in the high end models such as the RHO. For models like the Big Horn, the most interesting aspect of the gauge suite is the boost gauge. Having that boost gauge allows you to see how much faster the boost builds with the various Cat6 tuning levels, but you can also look at all sorts of other information. There is also a button to log that data, and when you are done logging it, the Diablosport system will email it to you. Of course, you can also view that data on your phone, but it is easier to read in in spreadsheet form on a computer. Even if you don’t have a full understanding of what every figure means, a basic understanding of the spreadsheet will allow you to see where you are making the most boost (and power) during a pull in the real world.
If you have a Ram 1500 with the 3.0-liter Hurricane straight six engine – either the standard output or high output – the Diablosport Pulsar Cat6 is the best tool on the market for making your truck a whole lot more fun to drive.
Patrick Rall is a professional writer and photographer with a passion for all things automotive. Having grown up in his father’s performance shop, he spent extensive time at the oval track and drag strip – both driving and wrenching on various types of vehicles. In addition to working as a writer, Patrick previously worked as an automotive technician before moving on to a business office position with a chain of dealerships, and this broad spectrum of experience in the industry allows him to offer a unique look on the automotive world. Follow Patrick on Twitter, Facebook and on Youtube.
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