Hulty
Site Supporter
Providing that you have a 10mm and 13mm deep well socket, it's no more than a five minute job, even for you. Promise.
Hulty's Sonic
- Thread starter Hulty
- Start date
Providing that you have a 10mm and 13mm deep well socket, it's no more than a five minute job, even for you. Promise.
rsSteve
New member
I installed the Redline Tuning hood struts last night, and all I could think about was how nice they would've been during the removal/install of the intake manifold...hindsight certainly is 20/20!!
These definifly would of come in handy for porting the IM. The rod was in my way about 50% of the time haha
Hulty
Site Supporter
Yeah one thing I've learned the hard way is that picking the mods is WAY easier than picking the order in which to install the mods....
ScarabEpic22
Member
Not trying to sidetrack too badly, but when we swapped John (NewZJ's) stock manifold for his ported one I realized if you pull the lifting bracket off the drivers side of the block, it's pretty simple to pull the whole manifold out between the engine and battery (left in). We pulled mine after finishing his, had my intake manifold off in ~15min after popping the hood doing it that way. MUCH easier to port with it sitting on the ground! 
Need the Redline struts, have them on both my TBs and need to order them for my Sonic. Working on the engine without the prop rod is so much easier.
Need the Redline struts, have them on both my TBs and need to order them for my Sonic. Working on the engine without the prop rod is so much easier.
Last edited:
Hulty
Site Supporter
Nice! Cant wait to see the results.
Not a clue...
mgale1911
New member
I've been waiting for this post, can't wait to see how it goes since your mods are really close to what I'm looking at doing to my car.
AdorableKaren
Asian Elite
Hulty
Site Supporter
Well, the dyno was yesterday and I have to say, I'm left with more questions than answers which was kind of a kick in the teeth for me at the time because the whole point to a dyno IMHO is to provide more answers than questions....
Here are some of my frustrations:
1. when the car was on the dyno, for whatever reason the traction control light kept flashing regardless of having T/C and Stability Control turned OFF. (weird) Just a guess that it's because the rear wheels weren't turning vs the front that were?? We did what we could to get around that by pulling the ABS VALVE fuse, which eliminated the issue but don't know if it made others that we couldn't see.
2. One of the tech's biggest question was "Why only 7-8whp with tune on versus off?" Like many performance shops in my area I would imagine, they weren't real familiar with Trifecta. So when I told him that you could revert to stock by turning the CC on, he did a pull "stock" and only got that difference which was very odd.
3. The tech said something was very suspicious about the WHP readings, he said the ft/lbs was charting just like it should but the HP was not, almost like the car was "protecting itself" by not going any higher.
4. One other point that I'll need to address with Trifecta is the tech's comment "Should the AFR be that lean up to 5000RPM?" Honestly, I DREAD having to send this/datalog to Trifecta because I've already had a bit of a "bad taste in the mouth" from dealing with Trifecta because all I ever get from them is the canned response "everything looks good on our end, no retune needed", and considering I bought the full tune from the start it always bothers me that you never seem to ACTUALLY TALK to anyone that can explain to me what "looks good" means on their end. Everything is so mysterious/anonymous with them and it bugs me that people(me) pay so much money for the tune/cable and yet everything is "take it or leave it". I mean come on, these are our cars that we love and we pay a decently shiny penny for their product, would it be so much to ask to have a five minute conversation to talk about their datasets and/or their interpretations of a datalog??
If anyone has any comments or opinions on the charts and/or the above, I'd love to hear.
Here are some of my frustrations:
1. when the car was on the dyno, for whatever reason the traction control light kept flashing regardless of having T/C and Stability Control turned OFF. (weird) Just a guess that it's because the rear wheels weren't turning vs the front that were?? We did what we could to get around that by pulling the ABS VALVE fuse, which eliminated the issue but don't know if it made others that we couldn't see.
2. One of the tech's biggest question was "Why only 7-8whp with tune on versus off?" Like many performance shops in my area I would imagine, they weren't real familiar with Trifecta. So when I told him that you could revert to stock by turning the CC on, he did a pull "stock" and only got that difference which was very odd.
3. The tech said something was very suspicious about the WHP readings, he said the ft/lbs was charting just like it should but the HP was not, almost like the car was "protecting itself" by not going any higher.
4. One other point that I'll need to address with Trifecta is the tech's comment "Should the AFR be that lean up to 5000RPM?" Honestly, I DREAD having to send this/datalog to Trifecta because I've already had a bit of a "bad taste in the mouth" from dealing with Trifecta because all I ever get from them is the canned response "everything looks good on our end, no retune needed", and considering I bought the full tune from the start it always bothers me that you never seem to ACTUALLY TALK to anyone that can explain to me what "looks good" means on their end. Everything is so mysterious/anonymous with them and it bugs me that people(me) pay so much money for the tune/cable and yet everything is "take it or leave it". I mean come on, these are our cars that we love and we pay a decently shiny penny for their product, would it be so much to ask to have a five minute conversation to talk about their datasets and/or their interpretations of a datalog??
If anyone has any comments or opinions on the charts and/or the above, I'd love to hear.
94383Z71
New member
That leaves me with a lot of questions. Before anything, review the basics:
Per GM, the 1.4L makes 138HP@ 4900 RPM & 148lb/ft@ 2500RPM
2014 Sonic Sedan: Engine, Specs, and Chassis | Chevrolet
Per the Dyno chart from the Trifecta tune thread below, we're 116WHP & 139WTQ
Here we have power estimates straight from BNR/Trifecta, from the official thread:
So, per the first numbers, you're lookin at 152HP & 191lb/ft
In the second set, you're looking at 156-166HP & 199-209lb/ft, which should be more indicative of your numbers.
But, your turboback is supposedly 8-10 HP. Then, the ported mani, from another reputable shop.
Now we're looking at 166WHP & 202WTQ, or a more accurate estimate from the Q&A numbers of 175WHP & 215WTQ.
And I still haven't added the exhaust numbers, for the sake of accuracy. None of the tests performed were E85, and near as I have found you have all the supporting mods they do.
Now, there are natural variances of 3-5% total power from IAT/fluid/engine temps when on a dyno, as well as differences on dyno calibration. Those COULD explain your problems.
But I doubt it, since the numbers I ran for you here are conservative (not counting the 8-10HP exhaust mod) and derived straight from BNR/DDMW. The comment on more gains from an manual car should still stand as well. It could be an issue with your top end calibration, it could be some remnant of the TCS (doubtful). That is where I run out of answers.
As for the initial trac issues, yes, the car would have seen the WSS output variances and kicked in, but the ABS fuse should disable that. As for the difference in stock/tuned, if you didn't run the stock much, it may have been high because it hasn't had time to learn down much.
Thats all I got. Sorry I'm more questions than answers
Edit: I should say that while these numbers are obviously not the end all and be all standards and won't be what everyone gets, it is not unreasonable to be concerned as you are.
Per GM, the 1.4L makes 138HP@ 4900 RPM & 148lb/ft@ 2500RPM
2014 Sonic Sedan: Engine, Specs, and Chassis | Chevrolet
Per the Dyno chart from the Trifecta tune thread below, we're 116WHP & 139WTQ
Here we have power estimates straight from BNR/Trifecta, from the official thread:
So, per the first numbers, you're lookin at 152HP & 191lb/ft
In the second set, you're looking at 156-166HP & 199-209lb/ft, which should be more indicative of your numbers.
But, your turboback is supposedly 8-10 HP. Then, the ported mani, from another reputable shop.
Now we're looking at 166WHP & 202WTQ, or a more accurate estimate from the Q&A numbers of 175WHP & 215WTQ.
And I still haven't added the exhaust numbers, for the sake of accuracy. None of the tests performed were E85, and near as I have found you have all the supporting mods they do.
Now, there are natural variances of 3-5% total power from IAT/fluid/engine temps when on a dyno, as well as differences on dyno calibration. Those COULD explain your problems.
But I doubt it, since the numbers I ran for you here are conservative (not counting the 8-10HP exhaust mod) and derived straight from BNR/DDMW. The comment on more gains from an manual car should still stand as well. It could be an issue with your top end calibration, it could be some remnant of the TCS (doubtful). That is where I run out of answers.
As for the initial trac issues, yes, the car would have seen the WSS output variances and kicked in, but the ABS fuse should disable that. As for the difference in stock/tuned, if you didn't run the stock much, it may have been high because it hasn't had time to learn down much.
Thats all I got. Sorry I'm more questions than answers
Edit: I should say that while these numbers are obviously not the end all and be all standards and won't be what everyone gets, it is not unreasonable to be concerned as you are.
Last edited:
Hulty
Site Supporter
Full tune. Never had a datalog require a retune which is somewhat like running the canned tune.
Hulty
Site Supporter
That leaves me with a lot of questions. Before anything, review the basics:
Per the Dyno chart from the Trifecta tune thread below, we're 116WHP & 139WTQ
Here we have power estimates straight from BNR/Trifecta, from the official thread:
So, per the first numbers, you're lookin at 152HP & 191lb/ft
In the second set, you're looking at 156-166HP & 199-209lb/ft, which should be more indicative of your numbers.
But, your turboback is supposedly 8-10 HP. Then, the ported mani, from another reputable shop.
Now we're looking at 166WHP & 202WTQ, or a more accurate estimate from the Q&A numbers of 175WHP & 215WTQ.
And I still haven't added the exhaust numbers, for the sake of accuracy. None of the tests performed were E85, and near as I have found you have all the supporting mods they do.
Now, there are natural variances of 3-5% total power from IAT/fluid/engine temps when on a dyno, as well as differences on dyno calibration. Those COULD explain your problems.
But I doubt it, since the numbers I ran for you here are conservative (not counting the 8-10HP exhaust mod) and derived straight from BNR/DDMW. The comment on more gains from an manual car should still stand as well. It could be an issue with your top end calibration, it could be some remnant of the TCS (doubtful). That is where I run out of answers.
As for the initial trac issues, yes, the car would have seen the WSS output variances and kicked in, but the ABS fuse should disable that. As for the difference in stock/tuned, if you didn't run the stock much, it may have been high because it hasn't had time to learn down much.
Thats all I got. Sorry I'm more questions than answers
Thanks for your analysis of the dyno pulls, I was thinking of all the independent variables much like you were, that's why it seems off by around 10WHP, but that's just an uneducated hunch. I am gonna do a datalog and I'm just really hoping that trifecta has something to say as far as tables that could be tweaked at the very least.
krakenredbeard
New member
I've talked to Vince a few times about this.
Not sure when you got your tune I got mine end if April of 14 he said as he tweaks peoples he updates the baseline tune. He has been doing that since day one also when you order your tune you give a list of your mods and most of the time it's taken into account then. So we already have like 2 years of adjustments already made with just the baseline. I'd assume if the tune falls within a certain range in the tables then no adjustment is needed. Imagine the hell he'd have to go through to tweak something minor by a percent or decimal point for each individual car. Etc. it makes since to me.
But I was much like you are at first cause I got the same response.
I will say that I'm planning on checking into hptuners after I do a dyno if my dyno tech feels like something is sketchy as the place I'll be dynoing at will be the place that tunes me via hptuners if I end up going that way.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
Not sure when you got your tune I got mine end if April of 14 he said as he tweaks peoples he updates the baseline tune. He has been doing that since day one also when you order your tune you give a list of your mods and most of the time it's taken into account then. So we already have like 2 years of adjustments already made with just the baseline. I'd assume if the tune falls within a certain range in the tables then no adjustment is needed. Imagine the hell he'd have to go through to tweak something minor by a percent or decimal point for each individual car. Etc. it makes since to me.
But I was much like you are at first cause I got the same response.
I will say that I'm planning on checking into hptuners after I do a dyno if my dyno tech feels like something is sketchy as the place I'll be dynoing at will be the place that tunes me via hptuners if I end up going that way.
Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk
