budget vs full tune hp on stock car?

[Trevinator]

will I get more hp with the full tune on a bone stock sonic vs the budget tune? does the budget tune have transparency? how long is the ezflash cable? I would rent the cable and set my desktop up in the garage as I don't have a laptop.

 

[JINKO6.7]

I would like to know if it is beneficial on a stock car as well. I think you would have to get your desktop awfully close to the car to make it work because I believe it is only a few feet long.

 

[SuperSonicRS]

Maybe you could try getting a few usb extension cables.

 

[Missionary]

If you "search" through different forums you'll find your answers more accurately. I have the budget tune with only 2 mods, and 93 octane and I found a pretty decent jump in power. I do have "transparency". The cable is a between 2-3 feet long (never actually measured, visually). Given what I've read, it is still beneficial with a stock car, and should be your first mod. You'll still get more out of your car.

 

[sx sonic]

Trifecta's official statement is that the budget tune will produce 95-100% of the power the full tune makes. It is designed with a stock or mildly modified engine in mind.

I would hazard a guess that the full tune will make slightly more power on the same fuel but I've yet to see any dyno graphs to indicate for certain.


All Trifecta's tunes for the 1.4t include the Transparency flash option, a prompt will appear while preparing to flash the car, just make sure transparency tune option is checked.

In case you aren't aware both tunes also come with No-Lift-Shift (manual trans), Select-a-tune (cruise control), and ECP to allow for BOV's.


The cable is about 3 feet long. If you have a friend with a windows laptop you can use it. Only need it for 30 mins to set it up with the EZflash software and flash the car.

 

[ecohauler]

If you plan on modding for power in the future, It's probably best to get the budget tune for now. The tuning software allows you to turn off CEL codes and sensors if you ever upgrade the downpipe or something like that. I had to find my cable for exactly that reason this week. Once you've reached a stopping point with your mods, you can pay the difference and upgrade to the full tune to get the most out of your car.

If you don't plan on modding, the budget tune is still plenty good unless you want something special added like lean fuel trims for better gas mileage.

The cable is at least 3 feet. It's long enough that I could set my laptop in the passenger seat with plenty of slack in the cable. If you can set your desktop up right beside your car, it should reach fine. A quick search reveals a $10 USB extension cable on Amazon. You may be able to find them cheaper than that, so that seems like a reasonable option if it's needed.

If you borrow someone's laptop for the operation, be advised that some versions of Windows will need a driver installed for the cable. It doesn't seem to cause any problems with other software, but it might make some folks uneasy. There are lots of helpful people on this site who would probably be glad to lend you a laptop and a cable if you post your location, though. That's what communities like this are for.

 

[Trevinator]

lol, I didn't realize that I forgot to put my location in my profile. I will be modding the sonic in a couple years when the warranty expires, but until then, just the tune will be fine for me. my friend might have a laptop that I can use. I think i'll save $100 for now and go with the budget tune.

edit: BNR's dyno of the cruze auto shows a 36hp/52ft-lb increase, but their website shows a +25hp/+30ft-lb increase on their budget tune. if it really is a 10hp increase going with the full tune over the budget on a stock car, i'll go with the full tune.

maybe the +25/+30 is on 87 octane and there will be a bigger increase with 91?

 

[TrippinGearz]

You would see a bigger gain on 91 or 93 over 87 especially on the 1.4t. If the sonic system works the same as other modern turbo cars such as the wrx which takes 91 octane from facory. Something about the higher octane will not only burn better but something about it will make the turbo run cooler. I think.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

 

[SPDinNY]

how does one run a lean tune for economy if the cruise is disabled? I would hate to go 400 miles without my cruise

 

[Dubbs_RS]

how does one run a lean tune for economy if the cruise is disabled? I would hate to go 400 miles without my cruise

Do you mean the eco tune that comes with select-a-tune? Because that is on when you press the CC button (so if you run cruise, you'll be in 'eco' mode). Also, a lot of members don't see that great of a difference between the eco and performance tunes that come with select-a-tune. The general consensus seems to be the main difference is your driving habits when you run one vs the other.

 

[SPDinNY]

Do you mean the eco tune that comes with select-a-tune? Because that is on when you press the CC button (so if you run cruise, you'll be in 'eco' mode). Also, a lot of members don't see that great of a difference between the eco and performance tunes that come with select-a-tune. The general consensus seems to be the main difference is your driving habits when you run one vs the other.

I wasn't aware the eco tune was enabled when the cruise is on. Thank you

 

[Trevinator]

I just emailed BNR, hopefully I can get a definitive answer so I can order a tune on Saturday. If im going to spend money on a tune, then I want it to be well spent and get the best bang for my buck.

 

[Swordsmith]

The full tune and the budget tune seem to provide about the same power bump to a stock car. It would be very difficult to show a difference, because you'd have to have both versions, and do a dyno before and after with all other conditions remaining the same.

The Sonic automatically tunes itself for your octane rating, by starting at a relatively high advance, and then reducing the advance when it encounters knock. It's possible to set up the tune to not do this, if you know you will always be running 93 octane, and maybe you could get a little higher advance this way than you would by using the knock detector... but I believe the standard "full tune" uses the same knock detect strategy as the budget tune and the stock tune do.

You'll also see a larger bump from stock in cold weather than you do on a warm day, because a significant part of the bump is that the stock tune automatically reduces your available power so to that you'd get in the worst case weather, and the custom tunes remove that limiter.

 

[Trevinator]

so if I run with 91 on the budget tune, I should see close if not the same power as the full tune with my stock sonic? then the only difference is the support of data logging to compensate for additional upgrades?

 

[ranvette]

I would think so but it will make the most power on 93 octane over 91 octane

 

[SuperSonicRS]

Any difference with a tune between 93 10% ethanol, and straight 93 corn free?

 

[Trevinator]

If I can find a place around here with 93, then I'll run that, but 91 is a lot easier to find. Im willing to spend the extra on the full tune, depending on the gain from getting the full tune over the budget tune, i just need to hear back from BNR to decide.

 

[Swordsmith]

Any difference with a tune between 93 10% ethanol, and straight 93 corn free?

In theory you should be able to get slightly more power, but slightly worse gas mileage, running 10% ethanol vs straight 93.

 

[laborsmith]

so if I run with 91 on the budget tune, I should see close if not the same power as the full tune with my stock sonic? then the only difference is the support of data logging to compensate for additional upgrades?

If you stay with premium when using the budget tune, yes except the high boost level in budget is around 20-21 and premium is near 23. But for normal driving (not going over 90+ mph etc.) there is no significant difference.

In addition to timing, both tunes drop the water temp and engine operating temo quite a bit, allowing for more power but possibly affecting mpg. I say possibly but suspect the tuned engine using premium fuel operates so much more efficiently that mpg is better but at a higher cost per gallon.

Yes I have run full tune on my first Sonic and budget on my second.


Laborsmith

 

[Trevinator]

so the budget tune should be a little safer for the engine with the lower boost pressures right? im going to order the budget tune and run 91-93 in it. I wont be adding any other mods for a while, so the budget tune should be fine.