TUNED - finally

[EVOX_SPEED3]

Hmmm, new comer here.

Maybe not the place for it but what all does this tune do? Does it affect the warranty at all? You say you can go back to normal by hitting the cruise, does that mean you can't use cruise control?

I think BNRacing already answered this for you, but with the tune it makes huge gains from stock - biggest gains from a software tune only that I have ever seen without adding any other bolt-ons.

How much more, I think it's like 31% horsepower and 38% torque or something like that. All i can say is that it totally changes the car! As for the warranty, it's like that with ANY CAR period, you mess with it and they find out, they can deny it. There is always a risk, but sometimes if the gains outweigh the risks, you just got take a leap.

You can always flash it back to stock, if you need to take it in. Honestly though, the Sonic really doesn't scream "I'm a really suped up car, please check to see if i have been modified". I have an EVOX and a MazdaSpeed3, and they arent even checked when i bring them in for recalls.

I wish there was a way for the people that haven't been tuned, to drive a tuned version and see the difference. My mpgs are up 2-3 miles, what else can you ask for.

 

[laborsmith]

The current ECU keep track of miles driven. So if you go in with 10,000 miles on your odometer and 100 miles on your ECU, suspicious minds will want to know why. That is not all, but that is the easiest to state.

Chevrolet dealers are supposed to check all Corvettes, V8 Camaros, and diesel engined trucks for tunes whenever they come in. It is a very elaborate check, a whole bunch of steps, and I am sure an aggravation, but maybe not, I don't know.

The only car I had tuned also had a Vortech supercharger. The dealer always reflashed it, at no charge to me! whenever I took it in, which was three times, once for warranty and twice for recall, or vice versa. I'm pretty sure if I blew the engine it would not have been covered by a warranty, but whether for the supercharger or the tune I don't know because the engine always worked.


Laborsmith

 

[BNRacing]

The current ECU keep track of miles driven. So if you go in with 10,000 miles on your odometer and 100 miles on your ECU, suspicious minds will want to know why. That is not all, but that is the easiest to state.

Chevrolet dealers are supposed to check all Corvettes, V8 Camaros, and diesel engined trucks for tunes whenever they come in. It is a very elaborate check, a whole bunch of steps, and I am sure an aggravation, but maybe not, I don't know.

The only car I had tuned also had a Vortech supercharger. The dealer always reflashed it, at no charge to me! whenever I took it in, which was three times, once for warranty and twice for recall, or vice versa. I'm pretty sure if I blew the engine it would not have been covered by a warranty, but whether for the supercharger or the tune I don't know because the engine always worked.


Laborsmith

Actually the BCM keeps track of mileage, unless this car is different from the other stuff I've dealt with. So if you swap out the ECU (which you would have to have programmed for your car before you put it in), the mileage wouldn't change as far as I know. I could be wrong but that's how it works on the 2.0T stuff.

 

[laborsmith]

True, the BCM keeps track of the mileage. The dealer checks to determine if the ecu has been tuned includes checks with the other computers (such as PS) and mileage is checked. What I am trying to say is they are all coordinated.

The biggest difficulty with keeping a spare is access. Normal consumers must access through a vehicle no longer running, such as a wrecked vehicle. But to get the ecu associated with your VIN through a dealer your original ecu must be deactivated for your VIN. There are supposedly tuners who can do this, so you can have your cake and eat it too. I say supposedly because you would have to (or know someone who has) go through the process AND go through the re-replacing to get warranty work done, to find out if it would work.

There is a reason for the transparency option on the tunes BNRacing sells, and I have just described it.

So swapping CAN be done. Not easily and not inexpensively, but doable.

A longer answer than my first reply. And actually, incomplete, but the gist is there. And the more complete info is available on other car forums and readily available if one wants to look.

Laborsmith

 

[BNRacing]

Trifecta can program the ECM to your vin but you have to send it in. I think HP Tuners is supposed to be able to do it also but they don't support these cars. I've also heard there is a way you can do it with no computer at all, by using the actual car to do it. Something to do with toggling the key on/off an certain amount of times or something. I'll look it up

 

[BNRacing]

Ok yeah I was right, you can do it with hp tuners if they ever come out with support for this car. You perform a "read entire" of your stock ECM, swap ECM, do security re-learn procedure, including clutch sensor relearn if applicable, "write entire" to the blank ECM, change the vin if you want, and then just "write calibration" from there on. But for Trifecta you still have to send it to Vince for programming if you want that.

 

[laborsmith]

As easy as that!

HPTuners still does not have a product for the 2012 V6 Camaro, where they have an established client base already, so I would suggest anyone wanting to do the swap to plan on sending their ECU out.

Personally, I think your transparency mode is the best idea. Using it helps one stay away from silly questions and unnecessary dealer flashes.

Laborsmith

 

[BNRacing]

I agree.

 

[BNRacing]

Actually from what I've heard the 2012 V6 Camaro tuning will be out by summer but the 2010-2011 LLT guys will be waiting a while still.

 

[Gimpster]

IMO I think E78 tuning (at the minimum) is "close" on HPTuners, and maybe E83... but the E78 market will bring them more credits sold. The fact this PCM is used by V8 applications bodes well for us, and the E78 HD truck folks have been screaming. I have two local car buddies with Cruze's who'd love to play with their PCM's.

It's HERE for EFI Live, but I can't find any fricking local EFI Live owners to meet up with me to do a dump of my PCM. Thus... we have no support yet. I found one local shop who owns EFI Live and they wanted to charge me $100 to read my PCM (about a 3 minute task) so that support can be added. I let them know they can pound sand.

Basically whomever gets my car support first will earn my business. I own HPTuners already, so I'd prefer it be them

I've been saying it for like 3 years now, but if Trifecta had a self-tuning option and it was $1000 or under, I would buy it. Today. No bull****. I would much rather throw him a grand vs. EFI Live or HPTuners... who do the bulk of their development work overseas. I appreciate the clientele and product Vince has, but nobody turns wrenchs or bits on my cars but me. I know he could care less about me, but that's just how it is.

---

This was always the rumor on the Bosch LNF PCM's too, but I know a LOT of people who grenade'd hard parts on their Cobalts and snuck through with a PCM swap.

There was a guy on the CSS forum named GTPPrix who must've had a pile of NOS PCM's or something, he was letting them go for like $200-300.

That said, we know that GM is actively monitoring this site

The current ECU keep track of miles driven. So if you go in with 10,000 miles on your odometer and 100 miles on your ECU, suspicious minds will want to know why. That is not all, but that is the easiest to state.

 

[BNRacing]

Just as an FYI (even tho its not $1000) he is selling the tuning software now for shops. It's $2500 and the tune licenses are $70 per vehicle. A few shops bought so far but the only one really using it is a Holden shop in AU.

 

[Gimpster]

Well let me tune that statement then:

If he'd release a product tied to a single VIN for normal folks like me, I'd be beating at his door for it I literally own about 6 different tuning packages for various platforms, so I'm not joking.

For a shop that sees decent business thats a pretty reasonable price honestly.

 

[xtremek]

I attend the Sonic warranty meetings and I've only seen 3 ECM's returned to GM headquarters so far(two last week). There is a request for 100% return for all ECM's expected of issues. I don't know how deeply they check the flash, or if they simply just reflash and test them. If I had the $500 to spare, I'd do it mine. The nice price is moving it up the "to do" list. How much more does this stress the turbo and motor if I drive it like a little old lady? I'd really love the extra 2-3 mpg.

 

[BNRacing]

I attend the Sonic warranty meetings and I've only seen 3 ECM's returned to GM headquarters so far(two last week). There is a request for 100% return for all ECM's expected of issues. I don't know how deeply they check the flash, or if they simply just reflash and test them. If I had the $500 to spare, I'd do it mine. The nice price is moving it up the "to do" list. How much more does this stress the turbo and motor if I drive it like a little old lady? I'd really love the extra 2-3 mpg.

The price for this week is $315, big sale going on. It won't stress the motor any more than normal if you drive it like an old lady. Only added stress would be at WOT when its in full boost, and even the it should still run forever.

 

[xtremek]

You guys at BNR are trying to get me in trouble with the fiance'e. I've already spent more than I should for the month. Maybe next month? Do I get a GM employee discount?