What's up fools

[puckdud]

What up you're looking at a proud new owner of a brand new Gray RS sonic 1.4t. I've got many plans for this car, as it is not my first turbo car (wrx gti exc...) but I have never had a brand new car.

Basically I've got a few extra bills in my pocket and I'm trying to order things by tonight. My only worry is if I should wait a few thousand miles to break her in slowly. What do you guys think I should do??

Opinions on mods with Milage would be great...

In the end I want to put an intake, trifecta tune and coilovers

 

[Swordsmith]

There's no real reason not to order stuff and get it installed, even if you are planning on doing some gentle driving for the break in period. IIRC there's not really much of a break in recommended, though. Probably be past it before you get your first parts in the mail.

Trifecta tune is both the biggest power boost you can do, and is practically necessary to get anything good out of other mods. Other tunes may offer the same sort of boost, since the main thing is getting rid of the stock "crippled tune", but Trifecta has a sizeable following here and BNR, which carries them, is a sponsoring vendor.

Intake and Exhaust offer some additional power, but nothing on the scale of the tune itself, and need the tune to really offer that power. A lot of folks do them, though, for the sound in addition to the power.

Tires are something you didn't list but should consider, the Hankooks are probably the worst feature of the stock Sonic... and you may or may not want to replace the stock rims as well.

Then there's the insane stuff, you could do the conversion to run E85 (requires a special tune and some injectors at a minimum, with options to upgrade to a sensor so you can flexfuel instead of doing hard swaps when you go from one to the other, and to upgrade your clutch so you can handle the maximum power E85 can deliver), you could look into an upgraded Turbo (don't think anyone has one in yet, but I'm sure it's coming) intercooler, piping, LSD... really quite a lot going on with these little things considering how early into their life span we are.

 

[wingman]

Welcome and congrats. Sounds like a good starting point with the intake, and tune. Probably go coilovers, next then swap tires.

 

[Yosemite Sam]

Welcome to the family! :banana:

 

[puckdud]

thanks fellas, its good to be apart of a cool group...

Yo SordSmith, im really interested in the trifecta tune, and i figured that you guys would know the best/cheapest way to get it done. I figured with enough of us around, someone would have the flash tune file saved somewhere... or someone could hook up a deal.

 

[Insanika]

Hola! If you have a sunroof and the MT, we are driving the same car.. almost.

I ran into no issues breaking in, but one thing to think about with the brand new car, you might want to drive it a little while before putting any mods on that your dealer might frown on. I say this because a few people here have discovered little quirks in the Sonic that are covered under warranty, and have shown up early on.

My dealer is funny about intakes so I have had to put the SAB back on to take her in, but that's no biggie. I haven't had to take her in since I tuned.

 

[puckdud]

Hola! If you have a sunroof and the MT, we are driving the same car.. almost.

I ran into no issues breaking in, but one thing to think about with the brand new car, you might want to drive it a little while before putting any mods on that your dealer might frown on. I say this because a few people here have discovered little quirks in the Sonic that are covered under warranty, and have shown up early on.

My dealer is funny about intakes so I have had to put the SAB back on to take her in, but that's no biggie. I haven't had to take her in since I tuned.

Haha yep, ive got the 6sp m/t and sunroof. Thanks for the info on the intake and tune, im about to order the cable :banana:

 

[sx sonic]

thanks fellas, its good to be apart of a cool group...

Yo SordSmith, im really interested in the trifecta tune, and i figured that you guys would know the best/cheapest way to get it done. I figured with enough of us around, someone would have the flash tune file saved somewhere... or someone could hook up a deal.

Welcome to the family!

There's not likely much you can do to get a cheap trifecta tune outside of waiting for one of the $300 tune + cable sales. Each tune is keyed to the cars Vin so it can't be pirated. And at 300 on sale It's a steal for the gains it offers, and boy are the gains impressive.

Personally I'd wait a thousand miles or 2 and change the oil before installing a tune. Reason being is that once you get the tune you're going to be going wide open for awhile and its safer to make sure the internals are broke in/seated and any filings removed from the oil before romping the piss out of it. Would it be fine if you didn't do that? It's not unlikely but the worse case scenario is you shorten the life a measurable difference.


As for other mods you've got a good list going. If you've got a manual I really recommend atleast a cat back exhaust, it sounds way nicer and even makes this car easier to drive. Stock the car is too quiet and coupled with a goofy take off assist throttle blip programming it makes stalling unusually easy.

 

[puckdud]

Welcome to the family!

There's not likely much you can do to get a cheap trifecta tune outside of waiting for one of the $300 tune + cable sales. Each tune is keyed to the cars Vin so it can't be pirated. And at 300 on sale It's a steal for the gains it offers, and boy are the gains impressive.

Personally I'd wait a thousand miles or 2 and change the oil before installing a tune. Reason being is that once you get the tune you're going to be going wide open for awhile and its safer to make sure the internals are broke in/seated and any filings removed from the oil before romping the piss out of it. Would it be fine if you didn't do that? It's not unlikely but the worse case scenario is you shorten the life a measurable difference.


As for other mods you've got a good list going. If you've got a manual I really recommend atleast a cat back exhaust, it sounds way nicer and even makes this car easier to drive. Stock the car is too quiet and coupled with a goofy take off assist throttle blip programming it makes stalling unusually easy.

Thanks for the info!! Very much appreciated.

Do you think the "sport" exhaust on the RS adds any gains to the car?? I was going to wait to change the exhaust probably last because I figured the sport exhaust was going to be sufficient.

 

[RS Turbo]

First off where not looking at anything. You didnt post a pic of you new ride yet!

If your going to mod it go balls out!


And


Welcome to Club RS!

 

[CyberGrayRS]

Welcome! Insanika and I both have the same car as you.

I've had the car about a month now, and just did my first mod yesterday. DDM Works sells shifter bushings which which totally improve the shift feel so you can tell what gear you're going into much more easily. They are only $20, install in an hour, and make it way easier to shift fast! :banana:

 

[Thaifight-R]

Welcome!

I ordered my tune literally 2 seconds after I bought my car. XD
I'm sure you'll be fine. haha (Although I do recommend waiting for a sale.)

 

[puckdud]

Awesome thanks for the info. How frequently do these sales come up?

Also I was looking into the UltraGauge, if looks like a pretty sweet deal... Like 80 different gauges and all you have to do it plug it into your OBDII AND it's only like 70$?! Sounds too good to be true... Any input?

 

[Thaifight-R]

Awesome thanks for the info. How frequently do these sales come up?

Also I was looking into the UltraGauge, if looks like a pretty sweet deal... Like 80 different gauges and all you have to do it plug it into your OBDII AND it's only like 70$?! Sounds too good to be true... Any input?

Usually during the holidays I'd say. Maybe a tad less.

As for the UltraGauge, a lot of people on this forum including myself have one.
Super useful and works nicely. I have yet to have issues with it.

The only thing is that having it plugged in keeps Onstar from being able to track you or something like that? (which may be a good thing?)
I'm sure the other members can chime in on that.
There are a few threads about the UltraGauge floating around here somewhere. haha

 

[puckdud]

Just ordered the ultra gauge, ill get some pictures up hopefully tomorrow!!

 

[puckdud]

So I just got an OnStar email of my vehicle diagnostics, I'm just curious if they have the ability to detect any modifications to the ECU (trifecta tune)

 

[RS Turbo]

Yes they do! People will say they dont but Fact is they can tell if they look for it.

The Dealer can not see it but it is detected as soon as the Onstar polls the EMC for Diag reported to Onstar.

 

[puckdud]

Yes they do! People will say they dont but Fact is they can tell if they look for it.

The Dealer can not see it but it is detected as soon as the Onstar polls the EMC for Diag reported to Onstar.

is this something they do often/ would they report it to me once tuned?

basically do i need to be worried about effecting my warranty. (yes i plan on tuning back to stock upon dealer visits)

 

[RS Turbo]

The will look for it if there is a major failure, If they detect it even if it has been reflashed back warranty is Void this can be detected

 

[OnStar Advisor]

Congrats on your new Sonic, Puckdud!! Just wanted to let you know, certain after market items may interfere with diagnostics information, but OnStar does not monitor any mods done to your vehicle. If you have any other questions about your OnStar system just let me know.

- Sara, OnStar Advisor
Social Media Team

EDIT : Post should have been addressed to Puckdud, not CyberGreyRS - but congrats to you, too!!