Trifecta tune or GMS1 for TC
#1
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Trifecta tune or GMS1 for TC
I'm trying to weigh all the pros and cons of each choice...
On one hand we have the GM stage kit installed for a ballpark $750-800 dollars with warranty. Then we have Trifecta who has, as of now, been able to cloak the tune to say stock and have a little more horse/torque for $250-350 and possibility of losing the warranty if, for whatever reason, the tech2 picked it up. I only have 3,500 miles on my SS so I want to get something quick but I'm in a toss up. Any advice would help!
On one hand we have the GM stage kit installed for a ballpark $750-800 dollars with warranty. Then we have Trifecta who has, as of now, been able to cloak the tune to say stock and have a little more horse/torque for $250-350 and possibility of losing the warranty if, for whatever reason, the tech2 picked it up. I only have 3,500 miles on my SS so I want to get something quick but I'm in a toss up. Any advice would help!
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Ok, on that note... how hard of an install is it? Better to leave it to the stealership or do it myself? Problem being... I'm a college kid on a budget... the extra $180-200 bucks for the install through GM would be a car payment...
#5
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Unfortunatly you HAVE to pay some shop rate, even if you install the sensors yourself. The ECM requires a reflash as part of the install and this must be done by a dealer.
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Unless you are really good mechanically do it your self, but you do have to splice wires to install the new sensors and such. If you think you can do it with out messing it up then do it. If there is a slight worried thought of doing it, have the dealer do the install. This is my personal opinion!
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I understand... but a flash should take, correct me if I'm wrong, around 30 minutes whereas an install/flash around 2 and half - 3 hours all together... that's where I got the $180-200... using figures from other posts saying that GM charges about $90-100 an hour for labor.
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i would bring the gms1 to the dealer i herd they use diff color wires so they can tell if the dealerinstalled them. the upside about the stage kit is you can still NLS and be under warnatee but with a tune i wouldnt recomend on NLS
#9
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Using the Solstice and HHR guys as an example, it looks like you can count on at least 1 hour of shop time usually for the flash. Your estimate of $90-100 in that case could be reasonable.
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Yes Bill clarified that the wires are different colors!
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Ok, Thanks for all the info guys... One last thing. I've read places that the flash is extra $$$ on top of the kit. That being said, it's $550 on CED for the kit itself, $100-200 for labor, and at that what does the flash cost? Are we going to be at my original estimate of $700-800?
#13
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In the Solstice and HHR kits, the flash itself is part of the kit... the 1 hour of labor I'm pitching to you is them installing that. So it should be whatever you pay for the kit + labor to flash if you installed the sensors yourself.
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Go Trifecta, the stage kit is a joke with little gains for the money. With what you would spend on the Government Motors stage kit you could get a nice custom tune, & charge pipes (something GM shouldn't have cut corners on to begin with...plastic crap). Go aftermarket if you want solid performance. Alot of folks are pushing in excess of 300 HP with tune alone and not blowing their cars to pieces. Don't let folks scare you away from aftermarket tunes IMHO.
#15
trifecta tune....honestly the gms1 kit isnt worth the money at all. understandably you can be under warrenty with the new kit but honestly for such a small gain i dont see paying the price. also from what i hear our stock sensors are good to 28psi so whats the need for new sensors when the turbos maxed at 25psi?
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Go Trifecta, the stage kit is a joke with little gains for the money. With what you would spend on the Government Motors stage kit you could get a nice custom tune, & charge pipes (something GM shouldn't have cut corners on to begin with...plastic crap). Go aftermarket if you want solid performance. Alot of folks are pushing in excess of 300 HP with tune alone and not blowing their cars to pieces. Don't let folks scare you away from aftermarket tunes IMHO.
#18
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Buy the GM Stage 1 kit and find someone with HP Tuners. I've heard good and bad about Trifecta, but as far as I'm concerned. Some one who knows what they're doing sitting there with you will ALWAYS produce a better tune then Trifecta merely because they can see the problems then and there, adjust for them, and you have to wait no time at all.
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I'm trying to weigh all the pros and cons of each choice...
On one hand we have the GM stage kit installed for a ballpark $750-800 dollars with warranty. Then we have Trifecta who has, as of now, been able to cloak the tune to say stock and have a little more horse/torque for $250-350 and possibility of losing the warranty if, for whatever reason, the tech2 picked it up. I only have 3,500 miles on my SS so I want to get something quick but I'm in a toss up. Any advice would help!
On one hand we have the GM stage kit installed for a ballpark $750-800 dollars with warranty. Then we have Trifecta who has, as of now, been able to cloak the tune to say stock and have a little more horse/torque for $250-350 and possibility of losing the warranty if, for whatever reason, the tech2 picked it up. I only have 3,500 miles on my SS so I want to get something quick but I'm in a toss up. Any advice would help!
oh yea im also a college student so i hope this helps you since money is an issue for me
#20
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You know what would really help this debate out? An actual dyno graph thread if each individual tune available. BEST trifecta, BEST HPTune, BEST ZZP, BEST Superchips, BEST HAHN, BEST GM Stage, and BEST whatever else is out there. I know dynos are different and cars are different. But maybe just maybe we can get enough members to post before and after dynos in 1 single thread, and then decisions can be made based on actual numbers, and not the "how it feels" "butt dyno". I would compose such a thread, but I'm to lazy. Anybody want to "not be lazy"?
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#22
you know if you buy a GMPP part yourself and bring it into a dealer and they install it, its a different warranty than if you buy it through them and install it? Im assuming this applies to the Stage 1 kit, as it is a GMPP kit, and some of the people who have called there dealers on this sight have replied that their dealers were also reflecting this. Just look it up about the GMPP, think if you get it and bring it in its 1year /12k and otherwise i think its whatever your bumper to bumper warranty is...
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You know what would really help this debate out? An actual dyno graph thread if each individual tune available. BEST trifecta, BEST HPTune, BEST ZZP, BEST Superchips, BEST HAHN, BEST GM Stage, and BEST whatever else is out there. I know dynos are different and cars are different. But maybe just maybe we can get enough members to post before and after dynos in 1 single thread, and then decisions can be made based on actual numbers, and not the "how it feels" "butt dyno". I would compose such a thread, but I'm to lazy. Anybody want to "not be lazy"?