Part II: Updated (Can't edit my other one, its too old apparently.)

Since I have done about every mainstream tune for the LNF, I thought I would post my experiences.

Superchips:

YouTube - Cobalt SS Dyno

I do not recommend it. Tuning support is sparse. The tunes are not tailored to specific cars or mods. I had Superchips on my car for 3 months. It was nice at first, but cold starting was a pain in the ass. Made the car a tiny bit quicker than stock, but ran ultra rich and the end result was me needing new spark plugs at 4K miles.

Pro's: 20PSI with just a flash 281WHP/300Ftlbs (STD Correction)
270WHP/299Ftlbs (SAE Smoothing on 5)


Cons: Redline increase feature never worked... not reliable, and runs rich.

Trifecta:

YouTube - Cobalt SS / TC vs Fully Bolted and tuned Stage 2 SRT 4

I have been dealing with Vince for well over a year now. His tunes are nice, and very conservative. For a conservative tune and power, this is my choice. The stealth tune with switchable tune options, TF is in its own league. If you want him to get more aggressive with the tune.... ask.

PRO's: Power, 324WHP/404Ftlbs, Selactable tune, Stealth tune, Customer service.
Cons: You need a cable or a close dealer to get you perfectly dialed in.

TF + HP Tune (Terminator2):

Term spent a week getting my E85 Tune perfected. He quickly got me dialed in and optimized. I had his HP Tune before I moved to AZ, back when I lived in FL. It pulled great in FL, but when I got to AZ, I needed a re-tune. To his defense he never really got to dial me too far in on the dyno in FL. (Time) But his tune ran me down the bradenton 1/4 mile at a 12.79 @ 114.7 MPH. Not bad for me not being all the way dialed in.

Now I am running the TF + HP tune on E85 & 91 OCT. The car pulls harder than My TF tune, and is very consistent now. I should be back into the 12's this season with the new tune. (AZ is hot, so I have to wait till NOV for some good times.) So far in sep, I ran a 13.2@112.5 in 4200ft DA with 95 degree weather in PHX, spinning into 3rd.

Best time so far of last season was a 13.0@115.4 on E47 Mix

60-100 times of 4.7 Seconds in 3000+ft of elevation

Pro's: Friendly Tuner, very thorough, provides results
Cons: HP tuner stuff can get expensive. (The cables, software, licenses)

TF + HP Tune (BYT):

I am going with BYT for my 91 tune right now. Once race season draws to an end, I should be all dialed in. Nick is a good guy to work with, and is good at troubleshooting. Again, the only reason I am not dialed in yet with the BYT Tune, is because this race season, I am using the Term E85 mix tune, and just do not want to mess with my fuel mixture right now.

Pro's: TBA
Con's: TBA

BYT Tune (91 OCT) on my new sedan (Stock with GMS1)
First tune I got from Nick was nearly spot on. I am at 3200+Ft of elevation, and still logged a 5.6 60-100 time. (On the base tune file) Holds around 20 PSI without a TF underlay file. Drivability is smooth, and These are really great results considering my car has no mods.

Tweak 3 With AB Mod:

I Have not had a track run with it yet. I imagine this is much quicker than my last revision. I Logged a 5.3 Sec 60-100 on 91 Oct. 4th gear pulls are ridiculous. It is holding over 21PSI with no TF Underlay file. Track and Dyno Results coming up soon.

Will post further updates such as HP and track times when I am all dialed in

Pro's: Great tune right out of the box
Cons: None

Self Tuning with HP tuners

I have never self tuned an LNF before, so I thought I would give it a shot. After lurking on the HP Tuners boards, I decided to give it a shot. It is very time consuming when you are starting from scratch with no real base file to work with. (I had the GMS1 file.)

Timing was the hardest part to get dialed in. Since I am new to the LNF, and are using 91OCT I started with stock timing and gradually increased till I hit 15 degrees. As a new tuner I settled on this conservative tune. (DAL's are basically maxed out, and it spins through 2nd.) It was a day and night improvement over the 11 degrees with knock GMS1 tune. (25PSI spike dipping around 20-21)

After I got done with this I was pretty happy with it. Then I got the BYT tune on my car and it felt much more smooth.

PRO's: If you blow your car up its your own fault If you can read, you can make your car faster.
CON's: Very time consuming


GM Stage 1

Not much I can say about this, It came with my new sedan. Not horrible for a stock tune. Felt almost identical to the superchips tune. I logged it, and it showed knock with 11 degrees of Advance..... So I decided to go with other tunes again.

I ran at the track, and had 3 consistent passes of a 14.2@103.5 at SIR Dragway (3200 ft of elevation, DA was also over 5K ft that day)

PRO's: "Warranty," and faster than stock tune.
Cons: Horrible tune, Knocks on hardly any timing, Feels sluggish at times

VS!

Real world results as of 2/26/2011:

Went to the track yesterday to get some comparisons on the BYT Tune VS the TF Tune. Both runs were done with the same lane and a crappy 2.4 60ft. Track prep was not so good. At 3200Ft of elevation here are the results:


BYT Tune: (This is only tweak number 2 waiting on my 3rd revision)
13.880@107.88

Trifecta tune
Base without tweaking 13.800@109.13

Boost levels are right at the same for both tunes (holding about 20PSI and both spiking to 24 PSI)



Will be comparing dyno results on the same car next month. All will be done on the same dyno, Both tunes will get the same amount of cool-down time to keep the controlled environment good.

DIALED IN ON BOTH TUNES IN THE SEDAN

Results were very close here are the times

BYT Tune Run 1: 13.609@106.09
TF Tune Run 2: 13.544@106.66
Waited for it to cool off a bit, it was 79 degrees
BYT Tune Run 3: 13.293@106.42
TF Tune Run 4: 13.271@106.62


This is the 91 OCT Tune at 3200 Actual elevation, calculated DA at 7900 ft.

YouTube - 13.6 in Cobalt SS Sedan

UPDATE: TF FULL E85 TUNE

I did some pulls tonight in my mostly stock sedan (only mod is ZZP AB Mod)

61-100 in 4.8 Seconds on vinces tune
60-100 in 5.0 Flat on another pull

Here is the evidence.

PULL number 1:





PULL number 2:





My altitude is over 3000ft here and I am only running 19.5 max advance up top. Not to shabby for a 99.9% stock setup with just E85 and a tune.

I am going to the dyno this weekend.

TRACK TIME:
So here is my improvement comparison:

Results from last night:

1st run vs a camaro, 2nd vs a lt1 corvette or L? 3rd vs a civic.

the sedan is now running a 13.0@111.94
And only mod is the AB Mod and E85 tune.

With the BYT E85 Tune:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=73EVa43XIl4

12.9@112MPH

 

Do u mean 2010 not 2011?

O and nice write up

 

Fixed 02/26/2011 (yesterday)

 

O well see there you go. Just did a comparison of a gms1 vs trifecta myself yesterday. I don't want to post number cause they are High but there was a big diff

 

With the GMS1 I ran a 14.2@103.5, so not terrible (also at 3200 ft.)

Updated with a GMS1 review now too

 

when usin GMS1 what gas where you using?

 

Pmed

 

91Oct

(Thats all you can use with the GMS1 or 92/93/94)

 

wonder if you would have less knock using 93.. which is what should be used

 

You know 93 Oct isn't the standard premium in all states right? Half the US is 91OCT as the highest possible grade at gas pumps. Lower texas has places that max out at 90, and regular being 85OCT.

It was all tip-in knock, most of the time thats not due to oct rating.

 

I know what they are


Nice overall review thus far To bad you couldn't have tested them all on the same Octane gas for a better comparison.

But yeah if I had to do it all over again I would have went with the Trifecta tune and skipped GMS1 right from the get go.
Only reason I didn't go Trifecta in the first place was that the Trifecta tune was a relatively new tune out without alot of miles tested. Plus at that time the GMS1 base file and sensors were needed for the best tune.

IMO the Trifecta tune is safer then the GMS1, although the GMS1 is covered by warranty, if you get a picky dealer they are going to try and void it for any simple mod they can find.

Here we are presently where the best tune is a Trifecta + HPT tune, who would've thought that back when the Trifecta-HPT debates were going on

Is Trifecta still the only current tuner able to modify the fuel pressure via tuning still?

 

Oh I know it's not std.. talking to bill at gm he told me that stock tune was based on 91, but can work with 87..

gms1 was based on 93, but can work with 91

in all honesty.. I didn't know that it was so scarce in the

 

its scarce some places here too, pretty sure theres only one gas station even remotely close from me selling above 91.


decisions, decisions. great article man, now the debate is on. i would really like trifecta but because of the warranty on gms1 i cant decide. tough choice.

 

As far as I know they are.

 

They will be till HP Tuners figures it out.... Not sure of that will ever happen though

 

Looking at the timing tables for the GMS1 tune, it looks like its based on 91OCT. Max advance up top is 11 degrees

 

Odd I was told i think it was by More Hp More Torque? That it was designed for 93 octane, but it will work with 91

but maybe I read it wrong "was awhile ago"... obviously you know more about tunes then me :P

 

here are the timing tables, looks pretty 91ish to me

 

all be honest with you.. I have no idea what that means

 

its just timing tables, shows areas of advance along with load and rpm's

 

so based on that how does it show it's for 91? n00b here

 

?!?!?!? I ran a 14.02 @ 103.66mph. with stock tune, intake, dp, cp.... Why are you guys getting slow times? Elevation that big a factor?

 

The only place you can get higher than 91 octane is at Petro Canada and its 94 octane not 93 and its damn expensive ...

 

in canada.. I think US has 93 vpower in some places...

but if i'm not mistaken it's actually like 93 octane and 1 is for ethonal

 

11 degrees max up top is very very conservative. If it was for 93 Oct it would demand a tad bit more timing, most 93 oct tunes start with 12-13 degrees up top.