Cadillac Owners Forum banner

My Trifecta ECM/TCM tuning experience - 2010 CTS-4 3.6L DI Wagon

84K views 152 replies 36 participants last post by  Good83knight 
#1 · (Edited)
After spending some time in this forum, as well as the Camaro forums, I've decided to go ahead and pull the trigger on the Trifecta ECM/TCM tune, commonly referred to as a Vince Tune, as Vince Geglia is the owner/operator of Trifecta Performance and custom writes each tune that goes out his door.


So, why do I want a tune? Well quite honestly, I'm addicted. Every car I own has been tuned in some way or another, all with great results. My 2010 AWD CTS Wagon, equipped with the 3.6L DI engine and 6sp auto slushbox, is in need of a kick in the pants. While the car is rated at 304bhp, it feels like it only has 2/3 of that. I believe the reason is more related to the crappy OE calibration of the TCM, more than it is about the calibration of the ECM. I don't know about your CTS, but mine is ALWAYS wanting to find 6th gear just as quick as it possibly can. So when a call for power is made from your right foot, it's not there. You have to wait for the car to downshift, spool up the revs, make a bunch of noise in the process, and then you're finally moving forward at a quicker pace. I don't like this. So now what? Well, a Trifecta ECM/TCM tune is what.


With only modest power gains, the real value in this tune is the ability to predefine at what speed you'd like to upshift/downshift at, and how firm/quick you'd like that event to take place. So, for normal A6 mode, you could keep the OE calibrations in effect, and unleash hell when you move the gearshifter into the "sport" position. However, that's not the approach I'm going to take. I'm going to have normal A6 shift points moved upwards so that the car holds steady in it's power band at each gear, but I won't change the firmness of the shifts. I'll call this "wife mode". But in sport mode, I'll have the shift points raised, I'll have throttle blip on downshifts like it does in manual mode, and I'll have it stepped up to the firmest/quickest shift allowable. I'll call this "Daddy Mode".

Another selling point of this tune is if I mod the car in the future, say an intake and/or exhaust, then a retune is free. This allows you to take full benefit of any hardware mods you may add at a later date.

I'll have the ECM timing advanced to take advantage of 93 octane, and I'll have it leaned out just a hair, but keeping the A/F ratio within safe limits. These cars are equipped with very advanced knock sensors, so I'm not really worried about detonation. Plus, we're not going to tune it aggressively enough to put the car in any real danger. And let's be honest here, we're talking about a naturally aspirated V6, not a Biturbo V12. It'd be pretty tough to mess up a tune on this engine.

Another nifty feature of the this tune, is the ability to reset the learning transmission adaptives. This is a particularly useful feature when the car has been driven as a daily commuter. Even though we're tuning the TCM, the adaptive nature of the tranny is still in play. So, it'll adapt itself accordingly, but on a sliding scale from our tuning points vs. OE calibrations. As part of your purchase, you'll download a software interface to your laptop, that when connected to your ECM via the OBD cable, you can reset the tranny adaptations with the click of a button. Neat.

There's also the "Ghost Cam" feature, that's available for the 3.6L DI. It's a gimmicky thing that allows you to click a sequence of buttons on the steering wheel, and enable a lopey idle, just as if the car had a big cam in it. You can preset how agressive you'd like it to lope, but I think this is probably more for the Camaro guys than the Caddy guys. Nonetheless, it's there if you want it.

I'm using Bad News Racing as the reseller for the tune. It's cheaper to purchase through them, then going direct to Vince and Trifecta. I paid $460, including the tuning cable needed to write the .net code to the car's CAN-BUS. Jerry, the owner of BNR, has been outstanding with communicating to me what to expect, what not to expect, and has always replied to my emails within 24 hrs.

I plan on updating this thread at each milestone to chronicle everything from purchasing experience to my thoughts on the tune, post install

2/8/11 - Purchased tune and cable via Bad News Racing's website, and received verification email

2/9/11 - Received email stating that order has been placed with Trifecta, and cable will be shipped directly from them. Tune will be developed and emailed to me.
 
See less See more
#3 ·
I didn't know anything about that "ghost cam" feature. Was that something Jerry told you about in conversation? It wasn't in a menu on the software to select/de-select or anything, that I recall? Like you say, it's just a gimmick, but I was just curious if it's only something I can enable if I request a special firmware from him with it in there?
 
#4 ·
You can get this as an update but beware that some of the guys on the Camaro site were having a few issues with it. You can get it in a few different lopes from mild to wild and what it does is drop cylinders at idle and then all cylinders respond when you accelerate. I think some people were getting a stall here and there and they might have fixed all the bugs by now.
 
This post has been deleted
#9 ·
Thanks. I get so frustrated, at times, reading posts that contain mostly "text lingo", that I try to make mine sound like my education was worth something. I'll keep this thread running with updates, as they happen. OMG, I mean WTF.....right? ;)

I mean this next statement with all due respect to Wag-O-Neer. The prose is admirable, I agree. Are there any documented results?
Yes sir. There's a few 3.6L DI Caddy folks running this tune, as I type this. All have varying degree of praise for the product. But, if you search the Camaro forums, most notably the camaro5.com forum, you'll find hours of reading on the subject. As you know the 3.6DI engine in that car, is the same as ours, so they've pioneered and guinea pigged a lot, for our benefit. I can't recall the number exactly, but Vince and BNR both mentioned that they have tuned roughly 350 or so 3.6LDI engines.

I have data logging equipment that I use for some of my other vehicles, so I'll be able to take pre/post logs and see what's what. I probably won't dyno it, though. But I'll be able to look at timing, as well as use applications that utilize the accelerometer in my iPhone, to get 0-60, 1/4 mile, HP and TQ figures. It won't be exact, but as long as I use the same tool to sample both the pre tune, and post tune data, the delta should be accurate.....(ish) :)
 
#11 ·
Yes sir.



UPDATE:


I plan on updating this thread at each milestone to chronicle everything from purchasing experience to my thoughts on the tune, post install

2/8/11 - Purchased tune and cable via Bad News Racing's website, and received verification email

2/9/11 - Received email stating that order has been placed with Trifecta, and cable will be shipped directly from them. Tune will be developed and emailed to me.

2/13/11 - Received email from Vince, after inquiring about the shipment date of the cable, stating that the cable was shipped on 2/10/11

2/14/11 - Received email from Vince stating that the tune will be written and delivered electronically today, via email.
 
#12 ·
Great writeup Wag. I am really curious to hear how the tune feels. I can definitely feel this engine holding back as well.

I am enjoying seeing some more well written / informative posts on here as this is one of the more anemic boards I have been a part of as far as technical info / DIY writeups. Keep it coming!
 
#13 ·
UPDATE: Sorry it's been a few days since my last update. I've been getting one of my other cars race-ready for a 1/4 mile event that happened yesterday. Here's the latest:


I plan on updating this thread at each milestone to chronicle everything from purchasing experience to my thoughts on the tune, post install

2/8/11 - Purchased tune and cable via Bad News Racing's website, and received verification email

2/9/11 - Received email stating that order has been placed with Trifecta, and cable will be shipped directly from them. Tune will be developed and emailed to me.

2/13/11 - Received email from Vince, after inquiring about the shipment date of the cable, stating that the cable was shipped on 2/10/11

2/14/11 - Received email from Vince stating that the tune will be written and delivered electronically today, via email.

2/16/11 - Received tuning cable in mail and also received correspondence from Vince apologizing about the delay in emailing my tune. Apparently, he's away from his shop and he's not able to get my base ECM and TCM files from GM. He did say that if I went ahead and pulled the stock files from my ECM/TCM using his cable, and the EZ Flash software, he'd write the tune on the spot and email it back to me. Or, I could wait until he's back in the office on Tuesday and he'd be able to pull my files from GM. Since I've been busy getting ready for race day, I decided to just wait and have him pull the files.



However, I did get a chance to do some baseline data logging with my own equipment. I'll post that info up here shortly.

----------

Here's a 3rd gear pull I did, to take logs of timing advance, pre-tune. I should note that car has been running 93 octane for the past 3 fill ups.

Looks like at 6K RPM, the stock file is running (positive)20 degrees of timing. You can also see the car pull 4* at 5220 rpm.


datetime Timing Advance RPM
06:40.6 36 2543.75
06:40.7 18 2543.75
06:40.8 18 2542
06:40.9 17 2619
06:41.0 17 2619
06:41.1 24.5 2626.75
06:41.2 24.5 2626.75
06:41.3 12 2739.75
06:41.4 12 2739.75
06:41.6 12 2669
06:41.7 12 2669
06:41.8 12.5 2727
06:41.9 12.5 2727
06:42.0 12.5 2772.75
06:42.1 12.5 2772.75
06:42.2 12.5 2831.25
06:42.3 13.5 2831.25
06:42.4 13.5 2876.5
06:42.5 13.5 2924
06:42.6 13.5 2924
06:42.7 13.5 2967.5
06:42.8 13.5 2967.5
06:42.9 15 3033.25
06:43.1 15 3033.25
06:43.2 15 3081
06:43.3 15 3081
06:43.4 15 3138.25
06:43.5 15.5 3138.25
06:43.6 15.5 3175
06:43.7 16.5 3175
06:43.8 16.5 3232.25
06:43.9 17 3232.25
06:44.0 17 3269
06:44.1 17 3269
06:44.3 17 3332.5
06:44.4 17 3332.5
06:44.5 17 3385
06:44.6 18 3385
06:44.7 18 3425.25
06:45.8 18 3425.25
06:45.9 17 3699.75
06:46.0 17 3743.25
06:46.2 18 3743.25
06:46.3 18 3813.25
06:46.4 18.5 3813.25
06:46.5 18.5 3872.5
06:46.6 18.5 3872.5
06:46.7 17 3920.25
06:46.8 17 3920.25
06:46.9 16.5 3973.75
06:47.0 16.5 3973.75
06:47.1 16.5 4031.25
06:47.2 16.5 4031.25
06:47.4 16.5 4031.25
06:47.5 16.5 4082.5
06:47.6 16.5 4082.5
06:47.7 16.5 4149
06:47.8 16.5 4149
06:47.9 16.5 4206.5
06:48.0 16.5 4206.5
06:48.1 18 4257
06:48.2 18 4257
06:48.3 18.5 4306
06:48.4 18.5 4306
06:48.6 18.5 4306
06:50.0 20 4345.5
06:50.1 20 4683.75
06:50.2 20 4683.75
06:50.3 20 4743.5
06:50.4 20 4743.5
06:50.6 20 4794.75
06:50.7 20 4794.75
06:50.8 20 4849
06:50.9 20 4849
06:51.0 20 4913.25
06:51.1 20 4913.25
06:51.2 21 4963.75
06:51.3 21 4963.75
06:51.4 21 4963.75
06:51.5 21 5011.5
06:51.6 21 5011.5
06:51.7 21 5070.75
06:51.8 21 5070.75
06:51.9 21 5125
06:52.1 21 5125
06:52.2 21 5125
06:52.3 21 5173.25
06:52.4 21 5173.25
06:52.5 21 5220.75
06:52.6 17 5220.75
06:52.7 17 5262.25
06:52.9 18 5262.25
06:53.0 18 5323.25
06:53.1 18 5323.25
06:53.2 18 5363.75
06:53.3 18 5363.75
06:53.4 18 5419.75
06:53.5 18 5419.75
06:53.6 18 5419.75
06:53.7 18 5473
06:53.8 18 5473
06:53.9 18 5514.5
06:54.1 18 5514.5
06:54.2 18 5568.75
06:54.3 18 5568.75
06:54.4 18 5603.5
06:54.5 18 5603.5
06:54.6 18.5 5654.75
06:54.7 18.5 5654.75
06:54.8 18.5 5695.75
06:54.9 18.5 5695.75
06:55.1 18.5 5695.75
06:55.2 18.5 5733
06:55.3 19.5 5780
06:55.4 19.5 5780
06:55.5 19.5 5780
06:55.6 19.5 5818.25
06:55.7 19.5 5818.25
06:55.8 19.5 5859.25
06:56.0 19.5 5859.25
06:56.1 19.5 5901.25
06:56.2 20 5901.25
06:56.3 20 5941.75
06:56.4 20 5941.75
06:56.5 20 5979
06:56.6 20 5979
06:56.7 20 6019.25
06:56.8 20 6019.25
06:57.0 20 6054.5
06:57.1 20 6054.5
06:57.2 -10.5 6054.5
06:57.3 -10.5 5901.25
06:57.4 -1 5901.25
06:57.5 -1 5908.75
06:57.6 5 5908.75

----------

I didn't know exact weight of the CTS4 Wagon, and I didn't know the drivetrain loss with an autobox, so I completely guessed at 3600lbs and 20% loss. I'm sure that why the calculated WHP number is off a bit. Doesn't really matter, I suppose. Hopefully after the tune, we should see bett 0-60 and 1/4 mile MPH.







 
#31 · (Edited)
Here's a 3rd gear pull I did, to take logs of timing advance, pre-tune. I should note that car has been running 93 octane for the past 3 fill ups.

Looks like at 6K RPM, the stock file is running (positive)20 degrees of timing. You can also see the car pull 4* at 5220 rpm.


datetime Timing Advance RPM
06:40.6 36 2543.75
06:40.7 18 2543.75
06:40.8 18 2542
06:40.9 17 2619
06:41.0 17 2619
06:41.1 24.5 2626.75
06:41.2 24.5 2626.75
06:41.3 12 2739.75
06:41.4 12 2739.75
06:41.6 12 2669
06:41.7 12 2669
06:41.8 12.5 2727
06:41.9 12.5 2727
06:42.0 12.5 2772.75
06:42.1 12.5 2772.75
06:42.2 12.5 2831.25
06:42.3 13.5 2831.25
06:42.4 13.5 2876.5
06:42.5 13.5 2924
06:42.6 13.5 2924
06:42.7 13.5 2967.5
06:42.8 13.5 2967.5
06:42.9 15 3033.25
06:43.1 15 3033.25
06:43.2 15 3081
06:43.3 15 3081
06:43.4 15 3138.25
06:43.5 15.5 3138.25
06:43.6 15.5 3175
06:43.7 16.5 3175
06:43.8 16.5 3232.25
06:43.9 17 3232.25
06:44.0 17 3269
06:44.1 17 3269
06:44.3 17 3332.5
06:44.4 17 3332.5
06:44.5 17 3385
06:44.6 18 3385
06:44.7 18 3425.25
06:45.8 18 3425.25
06:45.9 17 3699.75
06:46.0 17 3743.25
06:46.2 18 3743.25
06:46.3 18 3813.25
06:46.4 18.5 3813.25
06:46.5 18.5 3872.5
06:46.6 18.5 3872.5
06:46.7 17 3920.25
06:46.8 17 3920.25
06:46.9 16.5 3973.75
06:47.0 16.5 3973.75
06:47.1 16.5 4031.25
06:47.2 16.5 4031.25
06:47.4 16.5 4031.25
06:47.5 16.5 4082.5
06:47.6 16.5 4082.5
06:47.7 16.5 4149
06:47.8 16.5 4149
06:47.9 16.5 4206.5
06:48.0 16.5 4206.5
06:48.1 18 4257
06:48.2 18 4257
06:48.3 18.5 4306
06:48.4 18.5 4306
06:48.6 18.5 4306
06:50.0 20 4345.5
06:50.1 20 4683.75
06:50.2 20 4683.75
06:50.3 20 4743.5
06:50.4 20 4743.5
06:50.6 20 4794.75
06:50.7 20 4794.75
06:50.8 20 4849
06:50.9 20 4849
06:51.0 20 4913.25
06:51.1 20 4913.25
06:51.2 21 4963.75
06:51.3 21 4963.75
06:51.4 21 4963.75
06:51.5 21 5011.5
06:51.6 21 5011.5
06:51.7 21 5070.75
06:51.8 21 5070.75
06:51.9 21 5125
06:52.1 21 5125
06:52.2 21 5125
06:52.3 21 5173.25
06:52.4 21 5173.25
06:52.5 21 5220.75
06:52.6 17 5220.75
06:52.7 17 5262.25
06:52.9 18 5262.25
06:53.0 18 5323.25
06:53.1 18 5323.25
06:53.2 18 5363.75
06:53.3 18 5363.75
06:53.4 18 5419.75
06:53.5 18 5419.75
06:53.6 18 5419.75
06:53.7 18 5473
06:53.8 18 5473
06:53.9 18 5514.5
06:54.1 18 5514.5
06:54.2 18 5568.75
06:54.3 18 5568.75
06:54.4 18 5603.5
06:54.5 18 5603.5
06:54.6 18.5 5654.75
06:54.7 18.5 5654.75
06:54.8 18.5 5695.75
06:54.9 18.5 5695.75
06:55.1 18.5 5695.75
06:55.2 18.5 5733
06:55.3 19.5 5780
06:55.4 19.5 5780
06:55.5 19.5 5780
06:55.6 19.5 5818.25
06:55.7 19.5 5818.25
06:55.8 19.5 5859.25
06:56.0 19.5 5859.25
06:56.1 19.5 5901.25
06:56.2 20 5901.25
06:56.3 20 5941.75
06:56.4 20 5941.75
06:56.5 20 5979
06:56.6 20 5979
06:56.7 20 6019.25
06:56.8 20 6019.25
06:57.0 20 6054.5
06:57.1 20 6054.5
06:57.2 -10.5 6054.5
06:57.3 -10.5 5901.25
06:57.4 -1 5901.25
06:57.5 -1 5908.75
06:57.6 5 5908.75

----------


Ok, so I did another data log, using my equipment, for a 3rd gear pull, just like the one above, which was when the car was stock. I know that it might just look like a bunch of jumbled up numbers to many, but for those that know what they're looking at, you can see what the Trifecta tune is doing, in regards to spark advance. I mentioned on the post above, that the car was pulling 4* of timing at 5220 RPM. And oddly enough, even the new tune pulls a couple degrees at the same place. I wonder if it's because IATs are rising, from the radiant heat of the cylinder head, and the ECM is pulling it. I guess I need to log IAT next time, to see. If so, then the phenolic intake spacer that I'm going to get from SC2150, should solve that problem.

Also, unfortunately, I don't plan on adding a wideband to the car, so I don't what my AFR is. Jerry says that Trifecta tunes it a little rich for safety, and I take him at his word. There's a few hundred Camaros running this same tune, and to date, I haven't heard/read of any of them having lean issues. As part of my agreement with SC2150, I'll do a pre/post dyno after installation of the phenolic spacer, so I'll be able to see AFR, using the standard tailpipe sniffer at the dyno shop.

Also, when you flash your car, Jerry from BNR and Vince ask you to do a data log, using their software, as soon as possible, just so they can see what's going on with the tune. I like the fact that they take a proactive approach like this, rather than wait for complaints, to look at logs. Just another reason why to choose BNR and Trifecta.

Just to confirm, pre-tune log above, and the post-tune log below, we're with 93 octane.


44:22.1 18 2659.75
44:22.2 18 2974
44:22.3 18.5 2974
44:22.4 18.5 3010.25
44:22.5 18.5 3010.25
44:22.6 18.5 3041.25
44:22.7 18.5 3041.25
44:22.8 18.5 3077.25
44:22.9 18.5 3077.25
44:23.0 18.5 3105.25
44:23.1 19.5 3105.25
44:23.2 19.5 3146.25
44:23.3 20 3146.25
44:23.4 20 3174.25
44:23.5 20 3174.25
44:23.6 20 3204.75
44:23.7 20 3204.75
44:23.8 20 3250.5
44:24.0 21 3250.5
44:24.1 21 3302
44:24.2 21 3302
44:24.3 21 3351.25
44:24.4 21 3351.25
44:24.5 21 3393.5
44:24.6 21.5 3393.5
44:24.7 21.5 3442.25
44:24.8 21.5 3442.25
44:24.9 21.5 3490.5
44:25.0 22.5 3490.5
44:25.1 22.5 3550.25
44:25.2 22.5 3550.25
44:25.3 22.5 3591.25
44:25.4 22.5 3591.25
44:25.5 23 3647.25
44:25.7 23 3647.25
44:25.8 24 3707.25
44:25.9 24 3707.25
44:26.0 24 3760.75
44:26.1 24 3760.75
44:26.3 24.5 3823
44:26.4 24.5 3823
44:26.5 25.5 3875.5
44:26.6 25.5 3875.5
44:26.7 24 3937.25
44:26.8 24 3937.25
44:26.9 24 3937.25
44:27.0 24 3990.25
44:27.1 24 3990.25
44:27.2 24 4053.25
44:27.3 24 4053.25
44:27.4 24.5 4129.5
44:27.5 24.5 4129.5
44:27.7 24.5 4188
44:27.8 24.5 4188
44:27.9 22.5 4188
44:28.0 22.5 4249.75
44:28.1 23 4249.75
44:28.2 23 4314.5
44:28.3 23 4314.5
44:29.6 23 4377.25
44:29.7 24 4690.5
44:29.8 24 4749.75
44:29.9 24 4749.75
44:30.0 24 4749.75
44:30.1 24 4818
44:30.3 24 4818
44:30.4 24 4885.25
44:30.5 24 4885.25
44:30.6 24 4947.5
44:30.7 23 4947.5
44:30.8 23 5022.5
44:30.9 23 5022.5
44:31.1 23 5081
44:31.2 23 5081
44:31.3 23 5150
44:31.4 23 5150
44:31.5 23 5209.75
44:31.6 23 5209.75
44:31.7 21.5 5272
44:31.8 21.5 5272
44:31.9 21.5 5272
44:32.0 21.5 5332
44:32.1 21.5 5332
44:32.3 21.5 5394.75
44:32.4 21.5 5394.75
44:32.5 21.5 5451
44:32.6 21.5 5451
44:32.7 21.5 5508.25
44:32.8 21.5 5508.25
44:32.9 21.5 5561.5
44:33.0 21.5 5561.5
44:33.2 22.5 5623
44:33.3 22.5 5623
44:33.4 22.5 5623
44:33.5 22.5 5672.5
44:33.6 22.5 5672.5
44:33.7 22.5 5726.75
44:33.8 22.5 5726.75
44:33.9 23 5778.75
44:34.0 23 5778.75
44:34.1 23 5827.5
44:34.2 23 5827.5
44:34.3 23 5827.5
44:34.4 23 5875
44:34.5 23 5875
44:34.6 23 5923.25
44:34.8 23 5923.25
44:34.9 23 5971.5
44:35.0 23 5971.5
44:35.1 23 6013
44:35.2 23 6013
44:35.3 23 6013
44:35.4 23 6060
44:35.5 23 6060
44:35.6 23 6099
44:35.7 23 6099
44:35.8 24 6145.5
44:35.9 24 6145.5
44:36.0 24 6190
44:36.1 24 6190
44:36.2 24.5 6190
44:36.3 24.5 6232.75
44:36.4 24.5 6232.75
 
#14 ·
The weight of the car correlates to the peak hp the app gives you (in addition to the driveline losses).

According to the cadillac website the CTS sport wagon comes in at a porkish, 4090 lbs w/ RWD, the AWD comes in at a whopping 4306 lbs. Plus add your body mass. :(
(I think the 2014 CTS will be better just based on mass alone, if its anything like the ATS which is <3400 lbs)

Also, I've used 10% losses for FWD, 15% for RWD and 25% for AWD. These results seem to correlate pretty well with the manufacturer's HP ratings (w/ these simple dyno apps).

Keep posting information though! You seriously can't post too much! Very exciting & Nice work
 
#16 ·
Using new factors supplied by Beanjapan, I did another standing 1/4 mile. HP figure is very close to advertised number. The app I'm using isn't 100% accurate, but it's darn close. However, the dyno numbers aren't really the main thing for me, I'm more interested in my data logging figures above. Those values were recorded from the ECM, real time, using my scanning equipment. It's very accurate. I will have hard data as to exactly how much timing is added when I do apply the tune.

The dyno app thingy is just for fun, and is surprisingly accurate.


 
#18 ·
Yep... Dynolicious is a great little app. But just FYI (as someone with a little experience with it), a critical component of making it give useful/accurate results is figuring out how to mount your iPhone or iPod touch so it doesn't move around on its own. Even though it doesn't look great, a quick and practical solution might be industrial strength velcro tape to stick on the back of the phone and on a flat, level surface in the car like inside the center console glovebox. You need to be sure it doesn't slide forwards or backwards at all from the car accelerating or braking, or results will be off.
 
#19 ·
You're 100 correct. I've got a very sturdy windshield mount, that I mount low enough that the phone wedges against the dash. It's very solid and doesn't move it all.

But the dyno app is just for fun. I don't put an awful lot of stock into those numbers, it's just cool. I'm a born/bred drag racer, so my cars go to the track. Hell, a bunch of us rented out Maryland International Raceway on Saturday, for our private use. 1/4 mile MPH will tell me more about the tune than any dyno or smart phone app ever could. However, my timing logs on the previous page are very useful. I can tell exactly what he's doing with the tune, as far as spark advance. Since I have no plans of installing a wideband in this car, I'll never be able to read AFR, but not very worried about it on a non-boosted engine. They've got this tune running on tons of 3.6 Camaro's so I bet they've got the AFR dialed in pretty well.

I'll try to get it flashed in the next couple of days, and we'll see what's what. ;)
 
#22 ·
Just flashed it and reset tranny adaptation as well but did not enable the ghost cam.

Prior to flashing it, I pulled and saved the stock ECM and TCM files, just in case. It took about 20 minutes total to read both files. Flashing it took 10 minutes, and I enabled the transparency option.

Guys, first impression is it's worth every penny. The car feels totally different. It feels MUCH zippier and throttle tip-in is aggressive. The tranny shifts crisp in A6 mode at WOT and throttle blipping on auto downshifts is a nice touch. Driving at part throttle still gives you nice, comfy, lazy shifts, just like stock. You throw it into sport mode and not much changes at part throttle, but at WOT the car shifts like a '69 Chevelle with a hurst shift kit. Smiles.

So far so good, however, the car's fan is running a bit loudly at idle. It didn't do that initially after tune, so not sure what that's all about. I did beat on the car a little, but it had about 2 miles of very light throttle before I pulled back into my driveway. Maybe the car was just cooling itself down, but ambient temp right now is about 45*. I've sent a note to BNR already to see what they think. I'll drive it like I've got some sense tomorrow.

Happy customer at this point.

Ok, so according to my little dyno app, I dropped about 2 tenths off my 1/4 time. Take that with a grain of salt. But, if you look at the little graph, you can definitely see how firm she was shifting. Below is my pre-tune graph and post tune. Look at the difference in shift firmness. That's hard data fellas, not placebo.

I'll keep updating this for the next week or two with my opinion. I talked the wife into letting me take the car golfing tomorrow, so I'll have some seat time in her.

Pre-tune





Post tune





Forgive any grammatical errors, as I'm typing this from my iPhone.
 
#38 ·
Guys, first impression is it's worth every penny. The car feels totally different. It feels MUCH zippier and throttle tip-in is aggressive. The tranny shifts crisp in A6 mode at WOT and throttle blipping on auto downshifts is a nice touch. Driving at part throttle still gives you nice, comfy, lazy shifts, just like stock. You throw it into sport mode and not much changes at part throttle, but at WOT the car shifts like a '69 Chevelle with a hurst shift kit. Smiles.
Did you select the hardest shift available when in sport mode? I think it is indicated by the percent of the reduction of the torque management. Some of the Camaro guys can chirp a gear but its probably not good for the tranny in our particular vehicles since there is not much tolerance for increased power capacity. My "72 Chevelle has a B&M valve body kit and a few other tricks and chirps 1 to 2 and 2 to 3 shifts at WOT which never gets old even at 46 years of age. ; P
 
#27 ·
I'm a Mac user myself. I can answer this one!

The software is written only for Microsoft Windows. But I didn't let that stop me. My Macbook Pro has a copy of VMware Fusion installed on it, with a Windows 7 image it runs. I was able to use their ez-flash software in the virtual environment to re-tune my CTS. You just have to make sure you tell it it give Windows control of your USB device(s), so it can talk to the OBDII programming cable properly.
 
#29 · (Edited)
I got an answer from Vince on the fan. He stated that they tune the car for the fan to come on at a lower temp, since the car is running a spicy file, now. They do it for safety, and if it becomes an annoyance, it can be written out of the tune, if I wish. As of now, I'm not messing with anything. The car is more exciting to drive, and I'm having some fun with her. It's my wife's car, so I'm going to toss her the keys back tonight, and we'll see if it passes the dreaded 'mommy test'. As we know, most of our wives/girlfriends will probably just put the thing in "D" and have at it. So, if she's happy with the way it's running in 'mommy mode', I'll leave it alone.

However, it looks like I'll be tinkering with it some more. Ported throttle body and intake manifold phenolic spacer is next up. With possibly a CAI to follow. Not sure if the CAI passes the 'mommy test', since it makes a little bit of noise, but we'll see.


So I took a quick little video to try and demonstrate the new shifting characteristics. It's a crude video, taken at the spur of the moment, so please ignore the amateur hour.



Filmed in 720P, for your pleasure.
 
This is an older thread, you may not receive a response, and could be reviving an old thread. Please consider creating a new thread.
Top