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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.
 
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#74 ·
Just installed my Trifecta tune (2008 3.6DI). Much, much improved, and it's getting better every day as the ECU readapts. Shifts are much more firm which will take some getting used to, but gone are the grandma shifts that just made the car lagggggg. This engine was butter smooth before and now even more so just with more pull. Better acceleration from a stop, it makes smarter shifting decisions on upslopes / downslopes and it definitely took advantage of the slight mods I have. Overall it took the sluggishness out of the throttle response by improving power delivery.

Definitely a good choice for the price.
 
#75 ·
Just installed my Trifecta tune (2008 3.6DI). Much, much improved, and it's getting better every day as the ECU readapts. Shifts are much more firm which will take some getting used to, but gone are the grandma shifts that just made the car lagggggg. This engine was butter smooth before and now even more so just with more pull. Better acceleration from a stop, it makes smarter shifting decisions on upslopes / downslopes and it definitely took advantage of the slight mods I have. Overall it took the sluggishness out of the throttle response by improving power delivery.
I also have a 2008 and have the Trifecta tune but my vehicle is not responding to the tune. May I ask what mods (air cleaner, exhaust, etc) you have to your car if yours is AWD or not? Also, did you ask for any special shift characteristics or do you have the normal Trifecta tune? I may ask for your specific tune and try it out. Thanks.
 
#77 ·
After driving with the tune for about a week now, I have to be honest...I will probably flash the TCM file back to stock and leave the ECM programming as the tuned version. The harsher, more pronouced shifts get annoying REAL quick in day-to-day driving. If I was headed to the track for some reason, which I probably never will in this car, I would change it back but...the TCM programming definitely causes driveability to suffer. The ECM programming on the other hand made a nice difference...a lot better mid and upper end power delivery. Take that for what it's worth!
 
#78 ·
The harsher, more pronouced shifts get annoying REAL quick in day-to-day driving.
That is a problem I would love to have. LOL I will post back when I get your tune to see if the personality of mine changes like yours did but my car doesn't really shift any different from stock with the tune I have and I am using Wag-o-neer's TCM tune but he has a 2010 wagon. I was also having engine surging at high rpm, full throttle shifts and a pretty loud puffing noise heard through the Volant air cleaner from inside of the car at idle after the first start up of the day and hopefully this will get sorted out. For the TCM program, they think it might be because of mine being a 2008 versus Wag-o-neer's 2010 but since yours is a 2008, it should work unless there is a problem with my specific car. I should be able to use your ECM tune also and if my car acts like yours does when I get your tune , I'll be tickled pink. Thanks for the update.
 
#79 ·
Yeah not a problem. You should definitely notice a difference if you use my tune. I swapped back the TCM tune to stock and it is perfect for me. The car pulls much harder to redline, the transmission still has some quick learn points from the reflash but it is a lot smoother with the stock mapping. Best of both worlds!
 
#83 ·
Awesome that would be great! I will shoot you all an email here today.

One note too, I have noticed about 200-300 miles after the reflash that the tune feels even better. The CTS seems to take a bit longer to relearn than other cars I have tuned in the past, but once it does this Trifecta tune feels REALLY good. Definitely a worthwhile mod for anyone thinking about doing it.
 
#104 ·
I'm coming from a Pontiac G8 GT and had a Cortex handheld tune. Made a huge difference on the transmission tuning. Part throttle shifts were as smooth as normal but full throttle shifts were much faster & firmer and allowed me to spin the tires on the 1/2 shift and chirp the 2/3 shift which never would've happened on the stock tune.

I guess what my point is, does the Trifecta tune allow for a difference in shift firmness based on part throttle/full throttle? I think I'm with others in that I don't really care for much change in daily driving
 
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