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Trifecta CTS Vsport tune review

204K views 395 replies 80 participants last post by  CADI_JAQ 
#1 ·
I recently traded in my ISF and replaced it with a new Vsport CTS:

http://www.cadillacforums.com/forum...3673-new-cts-vsport-premium-phantom-gray.html


This car as many others have said is not only comfortable but its also fast. It doesn't really feel that fast, but looking at the speedometer it always reminds me otherwise.


I own a few other cars that are modded, and I was curious what the Vsport CTS can do. After shopping around for a bit for power adders, I decided on buying a tune from Trifecta. They were the only place that as far as I can tell has their own CTS Vsport that they did their development work on instead of discovering or figuring out their stuff on my car. I felt pretty comfortable buying what will work right out of the box. I also liked how Trifecta writes their tunes and tests for all kinds of driving conditions, like changes in altitude or if the weather changes for warmer or colder the tune already has the adaptation built in. Having their own validation and testing stuff on their own cars also helps.

So after exchanging out a few emails I took them up on their introductory pricing on a CTS Vsport tune purchase.

Also, after shopping around some more, it doesn't appear that anyone else out there has a transmission tune for the CTS Vsports, and that was a major factor for me as well. If I had any complaints about the stock car, I think the transmission causes quite a few of them. The CTS Vsport transmission seems like its constantly hunting for gears and is somewhat indecisive at that. When you roll into the gas, there is some sort of a pause as the transmission downshifts or some sort of a torque management cutting power. I wanted to try a transmission tune and Trifecta was the only place that had one.





I did the install at a dyno shop that actually recommended Trifecta over their own tuning because of what they described as "incomplete support" for the Vsport CTS from the other dyno tuning software out there.

I did two baseline dyno pulls stock and then proceeded to install the engine and transmission tune. I then did another two pulls with the tune installed:





Driving on the street, the car feels stronger across the board, and that throttle tip in hesitation is now gone as well. On the stock tune, it almost feels like that there was some sort of a barrier to acceleration when you give it gas that is now gone. With the tune installed, it feels like it just wants to go, almost like a completely new car. The car now actually feels fast and where before the tune there was some hesitation and vagueness, its now attentive and focused.

From what the dyno shows, with the Trifecta tune installed, the car picked up 90 Ft-Lbs under the curve and 67 WHP peak. At 4300 RPM, it picks up about 80 WHP or so. Not bad for the price I guess.







 

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#10 ·
Okay, I am TOTALLY hooked on this tune. Love it, love it, love it. No more lag of any kind, boost kicks in a lot sooner than before. More power and sooner. In Sport mode, it's just about perfect and I will probably never switch to another mode in day-to-day driving. It leaves nothing to be desired. Ridiculous power at low speeds to the point that I get scared of losing control (never happened on the stock version). Now I also have plentiful power at high speeds (no more lags for the car to find Performance Shifting Algorithm). I honestly cannot think why I would want the V now.

The tune works across all modes, I believe. As a result, the Tour mode is no longer that agreeable family mode. With the tranny tuning and more boost, it's just as an eager poppy in Tour mode as in other modes. In the ideal world, I would leave Tour mode completely unchanged (no new boost and no tranny reprogramming), while only improving Sport and Track programming. That way you could really have THE BEST of all worlds in one car. I am sad it's not an option, but I am still EXTREMELY happy with the tune and mad at GM for detuning the Vsport.

I believe the programming in the Tour mode is not as smooth as in the Sport mode, but I have to check that next week. Maybe it just felt odd while I was getting used to the tune. The Sport mode modulates very well (direct connection between the gas pedal and the car). I think in the Tour mode there was a little jerkiness when letting go of gas. I need to check this. It's not the case in the Sport mode or at least I got totally used it.

One unexpected benefit is that the car is actually quieter (only tested in Sport mode). Since I no longer need to rev as high to access power, the car is quieter on the highway when I pass. In that sense, it actually feels more luxurious than before. I believe a luxury car should have effortless power. With stock Vsport, the car can be strong in PSA when passing at high speeds, but because of high revving noise it does not feel effortless. It feels pretty effortless with the Trifecta tune (perhaps a combination of more boost and better torque availability).
 
#11 ·
CadillacVic,

With the Trifecta tune I'm curious to know how your car behaves in sport mode when leaving the line hard on the gas. Is there alot of additional wheelspin? Or does the computer correct for the dump truck load of additional torque and provide some sort of modulation?

Thanks..
 
#15 ·
The traction control still works, I would say that with the tune and with traction control on, there is a touch bit more wheelspin on sport, but not more to the point of just laying down strips of rubber. With traction control off however, that is a very different story. Full boost comes on pretty early with this tune.


I assume mpg drastically drops.
On mine the MPG largely stayed the same. If anything I think maybe it improved a bit on my daily drive routine. When you're really heavy on the throttle however, WOW does it burn gas!
 
#12 ·
I'll tell you one reason I am afraid of the Trifecta tune.
I've tried to email those jokers and get no reply for days (still waiting).
There list of tuners sounds looks like an episode of Fast & Furious and have screen names with lots of XXs and ZZs in them.

I spoke with a couple of serious Houston speed shops and to D3 and no one made me feel any better.

Guess I will wait on Hennessey. I know where they are and they answer the phone.
-frustrated-
 
#18 ·
Just got off an very nice phone call with Mitchell at Trifecta who was kind enough to use his lunch break to call me.
He totally quelled any issues I had with their tuning and explained how it works.

I'll be ordering a tune from them later tonight.

He also apologized for the delay in contacting me.
Seems they get multiple thousands of emails a week.

brad in houston.
 
#21 ·
I mentioned this in the General Discussion and thought I would post it here also. The fact that you can return to a stock tune is nice but if something does go wrong with the engine or tranny and you switch it back to stock, they will know the computer was reflashed. It keeps a history. Also, doesn't Cadillac monitor this forum? They have responded directly to me regarding a past issue. If that is the case, if people are discussing their Trifecta tunes and any warranty issues come up, I don't think it would be hard for Cadillac to figure out who you are and deny warranties. Trifecta is very upfront about being "transparent", they are not trying to deceive anyone...just my 2 cents.
 
#24 ·
Been living with this product for a few days after having it installed by a very nice gentleman from the manufacturer whom I proceeded to give a healthy test drive.

Although I've been very busy with a couple of projects since Saturday I have been driving the car daily.

I'll report on Sport Mode driving as that is where I spend my time.
There is a huge difference in power levels with this product.
Throttle tip in is very responsive, the stock lag has vanished.
The tune is very aggressive on boost levels as you see boost with the smallest throttle applications.
At full throttle the boost gauge is pegged.
When cruising around, if you need to suddenly generate a LOT of speed, all you need to do is give it a little throttle.
If you give the car full throttle you are into speeding ticket mode almost immediately.

I have found the transmission to be much improved yet I still see a bit of hunting and confusion from time-to-time which is similar to the stock setup when used in D mode.
The transmission is not 100% cured but it is much, much better.

I drove, built and raced turbo rotary racecars for many years and this reminds me of what is so fun about a turbo engine, it just gets brutal when it is on boost.
Bottom line, this puts the CTS Vsport into beast mode.

brad in houston
 
#25 ·
Damn Brad that is a great review. So the total out of pocket to trifecta was only 888$? Are all cables needed included with tune or have to be purchased separately? I took mine to track on Sunday and running stock i was getting a 13.1 leaving the line at about 2500 to 3000 rpm this car is very capable of running a 12.9. any rpm higher than previously stated was giving me a lot of wheel spin at take off on stock tires resulting in a13.4et. Sport mode traction control off stabilitrac comp mode. See here
http://instagram.com/p/ovQvfMO5WM/
 
#30 ·
Thanks Curt.

Yes, total was $888 plus tax.
I've seen a couple of comment about the price, I think it is a bargain when you look at HP and torque gains and get recalibrated transmission and diff.

My cable is on the way to me, didn't need it as a nice guy from Trifecta installed for me.
Install time was about 5 minutes.

I don't have much drag experience, but have to say you will LOVE this next time out after tuning.
The torque from around 3K is a huge difference and the car really starts hauling.
Go back and look at anyone's tuned dyno sheets.

brad in houston
 
#32 · (Edited)
Kayla@TRIFECTA said:
On the 0-60 times we can consistently match or exceed stock, however depending on conditions a 0.3 second improvement or better is possible. One of our customers currently holds "the world's fastest CTS V-Sport" quarter mile record at 12.30@116. Stock vehicle with a TRIFECTA CTS V-Sport powertrain recalibration. On one of our CTS V-Sport development platforms, one of our engineers timeslipped at 12.34@116.5 on a stock vehicle that had maybe another 200 lbs of telemetry equipment and instrumentation. Stock CTS V-Sport with a TRIFECTA cal. Here is a CTS V-Sport running a 12.41@115.61 with a TRIFECTA cal: http://i58.tinypic.com/309h6z8.jpg
I don't have 93 octane here in California what type of gains can be seen with 91 octane or is the tune only for 93 octane?
 
#33 ·
I've been on 91 octane since I bought the car and my dyno graph on the first post of this thread is done on 91 octane. I guess the better question is now how much more is there with 93? Trifecta says their tune is developed with 91 octane but will adapt to 93?

I have since buying the tune done about 1000 miles and the Trifecta tune just puts a smile on my face every time I drive the car. Its so much more responsive with the transmission tune and its been very consistent so far. The power is always there and feels like its always ready to GO.

My gas mileage hasn't changed much with the tune as well, I'll report back when I get some more miles on it...
 
#34 ·
Perses said:
I've been on 91 octane since I bought the car and my dyno graph on the first post of this thread is done on 91 octane. I guess the better question is now how much more is there with 93? Trifecta says their tune is developed with 91 octane but will adapt to 93? I have since buying the tune done about 1000 miles and the Trifecta tune just puts a smile on my face every time I drive the car. Its so much more responsive with the transmission tune and its been very consistent so far. The power is always there and feels like its always ready to GO. My gas mileage hasn't changed much with the tune as well, I'll report back when I get some more miles on it...
Yes please report back with any updates gas milage, track times if you take it to the track I'm interested in getting this tune. Thanks!
 
#35 ·
Perses said:
I've been on 91 octane since I bought the car and my dyno graph on the first post of this thread is done on 91 octane. I guess the better question is now how much more is there with 93? Trifecta says their tune is developed with 91 octane but will adapt to 93? I have since buying the tune done about 1000 miles and the Trifecta tune just puts a smile on my face every time I drive the car. Its so much more responsive with the transmission tune and its been very consistent so far. The power is always there and feels like its always ready to GO. My gas mileage hasn't changed much with the tune as well, I'll report back when I get some more miles on it...
Perses Any new updates on gas milage or track times?
 
#36 ·
Is this something I can install myself? Do you just plug the cable into the OBD port and download the software from your computer via the emailed software they send or do you get a disk? Is it true that the ECBM keeps a history of the reflash? Just got my 2014 Vsport last week so probably want to wait until it has 1,000-1,500 miles on it before installing the Trifecta software. Is the price still $888?

Thanks,

John
 
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