This will be a 100+ post lol. I’m trifecta with no issues.


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To borrow an analogy... Do you buy your suits off the rack, or do you like to go to a tailor?

 

That depends. If the $800 suit fits perfect it's not going to get better for me if I spent $1500

 

Im always gonna recommend a custom tune. At the end of the day, you know that tune file was customized specifically to your car and the fuel you run and can be sure you are getting the most power safely out of your setup. Plus you always have the ability to change things around. If you dont like how it drives, wanna make the throttle more or less responsive, etc etc, can always hit up scott and make small changes that make a big difference in your day to day driving.

 

Based on the description of what you are looking for, I would go with Trifecta. Cost effective, safe and fits your needs. If you wanted to mod or screw around with the car, I would go with Tapout.

 

so im assuming you went with tapout haha, I see your point, but then again, we all have the same engines, albeit we living in different conditions, so shouldn't the same suit fit the same body regardless of where you live?

 

I have a tapout tune, yes.

Yes, we do all have the same engines....but different altitudes, different fuel quality, little details can make a difference when it comes to tuning. Like I said, with a custom tune, you know its been optimized to your car and its conditions. You can fine tune things more. You just have more control if you want to change little small things, its easier.

Obviously this becomes a much larger concern if you start modding the car and adding other parts but if stock, yea you can certainly get a solid tune from trifecta that will work just fine and add some power.

it really comes down to what you want...im someone that wants every last horsepower and wants to push the envelope plus im very familiar with hptuners and already owned it so it was an easy choice for me to go custom/tapout

 

I've had both. The Tapout calibration is much, much better and so is the customer service. Each one of these cars is it's own animal, and a canned tune can't account for those variances.

 

That's why you run logs and send it to them to fine tune. Unless you live near Tapout that's what they're doing as well.

That said, its really personal preference. I know all the normal fan boys are going to start flaming in here but the facts are out there and easily researched. I know I've had my tune tweaked multiple times and have added higher octane tune files as well. All that and I never paid a dime over my initial tune.

 

Engine safety is your #1 concern, go Trifecta.

HP tuners are great, but you're limited by what they unlock and provide to you. Tapout advertises having features in their tune that they simply don't have.

Trifecta custom designed ARPM to push the fuel system without breaking it (Active Rail Pressure Management), tapout claims to have this feature, they don't it doesn't exist in HP tuners.

Either are good options, but for your use case I'd say Trifecta is the better bet.

Bring on the flames Tapout fan boys

 

To be bluntly honest here, I feel like trifecta makes a lot of claims and uses a lot of super technical jargon to describe pretty standard ECU functions in an over complicated way and not all of them seem to work as they claim...

ARPM is cool, but does it truly work the way they claim? I dont think so. If it did, when yall added fuel mods, meth, fuel cams etc, you would be making a bunch more boost than before with no need to retune, right? The factory fuel system lacks a lot in lower ranges, would think if the ARPM truly worked how they claimed, it would add a bunch of boost in all these ranges where the fuel supply had been increased.

Same thing with the whole bi direction enhanced knock control and zoning, just an overly complicated description of the 6 existing factory knock sensors that does the same thing stock and tuned with HPtuners. Then they claim the tune will 'adjust' for high octane fuel on its own, something that has been discussed a bunch and IMO, proven to be bullshit a few times. Theres a reason trifecta now offers seperate high octane tune files, because the claim that their tune would automatically adjust was BS. All tunes adjust knock based on 100 different factors. These ECUs are insanely complex, its never a black and white scenario with these cars.

As far as fuel pressure goes, well early on a lot of tuners came from the LS world and such, didnt really know what to expect, were running these cars like a port injected car 11.0-11.5 AFR ratios and pushing too much boost, putting lots of stress on the fuel systems and had manage to run a few cars super lean at high speeds causing damage, burnt valve on the only car id ever seen hurt

Scott @ tapout has never done this to anyones car and if tuned properly, is not an issue. With the cars air/fuel in line where it should be as a DI car and being reasonable with boost demands, there is no concern of dropping rail pressure.

And the stock security measures are still in place so if the rail pressure drops to low, it will send the car into limp mode as well.

With all that said, i still think either would be a good option, trifecta is gonna be a plug and play solution if he just wants to tune it and go and not mess with hptuners or anything and truly plans to stay tune only forever, id agree that trifecta may be the better option for his needs.

 

From my experience I’m very glad I went Tapout. I started off wanting “tune only” but we all know how that goes..... Anyways, if i had gone Trifecta I don’t think i would’ve found any issues with their tune but the datalogging process of Tapout saved my car. Scott found that my car had 0, yes 0, coolant in the manifold intercoolers. My MATs were skyrocketing under load and would never come down. I would’ve never known and blown my engine sky high with Trifecta. That is no knock on their tune at all, that’s just a matter of fact. I would’ve loaded their tune and ran it hot and never known what hit me. I would say that’s an uncommon issue except over 10 guys on the forums have now reported similar issues from the factory or after repairs on the cooling systems. With all that said trifecta has recently started reviewing data logs but i do think it’s more of an at request rather than standard procedure (correct me if I’m wrong). Their tune seems to run great but for me personally I’m 100% happy with Scott’s customer service and spending 6 hours on a Saturday diagnosing my car and helping me better understand the whole issue. My car runs like a top and i love it every morning when i jump on it.


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I don't like Trifecta because they are still lying to customers about their ability to fool the dealership to have warranty work done. This is complete BS and has been shown by people on this forum. Tapout is very clear as any tuner should be that as soon as you tune you are risking getting any power train warranty work denied. Trifecta instead uses wording that is very deceiving implying that you will still have warranty coverage but just vague enough they can deny that's what they mean. This is the quote that is still currently on their website that is complete BS and they know it.

"The TRIFECTA flash loader and Transparency featureset does not increment the ECM write counter or increment entries in the flash history"

 

"The TRIFECTA flash loader and Transparency featureset does not increment the ECM write counter or increment entries in the flash history"

There is no lie stated here though..... GM is busting warranties other was than the flash counter these days. They're looking at max torque values

 

Here’s a question, only because I’m curious; why didn’t Cadillac tune these cars to be closer to its full potential?

 

CTS-V?
Reliability?

 

Let's get down to brass tacks here- if you are tuned and need any powertrain repairs done, they are coming out of pocket. I know this first hand, even when you don't need extensive repairs done. The dealership will not pursue warranty repairs before they have sent the ECU file to GM for verification. That has never happened to me, because I've never tried to pull a fast one. So technically my powertrain warranty is intact, but I can't use it, so that is the same thing as not having a warranty at the end of the day. My powertrain warranty is voided whether or not GM sends the dealership a slip saying so.

 

Sorry but I was busy with work. I did a quick search on there site since you need spoon feeding. When they first started their transparency mode was effective but GM figured it out over time and started digging deeper. As it stands now it just makes it less obvious so the initial scan done by a dealership doesn't show issues. If you blow an engine they will dig deeper. If that hurts your feelings then get another tune. Fact is they produce a solid tune that offers many features no one else does.
They provide a good explanation here and also in their terms and conditions page

A Word About Manufacturer Warranty and Aftermarket Modifications

Some consumers choose to modify their vehicles, for many reasons. In some cases, it's to add or enhance function (e.g. a truck lift kit to provide better off-road clearance). In other cases, it's to customize the look of the vehicle (e.g. aftermarket wheels and tires, lowering suspension, etc.). ...

www.trifectaperformance.com

 

Aww so it's buried in some long winded blog post (I think?) that you have to search for. How could I have possibly missed it cause I definitely didn't miss the BS actually in the listing for their tune saying it's transparent. All I'm saying it's irresponsible to keep saying they have that "feature" when they know it's basically worthless.

I am going to get a tune very soon and it won't be from them cause if they are willing to miss lead customers with something that potentially important then what else are they going to miss lead me on?

BTW I love that you have a Fox News alert, four more!