[njdevilz1]

I was wondering what options are out there right now for getting a tune.
There are no shops around me that have any experience tuning the LSA engine and I would not have confidence in letting them tune my car on their dyno. I previously owned a Trail Blazer SS , and had some minor issues when I had my TB dyno tuned.

So that more or less limits me to handheld email tune or having a (ECM?) tuned or pre-loaded(?) and sent to me?

I want something that I am able to swap out and go back to stock if needed.
What if any vendors offer hand held tunes?

With just a board swap , would it not more or less just be a generic tune that wouldn't be able to be adjusted at all? I do not know much about this , but a preloaded tune would not be able to account for the current DA the car is running in and other unique factors that vary from stock car to car?

The only thing that scares me about a handheld , is that I have read some things that it may cause some issues if it does not have the correct firmware etc. I also would not want it where if I had any warranty issues , GM could see that there have been changes made from the factory settings even if you remove the custom tune you used from your handheld.


Sorry for the long winded post , more or less looking for any and all options I have for a tune besides a dyno tune and what is recommended. Ability ot go back ot stock is very important for me.

 

[njdevilz1]

I am thinking for now it may not be worth it for me to even get a tune. For the increase in HP/TQ/ throttle response and shifting may not be worth the risk of tossing out my warranty.
If I knew there was a way to tune with no risk at all , I would love to be able to do that.

 

[DrumStix]

Where do you live. Not going with a dyno tune and doing the necessary data logging is a recipe to end up blowing you stuff up. Pretty much that's what's gone down here.

 

[Nutz]

To the OP, it depends also on how far you want to go. If you want to "wake up" an easy 100 plus or minus hp than you can order a conservative lower pulley upgrade, CAI, and an ECM swap-out fairly cheap from a vendor here, these parts can be easily installed by your local ASE mechanic. If your looking to join the ranks of high horsepower junkies (600+ rwhp) than you better be ready to take your car to a reputable shop, have it specifically tuned, and have a strong risk of warranty refusal and/or premature transmission wear.

This is a discussion that can be beaten into the ground with many opinions in all directions, choose wisely.

 

[njdevilz1]

I was hoping to be able to do the upper pulley swap but appears to be impossible to go back to stock after the swap has been done.
Is it fairly safe to do the lower/CAI/ECM swap out? I assume that if you purchase the ecm swap form same place you get the lower , it would be a pretty safe tune and spefically somewhat dialed in for thaose particular mods? I imagine you would include what your elevation , humidity is etc. of where you would be runnig the car and the ECM would be prograqmmed accordingly? I just would not want to have issues of running lean and damaging crap.

I am from a small city somewhat close to Calgary Alberta. I guess Davenport is a reputable shop but they charge astronomical prices for dyno tunes etc. I would almost prefer a email tune or pre-loaded ECM over their dyno tune as I am not cinfident they have much experience work ing with the LSA engines???

 

[Nutz]

I was hoping to be able to do the upper pulley swap but appears to be impossible to go back to stock after the swap has been done.
Is it fairly safe to do the lower/CAI/ECM swap out? I assume that if you purchase the ecm swap form same place you get the lower , it would be a pretty safe tune and spefically somewhat dialed in for thaose particular mods?

You are correct. But be wise on your pulley size as it is a significant boost/hp increase. The pre-programmed ECM worked well for me. Your vendor will advise you on how the ECM works and how reliable it will be for your application. The labor bill should be well under 1k easy.

 

[Nutz]

Double post. Deleted.

 

[translux]

Contact Jesse wait4me his tunes via his handheld tunner are great.
I have no mods and jesse's base tune and it certainly has made a noticeable impact.
Car has better more linear throttle response and power.
The biggest difference is that the car feels like it like it pulls to redline whit a much greater willingness.
Before the car felt like it was working hard or was forced to get there.
My car is a manual btw.

 

[CTSV4now]

Why can't a person revert back to stock if they have a spare snout with the stock pulley still attached?

D3 said in a post a while back that changing the upper pulley leaves "fingerprints". What does that mean?

 

[baabootoo]

Well, it depends how much work you're willing to do, right? Will you carry all the spare parts to change back if on the road? It's nothing to carry the flash tuner, but a snout, tools, etc? I'm guessing that just like in life, they meant "most" mechanics will not be able to R&R this, w/o breaking something, bending something, having a mismatched part, line, etc.

 

[DrumStix]

Be careful. The horsepower bug may bite!

 

[DrumStix]

Why can't a person revert back to stock if they have a spare snout with the stock pulley still attached?

D3 said in a post a while back that changing the upper pulley leaves "fingerprints". What does that mean?

It means wear gloves or it's been blueprinted or something.