Trifecta Tune Experience and Review...
Thread Starter
Senior Member
Joined: 08-12-08
Posts: 1,360
Likes: 0
From: East Windsor, NJ & Scranton, PA
Trifecta Tune Experience and Review...
I thought it might be useful for those of you thinking of getting a tune to describe my own personal experience of the tune I got earlier today.....First off, my 2008 SS/TC was completly stock as of this morning with the exception of a K&N air filter.
I have always been impressed by the performance of our cars stock, but I found it frustrating to have the performance effect of "hitting a brick wall" due to the learn down feature. Because of this and due to outrageous delays of the GM Stage Kit, I decided to take matters into my own hands and get the car tuned.
As I began searching for a tune to go with, I settled on 3 possible options...
The first option I came across was the Hahn PPC tuner....however the absurd price of $1000 and having no advantage over other tunes immediatly caused me to eliminate that one. (Spending 1/20th of the cars value on a tune is just nuts)
The second option I came across was a custom dyno tune. An effective choice, but the cost of a few hundred dollars as well as the unknown reliability of the tune left me hesitant.
The third choice and winner was Trifecta.....by having what appeared to be the best balance of performance, cost and reliability, I settled on the Trifecta tune due to the positive track record I have seen.
The process of getting the tune was surprisingly easy and effective. I contacted one of the North East tuners for Trifecta Performance who is a member on this site (screen name: elecblue06) and arranged an appointment with him to have the car tuned. I supplied him with my requests for what functions I wanted to have changed in my car (higher redline, launch control, etc.) and those functions were sent over to Vince at Trifecta who is their primary tuner. Vince then created the program and sent it back to "elecblue06"
When I arrived for the tune, it was a very straight forward process. "elecblue06" simply plugged his laptop into my OBD port via an adapter, installed the tune and then we took the car for a ride to data log a number of functions (Highway cruise, Highway Pull, City). This information was then sent back to Vince where he could analyze and make any corrections that might be needed (This is all done immediatly over the web so there is no delay). Any corrections that were needed are then reinstalled and the process is done.
Impressions of the tune:
When compared to the stock car, this tune adds a blistering amount of performance. It now behaves exactly as I hoped it would. Turbo lag is now almost non existent and will hold at around 21 psi with a brief peak of around 23 psi when full throttle is first applied.
Drivability has not changed AT ALL! It still behaves exactly as the stock car did when cruising around town. The only thing that has changed is that now when you floor it, rather then hit that "Brick Wall" from the learn down feature, the car feels much more fluid with the torque delivery and has a much more powerful surge than before. The car has no change in idle quality or fuel efficency. Exhaust also sounds the same at normal levels, but more robust once the high boost kicks in.
I own a 10 second Mustang and an E46 BMW M3 and I can tell you that this car with the tune would now leave my E46 M3 in the dust...obviously it would not hang with my Mustang, but if I had to gauge the 1/4 mile performance or potential, once traction is achieved, the pull feels just about equivalent to that of a stock GT500....I would say mid to high 12's describes the acceleration rate most accurately. In the next few weeks I will dyno as well as take the car to the track to get official results. It definetly has some impressive pickup in every gear now and with 30 mpg, this is about as good as a daily driver can get.
One thing I should also mention is that throughout this entire process, "elecblue06" was highly knowledgeable, professional and friendly. He clearly has a solid understanding of how these cars operate and was very helpful throughout this process. I should also thank Vince from Trifecta for developing such an excellent tune and making this process both highly efficent and effective.
I am 100% satisfied with my experience and the resulting tune. It has exceeded all of my expectations and should you find yourself in the same boat as I was, try following the same path....you will not be disappointed.
I have always been impressed by the performance of our cars stock, but I found it frustrating to have the performance effect of "hitting a brick wall" due to the learn down feature. Because of this and due to outrageous delays of the GM Stage Kit, I decided to take matters into my own hands and get the car tuned.
As I began searching for a tune to go with, I settled on 3 possible options...
The first option I came across was the Hahn PPC tuner....however the absurd price of $1000 and having no advantage over other tunes immediatly caused me to eliminate that one. (Spending 1/20th of the cars value on a tune is just nuts)
The second option I came across was a custom dyno tune. An effective choice, but the cost of a few hundred dollars as well as the unknown reliability of the tune left me hesitant.
The third choice and winner was Trifecta.....by having what appeared to be the best balance of performance, cost and reliability, I settled on the Trifecta tune due to the positive track record I have seen.
The process of getting the tune was surprisingly easy and effective. I contacted one of the North East tuners for Trifecta Performance who is a member on this site (screen name: elecblue06) and arranged an appointment with him to have the car tuned. I supplied him with my requests for what functions I wanted to have changed in my car (higher redline, launch control, etc.) and those functions were sent over to Vince at Trifecta who is their primary tuner. Vince then created the program and sent it back to "elecblue06"
When I arrived for the tune, it was a very straight forward process. "elecblue06" simply plugged his laptop into my OBD port via an adapter, installed the tune and then we took the car for a ride to data log a number of functions (Highway cruise, Highway Pull, City). This information was then sent back to Vince where he could analyze and make any corrections that might be needed (This is all done immediatly over the web so there is no delay). Any corrections that were needed are then reinstalled and the process is done.
Impressions of the tune:
When compared to the stock car, this tune adds a blistering amount of performance. It now behaves exactly as I hoped it would. Turbo lag is now almost non existent and will hold at around 21 psi with a brief peak of around 23 psi when full throttle is first applied.
Drivability has not changed AT ALL! It still behaves exactly as the stock car did when cruising around town. The only thing that has changed is that now when you floor it, rather then hit that "Brick Wall" from the learn down feature, the car feels much more fluid with the torque delivery and has a much more powerful surge than before. The car has no change in idle quality or fuel efficency. Exhaust also sounds the same at normal levels, but more robust once the high boost kicks in.
I own a 10 second Mustang and an E46 BMW M3 and I can tell you that this car with the tune would now leave my E46 M3 in the dust...obviously it would not hang with my Mustang, but if I had to gauge the 1/4 mile performance or potential, once traction is achieved, the pull feels just about equivalent to that of a stock GT500....I would say mid to high 12's describes the acceleration rate most accurately. In the next few weeks I will dyno as well as take the car to the track to get official results. It definetly has some impressive pickup in every gear now and with 30 mpg, this is about as good as a daily driver can get.
One thing I should also mention is that throughout this entire process, "elecblue06" was highly knowledgeable, professional and friendly. He clearly has a solid understanding of how these cars operate and was very helpful throughout this process. I should also thank Vince from Trifecta for developing such an excellent tune and making this process both highly efficent and effective.
I am 100% satisfied with my experience and the resulting tune. It has exceeded all of my expectations and should you find yourself in the same boat as I was, try following the same path....you will not be disappointed.
Last edited by agent007kimball; Apr 19, 2009 at 12:22 AM.
it was nice meeting you man 
you were really cool i'm just sad my car wasn't running so we couldn't run for me to see how my car stands lol
being that sthe first time i've been in a tuned LNF i'm SUPER impressed it almost makes me want to knock my 350 goal back lol but then like we said everyone gets HP hungry lol
DGA hit me up if you want a tune.. my gf's in CT (thats where agent went) so we could meet up .. around there if you'd like i dunno any trifecta dealers in your area
Hope to see you at the OCC meet dan you were really cool
you were really cool i'm just sad my car wasn't running so we couldn't run for me to see how my car stands lol being that sthe first time i've been in a tuned LNF i'm SUPER impressed it almost makes me want to knock my 350 goal back lol but then like we said everyone gets HP hungry lol
DGA hit me up if you want a tune.. my gf's in CT (thats where agent went) so we could meet up .. around there if you'd like i dunno any trifecta dealers in your area
Hope to see you at the OCC meet dan you were really cool
the price from me as a dealer is 225 if we can get a group of people together as a tune day the price goes down
I service alot of the NE and I'll direct you towards someone who is closer if I'm not the best one to go with
I service alot of the NE and I'll direct you towards someone who is closer if I'm not the best one to go with
Senior Member
Joined: 10-28-08
Posts: 5,068
Likes: 0
From: New Milford, NJ
I thought it might be useful for those of you thinking of getting a tune to describe my own personal experience of the tune I got earlier today.....First off, my 2008 SS/TC was completly stock as of this morning with the exception of a K&N air filter.
I have always been impressed by the performance of our cars stock, but I found it frustrating to have the performance effect of "hitting a brick wall" due to the learn down feature. Because of this and due to outrageous delays of the GM Stage Kit, I decided to take matters into my own hands and get the car tuned.
As I began searching for a tune to go with, I settled on 3 possible options...
The first option I came across was the Hahn PPC tuner....however the absurd price of $1000 and having no advantage over other tunes immediatly caused me to eliminate that one. (Spending 1/20th of the cars value on a tune is just nuts)
The second option I came across was a custom dyno tune. An effective choice, but the cost of a few hundred dollars as well as the unknown reliability of the tune left me hesitant.
The third choice and winner was Trifecta.....by having what appeared to be the best balance of performance, cost and reliability, I settled on the Trifecta tune due to the positive track record I have seen.
The process of getting the tune was surprisingly easy and effective. I contacted one of the North East tuners for Trifecta Performance who is a member on this site (screen name: elecblue06) and arranged an appointment with him to have the car tuned. I supplied him with my requests for what functions I wanted to have changed in my car (higher redline, launch control, etc.) and those functions were sent over to Vince at Trifecta who is their primary tuner. Vince then created the program and sent it back to "elecblue06"
When I arrived for the tune, it was a very straight forward process. "elecblue06" simply plugged his laptop into my OBD port via an adapter, installed the tune and then we took the car for a ride to data log a number of functions (Highway cruise, Highway Pull, City). This information was then sent back to Vince where he could analyze and make any corrections that might be needed (This is all done immediatly over the web so there is no delay). Any corrections that were needed are then reinstalled and the process is done.
Impressions of the tune:
When compared to the stock car, this tune adds a blistering amount of performance. It now behaves exactly as I hoped it would. Turbo lag is now almost non existent and will hold at around 21 psi with a brief peak of around 23 psi when full throttle is first applied.
Drivability has not changed AT ALL! It still behaves exactly as the stock car did when cruising around town. The only thing that has changed is that now when you floor it, rather then hit that "Brick Wall" from the learn down feature, the car feels much more fluid with the torque delivery and has a much more powerful surge than before. The car has no change in idle quality or fuel efficency. Exhaust also sounds the same at normal levels, but more robust once the high boost kicks in.
I own a 10 second Mustang and an E46 BMW M3 and I can tell you that this car with the tune would now leave my E46 M3 in the dust...obviously it would not hang with my Mustang, but if I had to gauge the 1/4 mile performance or potential, once traction is achieved, the pull feels just about equivalent to that of a stock GT500....I would say mid to high 12's describes the acceleration rate most accurately. In the next few weeks I will dyno as well as take the car to the track to get official results. It definetly has some impressive pickup in every gear now and with 30 mpg, this is about as good as a daily driver can get.
One thing I should also mention is that throughout this entire process, "elecblue06" was highly knowledgeable, professional and friendly. He clearly has a solid understanding of how these cars operate and was very helpful throughout this process. I should also thank Vince from Trifecta for developing such an excellent tune and making this process both highly efficent and effective.
I am 100% satisfied with my experience and the resulting tune. It has exceeded all of my expectations and should you find yourself in the same boat as I was, try following the same path....you will not be disappointed.
I have always been impressed by the performance of our cars stock, but I found it frustrating to have the performance effect of "hitting a brick wall" due to the learn down feature. Because of this and due to outrageous delays of the GM Stage Kit, I decided to take matters into my own hands and get the car tuned.
As I began searching for a tune to go with, I settled on 3 possible options...
The first option I came across was the Hahn PPC tuner....however the absurd price of $1000 and having no advantage over other tunes immediatly caused me to eliminate that one. (Spending 1/20th of the cars value on a tune is just nuts)
The second option I came across was a custom dyno tune. An effective choice, but the cost of a few hundred dollars as well as the unknown reliability of the tune left me hesitant.
The third choice and winner was Trifecta.....by having what appeared to be the best balance of performance, cost and reliability, I settled on the Trifecta tune due to the positive track record I have seen.
The process of getting the tune was surprisingly easy and effective. I contacted one of the North East tuners for Trifecta Performance who is a member on this site (screen name: elecblue06) and arranged an appointment with him to have the car tuned. I supplied him with my requests for what functions I wanted to have changed in my car (higher redline, launch control, etc.) and those functions were sent over to Vince at Trifecta who is their primary tuner. Vince then created the program and sent it back to "elecblue06"
When I arrived for the tune, it was a very straight forward process. "elecblue06" simply plugged his laptop into my OBD port via an adapter, installed the tune and then we took the car for a ride to data log a number of functions (Highway cruise, Highway Pull, City). This information was then sent back to Vince where he could analyze and make any corrections that might be needed (This is all done immediatly over the web so there is no delay). Any corrections that were needed are then reinstalled and the process is done.
Impressions of the tune:
When compared to the stock car, this tune adds a blistering amount of performance. It now behaves exactly as I hoped it would. Turbo lag is now almost non existent and will hold at around 21 psi with a brief peak of around 23 psi when full throttle is first applied.
Drivability has not changed AT ALL! It still behaves exactly as the stock car did when cruising around town. The only thing that has changed is that now when you floor it, rather then hit that "Brick Wall" from the learn down feature, the car feels much more fluid with the torque delivery and has a much more powerful surge than before. The car has no change in idle quality or fuel efficency. Exhaust also sounds the same at normal levels, but more robust once the high boost kicks in.
I own a 10 second Mustang and an E46 BMW M3 and I can tell you that this car with the tune would now leave my E46 M3 in the dust...obviously it would not hang with my Mustang, but if I had to gauge the 1/4 mile performance or potential, once traction is achieved, the pull feels just about equivalent to that of a stock GT500....I would say mid to high 12's describes the acceleration rate most accurately. In the next few weeks I will dyno as well as take the car to the track to get official results. It definetly has some impressive pickup in every gear now and with 30 mpg, this is about as good as a daily driver can get.
One thing I should also mention is that throughout this entire process, "elecblue06" was highly knowledgeable, professional and friendly. He clearly has a solid understanding of how these cars operate and was very helpful throughout this process. I should also thank Vince from Trifecta for developing such an excellent tune and making this process both highly efficent and effective.
I am 100% satisfied with my experience and the resulting tune. It has exceeded all of my expectations and should you find yourself in the same boat as I was, try following the same path....you will not be disappointed.
jk kyle
Senior Member
Joined: 08-04-08
Posts: 7,137
Likes: 0
From: Nor Cal
Senior Member
Joined: 01-04-06
Posts: 1,257
Likes: 0
From: RI
yeah check it out for me!! you dont seem to far i would probably meet up
Senior Member
Joined: 10-09-08
Posts: 569
Likes: 0
From: Conneautville. Pa
I was ready to get the Trifecta tune, but now I am hesitating because I am worried about the clutch. Can you set me straight? I have seen quite a bit from people who said they need to upgrade the clutch now because of slipping around 3300 to 3500 rpms. I'm not adverse to upgrading the clutch, but don't want to spend that much money right now. Have you seen any clutch slippage?