Ok so tax time is coming up and I want to put something into my 2010 SS/TC.........obviously

Question 1: Can i do anything to my car to up the performance without getting HP Tuners/Trifecta/GMS1??

Question 2: I'f i put a downpipe/charge piping/intake am i going to feel any power increase without a tune??

Question 3: What would be the best thing to do to my car??

 

you'll feel a slight power increase with charge pipes w/o a tune...as far as the downpipe... well I'll let you know tomorrow

 

ok hahaha, anyone else have any info on this??

 

also if i did tune it what would be the cheapest??? Trifecta/GMS1

 

With the tune depends on if your worried about warranty or not. But with a trifecta you can flash back to stock. im waiting on my trifecta tune now. And if i need to go back to the dealer i jsut flash it back. maybe someone can elaborate more. but trifecta is cheaper than gms1

 

if you find someone local they can tune your car adn flash you back to stock if you ever need warranty work. I had trifecta and went to hpt cause one of my friends tunes with it and i think its better cause they can actually log your **** and work on it with you while you drive

 

Hows that downpipe

 

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Without a tune, the hundreds for the CAI, CP and DP are totally wasted. Add the trifecta and you will fly. Then you can reflash it to stock for warranty needs.

 

Car has learn down mods without any tune won't net much if any

 

gms1 is expensive like $600-800 installed but you get to keep warranty trifecta is good and like $300-400 i have no tune with k&n dropin and megan catless downpipe and the downpipe feels and sounds good gonna get ic pipes and intake tube later and then tune

 

Ok a note about the learn down... You will still feel power increases. Not super huge peak power but its different. You will feel (and hear) the turbo spool faster. The engine will make power over a wider area of the RPM range. This will make your car feel faster, because it is. How well the learn down works or doesn't work doesn't really matter since you are making the power over a larger RPM range. The thing I will caution you about is that the CAI you are planning on installing will skew fuel trims. The tune can compensate for this. If you run without a tune the trim can skew enough into the + range to lean the air/fuel mix to bad levels. Some intakes can skew trims more than others. The mods aren't worthless without a tune per-se but they are less beneficial without running a tune to take advantage of the more efficient air flow into and out of the motor.

 

Peeps correct me if I'm wrong here, but....

I believe if you add bolt-ons without a tune you will not net any peak power due to the "learn down". You might get some power increase in a few spots in the lower-mid rpm range, but I don't know.
The biggest thing would be faster turbo spool up but that's hardly worth the hundreds of dollars you'd be spending.

Granted if you're going to get a custom tune then it's really not such a bad idea to bolt on first and then tune once.

Speaking from the little experience I have... I have intake, downpipe, and tune.
Tune is by far the biggest power adder. I'd say downpipe is next and then intake.

 

Charge pipes first: ...meh, looked cool
I had my intake on for a day.5 w/ charge pipes & no tune: you hear it more.. but as far as power, it wasn't much gain(then again, I didn't drive hard much cuz one of my headlights was out, an there's traffic in the morning )
After the DP got added on, there's def a power increase an it sounds that much better (I got the Bad-Mab btw.. a BEEEEETCH to install on Jack stands )
After Trifecta Tune: PSSSHHHHHHH crazy.. really tho, get on that tune.. GMS1 sounds pretty peppy from what I hear..
but I got my trifecta Tune earlier today an yea..
make it happen capn

 

The best thing entirely depends on how you want to drive your car. You can put your money where it will do the most for you if you can define this.

 

A. Bolt-on mods (downpipe and/or intake) without tune. Not much performance gain, because they change the air/fuel requirements. Also, the so called "learn down" of the stock tune negates most of the gains. This is not really a "learn down" but rather a "nanny control" that limits the amount of torque allowed. Adding performance mods means you'll be a little quicker up to peak torque, but beyond that it's wasted because the computer will pull boost to limit the power.

B. Tune without being specifically tuned for the bolt-on mods (like the GMS1 or canned tune). This will allow a bit more gain from your mods, because the nanny features are removed, but you are still not seeing the full potential of performance. It does remove the nanny controls, so you'll see a decent performance increase.

C. Custom tune for the mods you have installed. Obvious the best for optimizing maximium performance.

 

Let me be very specific here...

Answer #1: Yes... Sticky tires

Answer#2: Yes... See my above post. The power band will be noticeably broadened due to better volumetric efficiency. That being said, however, a tune is very very very very beneficial for any engine bolt on modification on the intake side of these cars.

Answer#3: If you daily drive this car, get a K&N drop in and a Trifecta 23psi selectable tune. You will be pushing 300hp and maybe a little more torque to the wheels. And that wouldn't be too expensive.

 

^^what he said

 

I was totally bolted before I got the GMS1. You will verry much notice a gain in speed! I don't know about the learn down on the stock tune. I was bolted on the stock tune from SEP09-NOV09 I did not notice any learn downing from the stock tune. The GMS1 realy woke it up though. Kicked ass! I am going to go with a crazy Trifecta tune next and blow up my turbo (I want to get a new one lol). With all the bolt ons I have put on the Down Pipe is by far the most noticable! DP first! Then Intake. Check out ZZP they have a good wright up on what to do first. If I had to do it over again I would have gone with ZZP instead of Hahn. Hahn is expensive as hell, however I have never had an issue with hahn stuff. Cobalt & Ion ---> ZZ Performance

 

Remember what ever you get. You get what you paied for. Dont go with cheap ass ebay stuff.

 

so the trifecta is a good tune? i like that it has the option to flash it on and off. as of now i only have the hahn intake but i ordered the zzp catless and it should be here sometime this week, so is the trifecta a good choice?

 

Trifecta's def a good choice, I think I get better mpg 2

 

^really? thats the only thing i am kind of worried about, lowering my MPG lol

 

yea, well... not at first cuz you're gonna be gunnin it everywhere jus to watch your boost gauge an listen to your car take the **** off but when I'm jus cruisin.. its pretty good
Also... Trifecta- ~$275-350 dependin on who does it..
GMS1- atleast $550 for the set+ installation fees+whatever else they wanna charge you

 

Exactly all of the above. Couldn't answer better. Plus, like someone above stated, don't forget that you get what you pay for. As far as CAI, DP and CP, the price difference between good ones and average ones is not crazy, so if you are in the position to get the better ones, do it. I'm assuming you are planning to keep the car either forever or for a long time if you are willing to put mods in, so it will be something you will have and enjoy for a long time, so if you can, it is definately worth it the money on our engines.