Hey everyone, i need help on deciding what to do. As of now im fully bolted minus the 3" catback, and i have a second ecu. I have been considering the thought of selling the second ecu and putting the money towards the gm stage 1 kit, or keeping the second ecu and getting a custom tune.

Help me decide please. I know ill get more out of a custom hp tune, but i like the idea of the gm stage 1 kit also.

 

Which is why I favor the kit.

I don't plan on modding the shiat out of the car , either , so hopefully the additional oomph from the kit will be enough for me.

I really wish they had done something to increase the low end torque in first, though - that is one of my gripes.

That, and the touchy clutch. I am guess I am spoiled - the Camaro has V8 grunt off the line coupled w/ a 2800 stall.

Ease it off the line, then gas it - WHEEEEEEEEEEEEEEE !!

Britt

 

so can you please tell me why you would rather spend $700 on a gm tune that makes less hp than a $250 custom tune? I mean thats a no brainer

 

I'm in the same boat (except I don't have my bolt-ons yet...)
The custom tune will be almost the same price when you add $250 for a second ECU, $250 for a tune and maybe more if you want some dyno time in there too.

I'm leaning toward stage one at this point.

 

HP Tuners FTW!

 

if you can get the GM stage kit installed for $500 then you're getting one hell of a deal. lol fail

HP tuners or trifecta ftw lol

 

Well, I said plus dyno time for the record lol, so fail back atcha.
Yes the stage kit will be more than $500 installed, but he mentioned getting a spare ECU. So that begins to close the price gap between getting a tune, or a stage kit.

 

no he said he HAS a spare ecu. as in already bought it. And I don't understand why you would include the price of a dyno. Theres a thing called street tuning.

 

GMSW1 all the way

 

plus with a stage kit you can't optimize your tune for each bolt on. I mean theres a guy on here with i believe 363whp and 393wtq with some bolts on a HP tune. Can't get even close to that with a stage kit

 

You might save on the HP Tuners tune in the beginning but what happens when you break something. Even if you have a spare ecu thats alot of evidence to coverup. Get the gms1 tune and then wait till your warranty to expire to tune on top of it so the learn down fearture is turned off. The new map sensors in the kit are built to withstand more boost so you wont have to worry about burning stock maps all the time.

 

thats the risk you take. gotta pay to play

 

i know that the hp tune would be more feasible to get the most out of the mods but im not sure if i wanna go that agressive right now. I mean with the gm stage 1 kit and fully bolted i should be able to see 310 ish whp and 340ish wtq and i would be happy with that. Iunno still undecided. If i didnt already have the second ecu i would have ordered the stage 1 kit by now. Selling the ecu isnt a problem tho because i got a guy thats willing to pay $350 for it.

 

do what makes you happy. im just telling you what i would do and what will be the cheapest/fastest.

 

yeah i understand and i will probably go with the hp tune, just wanted to get some opinions. I respect your opinion.

 

The exact same thing is going to happen with the LNFs that happened with the LSJs when the stage kits came out.

Everyone is going to get them instead of a custom tune for warranty and whatnot.

And then later down the road a lot of people will want more, and end up going custom tuned anyways.

Look what happened with the LSJ's. A lot of people weren't happy with the stage kits and went farther, well a lot of people were happy with it and stayed.

Just decide if you will be happy with what the GM S1 will give you and decide.

If you are happy staying around the 300 whp range then go with teh GM S1, otherwise go the custom tune route.

Kevin

 

^ yep. this. see i am not happy with 300whp so i want more

 

If you go GMS1, sell me your spare VCM lol. But I would go HPT over GMS1 if I had to make the choice again

 

Hey I would get the GMS1 then wait tell you get a catback hold out a little longer then when the warranty is done get a tune over the GMS1 and you will see even more HP!!!!

 

GMS1 and down pipe and any intake GM can come out with......if they do

Plan A: ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^

 

You could do it all. Sell the second ECM, get the stage tune, then get a custom tune on top of the stage tune.

 

but i think he wants to try to keep his warrenty. Either by switching in the 2nd ecu or buying the stage kit. I agree though terminator. that is what i would do lol

 

I agree with him too lol. I just didnt think that was part of the options, but that is the best idea!!

 

even with the gmstg1 they can still deny you of driving habits/racing/excessive abuse/etc

dont go gmsgt1

 

I say keep the spare ECU, its what I did. Havent had a problem with the warranty yet. And like others said, they can refuse you with the GMST1 if they really wanted to.