I called my local dealership and asked them if they solder the wires, they said it's supposed to be spliced then heat wrapped.

Not being auto savvy at all I asked him to explain, he basically said it's spliced then the wires are wrapped and heated until they shrink to make a very tight seal. blah blah blah the rest went over my head.

Is this gonna work? He said they've done 2 HHR's and they haven't came back with problems.

I know I'm getting annoying, but I can't decide on GMS1 or Trifecta.

Warranty is my road block. If I didn't have one I'd be Trifected already! I know Trifecta isn't detectable and if I write to stock then it wouldn't be an issue, but I just lost my laptop (sure I can use my girls) and buying that cable is like not really saving me in cost. GMS1 is $455 plus $160 labor.

So bare with me, I'll do something sooner or later.

 

Unless you are planning on going real big on power and don't mind spending some time reading and learning, consider Hptuners. Trifecta and hpt are really about the same until you reach >400whp. Anything past that requires modded fuel pressure either from a trifecta tune or physically modding the wiring to the hpfps.

Bonus to HPT is the fact that you can constantly work on your car, tune for bolt-ons yourself and learn a thing or two about what's actually going on in the car from a great community of very knowledgable people (BYT, Term, IAB etc). Not to mention it comes with a code scanner for CEL's and DTC's.

Downside is, if you don't know what you're doing you can really mess some stuff up, VCM suite is still $500+, and the whole fuel pressure thing.

Trifecta has some other pretty cool options like the select-a-tune, 1:1 ETC ratio and they also have great customer service. I'm pretty sure Vince is actually a robot. I emailed him about the trifecta/hpt combo tune and he got back to me within like 20 minutes.. Not sure how he keeps up with everything going on around him.


I was looking into the GMS1 to start as well, but from what I've read and a couple people I've met, it seems like nothing but problems. A custom tune can produce a lot more power and if need be you can always write over the pcm back to stock for warranty work.

 

HPT all the way....and u can load ur stock tune back on and clear codes if u have to for the dealer

 

Look at performance autowerks they sell the Stage 1 kit but with HPT Also. Pretty good deal for around 500 dollars. Just do the splicing your self it's not hard.

 

All this information is good, but some people are naturally good at automobiles and others (like myself) are not. I'm not auto-inclined at all. I was one of those kids that thought Intake, Exhaust, Headers on a 1.8L DOHC Honda was gonna produce some serious gains! I was thinking like 30 horses. Why because AEM said 10hp, Comptech said 10hp gains and Tanabe said 10hp gains. So I Lego'd the numbers together and said I gained 30 horses which was completely not true. Honestly, I probably got 10 total with all that stuff.

Still I know we all start somewhere, but that experience has taught me something. I don't know what I'm doing and I should even try to act like I do. So I research and with this research I've discovered that I'm in over my head. I keep asking questions but as soon as I think I find an answer I discover something new, something I either like better or something that holds me back from making the jump.

HPtuners is something I considered, but like most have said, if i don't know what I'm doing I can screw stuff up. That's what will happen. I'll screw stuff up. I can get the HPtuner, but I'll have no idea how to write back to stock for visits and how will I get the tune back on? This can be taught I'm sure, but that's so much work. Did I mention I'm lazy?

I'm well aware of most tunes and their pros and cons, not all though, but a general idea. Trifecta sounds good for me because it's cheaper than HPtuners and all the work is done by Vince. HPtuners is good because if I knew what I was doing I have more control over my car. I mean what happens if Vince quits. Our world will crumble. Nothing is forever I know.

GMS1 seems like my alley, because I'm not looking for the most gains on planet earth. I'm not looking to be the "Big man on campus" so to speak, I just want to modify, I want a modest bump. Even Superchips bump is acceptable for me. I really don't care about 11-12 or even low 13's I just want to feel a bit faster than stock. I never like keeping cars stock.

Anyway, this is all I can type for now I feel like I can go on, but I'm not savvy enough to make a decision yet. But I'm trying, I know having someone like me around is annoying because my friends are even saying, "it's not a piece of art, if it doesn't work take it off and get something else" but people with less experiment money can't be that way you know.

 

If thats how you feel about it that your afraid then please get the stage kit and get the dealership to install it. You will have warranty to back you up. It may be more expensive but with the warranty you will have peace of mind. And that is really priceless.

 

Yeah man, if thats where you stand then let the dealer do the install. You keep your warranty and get the modest gains you are looking for. Anything else is for people looking to really mod their car. If your not planning on bolting anything on then do dealer GMS1.
Now, if you do plan on bolting something on, even an intake, then you would need a custom tune to get the max out of the car and so it runs right. There are many threads on the topic. An intake needs to be tuned for.
You can always get the dealer GMS1 so its on record that you own it, and then get trifecta tuned later on with a few bolt-ons. GMS1 will be your daily tune and the dealer cant say anything about it being modded if you bring it in for service because its on record that you own GMS1 and you still have warranty.
Think about it real good man. You have options. Its not like your going to do everything you want to the car in one go. It happens over time, you'll see.

 

It took at least 6 months before my wires AND lower sensor corroded and failed :/

 

Were they spliced and heat shrunk?

 

if you're worried about warranty: get stage1

if your worried about anything going wrong: don't change a thing, and baby your car.

 

I don't wanna leave it stock. I want to do the most reliable mods. It seems like trifecta and gms1 are the safest. Trifecta because I can choose a modest tune and gms1 because its warranty okay. However sensors fail a lot.

 

if you are at all concerned with warranty, go gms1. I can not stress that enough. Why would you sacrifice your warranty for a modest trifecta tune, when gms1 will give you warranty AND the power gains. Keep in mind, you arent pro-racing the car right? Theres no need to risk warranty issues. Just get gms1 and enjoy the warranty net

 

You have a very good argument, but it's the sensors that worry me. I don't wanna be stuck with a car after warranty dealing with sensors every 6 months.

But I'm gonna jump, I'll never get over it until I do it. I'll just get something and hope the community can help me out when and if something goes awry

 

no matter what you decide, we got your back. Anything you need to know we can help with, it just sounds like gms1 is the best starting ground for you. None of this stuff is over your head, its just new skills, and like any new skill, it takes a little thought, a little time, and motivation to do it.