I decided to go with the upgrade kit and a CAI.( I get my car next week) I have 2 questions.First is which CAI system do you suggest? The K&N one I was looking at said was not legal in Cali but I am not worried unless I need to have it on before I take car to dealer to have kit installed(would they say anything?) I assume I have to have my CAI on before it gets tuned, correct? Unless there is a better selection of a CAI(have not ordered yet) the Hahn one seems nice . Next, when I take car to dealer to have kit installed and they"tune" it. What is the differance of what they are "tuning it with" and this Trifecta tune I am seeing? If I do exhaust later does that mean it need another "tune" at that time? If I have to take the CAI off for some reason does the car needs to be detuned or retuned?
Ok sorry more that 2 questions.
Thanks

 

your dealership will not "tune" your car for you (the stage 1 "turbo upgrade" is just a canned reflash). I'm sure they would install the intake for you if you paid them, but you are risking your warranty depending on how they look at it. Trifecta/HP Tuners are aftermarket tuner options that reflash your computer and optimize your engine to run with that new intake (and raise boost, play with timing, etc).. both can also void your warranty depending on your dealer. If you are going to get an intake i would highly recommend an aftermarket tune for it to run with the proper fuel trims.

 

Yep yep yep^^^^^^^^^ finda a tuner near u but do I remind u. U want after market tunes or after market parts bye bye warrnty.

 

So after some more reading it looks like if I do the upgrade kit and a CAI the car wont run right(cause of the CAI) unless I get an aftermarket tune which most likley void my warranty (depending on my dealer) Correct? I saw that GM made a CAI for the sc/ss but do not see one for the tc/ss.

 

Some people have problems, with the GMS1 and a CAI, but I have not. Having an intake untuned will cause skewed A/F ratios between shifts, and could possible cause problems later on (someone else will chyme in here with more detailed info about that). Anyways, I have my mods listed in my signature, haven't had any problems (due to my mods) and my warranty is intact. You will however want to make sure that whatever you install you contact your dealer and make sure they wont void the warranty (if you want to keep your warranty). WITH all the mods I have in my signature, my engine "blew up" do to a porous block. They replaced my engine under warranty with no questions asked (they even put on all my aftermarket parts). If your not worried about your warranty, install all the parts you want installed, THEN tune it.

 

What's your *goal* here? You can just get a tune and call it a day! (I would get HPT tune..not the GM1 due to *issues* with installation). There's NOTHING to install with HPT. That will, by FAR, give you the greatest results with NO OTHER MODS! I had around 300WHP with the tune ONLY.
If you want the next mod and really want an intake (I'm stock), then the concensus here is the K&N Short Ram..not CAI (which can be a problem in very WET conditions). You can do that yourself...easy. You can get by without tuning for that (recommended, but many here have NOT tuned for it and are fine). The next would be a Down Pipe..catted if you're gonna worry about passing Ca emissions (I have that). You must have a tune to reap the benefits of this mod..BUT..like myself, if ya already have the HPT tune prior, a retune isn't needed there.

 

Thank for the info! The HPT tune sounds great but would this void my warranty? My goal is to have a a 30 or so hp gain and from what I have been reading(this is kinda dumb) i want the sound the CAI may give. I guess i will mostly hear it sucking air. miss hearing the turbo spin like I used to in our Buick GN before we sold it. I do not recall hearing much of the turbo while test driving. Granted it was raining and windows were up.Car arrives next week!!!

 

GM perfomance stuff is very conservative. The Stage 1 is basically a canned tune with some 3 bar sensors or something. You have to roll the dice and hope the dealer does a good install of the stuff.

The trifecta will be a better tune for a bone stocker. The HP is sweet when you put a trifecta base tunable tune on first and then customize it with the HP tunes... Ask me how I know this. Oh and having heard a few GNx Buicks from inside and out I can tell you that a balt won't sound as evil as one of those beastly devils... I love the Grand National.

If you are worried about warranty go with the Trifecta selectable. They say it can not be detected. If they do find it you could always try telling them its a GMS1 I guess.

 

SRI will scream plenty..that's one of the reasons I won't get one. I like fairly quiet...my exhaust is MORE THAN ENOUGH right now.

Anything other than GM1 *can* void it. Just keep in mind, they have to suspect you modded the car and then do an ECU scan. Depends on what the warranty issue is. There not gonna scan for say brake problems...most suspension problems...etc. I can tell you for sure, putting on an INTAKE is advertising!! My engine bay looks STOCK..again another reason why I don't want to put on an INTAKE. Sure, you can take it off and put stock back on when ya bring it in.....*cough cough*. Exhaust mods are not likely to be frowned upon at all.

 

For the price of GMS1, you can purchase your own copy of Hp Tuners. Of course, there's a little bit of a learning curve, but when you learn what you are doing, you gain the ability to have control over what's going on. Which is what customization is all about.

 

IF he is going to go the HP tuners route, it would probably be better to have Terminator or BYT tune it. Going blindly into the night on an LNF is kind of sketchy from what I understand. I'm not doing it anyways.

 

ih all your looking at is around a 30hp gain just stick with your GM Kit. It will give you close to what your looking for. The car has an abundance of power and keeps your factory warranty.

i had GM kit with a intake, downpipe, and full exhaust (all hahn) and never once had an issue. Not even wacky fuel trims that everyone had complained about. I had GM engineers check it out and they said my fuel trims were within acceptable range. they wernt perfect but they assured me it was doing no harm the way it sat