Topic: Tune comparisons

[sol_man]

25 psi!  I get 23 with my BSR Tune but have never touched the wastegate, although after reading this post I might have to reconsider. 

[lil goat]

You do realize all the BSR did was modify the algorithm that controls the wastegate. Westers has done that is his newer tunes too, but he starts out by optimizing the performnce of the car as if it didn't have a turbo so you get the most out of the motor before boost kicks in. His biggest limitation in tuning is that most of the gas we can buy is crap. I am running into the same problem only worse tuning my bike. Very simple best way to cure knock is OCTANE, that's why metanaol injection works.

[Deep-GXP]

25 psi!  I get 23 with my BSR Tune but have never touched the wastegate, although after reading this post I might have to reconsider. 

Oh yes my friend...25 psi every time   Westers Tune rocks!

[sol_man]

I actually can't complain about the BSR Tune, it's been fantastic and it's so easy to put back to stock anytime I have to take the car to the dealer.  I got a good performance gain on top of that when I added the exhaust so it seems to play well with other mods.  Intercooler is next.....

[spicy3480]

Being one who has had both the BSR tune and the Westers, I will tell you that they are totally different.  There is much more modification in the Westers tune, and as lil goat said, Lyndon first tunes the car for optimal performance as if there wasn't a turbo there.  I am not knocking the BSR tune, as it was also good, but did not take well to my other engine modifications.  With HP Tuners, you can flash back to stock easily as well, but from experience, my dealer has never even checked for tuning.  I bring it there tuned for service and they don't say anything besides "you have a fast car".  BSR was the first to even have tuning for the car as far as I know, so kudos for that.  I simply prefer the Westers tune because I know a world reknown tuner is making the modifications, and he has a Solstice in the shop that he uses on his own dyno to test out and modify his tunes.  Further, it is much easier to contact Westers than BSR, and I feel that is very important.  With the Westers tune, I see a consistent 25psi of boost...with the BSR is was between 20-23psi.  The pull with the Westers tune is more consistent and more powerful.  The powerband seems to be more broad, which is great for highway driving as well.

[Critterman]

Sol_man,   you must be watching a different Bullrun.  T&T got eliminated last week, but they gave it a good shot.

Tunes are like Ice Cream, everyone has their favorite flavor, and some will defend it against all others.  don't take any of it personally.

[G8TR]

 
I have the GMR tune and am happy with it. I know there are others with more horsepower and more torque, yet I am happy with what I have. I think that's what it boils down to. I must admit though that I have been thinking about letting Lyndon tune my spare ECU, or getting the GMPP tune on it. 

[sol_man]

Sol_man,   you must be watching a different Bullrun.  T&T got eliminated last week, but they gave it a good shot.

Tunes are like Ice Cream, everyone has their favorite flavor, and some will defend it against all others.  don't take any of it personally.

You are right Critter, I misread that on the Hahn page.  I also agree on the Tunes, you know what they say about opinions.....

[Unclefester]

Superchips is days away from completing their tunes for the GXP.  They have mine for finalization right now, mine was the first on they had. I have about 5000 miles on the initial tune and all I can say is OMFG.  I cannot compare it to any other tune but I definetly noticed a difference.  Once I get it back I will ask for a dyno sheet with the numbers. Initail numbers where about 25 - 30 HP gain.

[sol_man]

Very nice, can't wait to hear more! 

[Filipp]

From what I have read if your going the after market route then Wester's tune is the best one because he sends you updates and can make it specifically for your car, also it seems to be the only tune that I have see from pictures that will sustain 25psi of boost. He also will send you free updates when new things become available such as his tune with the GM sensors. Now if you don't want to go the aftermarket route and don't want to have anyone question your warranty then the GM Stage 2 tune is also great.

[Sly Bob]

More options are good. Other than a little LED footwell lighting this is going to be my next mod. As I still have a few years of warranty left I may well go with the GM sensors from CED and GMs tune.

Can always go with Westers or something else down the road.

[tazz]

I know I'm a Noob here but I'll make a comment on this and this is based on what info I've learned on this site and stuff that Iv'e learned over the past 6yrs.
There are only 2 tunes I would go with at this time. 
The GM tune if I cared about my warranty and if that doesn't matter the Wester's tune.  For me the warranty issue doesn't bother me since even with my other vehicle witch was a brand new $40K+ truck back in 03 and it took me all of 6mos before I voided my warranty.
All in all the Wester's tune from what I'm gathering has more time involved with more code and parameters that have been changed for total driving optimization.  This is what make the tune what it is and why it seems to perform better.  Not to say that the other tunes are not good just saying if a person understands more of what going on in the base tune and how it works then they can apply that to there tune and make it work better.  Since Lyndon has a Solstice and his own personal dyno he can make modifications while on the fly to see if they work or didn't work and adjust as he see's fit while still keeping the vehicle reliable and that's the key. 
I learned 6 yrs ago that it all depends on the amount of knowledge the tuner has in tuning that vehicle and understanding the characteristics of that engine and vehicle.  A ex Ford engineer named Jerry tuned my truck and that base tune will blow away anything out there even today.
Even the guys at the dyno in KC where I took it couldn't believe the timing I was running and how the hell it was making the power it was making with the few bolt on's that I had.  They saw the Tq graph and was amazed on how flat is was when compared to the tune's they run on that vehicle.  The A/F's were the same way they just couldn't believe the A/F's and said your going to blowup at that starting range.  Since the A/F's were just like that of a none tuned truck.  At that time there were using Superchips and DiabloSport software and later SCT software.  Still to this day they don't have a tune that can even touch my tune as far as the power and the tune manages the way the vehicle performs on pump gas for the modifications that are on the vehicle.  To them the vehicle should not be reliable and should have already been toast long ago and not be 6yrs @ 85K on the Odo with no problems.
It's all in the tuning and the way the tuner understands the tune and the vehicle like the back of there own hand.  With the new sensors Lyndon will probably out do himself once he learns exactly what he can manipulate to get the most from them in a safe way.

[sol_man]

I think that's a very solid observation and I agree that Wester's will probably squeeze every ounce of HP/TQ out of the motor.  I also think the GM Tune will give you some very impressive performance that you can install and be happy with the way it is or even with additional mods like IC, exhaust, etc...

If Spiky says the BSR is way different than Wester's I believe him.  You can see his posts on the other Solstice Forum and see how happy he was until it started going into limp mode and throwing codes.  Maybe mine is a fluke but it's been great right out of the box.  It's also worked with my add-on exhaust to lower my 1/4 miles and the response is immediate.

Since I don't have access to a dyno I have my quarter mile times which closely match my Passport Timer

Stock – ¼ 13.91 @ 96 mph
BSR – ¼ 13.35 @ 101
GM Exhaust – ¼ 13.12 @102

[chuckdoc]

Guys, I went with both Westers and GMtune.  Getting ready to test 2nd generation of Westers of the GM tune.  So stay tuned!

Also you guys are way to smart to talk about comparing tunes by talking about boost pressures.  Surly you know that it depends on air temp, elevation, humidity and several other factors.  The only real test of a tune is 1/4 mile runs or comparisons of before and after on the same dyno on the same day and close to the same time.  The numbers are not as important other than as a comparison. 

I am thinking of buying dynolicious for my iphone.  Its 24 bucks but it does give times for 0-60 and 1/4 plus other parameters.  I will keep ya informed. So no more boost pressure talk to use to say one tune is better than other.  Agreed?

[sol_man]

Agreed, boost pressure doesn't mean one tune is better than the other. 

I've also looked at the Dynolicious and am curious to see how it compares to my Passport Timer.  It's nice when you can have 2 different devices measuring the same data at the same time.  The Passport has been very close to my track numbers so it's a good baseline for me.  Since the track is a good distance away but a deserted country road isn't I get to do runs at different times of the day.  My Passport also gives RWHP but I'm not sure how accurate it is. 

Have you had your car on a dyno?  I'd be curious to see how close the Dynolicious is to those numbers.  These tools are similar in what they give you.

Dynolicious features
Some of the performance metrics Dynolicious can measure:

0-60 Acceleration
1/4 Mile Elapsed Time
Lateral G's
Horsepower
Friction Circle
Downloadable Timed Run Graphs
Downloadable Skidpad Graphs

GT2
Now you can accurately measure:
horsepower
0-60 times
1/4 times runs
acceleration
cornering
braking G-forces, including friction circle.
For drag race, autocross, track event or road race enthusiasts, the G-Timer can measure your vehicle's performance as you change components, set-up, or driving styles.

[Critterman]

Would someone find the real ChuckDoc, we have an imposter spouting mechanical talk on this thread.

Bring back the real chuck.

[spicy3480]

LOL I still haven't met the real Chuck...but hopefully I will at the Maryland meet...then we can meet the mechanical genius who is known for dancing around with funny hats on...or is that Critter?  I get confused.

[Critterman]

Chuck's the dancer

[chuckdoc]

Obviously someone has my access codes and is pretending to be me.  I do not even know anything about carz.  Lil goat just taught me lefty loosey and righty tighty, but did not tell me how to know left from right.

Any ideas?

[Sol Asylum]

Chuck's the dancer

Uh I beg to differ.  Have you seen the video?

[rich71]

I am pleased with my BSR tune. It was the only thing in town way back when. I want to switch to Westers, but spending 1k on a BSR tune that you can't resell and are forced to junk to get the Westers, is too big a hit for me. I will drive it a few more seasons then maybe at somepoint i will get the Westers. The tune is a huge increase over stock and i have gotten a speeding ticket each year i have had it. Nothing to be proud of, but the car gets up and goes. I hope to be a good boy this year with my valentine one and paranoia keeping me in check. But BSR is fine for me as i am not modding anymore at this point. If you plan on doing anything other than ic exhaust, you won't get the full benefit of them. Actually, even with an ic and exhaust, i am seeing a moderate benefit, still not fully seing the potential. The BSR is meant for a stock car for the most part. The BSR is NOT mod friendly(others experience) in general. For me, it fits the bill.

[LatinVenom]

You really do not need to change at this point, your tune and Mods are balance for the BSR tune, specially if you got it from Hahn Racecraft.
Have you gone to a drag strip and see what your numbers are?. You maybe pleasantly surprise as to what your car can do.
Also this car is not for 1/4 or stop light to stop light, so your next mod should be the DDM ProBeam.

[rich71]

  I was/am pondering the probeam, but i currently have the Rebar installed. I did notice a difference in handling when i installed it, but i am sure the probeam gives that much more. I do like the looks of the Rebar as the ass end looks cool with it showing along with my quad tips.  Back to the tune, i haven't ran 1/4 mile, but last year i went to watkins with my friend's(he has a 91 zr1) corvette club and they were all impressed that my car kept up, right up with them(80-120, shhh don't tell). I don't think that would happen stock. If you for sure plan on no additional mods, the BSR is great, but you have zero ability to modify it for any future changes. Westers, gives you the openess to tweak, and Imho, gives them the advantage. I love my BSR just the same for what i had planned to do for mods, plus the chrome emblems that stick on the car look official. People have noticed them and approched the car with a more performance perspective as BSR is widely known and respected. 

[sol_man]

You know I have heard that a lot that with BSR you don't see any performance gains with additional mods but I did notice an improvement when I added my GMP Exhaust.  My times went from 13.35 to 13.12 with the change.  I really want a new IC, probably from Hahn as I've been very happy with the Tune and the things they are able to do with their Solstice.

Rich, did you have any problems installing yours?  Just curious how well it fit, I know I read it's tight but the overall quality is good right?

Dean