I'm going to be ordering the tune from trifecta either today or tomorrow (super excited) my question is should i get the on/off switch for it or is that just something that they use for states with inspections?
I believe that DDM does not support the Trefecta Budget Tune any longer. So that for me is concerning. I have the budget tune, but had it upgraded. As I did some mods after it was installed.
The only advantage to the on/off button is if the car is under warranty of some type I think. I would go with the cruise control system. I did it that way and like it there. Seldom turn off the traction control, I know geezer, and if I need the cruise control, I doubt I need the extra horse power the tune delivers. Supposed to be better gas mileage with the tune, but I never pay any attention to gas mileage anyway. The wife has the mileage deal with the Volt and gets well over 250 miles to the gallon, so the one or two tenths I save means little. lol
I would look for other options if I were you. Trifecta's customer service is nonexistent right now and their turnaround times are terrible.
I believe even with the budget tune there is some level of tweaking needed for each specific car (someone correct me if I'm wrong) and you can expect those tweaks to take forever. I just supercharged my 2.4L and ordered a Trifecta tune through DDM - the tune has been tweaked once, the car still runs very poorly, and I have been waiting on the next tweak for 46 days now. Yes, that's a month and a half. Trifecta made promises a couple weeks ago saying "today" or "by the end of the week" and they have not come through. I try to be reasonable and not bash businesses unnecessarily, but I am fed up with Trifecta.
Trifecta tuning used to be more readily available through multiple vendors. I purchased my budget tune through Bad News Racing a couple years ago and have been satisfied with it - they don't appear to offer it any longer. I chose not to have it switchable - on all the time - since there aren't any warranty concerns and I don't push my gxp to the limits very often.
When you get the canned tune from any vendor, including Trifecta, it's just that, a canned tune. There is NO adjustment. It is a tune that uses what's considered the maximum safes without having to datalog and adjust it. If you buy the tune with adjustments, then there is a bunch of datalogging and sending it back and forth, but if you buy the $250 canned tune, it's install and go. Trifecta's main thing now is the Cadillac ATS 2.0L. It's called "change with times or go out of business".
Thats all i really want is the canned tune because my car is stock, all i have for it is a k&n filter and thats it. and 250$ is a hard price to beat... I have talked to custom dyno tuning in my area and they have all said the same thing "custom tuning is pointless unless you upgrade" so yeah.
I have the Trifecta budget tune and works just fine for me. I have it turn off when the cruise is on and if I were to do it over again I would want it on all the time.
I have the budget tune on my 09 GXP without the switch and am quite happy, The only thing I would suggest is to keep the stock tune in some usable format in case you want to go back. I bought the cable for that purpose but the tune was attached to an email and can't now be used.
Dave D
If you purchased it from WOT-Tuning (Trifecta), then you can log onto their site and download it at anytime. However, if you have the (new) tune on your car, you also have the old there as well. When they write the new program the OE version is not overwritten, but stored as part of the new tune (unchanged) so the owner can deprogram it back to the OE tune.
Suggest to give Martin Scott a call at RPM Motorsports. His Customer Service and Talents available are more user Friendly. See the article under Forum/General Solstice Discussions/GXP for details.
If you do this, you’re a fool. Do a search on this forum or Skyroadster.com for either GMRoadster or Martin Scott or Strictly Aftermarket and you’ll find story after story of folks that were either burned by Scott, like myself, or found his customer service nonexistent or horrible.
I bought my tune and cable from News - TRIFECTA - Home - trifectaperformance.com back in 2012. Stock 2.4 with K&N. Loved it.
Recently needed to flash a new ECU for the same car so I downloaded latest version of EZ-Tune
It wouldn't flash, got an error message, so I emailed Steven Weller who did my original tune.
Within a few days he sent me new firmware for my cable, and an updated tune.
I was the first Kappa Vince Geglia tuned with a non-stock turbo unit, so I went through a basic canned tune before I did that, then a custom tune with the turbo swap. He had experience with Cobalts which transferred easily to the Kappas.
I would not get a switchable tune today - no point - but did then in 2009 to avoid dealer issues if I'd had to take it in under warranty.
If I were getting a Trifecta tune today, I might check with DDM to see if they have had any problems with service speed.
I would not get it switchable.
There is no fiddling with the canned tune - don't know how these rumours start!
Bill I put the canned tune on my car about 15 months ago. Since that time I made some additional changes, High Flow Cat, Magna Flow exhaust, intake. I contacted Dave about 8 months ago, and he upgraded my tune to meet with what I was currently running on the car. It cost me 75 bucks.
Getting ready for him to tune the car to his standards. He tuned my Mallett at the National, and it made a world of difference in the drivability of the car. I hated it from the get go, but after Dave worked on it for about a half hour, it was night and day different. He made it to where I actually do like to drive it, don't feel like a frog hopping down the road in first and second. Pulls 7500RPM through the first 3 gears (according to him). I would trust him with any of my cars. Good guy, and I think he knows his stuff.
The one reason I still like my switchable tune is that occasionally the wife or kids drive my car and I like to turn it off. They're just not used to that much power or rear wheel drive.
I got a trifecta budget tune on my 08 GXP about 4 years ago. Back then they sent you the cable and would charge you $200 if you didn't send it back.
Earlier this year I had to have the original tune reflashed by the dealer. This week I emailed Trifecta about the cable to apply the tune, it turns out they no longer "rent" the cable, you have to buy one for $120. I ordered one and then discovered my old tune no longer works with their newer EZFlash software. I sent them my old tune and they updated it to their new software. All within about 24 hours.
All in all, I'm very happy with Trifecta's customer service.
The cable is now included with the tune, it is yours to keep. No need to return it. Only additional cost is the $15 shipping. So, total for budget tune is now $215 plus any tax.
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