[Kerfuffle]

Get the tune...

Its a while 'nother car... With a tune.

how much more gas does having it tuned consume?

 

[wspohn]

how much more gas does having it tuned consume?

To begin with, a fair bit as you'll have your foot in it all the time.

Once you settle down, for cruising they actually seem to slightly improve fuel consumption.

 

[Somnambulator]

how much more gas does having it tuned consume?

if u drive exactly the same as before the tune you should actually get better gas mileage. The problem, tho, is not wanting to go faster or drive harder. You'll accelerate onto an interstate at half throttle and look down at the odo and see triple digits constantly. The engine is so powerful and the car runs so well at high speed that you'll be doing 90-110 without even meaning to.

 

[SolSted]

Congrats Bro! Have the same year and color, but have it away for our crazy winter. I run it maybe once a week for a solid 5 minutes since its being stored outside. I got a Grand Cherokee for this reason.

As for octane I run 89 like Tomato said, zero problems, but I run injector cleaners about every 2k miles.

And I noticed you live in CT. I live in Worcester so welcome to the April-Nov club hahah. I'm working on getting a north east group together for kappa meets, so keep me updated and good luck with the Sol!

 

[Kerfuffle]

Congrats Bro! Have the same year and color, but have it away for our crazy winter.

how many miles on yours Solsted? Also manual or automatic?

 

[SolSted]

how many miles on yours Solsted? Also manual or automatic?

It's a manual and just hit 50k

 

[Cev93]

If you guys are nearby you should both tag along to our events.

 

[Kerfuffle]

If you guys are nearby you should both tag along to our events.

What do you guys do at these events?

 

[Cev93]

What do you guys do at these events?

Most are Drag events that I don't partake on but there are plenty of Autocross days. Some track racing if you are willing to drive to the track since we don't have a lot of circuits nearby. I follow all the clubs so I can tag along to everything.

The cruises are fun and the Kancamagus runs are always good to ruin a set of tires.

 

[SolSted]

Where is this at?

 

[Cev93]

General New England area.
They Key is following Certain group leaders on Facebook but not following the group themselves. Reading comments and post from most groups is a great way to get brain cancer as fanboyism is rampant. If you just send a friend request to the guys that organize the events you can just show up and skip all the drama. Those are good for drag events, shows and cruises. For actual track time visit Lime Rock Park - Lime Rock Park and join one of the groups. Its not cheap but you will be able to run the car around the track on whatever days your group has the track. Palmer Motorsports should open this summer and I feel that this will be fantastic since it will be a true race weekend type of track.

Kancamugus.... this one is tricky since you have to chase motorcycle groups since I found car clubs are very docile with these(at least the ones i found). So these I tag along the bike groups with a few cars and tons of bikes. What these guys do in these runs... isn't exactly...shall we say "legal" however a well balanced solstice will not get left behind as it will turn faster than most guys can ride their bikes. Most wont mind as long as you don't get in their way. Alot of guys feel they have the right of way even when passing on the right or wrong side of the road. Best to join this if you have group riding experience and know how deal with people with more horsepower than brains. Most are nice guys but some have a death wish. The crazier guys generally wait for the group to catch up when they get their fix.

Or find 5 to 10 friends and go up there for the weekend on your own.

If a summer full if fun its the goal then its a juggling act of being able to sneak into the best runs. At least for me since I don't have the patience of being a club member.

 

[Cev93]

Also in case you don't know a lot (most) of circuits require roll bars/cages on our cars regardless on performance.

 

[TX08manualGXP]

The reason we do the 3 sisters run in February is because it's riddled with bikes in the warmer months. Yeah it would be nice to be able to have the top down wearing a t shirt but I'd much rather have the pedal to the floor the whole time.

 

[Cev93]

I agree on the doing the kangacmugus with friends but most of my cruising buddies have bikes not sport cars. So I always end up in a large group of motorcycles one way or the other. If the New England solstice owners want to get together for events just PM me. There is a small group you can join that I will try to drag along to events this summer.

 

[CM-Smith]

Brendon, someone mentioned checking the dealer for maintenance records. If you got a carfax, it should show also. Mine showed multiple door trim adjustments, cup holder replaced twice, and water pump done at 45K. I just bought mine a couple months ago with 74K miles. Bone stock, no tune yet...

 

[Robssol]

Notice the traction control button on the dash? Hit it twice within 5 sec. for fun! Push and hold for 15+ sec. for more fun!! And the manuals trans. produce more torque with a tune than the automatics! :dthumbs:

BTW I always drive mine in competition mode!:yesnod::driving:

 

[Frozen Tundra]

OK, I thought that the 2 quick pushes gets it into competition mode. What does the push & hold for 15 seconds get me?

 

[wspohn]

OK, I thought that the 2 quick pushes gets it into competition mode. What does the push & hold for 15 seconds get me?

That turns off all nanny controls, even the limited ones that still operate in competition mode (which it is a good idea to leave on for street driving). You are much moire likely to get into trouble if you turn it all off.

 

[TX08manualGXP]

with the Trifecta budget tune, I don't notice a difference in pickup and I mostly drive with traction on. the only time I turn everything off is when I want to drift around a turn.

 

[Frozen Tundra]

Just trying to get an accurate read on exactly what the difference is between Competitive Driving Mode and full lack of ESC/TCS. To help with this, I've been reviewing the Owner's Manual and it's explanation of the systems. I've copied & pasted some of the relevant excerpts below.

To turn the traction control system off or back on, press
and release the ESC/TCS button. To disable both
traction control and ESC, press and hold the button until
TRACTION OFF and ESC OFF messages appear,
and the ESC/TCS light comes on.

Competitive Driving Mode
The driver can select this optional handling mode by
pressing the ESC/TCS button on the console two times
quickly. COMPETITIVE MODE displays in the DIC. See
DIC Warnings and Messages on page 3-37 for more
information. Competitive Driving Mode allows the driver
to have full control of the rear wheels while the ESC
system helps maintain directional control of the vehicle by
selective brake application. The ESC/TCS light will be on
and the traction control system will not be operating.
Adjust your driving accordingly. This electronic stability
control mode is recommended only for use during closed
track events and competitive driving venues.

So, my take on all of this is that the Competitive Driving Mode completely disables the TCS and partially disables the ESC (though exactly what all is disabled remains a little unclear). Any further elaboration on this would be much appreciated.