Lesson from someone that knows... Get the Stage Kit and leave the car alone unless you have $6000 + to spend on getting the engine fixed or replaced. Something with the pistons and rings in these engines aren't very worth wild.

 

Im too sticking with GM. I value my warranty and everything is backed up by GM. Not worth snaping a shaft and taking to GM to get fixed and them asking, Ya have our tune? Then say no and then they would likely become suspicious as to how a stocker snapped something... Just my way of thinking. Ill take the 290HP with warranty and call it good. Hell its fun as hell now to drive with no tune yet! So GM will more than satisfy us!

 

I am new to the turbo stuff, and am considering getting the Stage one kit, can someone tell me what this stuff about the cruise is?

 

Criswell in Gaithersburg did mine, and has done quite a few of them. I got better treatment from them than the dealer I bought my SS from in Frederick. Check them out. I think the service writer was previously a mechanic there, and he even ended up cutting me a break on it. I'll check to make sure I have the right name, but if I recall correctly ( I have CRS, so sometimes I'm wrong ) his name was Andy.

 

Not sure what the issue is?

I have the GM Turbo Upgrade and my cruise works fine and as it should.

It may be something with one of the aftermarket tunes?

 

It depends on several things.

Some tunes will leave a trace and some are in line and will not. Also there is a black box on most GM cars and soon all cars that will record what the car has done over a period of time.

They can if they choose to see what the car was doing at the time of the issue like a blown engine and see what all the settings were.

The Tune companies and MFG are one upping each other as to hide and find tunes on some vehicles. The Deisels right now are the ones really getting the look as some people are doing some dumb things and trying to get GM, Ford and Chrysler to pay for their mistakes.

For the most the HHR is not being looked at that close and the odds are most may get away with it. The possibility is there and if one is to get caught that is what happens if you play.

The GTO was not nailed for the tune for the most I would say as most tunes they have for that car are not enough to kill a rear end. I would say you had a MFG issue unless you were doing some thing real bad to it. I would have to know more about the car and what the issue was.

The GTO rear for the most will take a lot more power than stock and wheel hop was one of the issues that often may do more damage. If it is hopping that much and you don't let off it was more driver abuse than anything.

 

That is the key to any modification you make to any car. If you can't afford to blow an engine or replace any part of the driveline than leave it alone.

Generally if you upgrade one part another is at risk. Few people build a car at one time and often build it as they break parts. I make a good living with people replacing and upgrading to performance parts that replace broken stock parts.

I see many a Mustang guy build an engine then wipe a clutch, then the drive shaft then the rear end. It goes on.

Cars today make a lot more power as the average HP of all stock cars sold has increased over 100% since 1980. Also while many parts are strong many are also built to be as strong as they need to be or depend on the computer to keep them alive. Engines and transmission would die fast today with out the protection of the programs dialed in by the computers.

Either way it has always been a pay to play world with cars. If you go fast you are going to break parts. If you can afford that then leave it stock is the best rule or invest in parts like wheels and other trim items that are not at risk and prevent you from driving to work in the morning.

 

I believe he is talking about the Trifecta Dual tune, working off the cruise button.

 

When I was shopping for tuners, i looked at the gm tunes numbers, and the $$$$$, then shopped around for other tuners, and was most impressed with the gains with the superchips cortex tuner, for the price. i enjoy getting emails with new power downloads, and being able to plug and play whenever, instead of being one and done with the gm upgrade. As for the others like trifecta, hahns, etc. i use my cruise alot, so trifecta wouldn't work, hahns, just don't know that company very well. SUPERCHIPS, well i've heard their name for about the last 10 years or so. But its your car, your call. OH yeah and if everyone is so interested in THE K AND N intake, why not call them and say you broke the tube, and want to buy another one. who cares about the cheesy cover, the filter is 40 bucks at autozone, spend the money on their tube buy the filter and bam you have a k and n intake with an extra 100 bucks in your pocket to buy gas after trying it out for about an hour. just my personal opinion.