we know that the BSR tune is available for the SS and cost a few $$$, and Wester's is working on his tune for the 08 LNF, and should be out soon, btw Wester's tune for the 07 LNF is getting great results and reviews on the Solstice & Sky forums, as is the BSR from what "crazysteve" has posted here so far. so have any SS owners given thought about getting a tune soon, or just waiting it out for a few more months to see who else is under development for our engines?
A side note, since also being a member of the Solstice & Sky forums, I had the opportunity to attend the MECCA II event at the plant in wilm DE, on Friday.
I should have been an assembly line worker, it is just amazing to see how those vehicles are put together, also been to Bowling Green to enjoy watching the Vette's in previous years. I just like all that stuff

 

I'am also on the Solstice forum and I own an 07 GXP with the BSR tune. The tune brought the car to life and it is so simple to use. The best thing about the BSR tune is it can be put in and removed just that quick, and the performance increase in awsome.

I am set to get the BSR tune for my SS the last week of May. I am going to drop off my SS and pick up my GXP from Hahn Racecraft. Bill is going to Dyno it before and after and also start working on the other performance parts he listed on his post about the BSR tuner. The GXP should be a lot of fun with the S20G turbo on it, I can't wait.

 

I hear more about the westers tune than the BSR, and I see the BSR is available already for big bucks. I'd like to know is that true? Or do most "tunes" get the same results in the end?

 

What is making these tunes so great? A change in boost, air/fuel, timing etc? Has the HHR SS Ecu actually been cracked or is this just a surface tune in minor areas?? How is the mileage affected /good or bad? How many miles have been put on this new tune? I have no problems spending the money on a good hand held tuner, but is sounds pretty limited in what it can do!

 

LOL, read the solstice/sky gxp/redline forum. That will answer all your questions. According to them it like having a new car. BTW isn't boost the only difference between our cars and a 2lt....lol. That IS the significant parameter. Moreover, I'm averaging over 29 mpg lifetime with my SS, 515 on one tank with 2 left over. That's 36 mpg.... air/fuel ratio, timing. Looks like GM stock has that figure out. Now tuning for 93/94 octane would make mpg even better. What exactly do you want to do hogwild, add cylinders....? Nothing is more impresive than a 2500 v8 diesel dropping 11.8 in the quater with "just" a "limited" tune.

 

I've always had a problem with a canned tune, not specifically run on my car and my driving habits. My tuner in Huntington Beach,CA has tuned my 2 SCMustangs and 07 Vette with at first the canned tune on the Diablos and then has always been able to make it better. Be careful, I doubt if these tuners will guarantee that you engine will not blow up!

 

I hear you Hogwild, we'll all be watching the reliability of the tune as they come to market.

 

like suggested here in this thread, there are also other reviews about tunes and mods being made from other tuners. From what I have read, Wester's is close to "cracking" the 08 code. The difference between Wester's and other tuners is that he tunes the actual ECM, does not use a hand held device. So with a spare ECM, there is no down time. and of course we have the hand helds that plug into the ADL and upload to the ECM and save your stock tune. It all depends what you want out of the tune, are you going to the track, just want extra performance etc., etc.
From what I have read so far if you do mods (such as the waste gate mod) and don't allow for tuning the ECM, you may run into problems in the future because of the increase of boost and not letting the ECM know you have made a change. Since these new ECM's relearm themselves back to their stock configuration after a short time, I feel you have to reprogram the ECM to accept any changes (e.g. boost change etc.) to be effective.
I'm still learning about turbo's, increasing boost, etc., just thinking out loud.
As far as our engines blowing up with these tunes, I think you would have to really beat the **** out of them for this to happen, or make mods and not adjust the ECM to allow for these changes. For just added power and going to the track once in a while, don't think we would have any problems.
On my 03 SSR, my SCT programer was adjusted by the tuner to allow for WOT 1-2 shifts to be raised by 400 rpm's...auto trans line pressure increased by no more than 10%, (mine was 8%) TM in the trans was @ 50% reduction, and a few other changes. The SSR ran great, increased mileage, never threw a code, and never had a problem, it really woke that engine up, I also had a performance air filter and a Flowmaster muffler and that was all the performance I was looking for and was very happy with that combo.

 

How much boost can our little turbo put out vs. how much boost can the engine take?? I hope these tuners soon crack the code so we can decide how far we want to go in terms of safe v. dangerous! Ive always had my cars tuned for more low end power than top end speed, Id just like that option with the SS

 

I think that the GM literature saids 21 pounds. Other post speak of "great mountain power", so the computer is adjusting to the atmosphere at altitude (wish I could so easy when i go to Breck). So 21 pounds at sea level should be WILD.