Vector Motor Sports TCM/ECM Tune Review

[Chewy]

Well what can I say? WOW comes to mind I guess. :devil:

I got the Flashxpress cables and uploaded my TCM info and emailed it off to Kirk for adjustment and got it back within an hour or so. I downloaded it into the car and then went for a ride. YEE HAW! Keep in mind my ECM is in stock tune. I am waiting for my new ECM from Vector still. The 1-2 shift is awesome under WOT. I HIGHLY recommend this to anyone thinking about it. The regular drive mode is nice and firm without being hard while the Sport is also pretty sedate whilst driving under "normal" throttle inputs but once you mash it to the floor the Sport mode comes ALIVE!

Pulling the file off the stock computers is VERY easy and putting them back on is also VERY easy. The hardest part was sitting in the cold car while it was uploading and downloading. Uploading takes sometime but downloading goes pretty fast. Maybe 10 minutes to upload and 2 minutes to download.

Thanks again Kirk!

Chris

[MGMG8GT]

Kirk -- what were your TM settings in normal and sport shift mode?

[Chewy]

Kirk -- what were your TM settings in normal and sport shift mode?

LOL

I'm Chris. I was thanking Kirk! :)

75% in normal and 30% in sport. Well at least that's what I told him... Now did he do it? I'll never know... lol I'm sure he did.

Chris

[Torqued]

Unless requested otherwise, is TM set to 50% in the 3 modes with the VMS tune?

[Chewy]

Unless requested otherwise, is TM set to 50% in the 3 modes with the VMS tune?

Not sure actually! I was thinking it was factory setting in drive, then 50% in Sport and manual.

Kirk is happy to answer questions.

Email them at sales@vectormotorsports.com but keep in mind they are off from today 12/31/08 till next Monday.

They are great to work with!

Chris

[g8_795]

Not sure actually! I was thinking it was factory setting in drive, then 50% in Sport and manual.

Kirk is happy to answer questions.

Email them at sales@vectormotorsports.com but keep in mind they are off from today 12/31/08 till next Monday.

They are great to work with!

Chris

It is set to 50% in all modes. VMS said they were working on making it adjustable for the different modes. I never saw a post stating that they was able to do this yet. HP Tuner's doesn't allow you to tweak per mode. You can only set the TM percentage per shift. ie 1->2 (50%), 1->3 (75%), 2->3 (25%), etc.. That would be nice if you could.....
-Robert

[Chewy]

It is set to 50% in all modes. VMS said they were working on making it adjustable for the different modes. I never saw a post stating that they was able to do this yet. HP Tuner's doesn't allow you to tweak per mode. You can only set the TM percentage per shift. ie 1->2 (50%), 1->3 (75%), 2->3 (25%), etc.. That would be nice if you could.....
-Robert

He CAN set it to what ever you want. I had 75% in drive and 30% in sport and the guy who put in the new pumpkin with lower gearing went as low as 20% I think.

I wanted less in drive to keep driveability close to stock while having it lower in sport for those times you really want to have fun... :devil:

[Chewy]

OK guys and gals, I bought a used ECM off a board member here and had them send it directly to Vector for a tune. Vector then tuned it to my specs for what I wanted and what I had for mods. So...

I stuck it in crossed my fingers, turned ignition on and tried to start. NOTHING! Then I turned off the key and turned it back on to see if the security light lit... NOTHING! OH SNAP!:mad: So I thought well this one's coming back out! DAMNIT! Then for shits and giggles I tried starting it again and BAM she fired up. WEIRD!:wacko:

Maybe it was just my imagination but I SWEAR it made no difference power wise for maybe 50 miles and now the thing is stupid!

The thing damn near killed me this morning with cold snow tires on it. It wagged it's tail pretty violently. hehehe so much fun!

Kirk and his team are great to deal with! It was easy peasy and they made me feel like they had my back in case something went wrong. The only mistake I made was doing all this over the holiday as both they and I were off work a lot and hard to get a hold of. THAT was no fault of either party. Tis the season!

Buy from Vector with confidence!

Chris

[r1owner]

Did you flash your TCM to get torque management then? I didn't think they could adjust TM unless they either had the car or you used the cables?

[Chewy]

Did you flash your TCM to get torque management then? I didn't think they could adjust TM unless they either had the car or you used the cables?

Yes I flashed the TCM with the FXP. The ECM was tuned at Vector and sent to me. I would like to go up there and do a custom tune this summer sometime too. Maybe I can do that and my Vararam at the same time...

Chris

[Kirk@VectorMotorsports]

OK guys and gals, I bought a used ECM off a board member here and had them send it directly to Vector for a tune. Vector then tuned it to my specs for what I wanted and what I had for mods. So...

I stuck it in crossed my fingers, turned ignition on and tried to start. NOTHING! Then I turned off the key and turned it back on to see if the security light lit... NOTHING! OH SNAP!:mad: So I thought well this one's coming back out! DAMNIT! Then for shits and giggles I tried starting it again and BAM she fired up. WEIRD!:wacko:

Kirk and his team are great to deal with! It was easy peasy and they made me feel like they had my back in case something went wrong. The only mistake I made was doing all this over the holiday as both they and I were off work a lot and hard to get a hold of. THAT was no fault of either party. Tis the season!

Buy from Vector with confidence!

Chris

Glad you like it!
With a new ECM sometimes you need to turn the key to the run position for a second before cranking. This lets everything "load" so to speak. If you just go from off to crank fast the ECM may not have time to do a first time learn.

Once it learns once you are done.

[UGotSmkd]

Yes I flashed the TCM with the FXP. The ECM was tuned at Vector and sent to me. I would like to go up there and do a custom tune this summer sometime too. Maybe I can do that and my Vararam at the same time...

Chris

So tuning the ECM is completely different from tuning the TCM? I had thought both could be tuned at the same time by shipping the ECM to them.

[GRRRR8]

No. Thats why getting the FXP is the best way to do it.

[-Ray-]

So tuning the ECM is completely different from tuning the TCM? I had thought both could be tuned at the same time by shipping the ECM to them.

The TCM is in the transmission.

[UGotSmkd]

This is what was confusing me. I thought all the parameters from the TCM would be logged into the ECM, therefore evrything could be tuned at once. So I would ship the ECM to VMS to have that tuned and then have them send me the FX cables for the TCM?

[-Ray-]

Don't send anything. Just get the flash express and do it all at once.

[Chewy]

This is what was confusing me. I thought all the parameters from the TCM would be logged into the ECM, therefore evrything could be tuned at once. So I would ship the ECM to VMS to have that tuned and then have them send me the FX cables for the TCM?

Nope! They ship YOU the cables and you install their program they give you (on a thumb drive) on to a PC/laptop and then you hook the cables they send you to the PC/laptop and the under dash plug in the car and pull off the info Kirk needs, you email that info to Kirk, he tweaks it, sends it back and you download it to the ECM and the TCM in two steps. One and then the other.

Easy Peasy!

I just bought a second ECM from a member here and went that route.

Chris

[UGotSmkd]

Cool. That saved me the worry of doing two separate things. I just need to wait for them to do the OTR tuning and then it's a done deal!

[r1owner]

Don't send anything. Just get the flash express and do it all at once.

+1. That's what I'm planning on doing myself.

[Master8ter]

that's what I just ordered

[R.Penguin]

Amazing isn't it!!! It's like a totally different car. What was Pontiac thinking? :lame:

I think they would have sold more GT's off the test drive if had they had a VMS tune or equivalent from the gitgo. :woohoo:

[bobyoung]

The ECM TCM tune really woke up my car, it will chirp second gear without really trying. It's like driving a different car almost, driving in Manual mode is a blast.