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View Full Version : DYNO Tune or Cortex


Devilish34
02-17-2009, 01:08 PM
I stopped by a Race Proven Motorsports today and talked with the owner.
They do a Dyno tune for $400 and he said to expect a 15-20 hp increase
over stock. With the Dyno tune they would give me a base line stock then with the nep cai then their tune so as I could see the differences. I only have 1200miles on her so I want to wait until 3k to tune and I'm still waiting for my
cai.


My question is that about right for the money or is the Cortex at $350ish a better deal? I'm new to this tuning thingy :wacko:
99-LS1-SS
02-17-2009, 01:46 PM
From what I remember the price seems in line. Regarding how long you should wait is really a preference that you will have to decide on. Me personally, I'm not waiting very long to get a tune.
Slizzo
02-17-2009, 01:52 PM
A custom dyno tune will always win out over a handheld tuner. Only reason why I bought my Cortex was I want to be able to flash to stock whenever I bring my car in for dealer services. (Lease vehicle)

Once I buy another G8 when my lease is up, and I will be able to mod at my pleasure, I will probably get some sort of Dyno tune.
Devilish34
02-17-2009, 01:55 PM
A custom dyno tune will always win out over a handheld tuner. Only reason why I bought my Cortex was I want to be able to flash to stock whenever I bring my car in for dealer services. (Lease vehicle)

Once I buy another G8 when my lease is up, and I will be able to mod at my pleasure, I will probably get some sort of Dyno tune.

I asked about dealer service and if I had to return it to stock if needed to avoid warranty hassles and he said he would do it. They could and would do the tune while I wait and said it would take 1 to 1.5 hrs to do.
Slizzo
02-17-2009, 01:58 PM
Sounds good then man, go to it!

And you really should see more than 15-20 to the wheels on a 93 octane tune. These cars are pretty tame from the factory!
bwooten492
02-17-2009, 03:54 PM
Dyno!!! The handheld will LOSE power from stock. (Trust me I went that route)
Blackdevil77
02-17-2009, 04:33 PM
A custom dyno tune will always win out over a handheld tuner. Only reason why I bought my Cortex was I want to be able to flash to stock whenever I bring my car in for dealer services. (Lease vehicle)

Once I buy another G8 when my lease is up, and I will be able to mod at my pleasure, I will probably get some sort of Dyno tune.

That wont hide anything from them. They can see when anything gets flashed. I was left with my mouth hanging open when the service manager turned his computer screen around and showed me what he pulled from the ecm/tcm. everything i had done from day one was there. dealer updates as well as 3 tune's, all dated.
DRCUSTOMPARTS
02-17-2009, 04:40 PM
Dyno!!! The handheld will LOSE power from stock. (Trust me I went that route)
My car has has a lot more power and shifts 10 times better with the Cortex. They are constantly improving the tune and they will have a 93 octane tune out shortly. I just installed some Borla mufflers and a CAI and it's a beast now!
Devilish34
02-17-2009, 05:00 PM
That wont hide anything from them. They can see when anything gets flashed. I was left with my mouth hanging open when the service manager turned his computer screen around and showed me what he pulled from the ecm/tcm. everything i had done from day one was there. dealer updates as well as 3 tune's, all dated.


Ugg did they void your warranty or???
Chewy
02-17-2009, 05:41 PM
This is why I kept my stock ECM so I can install it when I bring it in for repairs.

Chris
Devilish34
02-17-2009, 05:51 PM
This is why I kept my stock ECM so I can install it when I bring it in for repairs.

Chris

I was thinking about that too. How does that work, where do you get another and how much is another ECM?
DRCUSTOMPARTS
02-17-2009, 05:56 PM
Wow I can't believe they can see all the tuning history in the PCM. Doesn't do much good to have the stock ECM if you tuned the TCM too, like I did with the Superchips.
Devilish34
02-17-2009, 06:42 PM
What about Vector has anyone had a VMS tune and bought a new ECM?
bwooten492
02-17-2009, 08:56 PM
My car has has a lot more power and shifts 10 times better with the Cortex. They are constantly improving the tune and they will have a 93 octane tune out shortly. I just installed some Borla mufflers and a CAI and it's a beast now!

It made more power on the dyno or it FEELS like it has more power?
DRCUSTOMPARTS
02-17-2009, 09:07 PM
It feels a lot stronger, specially in the higher RPM's. With the stock airbox the power would drop off above 5 grand, now it just keeps pulling until it shifts.
locrzn#92
02-18-2009, 04:05 AM
I don't really care how much more power it makes, I want the tranny to shift better and to get the r's raised a little so I'm not hitting the rev limiter at the track on the big end. I know they can see everything we've done. Its a risk for any mods the way gm is going right now. They could choose to void the warranty if they wanted. So, I'm taking a chance with the cortex and it should be here Friday.
elbison
02-18-2009, 08:27 PM
I think the guy above with the dealer history issue was referencing dyno tunes written, etc.

I believe the superchips tune takes the stock files, copies to the handheld and then replaces them on the ECM/TCM with what you specify.

Then, it does the opposite when you return it to stock.

I guess it would be good for SARG to comment further on that.
DRCUSTOMPARTS
02-18-2009, 09:15 PM
That's right, it just swaps the new tune with the stock tune, but I'm not sure if that is logged in the ECM's history.

I updated my tuner tonite and it loaded some additional info to it. I reprogrammed my car with the same settings then took it for a ride and the trans seems to shift better. I didn't get a chance to go WOT because the roads were slick, but I'll see if I can test it better tomorrow and fill you all in.
SRG963
02-19-2009, 04:25 AM
I guess it would be good for SARG to comment further on that.

Who's SARG? lol

My car made more power on the dyno with the Cortex tune than without.

If you flash the car back to the stock tune, the dealership won't know.

Superchips shows 15WHP/15WTQ gain on the 91 Octane tune on a stock G8GT.

Superchips will be releasing a 93 Octane tune soon. I think we should see another +5WHP/+5WTQ with the higher octane.

Superchips is also testing specific CAI's for specific tunes which will also help HP#'s.

The questions is, do you have to have your car at the tuners shop to return to the stock tune? What happens if you are on vacation or out of the area and your car breaks down or acts up. With the Cortex, you can tune back to stock when you need to and not have to rely on another person's work hours.

and if you are planning on modding more than the average Joe, a Dyno tune may be the way to go.
ThugHunter
03-12-2009, 03:17 PM
Dyno!!! The handheld will LOSE power from stock. (Trust me I went that route)

Not true! I just installed my Cortex and it is a very noticeable difference from stock. Spun in 1st, chirped in 2nd and 3rd. Never did that stock.
bwooten492
03-12-2009, 05:36 PM
Not true! I just installed my Cortex and it is a very noticeable difference from stock. Spun in 1st, chirped in 2nd and 3rd. Never did that stock.

That is all in the TCM tune. I thought mine made more power too, then I put it on the dyno.
SRG963
03-12-2009, 05:40 PM
That is all in the TCM tune. I thought mine made more power too, then I put it on the dyno.

You had one of the early tunes, things have changed with the 93 tune.
bwooten492
03-12-2009, 05:46 PM
You had one of the early tunes, things have changed with the 93 tune.

Oh ok, I didn't realize they were out. I know this SC thing is your deal and I repect that. I am in no way trying to battle against you with it. I just think alot of people think that it makes power because they "feel" it, while it is (was) really setting them back. So I mean no offence to you when I post negatively about Superchips.
SRG963
03-12-2009, 05:52 PM
Oh ok, I didn't realize they were out. I know this SC thing is your deal and I repect that. I am in no way trying to battle against you with it. I just think alot of people think that it makes power because they "feel" it, while it is (was) really setting them back. So I mean no offence to you when I post negatively about Superchips.

LOL, It's not "my thing"....I just had a deal for people who wanted a hand held.

No harm in posting your results:)

I should be hitting the Dyno again tomorrow to see what's up.
SLVRG8GT
03-12-2009, 06:18 PM
LOL, It's not "my thing"....I just had a deal for people who wanted a hand held.

No harm in posting your results:)

I should be hitting the Dyno again tomorrow to see what's up.

So you have the 93 tune? Do tell! SC is claiming 15 HP gain and 15 TQ on there site now. Thats prior to the 93 tune. So the numbers are for 91?
DRCUSTOMPARTS
03-12-2009, 06:20 PM
You had one of the early tunes, things have changed with the 93 tune.
Yes indeed they HAVE changed:


A/F ratio has been corrected to 12.8-12.9 with the new tunes!

They are working tuning all styles of CAI kits with all octane tunes, so it looks like it will be a couple more weeks before we see any spec tunes.

Below is the reply I got to my email

"The 93 Octane file has been made. I just need to get it all set up pretty in the tuner and I will give it to Shawn to test out. It has 12.8-12.9 AFR like they were asking for and a little more timing than the 91 Octane because the increase in the 2 octane.
SLVRG8GT
03-12-2009, 06:28 PM
Does anyone know if its possible to load a NEW baseline tune for when you goto the dealer and they put in updates???
DRCUSTOMPARTS
03-12-2009, 06:38 PM
Sure just put it back to stock, have the dealer do the updates, and when you connect the tuner it will save the stock files with the new updates.
SLVRG8GT
03-12-2009, 06:40 PM
Sounds easy enough, so the tuner recognizes the changes and asks if you want to store a new baseline (stock) tune then I'm assuming?
locrzn#92
03-12-2009, 06:50 PM
It pulls the stock tune from your car and puts in the sc tune, it wouldn't matter if the tune was changed at the dealer, such as an update they did. When you plug the cortex in it will read it then pull it out and put in the tune your request. When you go back to the dealer you just reverse the procedure and put the stock tune back in and thats it.
DRCUSTOMPARTS
03-12-2009, 06:54 PM
It always saves the stock files to the tuner if the car has the stock tune, so basically the old files are overwritten with the updated files.
-Ray-
03-13-2009, 03:15 AM
A lot of the guys are running the Superchips Cortex and seem really happy with their choice. Quite a few of us have experience with tuners who have dyno's. Vector is most likely the tuner with the most experience with the G8. However, we have several quality tuners on our forum.
It all depends on what YOU want. Everyone has an opinion and can't be completely unbiased.
Read the tuner threads, not just the Cortex threads. You'll get a good understanding of what other gearheads are looking for. Either way, you'll have a better performing G8.
Good luck with your decision.
SRG963
03-13-2009, 06:20 AM
So you have the 93 tune? Do tell! SC is claiming 15 HP gain and 15 TQ on there site now. Thats prior to the 93 tune. So the numbers are for 91?

Yes, 91 tune numbers are 15.4/15.6.

I'm hoping to see 5/6 more HP and torque when I dyno.
I will compare the two of course.

and I'm hoping to pick up a few more once the spec CAI tunes are released.
Chewy
03-13-2009, 07:15 AM
A lot of the guys are running the Superchips Cortex and seem really happy with their choice. Quite a few of us have experience with tuners who have dyno's. Vector is most likely the tuner with the most experience with the G8. However, we have several quality tuners on our forum.
It all depends on what YOU want. Everyone has an opinion and can't be completely unbiased.
Read the tuner threads, not just the Cortex threads. You'll get a good understanding of what other gearheads are looking for. Either way, you'll have a better performing G8.
Good luck with your decision.

Well put and AGREED!