2019 Buick Regal GS AWD Tune and CAI??

[BoostedRegal2.0]

Get the Regal GS, it has preset standard, Sport and Grand Sport tunes only it's the Engine, Transmission, suspension, Strut Dampening and so on.
Well worth the price imo ~ just upgraded myself and drove home in a snow storm, very surefooted and solid.
Had a chance to go Grand Sport mode earlier this morning on the dry roads, that car moves and handles well at 140 mph, coulda went more but wife was with me lol.

The different sport modes on the GS don't increase the power of the motor, they only change the behavior of the components listed below:

Sport mode increases steering weight, quickens shifts, makes the AWD system more rear-biased, and stiffens suspension. The third mode, GS, has a shift schedule that holds gears longer, even heavier steering, and the firmest suspension settings.

 

[RTF]

Just thought I would pass this along in case anyone is interested. Trifecta is almost done and looking for a beta tester for the 18/19 GS for their 3.6 tune. I talked with them recently and looking forward to seeing the finished product.

 

[G-505717]

question to the extra 25hp gain on the 3.6 v6 on a brand new gs would that void the powertrain warranty

 

[Johnny Bravo]

I’d recommend keeping the factory air box. CAI’s offer little to no performance upgrade and in most cases allow more fine particles through to the engine.

Factory airboxes on modern cars are good for massive amounts of power... more than any tune on stock internals could muster. I believe this car has an inlet right from the front of the grill into the box, which is truly where you want the cold air from; not from inside the engine bay.

Save your money for good tires and a tune (when one exists).

The ATS and Camaro get 335hp from the same engine (slightly better exhaust flow, longitudinal mounting). Tuners in the past (with the LFX) have matched those numbers without the upgraded exhaust.

With the V6 being discussed, 310hp stock means a 25hp/8% bump (possibly more if they tuned for a CAI or higher flow K&N). This isn't just at peak, usually across much of the power band there's an increase. So you would definitely notice. Whether or not it's worth the $450+ for the tune is up to the car owner.

I took my stock exhaust off my 2004 Grand Prix, supercharged 3.8 L (260 HP stock) and had a single 3" exhaust made with straight-through mufflers and CAI. NO check engine lights. The huge seat of the pants HP gain that truly was felt when you stepped on it. NO lag whatsoever. Stayed with the 2016 CTS (335 HP). I know you could up the HP with a bigger 3 inch exhaust pipe. Will the car jump... definitely not as it is an AWD. I would expect a healthy 25 HP gain similar to what you see on the Cadilac CTS with a similar engine. The 2016 CTS was rated at 335 HP with dual factory exhaust. My brother owns one and it definitely feels spunkier after we did add a K&N CAI. Results proved at the drag strip. I can say for sure you probably will not see fuel economy gains. More fun to drive, surely. Mine gets 35 highway as does the 2016 CTS. The 2018 Buick Regal GS already has a better air box than the 2016 CTS. With a 3 inch exhaust expect a healthy 25-30 HP gain. If you have a budy in the exhaust business I would go for it.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

question to the extra 25hp gain on the 3.6 v6 on a brand new gs would that void the powertrain warranty

Of course the dealer may tell you yes cause it has been modified. My brother added a K&N CAI to his 2016 CTS and they refused to work on it until he removed it. He took it to another dealer and they just serviced a technical service bulletin for the harsh transmission shifts. The fix was to change out the tranny fluid with 100% synthetic Mobil 1. They knew the airbox was there and still performed the service. The car shifts great now. My 2018 Regal GS may already have synthetic in it. I would always drive a new vehicle for at least a year and put 8K miles on it before making any alterations.

 

[Johnny Bravo]

There is no way adding a CAI will possibly damage your drivetrain. Drivetrains are over-designed to handle a lot more than adding 30 more HP to your engine as well as the day to day driving some consumers put on them.

 

[ThatsNotABuick!]

Here's some more info to back up my statement:
One such example came when the subject of turbo engine versus naturally aspirated engine tuning was brought up. In the case of the former, it’s pretty easy to achieve better numbers by increasing the turbo boost. On the other hand, ECU tuning for atmospheric engines is not worth the trouble.
You really should dismiss all those that claim they can increase the power of your naturally aspirated units by some simple tinkering under the hood.

Some NA engines leave a lot of power on the table. It is foolish to make a blanket statement that tuning NA is not worth the trouble. Even if they say premium is recommended, they usually tune for 91 octane instead of 93. Also, there was probably more tuning time that went into 87 octane tuning.

An example of this is the VH45DE from Nissan. This engine runs incredibly rich for WOT. Not only does this waste fuel, but it also takes away power. The rest of the higher throttle fuel curves are pretty fat too. Nissan was over cautious for their catalytic converters and wanted make sure they were safe for 100+ MPH extended blasts. Actually, all manufacturers typically run richer than they need for cat protection. Once the calculated cat temperature is exceeded, extra fuel is used to cool them down. Since the engine has VVT and quad cam, bumping up the rev limiter allows it to breath a little more. So yes, ECU tuning for NA engines is worth the trouble sometimes.

However, for a lower compression engine that only requires 87 octane and is not knock limited, then tuning would not be worthwhile.