GM performance parts Regal Stage Kit 2012-2013

[PreachSF]

for guys with this kit, has your gas mileage become better or worse or about the same? just curious ....

 

[stoopid]

for guys with this kit, has your gas mileage become better or worse or about the same? just curious ....

I don't blame you for not wanting to read 25 pages (plus another 10+ in the tuning thread)...

From what I recall, there wasn't much change and a few thought they might have gained a MPG. No one has complained of losing any efficiency (other than driving the car harder thanks to the bump in performance/driveability).

 

[delta88]

Having a 2011 regal myself would anyone be interested in just the authorization code? I am interested in the intake system but the tune would be lost on me. win win. I get a cheaper intake you get a cheaper tune. just cobble up an intake or something.

 

[SLP-GNX]

I'm interested in just the intake! Darn. Does anybody know if you can order just the intake separately or do you have to pay the full price for the kit? Thanks.

 

[delta88]

Earlier in the thread its mentioned that the lone intake would run about 800 while the kit is less. pretty lame. Im sure something can be worked out with a dealer. just need to find out their pricing.

 

[kbarzo]

I see a lot of the responses are from GS owners. I myself (actually wife) has a T2 turbo and would like to hear form the non GS owners on the difference in power.......seat of pants, dyno or track times before and after. Thanks in advance.

 

[kgoebz]

Has anyone noticed rough idling in the cold with the upgrade? A few times while stopped at lights I can feel it stumbling a little (never stalls or anything). Once in a while it will be noticeable like a 'wtf' moment but most times its just a smidge rough.

Maybe its just me though...

 

[isthird]

Has anyone noticed rough idling in the cold with the upgrade? A few times while stopped at lights I can feel it stumbling a little (never stalls or anything). Once in a while it will be noticeable like a 'wtf' moment but most times its just a smidge rough.

Maybe its just me though...

Maybe one of the connections worked it's way loose and is letting in air where it shouldn't be? Might be worth checking.

 

[Walt G]

Has anyone noticed rough idling in the cold with the upgrade? A few times while stopped at lights I can feel it stumbling a little (never stalls or anything). Once in a while it will be noticeable like a 'wtf' moment but most times its just a smidge rough.

Maybe its just me though...

These cars are notorious for doing what you described usually the first time you come to a stop after a short drive on a cool or cold day (so it tends to happen to some people all the time, if they have a stop sign maybe a mile from their home, which seems to be the sweet spot for this happening). There is another thread about it somewhere.

Mine does it on my way home from work where I have a stoplight about a mile into the drive that I sometimes get stopped at. Mine has actually stalled once (that's a WTF moment).

My theory is that it is an intrusive emissions test, possibly of the catalytic converter, but that has never been confirmed. I do not believe there is a fix for it.

 

[dmenn]

Question for those of you with tunes (or experience with tunes): Based on what I've read in this thread and other tune threads, it seems like the max boost on any tune is in the upper 22 range (e.g. 22.7). Since the boost is what gives you the extra power, then wouldn't the GM Stage Kit, IPF, Trifecta, or any other tune pretty much put out the same amount of horsepower? Since the engine is limited by only so much boost, if all of the providers that offer a tune have similar max boost, I would expect the power output would be similar between them all. Am I missing something?

 

[Jscaife]

Question for those of you with tunes (or experience with tunes): Based on what I've read in this thread and other tune threads, it seems like the max boost on any tune is in the upper 22 range (e.g. 22.7). Since the boost is what gives you the extra power, then wouldn't the GM Stage Kit, IPF, Trifecta, or any other tune pretty much put out the same amount of horsepower? Since the engine is limited by only so much boost, if all of the providers that offer a tune have similar max boost, I would expect the power output would be similar between them all. Am I missing something?

There are More factors to increases in performance than just Boost.

 

[stoopid]

There are More factors to increases in performance than just Boost.

There are, but I think I follow what dmenn is asking. There's a ceiling to what can be accomplished only tinkering with the programming.

 

[teddyb55]

Does the Trifecta tune void warranty?

 

[stoopid]

Does the Trifecta tune void warranty?

All tunes except those sold by/specifically approved by GM void the warranty.

 

[statelaw09]

As poster stoopid said, the tunes, other than the authorized GM one, would void your warranty, however, the trifecta tune does offer a "transparency" option which supposedly makes the tune invisible to a tech working on the car (or something to that effect, as I am certainly not an expert in the area of tunes, but that's how I understand it to work). I believe you could also reflash back to the stock tune before taking the car in for service, so the tune wouldn't be discoverable. again, I'm no expert in the area, but that's how I understand the trifecta tune to work, as it is the tune I have for my car. I'm sure someone else on here who is more knowledgeable on tuning will chime in, but I think, transparency mode or not, you do take a risk of voiding the warranty.

 

[Walt G]

It's really not so cut and dry. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warrany Act, aftermarket equipment that improves performance does not automatically void a vehicle manufacturer's original warranty, unless the warranty clearly states the addition of aftermarket equipment automatically voids your vehicle's warranty, or if it can be proven that the aftermarket device is the direct cause of the failure.

No major auto maker I'm aware of explicitly state in their warranties that aftermarket equipment voids the warranty. Why you might ask? Because the lost sales to people who want to mod their car (or truck) would be far worse than the rare warranty claim that perhaps could have been avoided.

If they want to void your warranty, they have to prove (under the act) that the modification was the direct cause of the failure... tough to do... and they'd lose that customer for life, and likely lose additional sales as word gets around that they are doing this.

I'm not saying it never happens, but it's super rare.

If Kranz tried to warranty his big-turbo upgrade engine that suffered from con-rod leakage, they probably would have said no. A tune though, especially one that puts power at about what their own 'stage kit' produces... I don't see them putting up a fight.

When I worked for a major Diesel engine manufacturer, there were inexpensive kits available that made huge power, and broke a lot of our transmissions. I was tasked with making these easy modifications impossible. Would have been easy to do (encrypted messages between control modules). But it never went to production because of all the business we would have lost when word got around that you couldn't mod our engines. It was not worth the lost business to deny warranty or even make it more difficult to mod.

 

[stoopid]

It's really not so cut and dry. Under the Magnuson-Moss Warrany Act, aftermarket equipment that improves performance does not automatically void a vehicle manufacturer's original warranty, unless the warranty clearly states the addition of aftermarket equipment automatically voids your vehicle's warranty, or if it can be proven that the aftermarket device is the direct cause of the failure...

...If they want to void your warranty, they have to prove (under the act) that the modification was the direct cause of the failure... tough to do... and they'd lose that customer for life, and likely lose additional sales as word gets around that they are doing this.

I'm not saying it never happens, but it's super rare.

The bolded scenario is the one that most modders run into. The issue is (aside from some bad internet rep for the auto maker) that the legal costs to challenge an auto manufacturer's denial of warranty service is unreasonable for most people. Manufacturer's know this. We don't always hear about these cases because people just end up paying, 99.99% of the time knowing they did something to the vehicle and conceding it could have caused the failure. Legal battles often take years to play out in court. In the meantime you can't go anywhere/drive to work? [not everyone has a multiple vehicles, thinking lightly modded folks like me] That means either paying for the repair out of pocket and trying to recover that in court, or buying another vehicle while you wait for the court to make a ruling. Unless there's another outcome I'm not aware of.

Thankfully, proper tuning doesn't seem to be leading to many premature failures. From what I've read and been told privately, tuning has revealed some weaknesses in the 2.0T [especially with the ATS implementation of the LTG] that led to GM making some minor changes in the last couple versions of the engine. I recall the changes were specifically to the manufacturing of the pistons and/or rods. There's also some reported piston failures that have only been tangentially linked to fluids re-entering the combustion chamber from the turbo(?). Again, that was last Spring I looked into this so the info is not fresh. Not being an engineer some of those details went over my head. I started a thread somewhere on this forum regarding tuning the LTG and was noting these things as I found them. My conclusion was that the latest LTG being used in the 2015+ models had these issues fleshed out.

 

[MikeC725]

My theory is that it is an intrusive emissions test, possibly of the catalytic converter, but that has never been confirmed. I do not believe there is a fix for it.

Walt is right, that is exactly what is is. Not 100% confirmed, but 99% sure. One way to find out, when it starts to do this, let your foot off the brake or put it in neutral to see if it stops. If it does, than that is what it is. If not, you have another issue.

 

[nortygcle]

Has anyone noticed rough idling in the cold with the upgrade? A few times while stopped at lights I can feel it stumbling a little (never stalls or anything). Once in a while it will be noticeable like a 'wtf' moment but most times its just a smidge rough.

Maybe its just me though...

idk if anyone answered for you yet I haven't gotten that far in the thread. ive been the boggy pulsating feeling you are getting is from the engine trying to go into a fuel save mode nothing to worry about from what ive heard.

 

[wungun]

Seen a thread in one of the UK Vauxhall forums where they compare the various intake kits and panel filters for the Regal/Insignia....
And pretty much every one of them created a bogginess, flat spot or surging at certain rpm.
I'm sticking with the stock setup.
Installing the cheaper phenolic intake spacer will give you more gains than any filter out there with no downsides like flat spots and intake noise....
The only benefit in an intake would be the reusability of it....