Trifecta Install, Black Friday 2020

[Wlepse]

So this may be an anomaly but today I had something weird happen. On the way home a car way ahead of me was turning into the middle lanes between the highway lanes. At first it seemed like I would easily clear them but for some reason they didn't pull into the turning lane completely. As I realized they stopped moving I started to move to the right lane. At the same time the forward collision warning lights came on, when I got halfway into the other lane the brakes came on fairly hard. This is strange since the forward automatic braking has never worked even when I tried hard to get it to engage. I don't think the Trifecta tune touches any of this but has anyone else noticed a change in the way these safety nannies work? Maybe flashing the ecu/tcu reset something?

 

[RedX]

Just want to say that overall im loving the Trifecta tune. Ive had it for a out 6 months now and do appreciate it.

As many jave said, the zero to 60 isnt dramatically improved, but only hell the passong power and mod range torque is vastly improved.

Now I wasnt aware of these torque limiters but now that I am, I definitely feel like that is the biggest issue
You can feel the first few gears being
neutered, then wham, a huge thrust of torque in 3rd.

Nothing is perfect but im happy i bought it. Overall the car is better, but has room for improvement.

 

[mike69440]

I hate cars with aggressive throttle tip in mapping and overly quick to downshift transmissions calibrations as the current Trifecta tune appears to be. It would be nice if the Stock mode were very close to stock, maybe tune to get the most out of 89 Octane, and still cruise on regular., while the performance, cruise off mode was tune for 91-93 octane, while still behaving nicely like a Buick should.

Being an old fart gearhead, I have little interest in stoplight drag race starts. I just want the car to go when I need it to go and not take forever to think about it.

The stock TourX is almost quick enough to be enjoyable, well sort of, at least in daily driving.

My perspective is a 2014 Slowbaru 6MT Forester on one end and my 03 Cobra on the other.

The Subaru really does not have the oomph to pass in most normal safe to pass situations. Way yo scary to even try.

The Cobra will accelerate 40-80 mph in about 3 to 3-1/2 seconds, too dangerous and stupid to use the all the power. The fear is losing traction and imitating a Mustang Stupid You-Tube crash video or as a minimum scaring the poor person you pass.
Newer high power cars have safety nannies that can save you from such foolishness. I have to rely on sensitive toes on the cable linkage throttle.

300 hp or so is the right amount of power for the average all purpose daily driver normal weight car. , I.e. TourX.
That may be asking a lot of a 2L turbo 4 Cylinder.

 

[adam728]

300 hp or so is the right amount of power for the average all purpose daily driver normal weight car. , I.e. TourX.
That may be asking a lot of a 2L turbo 4 Cylinder.

300 hp from a 2L turbo isn't much anymore. The factory Camaro is 275 hp, and tuned versions are getting that or even slightly more than that to the wheels (they are figuring about 320 hp crank). Some Malibu guys with the 2.0T claim about the same.


Heck, a coworker's Subaru did 550 hp to the wheels a few weeks ago. Backed it down to "safe" 475 hp. If he'd . But that's a different animal.

So 300 from a 2.0T seems reasonable.

 

[Wlepse]

I am interested to see if anyone had access to that parameter screen Trifecta showed in there install walkthrough. If so they might have access to change the sensitivity of the throttle, this would be an awesome feature to have. I am able to drive in tuned mode without it going super aggressive but there seems to be very little in between. Rather than go back and forth it would be nice to just tweek it to meet your needs.

 

[RedX]

I am interested to see if anyone had access to that parameter screen Trifecta showed in there install walkthrough. If so they might have access to change the sensitivity of the throttle, this would be an awesome feature to have. I am able to drive in tuned mode without it going super aggressive but there seems to be very little in between. Rather than go back and forth it would be nice to just tweek it to meet your needs.

I just found my right foot figured out how best to modulate in that mode.

 

[BradyB0225]

I personally would not want to ruin the quietness of the Regal with a downpipe and larger exhaust to gain back the horsepower differences between our cars and the Camaro.

I recently sold my tuned-2019 Camaro 2.0L/Manual, I also traded in a Bolt EV for my Regal (I have too many cars). I miss the RWD Camaro but she sure was a pain to see out of when parking and generally not the best car for traffic and road trips. The Bolt was a great car but losing value quickly and I took advantage of some insane end of year discounts to dump that negative equity.

The Regal is kind of the best of both worlds, pretty much just as fast as the 6-speed manual Camaro but just as quiet as the Electric Bolt. The Buick is also an awesome road tripper. Personally, I'm okay losing half a second in 0-60 performance for the comfort of the Buick.

 

[mike69440]

300 hp from a 2L turbo isn't much anymore. The factory Camaro is 275 hp, and tuned versions are getting that or even slightly more than that to the wheels (they are figuring about 320 hp crank). Some Malibu guys with the 2.0T claim about the same.


Heck, a coworker's Subaru did 550 hp to the wheels a few weeks ago. Backed it down to "safe" 475 hp. If he'd . But that's a different animal.

So 300 from a 2.0T seems reasonable.

Come to think of it, I watched newish white WRX with a "claimed +700 hp do repeated Sub 11 sec + 125mph runs last year when I went to see what my TourX would run. (15 sec @ 93 mph. )
I say "claimed" as there was 2 Audi's, a Merc and a late model Caddy that were even a bit faster! What money will buy!

 

[adam728]

I personally would not want to ruin the quietness of the Regal with a downpipe and larger exhaust to gain back the horsepower differences between our cars and the Camaro.

I recently sold my tuned-2019 Camaro 2.0L/Manual, I also traded in a Bolt EV for my Regal (I have too many cars). I miss the RWD Camaro but she sure was a pain to see out of when parking and generally not the best car for traffic and road trips. The Bolt was a great car but losing value quickly and I took advantage of some insane end of year discounts to dump that negative equity.

The Regal is kind of the best of both worlds, pretty much just as fast as the 6-speed manual Camaro but just as quiet as the Electric Bolt. The Buick is also an awesome road tripper. Personally, I'm okay losing half a second in 0-60 performance for the comfort of the Buick.

Well said. I definitely wouldn't want to make the Buick louder, the quietness is one of it's best characteristics.

I do loathe the throttle/shifting characteristics. My wife's minivan feels much more enthusiastic as it happily downshifts for passing. The Buick just doesn't want to let go of a gear till you get waaaay into the pedal. On the way home I was running the Torque OBD2 app. At one point I accelerated from ~50 mph, just slowly dipping into the throttle. The Buick held 8th gear, a little over 1200 rpm, and just poured the throttle to it. Acceleration was slow, sounded labored, commanded throttle was ~70% (pedal was about half that), and engine load was right near 100%. It'd feel a lot more "peppy" if it shifted and at least went to maybe 2000 rpm and wouldn't need nearly the amount of throttle opening. But, that doesn't net that few percent better BSFC for adding to overall mileage.

I welcome the Trifecta tune and sportier throttle/shifting. Just going to wait a few more months, as I don't even have 6000 miles yet....

 

[adam728]

Come to think of it, I watched newish white WRX with a "claimed +700 hp do repeated Sub 11 sec + 125mph runs last year when I went to see what my TourX would run. (15 sec @ 93 mph. )
I say "claimed" as there was 2 Audi's, a Merc and a late model Caddy that were even a bit faster! What money will buy!

Yea, Subaru's can get some impressive numbers. His engine build should support about 750 crank hp, 650 wheel hp. But he stuck with a smaller turbo for quicker spool up and better throttle response for fun in the twisties. Limits him majorly on peak numbers, as it runs out of breath as rpm climbs. Still goes 60-130 mph faster than my car probably goes 60-80. Of course, for the $$$ that's in just the engine....

 

[mike69440]

Yea, Subaru's can get some impressive numbers. His engine build should support about 750 crank hp, 650 wheel hp. But he stuck with a smaller turbo for quicker spool up and better throttle response for fun in the twisties. Limits him majorly on peak numbers, as it runs out of breath as rpm climbs. Still goes 60-130 mph faster than my car probably goes 60-80. Of course, for the $$$ that's in just the engine....

What I can't fathom is how their drivetrains usually don't explode on those brutal AWD launches.

 

[mike69440]

Well said. I definitely wouldn't want to make the Buick louder, the quietness is one of it's best characteristics.

I do loathe the throttle/shifting characteristics. My wife's minivan feels much more enthusiastic as it happily downshifts for passing. The Buick just doesn't want to let go of a gear till you get waaaay into the pedal. On the way home I was running the Torque OBD2 app. At one point I accelerated from ~50 mph, just slowly dipping into the throttle. The Buick held 8th gear, a little over 1200 rpm, and just poured the throttle to it. Acceleration was slow, sounded labored, commanded throttle was ~70% (pedal was about half that), and engine load was right near 100%. It'd feel a lot more "peppy" if it shifted and at least went to maybe 2000 rpm and wouldn't need nearly the amount of throttle opening. But, that doesn't net that few percent better BSFC for adding to overall mileage.

I welcome the Trifecta tune and sportier throttle/shifting. Just going to wait a few more months, as I don't even have 6000 miles yet....

Me stock TourX downshifts one or two gears at anymore than 1/2 throttle. A tune with a bit more transmission aggressiveness would be ok, but please don' have the engine run +3000 rpm when just tickling the throttle.

What is the Torque OBD2 app?

 

[adam728]

What I can't fathom is how their drivetrains usually don't explode on those brutal AWD launches.

Same here. He doesn't do that because it's so abusive.

Me stock TourX downshifts one or two gears at anymore than 1/2 throttle. A tune with a bit more transmission aggressiveness would be ok, but please don' have the engine run +3000 rpm when just tickling the throttle.

What is the Torque OBD2 app?

Handy app for OBD2 stuff. $5, plus about $8-$10 for a cheap bluetooth dongle for it to read.

Torque Wiki

torque-bhp.com

Comes in handy for checking and clearing codes, plus just fun in general for logging and watching what the car is doing. Can see soooo many parameters, such as wideband O2, oil temp, transmission temp, injector pulsewidth, calculated power output, knock count, and on and on and on. Can even record a video while overlaying OBD2 data, which I wish I had a decade ago at autocross. Uses the phone's accelerometer for a G force circle, rpm, throttle position, speed, a map. Just really cool, in my opinion.

My dashboard





Can record logs at 10hz, but unfortunately the cheap dongles are slow, so I might get 10-12 PID/sec. Which means it's typically recording about 1 refreshed data line per sec. The more expensive dongles will be 10 times faster, but cost 15 times as much. Where slow refresh is annoying is, say, rpm on a 0-60 run. It will log big steps, like 3,742 rpm, then step to 5,281, then suddenly it's the middle of the next gear at 4,729, etc.

I've used longer logs averaged out to make fuel economy vs speed curves for past cars too. Will do the Buick someday. But with work just 17 miles away it's hardly fully warm by the time I get there (coolant warms up quick, but oil takes longer, trans a lot longer, diffs I am sure even longer yet).

 

[obsoletemachine]

QQ for everyone.

If you tune with Trifecta, and you take in your vehicle for service for something covered under warranty, this tuning would void the warranty.

So do you simply return to factory to avoid that or is there no way to avoid that?

New to this and hesitant because of that.

 

[TourXX]

If you have an interest in the performance potential of your Regal TourX then read on....

I was reading a thread on one of the German forums earlier today and one of the owners of a 260 4x4 wagon had logged his cars performance figures at various stages of his EDS tune, utilising a Racelogic VBox.

Stock:
(260 ps & 400 nm) Shell V-Power 99 RON

0-62 mph = 7.6 sec.

62-124 mph = 18.9 sec.


Phase 1 Ecu tune only:
(290 ps & 430 nm) Shell V-Power 99 RON

0-62 mph = 6.9 sec.

62-124 mph = 17.8 sec.


Phase 2 Ecu & Tcu
(300 ps & 460 nm) +tcu tune, which removes both the in gear torque limiters and the torque limiters that occur on each gear change. Fuel was Ural 102 RON:

0-62 mph = 5.5 sec.

62-124 mph = 14.4 sec.


As you can see, the biggest change in performance was via the TCU tune and the ability to access the full torque in every gear. Many owners have said the TCU tune alone made a significant difference on stock cars as they then had full access to 400 nm in every gear, which is totally not the case with the stock tune or any ecu tune that does not modify or remove the tcu torque limiters.

For those of you with access to private roads, another German owner with the same phase 2 ecu & tcu software registered 160 mph on GPS on the autobahn and his car was still accelerating when he backed off at 160. He said when stock, his car struggled to achieve and maintain 150 mph plus it took a while to get there.

Another German phase 2 owner registered 168 mph on the autobahn via GPS!!

I have also been chatting with a Volvo tuner as the entire range uses the exact same Aisin 8 speed auto, which they first started using in 2012, so I was interested to hear his thoughts on the transmission. Many Volvo's make 480 nm as standard, which is the theoretical max torque limit of this box and yet Volvo exceed this with in house over-the-counter tunes, which make 500 nm.

The Volvo tuner offers tunes exceeding 540 nm on many of the more powerful Volvo diesels, and he has not heard of any issues with this transmission. He said the older Aisin 6 speed, which has a lower max torque output of 440 nm from the factory, exceeded this in some stock Volvo tunes and was good for in excess of 500 nm with a tune unless you fitted a big turbo, which the 6 speed did not like.

He confirmed no in gear torque limiters in the Volvo application of the Aisin 8 speed, with the only torque limiting occurring during each gear change, which he removes with his ecu tunes for faster changes.

This and the Racelogic times above, all pretty much confirm what I have read about GM's in gear torque limiting being in place purely to meet emissions and fuel targets. Here in Europe they even dropped the Insignia 260 ps LTG after a year or so as it could no longer meet ever stricter emissions requirements.

Here's hoping Trifecta nail a tcu tune sometime soon and realise the potential of these seriously underrated cars.

 

[mike69440]

If you have an interest in the performance potential of your Regal TourX then read on....

I was reading a thread on one of the German forums earlier today and one of the owners of a 260 4x4 wagon had logged his cars performance figures at various stages of his EDS tune, utilising a Racelogic VBox.

Stock:
(260 ps & 400 nm) Shell V-Power 99 RON

0-62 mph = 7.6 sec.

62-124 mph = 18.9 sec.


Phase 1 Ecu tune only:
(290 ps & 430 nm) Shell V-Power 99 RON

0-62 mph = 6.9 sec.

62-124 mph = 17.8 sec.


Phase 2 Ecu & Tcu
(300 ps & 460 nm) +tcu tune, which removes both the in gear torque limiters and the torque limiters that occur on each gear change. Fuel was Ural 102 RON:

0-62 mph = 5.5 sec.

62-124 mph = 14.4 sec.


As you can see, the biggest change in performance was via the TCU tune and the ability to access the full torque in every gear. Many owners have said the TCU tune alone made a significant difference on stock cars as they then had full access to 400 nm in every gear, which is totally not the case with the stock tune or any ecu tune that does not modify or remove the tcu torque limiters.

For those of you with access to private roads, another German owner with the same phase 2 ecu & tcu software registered 160 mph on GPS on the autobahn and his car was still accelerating when he backed off at 160. He said when stock, his car struggled to achieve and maintain 150 mph plus it took a while to get there.

Another German phase 2 owner registered 168 mph on the autobahn via GPS!!

I have also been chatting with a Volvo tuner as the entire range uses the exact same Aisin 8 speed auto, which they first started using in 2012, so I was interested to hear his thoughts on the transmission. Many Volvo's make 480 nm as standard, which is the theoretical max torque limit of this box and yet Volvo exceed this with in house over-the-counter tunes, which make 500 nm.

The Volvo tuner offers tunes exceeding 540 nm on many of the more powerful Volvo diesels, and he has not heard of any issues with this transmission. He said the older Aisin 6 speed, which has a lower max torque output of 440 nm from the factory, exceeded this in some stock Volvo tunes and was good for in excess of 500 nm with a tune unless you fitted a big turbo, which the 6 speed did not like.

He confirmed no in gear torque limiters in the Volvo application of the Aisin 8 speed, with the only torque limiting occurring during each gear change, which he removes with his ecu tunes for faster changes.

This and the Racelogic times above, all pretty much confirm what I have read about GM's in gear torque limiting being in place purely to meet emissions and fuel targets. Here in Europe they even dropped the Insignia 260 ps LTG after a year or so as it could no longer meet ever stricter emissions requirements.

Here's hoping Trifecta nail a tcu tune sometime soon and realise the potential of these seriously underrated cars.

Phase 2 Ecu & Tcu
(300 ps & 460 nm) +tcu tune, which removes both the in gear torque limiters and the torque limiters that occur on each gear change. Fuel was Ural 102 RON:

0-62 mph = 5.5 sec.👍

62-124 mph = 14.4 sec.👌

That is starting to get into the almost fast realm of performance, which more than adequate for a Buicky type of car.
Octane rating conversions - PencilGeek's BMW Blog

So where would you find 97 Octane (R+M) pump gas? My Cobra would like to know?

 

[TourXX]

Phase 2 Ecu & Tcu
(300 ps & 460 nm) +tcu tune, which removes both the in gear torque limiters and the torque limiters that occur on each gear change. Fuel was Ural 102 RON:

0-62 mph = 5.5 sec.👍

62-124 mph = 14.4 sec.👌

That is starting to get into the almost fast realm of performance, which more than adequate for a Buicky type of car.
Octane rating conversions - PencilGeek's BMW Blog

So where would you find 97 Octane (R+M) pump gas? My Cobra would like to know?

I know a couple of the circuits here in the UK have service stations offering the real good stuff, so maybe it's the same in the USA. The German petrolheads are very fortunate to have 102 RON widely available on tap and the autobahns on which to drink it.

For those looking to go beyond 300 PS, EDS Stage 2+ (ecu, tcu and downpipe with 200 cell sports cat) achieves around 330 PS, so I am sure Trifecta can offer something similar if/when they offer a tcu tune.

 

[RedX]

Can you inquire if they would ship to a US customer?

 

[TourXX]

Can you inquire if they would ship to a US customer?

According to the website they ship worldwide but before you purchase anything, you might want to contact Trifecta to see what they might have in the pipeline regarding a TCU tune for the Aisin 8 speed.

Here's the link for EDS: https://www.eds-motorsport.de/produ...rbo--4x4---b20ltg-getriebeprogrammierung.html

This will give you an idea of the EDS price, which was previously discounted during Black Friday, including shipping to the USA and this includes purchase of the programming device but they will also loan this out for a deposit if you don't want to purchase it:

 

[Rhetoric]

@300T Thanks for the enlightening info on the 8 speed limiters.

I would really be curious if the 8 speed we got is identical to the EU version. They seemed to change enough on the US spec cars that I'm skeptical. I would also want to hyper confirm that flashing this EU stuff won't brick a US spec TCU and ECU.