[Flapjack]

I really, really, wish there was a dedicated CTD tuning section... or at least some stickies. Sans that, I have been searching through the forums and have read just about every thread on tuning for the CTD, but there are a few problems. Most of the threads get mixed up quick, and go off-topic frequently. There are even gassers talking about their Trifecta tunes and whatnot.

Here are the things I feel are most important to me, in order:

- Driveability: being able to limit turbo lag off the line, without being hard to drive
- Peak TQ/HP, but only on a driveable tune that won't be jerky, or cause excessive regens
- Good customer support/updates
- Multiple tune options

I listed "multiple tune options" last, because I am likely going to set the equivalent of a 'street' tune, and never race the car (why would I?).

From past reading (late 2014/early 2015), the Trifecta seemed like a good option, but there were a lot of people complaining about driveability, and were patiently waiting for an update that never seemed to come. I have not read anything definitive in the forums (unless I missed it) that says the driveability issues were fixed.

Finally, I'm curious about the physical differences between the tunes. Do they all have handheld tuners, or are they just a cable that you hook up to your PC? I left out the "Chip" option, because it requires you to send if your ECU/PCM... but then again, that was from a thread back in 2013, if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks in advance for any replies, and my apologies for not being able to find the answers I needed from searching.

 

[oilburner]

I really, really, wish there was a dedicated CTD tuning section... or at least some stickies. Sans that, I have been searching through the forums and have read just about every thread on tuning for the CTD, but there are a few problems. Most of the threads get mixed up quick, and go off-topic frequently. There are even gassers talking about their Trifecta tunes and whatnot.

Here are the things I feel are most important to me, in order:

- Driveability: being able to limit turbo lag off the line, without being hard to drive
- Peak TQ/HP, but only on a driveable tune that won't be jerky, or cause excessive regens
- Good customer support/updates
- Multiple tune options

I listed "multiple tune options" last, because I am likely going to set the equivalent of a 'street' tune, and never race the car (why would I?).

From past reading (late 2014/early 2015), the Trifecta seemed like a good option, but there were a lot of people complaining about driveability, and were patiently waiting for an update that never seemed to come. I have not read anything definitive in the forums (unless I missed it) that says the driveability issues were fixed.

Finally, I'm curious about the physical differences between the tunes. Do they all have handheld tuners, or are they just a cable that you hook up to your PC? I left out the "Chip" option, because it requires you to send if your ECU/PCM... but then again, that was from a thread back in 2013, if I'm not mistaken.

Thanks in advance for any replies, and my apologies for not being able to find the answers I needed from searching.

I have the fleece an very happy ,it gives you 4 choices including stock, its a hand held plug in .
much more responsive even with the lowest tune in. mileage is better than stock when driven easy. have had zero problems so can`t say anything about customer support , haven`t needed any. not much more to say about it. have had it since early june.

 

[oilburner]

also throttle is smooth an very predictable.

 

[Flapjack]

That is good info. What are the three non-stock options, and which do you use?

 

[moretorque05]

I'll be following along with this one. I had my mind made up on the Trifecta, but was waiting for a black Friday sale.

Hoping for some good info to be shared!

 

[Flapjack]

I'll be following along with this one. I had my mind made up on the Trifecta, but was waiting for a black Friday sale.

Is it customary for them (or either of the others) to do that?

 

[oilburner]

That is good info. What are the three non-stock options, and which do you use?

30 ,40, 50 horse an I run 30 horse full time. guys at fleece felt the 30 horse was the tune the car should of come from the factory with an I agree. the 40 an 50 are nice but more regens, more fuel.

 

[Kexlox]

Is it customary for them (or either of the others) to do that?

In the Trifecta thread they mention the only time they do specials is black friday.

That's not the same as saying that they will put this tune on sale, but I'll be checking in a few weeks anyway.

They did also push a new version of the tune that seemed to fix the driveability issues for some. Someone with the tune will probably be along shortly to comment further though.

 

[Flapjack]

Well.... I totally missed any Black Friday sales, if there were any.

Oilburner's opinion weighs pretty heavy, so I think I'll be going with the Fleece once I get my next bonus. I'm still mildly considering the Trifecta, but I would like to be 100% sure the driveability issues are gone before I even compare it to the Fleece.

 

[Keith H.]

Trifecta Input

I purchased the Trifecta tune during the 2015 black Friday sale. Besides the desire for a power increase, my primary concerns with a tune were loss of drivability, more frequent regens, and loss of fuel milage. That being said, the Trifecta tune has met or exceeded my expectations on all fronts. The tune is truly impressive in its seamless integration into the engine and transmission controls. If you had never driven a stock CTD, you would have no idea it was tuned.

I'll touch on a couple of your interest, and my observations;

I've gotten accustomed to rolling on the throttle to help decrease the initial turbo lag/torque managment before the tune was installed, so the difference there wasn't huge. I would say its better than before, but not gone.

As far as drivability, the car is a just a quicker, smoother version of its previous self. It hasn't surged, bucked, or lunged once.

I didn't have confidence in the ability of a tuner to improve upon the factory transmission controls. But they did, it's nothing dramatic, just noticeably smoother.

I wasn't interested in different tune levels. I wanted as much HP/Tq that was possible without negatively affecting stock fuel mileage and regen frequency. The tune has delivered on both.

By chance, I installed the tune less than 10 miles before a regen. Close enough for me to call it a stock tune regen. The distance on that one was 802 miles. The car just completed another regen yesterday. This one came in at 794 miles, pretty impressive for the amount of WOT/heavy acceleration i have been doing while feeling out the tune.

My fuel milage was down 0.8 mpg this tank from stock, which probably has more to due with my right foot than the tune. Im sure when I start driving like a sane person again, it with go back to normal.

I will say, I was a little leary about tuning a car with 15,000 miles on it, but now I wish I would've done it 15,000 miles ago.


I hope this helps with your research.

 

[2014Oilburner]

I purchased the Trifecta tune during the 2015 black Friday sale. Besides the desire for a power increase, my primary concerns with a tune were loss of drivability, more frequent regens, and loss of fuel milage. That being said, the Trifecta tune has met or exceeded my expectations on all fronts. The tune is truly impressive in its seamless integration into the engine and transmission controls. If you had never driven a stock CTD, you would have no idea it was tuned.

I'll touch on a couple of your interest, and my observations;

I've gotten accustomed to rolling on the throttle to help decrease the initial turbo lag/torque managment before the tune was installed, so the difference there wasn't huge. I would say its better than before, but not gone.

As far as drivability, the car is a just a quicker, smoother version of its previous self. It hasn't surged, bucked, or lunged once.

I didn't have confidence in the ability of a tuner to improve upon the factory transmission controls. But they did, it's nothing dramatic, just noticeably smoother.

I wasn't interested in different tune levels. I wanted as much HP/Tq that was possible without negatively affecting stock fuel mileage and regen frequency. The tune has delivered on both.

By chance, I installed the tune less than 10 miles before a regen. Close enough for me to call it a stock tune regen. The distance on that one was 802 miles. The car just completed another regen yesterday. This one came in at 794 miles, pretty impressive for the amount of WOT/heavy acceleration i have been doing while feeling out the tune.

My fuel milage was down 0.8 mpg this tank from stock, which probably has more to due with my right foot than the tune. Im sure when I start driving like a sane person again, it with go back to normal.

I will say, I was a little leary about tuning a car with 15,000 miles on it, but now I wish I would've done it 15,000 miles ago.


I hope this helps with your research.

Thanks for your comments. I love reading the comments from owners who have done the tune. I've got 16000 miles on mine and have been sitting on the fence about getting a tune for the last 6 months or so wanting to read more from CTD owners who have done the tune...Glad to hear you have had no issues and your happy with it

 

[pacolino]

I purchased the Trifecta tune during the 2015 black Friday sale. Besides the desire for a power increase, my primary concerns with a tune were loss of drivability, more frequent regens, and loss of fuel milage. That being said, the Trifecta tune has met or exceeded my expectations on all fronts. The tune is truly impressive in its seamless integration into the engine and transmission controls. If you had never driven a stock CTD, you would have no idea it was tuned.

I'll touch on a couple of your interest, and my observations;

I've gotten accustomed to rolling on the throttle to help decrease the initial turbo lag/torque managment before the tune was installed, so the difference there wasn't huge. I would say its better than before, but not gone.

As far as drivability, the car is a just a quicker, smoother version of its previous self. It hasn't surged, bucked, or lunged once.

I didn't have confidence in the ability of a tuner to improve upon the factory transmission controls. But they did, it's nothing dramatic, just noticeably smoother.

I wasn't interested in different tune levels. I wanted as much HP/Tq that was possible without negatively affecting stock fuel mileage and regen frequency. The tune has delivered on both.

By chance, I installed the tune less than 10 miles before a regen. Close enough for me to call it a stock tune regen. The distance on that one was 802 miles. The car just completed another regen yesterday. This one came in at 794 miles, pretty impressive for the amount of WOT/heavy acceleration i have been doing while feeling out the tune.

My fuel milage was down 0.8 mpg this tank from stock, which probably has more to due with my right foot than the tune. Im sure when I start driving like a sane person again, it with go back to normal.

I will say, I was a little leary about tuning a car with 15,000 miles on it, but now I wish I would've done it 15,000 miles ago.


I hope this helps with your research.

Well done Keith, but I'm still not conviced, do I really need a tune? It would improve DPF life? Do you get better mpg? Thanks.

Sent from my LGMS631 using Tapatalk

 

[Keith H.]

Thanks for your comments. I love reading the comments from owners who have done the tune. I've got 16000 miles on mine and have been sitting on the fence about getting a tune for the last 6 months or so wanting to read more from CTD owners who have done the tune...Glad to hear you have had no issues and your happy with it

You're welcome. Your experience sounds similar to mine. I too, was fence sitting and reading as much feedback as I could find. As well as having a hard time making a decision on which way to go. I wanted to be thorough in describing my findings in order to help others, as much as I could, in making their own decisions on a tune. I'm glad you found it helpful.

Well done Keith, but I'm still not conviced, do I really need a tune? It would improve DPF life? Do you get better mpg? Thanks.

I don't think you need a tune. I enjoyed driving the car stock. But I will say this, after driving the car tuned, I would feel like I was missing out if I didn't have it.

I couldn't speak with any authority on an increase in DPF life with this tune. Trifecta does claim that soot production is decreased. That should increase the intervals between regens. Will that increase DPF life? I don't know, but it surely can't hurt. I haven't driven with the tune ,under normal driving conditions, long enough to confirm less regens. I can say it doesn't seem to accumulate soot any faster than stock.

The fuel mileage appears to be the same as stock. I will need a few tanks of sedated driving to see if there are any improvements over stock. But, the increased acceleration and passing power have proven to be more temptation than I can resist. So, I'm not sure when I will be able to answer that question.

 

[Flapjack]

Keith,

Thanks for the detailed reply. Very good writeup. I hate being torn like this. Both the Fleece and Trifecta sound like they are very refined tunes, so it may come down to cost. I'm not sure what the price difference is, but I'll start shopping around more this weekend.

My CTD has ~34K miles, so I'm pretty comfortable with tuning it at this point in the car's life.

This feels like a stupid question.... but how do you know when the car is doing a regen?

 

[txcruze26]

I purchased the Trifecta tune during the 2015 black Friday sale. Besides the desire for a power increase, my primary concerns with a tune were loss of drivability, more frequent regens, and loss of fuel milage. That being said, the Trifecta tune has met or exceeded my expectations on all fronts. The tune is truly impressive in its seamless integration into the engine and transmission controls. If you had never driven a stock CTD, you would have no idea it was tuned.

I'll touch on a couple of your interest, and my observations;

I've gotten accustomed to rolling on the throttle to help decrease the initial turbo lag/torque managment before the tune was installed, so the difference there wasn't huge. I would say its better than before, but not gone.

As far as drivability, the car is a just a quicker, smoother version of its previous self. It hasn't surged, bucked, or lunged once.

I didn't have confidence in the ability of a tuner to improve upon the factory transmission controls. But they did, it's nothing dramatic, just noticeably smoother.

I wasn't interested in different tune levels. I wanted as much HP/Tq that was possible without negatively affecting stock fuel mileage and regen frequency. The tune has delivered on both.

By chance, I installed the tune less than 10 miles before a regen. Close enough for me to call it a stock tune regen. The distance on that one was 802 miles. The car just completed another regen yesterday. This one came in at 794 miles, pretty impressive for the amount of WOT/heavy acceleration i have been doing while feeling out the tune.

My fuel milage was down 0.8 mpg this tank from stock, which probably has more to due with my right foot than the tune. Im sure when I start driving like a sane person again, it with go back to normal.

I will say, I was a little leary about tuning a car with 15,000 miles on it, but now I wish I would've done it 15,000 miles ago.


I hope this helps with your research.

thanks for your input! my gf's cruze only has 21k miles but I have been wanting to do a tune on it for that pesky lag. I plan on changing out the spark plugs 1st as I read on the forums that that is what most people start off with. Me being a novice at cars, would you consider this a mod better left to the pros? I unfortunately don't have the place or tools to work on it myself. The car is a stock 2014 cruze 2LT, any recommendations on what to do before even starting this mod? Any ideas or suggestions would be appreciated! I want this for that turbo lag, just want the smoothest ride possible

 

[1877 iris ave]

to txcruze26 Sorry this thread is about tuning diesel cruzes, You will find many threads about the 1.4 L gas engines on this site also

 

[2014Oilburner]

This feels like a stupid question.... but how do you know when the car is doing a regen?

I drive with the cars info computer showing the current average miles per gallon....when the car starts a regen the mileage numbers drop like 10 mpg until the regen is completed....that's the only way I can tell that a regen is happening...wish there was a light that told you a regen was under way....I've parked about 5 times now in my driveway and the fan was running and could smell a burnt smell because a regen was under way and didn't know it when I pulled in my driveway

 

[Flapjack]

I drive with the cars info computer showing the current average miles per gallon....when the car starts a regen the mileage numbers drop like 10 mpg until the regen is completed....that's the only way I can tell that a regen is happening...wish there was a light that told you a regen was under way....I've parked about 5 times now in my driveway and the fan was running and could smell a burnt smell because a regen was under way and didn't know it when I pulled in my driveway

Very interesting. I usually drive with the avg total mpg showing. I'll have to put it on the instant mpg and see if I notice it happening. Thanks for the tip.

 

[Keith H.]

how do you know when the car is doing a regen?

Gm did a good job with making the regen process transparent to the driver. There are only 3 deviations that I am aware of, two of which 2014Oilburner listed above, from normal operation that would clue you into a regen. While driving, increased idle speed and loss of fuel milage. The cooling fan running along with the "hot smell", for lack of a better term, after the car is shut off is a good indication that you interrupted a regen.

I use the Scangauge 2 with the CTD firmware to let me know when a regen is occurring. In addition to regens, you can monitor oil pressure, coolant temp, trans temp, boost, DPF soot mass and more. It also can read trouble codes and clear them.
Forum member LiveTrash contacted /worked with the developer of the Scangauge in order to get the ball rolling on a CTD version of the gauge. It is definitely an informative little addition to the car.

Here is the link to the development thread on the CTD Scangauge if you would like to read up on it.
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/64-chevy-cruze-diesel-general-discussion/132666-scangauge-ii.html

 

[Flapjack]

I use the Scangauge 2 with the CTD firmware to let me know when a regen is occurring. In addition to regens, you can monitor oil pressure, coolant temp, trans temp, boost, DPF soot mass and more. It also can read trouble codes and clear them.
Forum member LiveTrash contacted /worked with the developer of the Scangauge in order to get the ball rolling on a CTD version of the gauge. It is definitely an informative little addition to the car.

Here is the link to the development thread on the CTD Scangauge if you would like to read up on it.
http://www.cruzetalk.com/forum/64-chevy-cruze-diesel-general-discussion/132666-scangauge-ii.html

I was one of the initial backers of the Kiwi 3, which should be here in the mail in a few days. Any chance it may be able to pull this information?

KIWI