No choice when it comes to warranty work. Plus, they're not just going to give you replacement parts- they've got to do their diagnosis, and labor in order to continue warrantying the work.

 

thanks a lot for the replies, guys. does anyone have experience with the diablo trinity tuner? a very steep price and all but would that be worthwhile on a stock set up?

pardon my ignorance, but it makes sense to me that since the stock '06 ss is already a powerful car, you should be able to just add a tuner to get more out of the engine.

i want to keep it street legal in CA and i'm tryin' to spend wisely to get the most benefit with the least mods from a combo of either:
A) tuner by itself ($600)
B) CAI & mufflers ($550)
C) CAI & cat back ($1,000)
D) all of the above ($1,600)

if the tune by itself gives me +25hp i'll skip CAI and exhaust/mufflers. how much hp can one expect from ALL of the mods?

from what i've read around other sites and seen on youtube, mufflers and exhaust just give you a different sound. i don't really care about the sound. i assume dyno results for any combination of CAI + muffler or exhaust would be marginal. what are you really gaining? 15hp?

might as well just get the tune and pull the plug to keep the resale value of the stock vehicle (if it comes down to it). then you could pop the tuner into any other compatible vehicle (http://www.diablosport.com/index.php...isplay&pid=151).

i appreciate your advice. i'm new to the whole modding thing and trying to get some insight from the knowledgeable folks here. great site!

 

i think the trinity is way expensive if your going to get a diablo the predator is cheaper and can be found used for a better price. i would say maybe 20-25 hp with a catback, canned tune, and cai. im sure itll be suggested to get it dyno tuned or hp tune it yourself but hp tuners your going to need a laptop and some kind of knowledge on how to use it. plus its pricey. idk the laws in cali but the downpipe and an ls6 intake,with a tune will net more power for what should be less than that 1600. if you go with the predator the only other vehicle you can use it on is the ls2 gto neither has trans support though. superchips cortex ive heard good and bad about but does have trans support.

 

i did the k&n intake ans flowmastersuper 44's to my 06 and love it but im looking for tuning mod right now aswell

 

Just buying a tuner isn't going to get more out of the engine- who is going to tune it? If you've never used a tuner before, its going to take at least a couple weeks of reading and trying to make any real positive changes at all.

Even for a professional tuner, you're not going to add 25 whp to an LS4 with just a tune.

 

Maybe, but he could definitely see an honest 10-15 HP improvement from adding timing alone. Are those LS4s required to run premium from the factory? If not, gains would be even bigger by tuning your WOT timing for 93 octane. Should be able to add at least 4* of timing....roughly 15-20 HP.

Additionally, he'd see HUGE gains in performance by elminating torque management and raising his shift points.

HP Tuners is retardedly easy to learn- less than a year ago I was afraid of tuning, too- within a month I was completely comfortable with it.

I vote for taking that $600 and buying HP Tuners. There are plenty of tutorials online on how to use it. Even if you just add a few degrees of timing and increase your shift points you'll be amazed at the results.

 

It's not a requirement, but it's recommended. We can run the cheap stuff too.

 

For a total tuning newb, I don't even think 15 whp is realistic- at least not in the short term until they get used to it.

Its not a requirement- its 'recommended' (basically means you can put regular in, and KR will pull timing). I don't see you being able to raise timing that much from stock (I bet even on premium they have some KR from the factory).

I agree that a tuner is a good option- but a person has to be dedicated to learn how to use it and how it works, and seeing gains like 10-20 whp+ off a tune alone isn't something someone is going to pull off their first time out. Just don't want him to get all excited thinking if he buys a tuner, he's going to add crazy horsepower the first day.

 

cool, thanks for the input. i'm not tryin' to race or do anything professionally here. i'd like to upgrade the performance a lil bit with limited mods and it sounds like the trinity would give me the best gains, once i figure out how to use it.

i never felt much difference with a CAI or muffler but never had full cat back so can't compare. these mods just changed the sound of the engine. and if you consider selling the vehicle, you'll want to put stock parts back on. i like the plug and play benefit of the trinity. however, yeah, CAI is a 5 min install too (plus no learning curve) but for about double the price of a good CAI, i could get more potential out of the tuner. +15 to 25hp gains is pretty good for me. i mean, what's the difference in hp gains between these simple (cheap) mods and the more expensive ones (supercharger/ turbo etc)? 100, 150 hp? it seems to me, at that point, i might as well upgrade to a 'vette or a TBSS.

 

If you're honestly thinking of a tuner- why not get a full tuning package like HPTuners- instead of a diablo or trinity? I would think HPTuners would have a lot more adjustability if you were serious about pcm tuning.

My buddy got a diablo for his LS2 GTO, and there was very little actual tunability. Plus, he loaded up the upgrade tune that it comes with- and when he ended up getting a custom dyno tune a few months later- and the guy was able to pick up substantial amounts of power over the diablo box tune.

The power difference is huge. There is no SC kit, only a turbo kit- its $5500 and doubles the stock horsepower- so you end up with ~500whp (about 625 crank)- LS engines love boost.

That's why I really think you've got to watch how much you dump into the car if you're doing little mods here and there- $1000 on a catback, $1000 on the headers, $300 on a CAI, $400 for a diablo (just ballparking price), $400 for higher ratio rockers, $500+ for an LS6 intake manifold swap- and you're already over halfway to the price of a turbo kit, and nowhere near the power gains.

Although, as you mentioned- with that much power, you really should be at least considering maybe doing a C5, Fbody, or a higher mileage C6 build- since a 500 whp FWD car isn't going to really be daily driver reliable- nor will it really hook well.