Finally got my new G8

[JJ650]

I really wanted a GXP at one point, but the run was so short and with Pontiac gone, they were impossible to find new.

Not to mention the $40k+ price tag attatched to them. There is a Panther Black demo GXP for sale close to me (Monroe, NC) and they want $40k for it. A demo with 900miles.

I'm sure someone will snatch it up tho.

PCMforless also will datalog or dyno tune (if you happen to be within an acceptable driving distance) and charge less than a lot of the handheld tuners. You can also send in your brainbox to them and have it swapped out.

 

[iamwiz82]

Forget the V8, talk to us about the hob behind it

 

[EightySix Four]

Not to mention the $40k+ price tag attatched to them. There is a Panther Black demo GXP for sale close to me (Monroe, NC) and they want $40k for it. A demo with 900miles.

I'm sure someone will snatch it up tho.

PCMforless also will datalog or dyno tune (if you happen to be within an acceptable driving distance) and charge less than a lot of the handheld tuners. You can also send in your brainbox to them and have it swapped out.

Yeah, PCM For Less is pretty active on the HP Tuners forums.

 

[XZeroII]

2nd on getting a tune to reduce/remove torque management. The difference is night and day. No more relatively soft launches or multi-gear drop downs.

I used www.blackbearperformance.com and went with a datalogged tune. He uses EFI Live and knows his stuff.

Are you concerned about the fact that tuning voids the warranty? I'm new to high powered RWD cars so it has plenty of power for right now but I know that I'll be itching to up it in the future. However I don't want to lose my warranty just to get a bit more torque or HP. I'd be very interested in your take on this.

 

[exdeath]

Aftermarket modifications cannot void the warranty on a car just by being present. The burden is on the manufacturer to prove that the modification was directly responsible for causing the failure. If the oil pump fails and kills your engine, they are required by law to honor the warranty and replace the engine even if the PCM is flashed. If you pop a piston from bad tuning however, that is another story.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Magnuson%E2%80%93Moss_Warranty_Act

Dealers often hassle you and try to take the easy way out by refusing service all together if they spot mods, but the law is on the consumer's side.

 

[JJ650]

Are you concerned about the fact that tuning voids the warranty? I'm new to high powered RWD cars so it has plenty of power for right now but I know that I'll be itching to up it in the future. However I don't want to lose my warranty just to get a bit more torque or HP. I'd be very interested in your take on this.

The gains are quite substantial with a good tune on this car. Not to mention a gain in mpg too. These run a little rich with factory tune (as with most cars).

 

[joutlaw]

Are you concerned about the fact that tuning voids the warranty? I'm new to high powered RWD cars so it has plenty of power for right now but I know that I'll be itching to up it in the future. However I don't want to lose my warranty just to get a bit more torque or HP. I'd be very interested in your take on this.

My warranty was expired so I wasn't concerned. What people do in situations where it is a new vehicle or one with a good bit remaining warranty is to buy an extra ECM and TCM (if the car requires a seperate TCM).

They then take the save their stock components and put them back in when they go to the dealer. As far as I know this is the best solution.

I got my tune on a 2004 Chevy Silverado Z71 with the 5.3L/4L60E. It had an overall lazy feel off the line and and going from 3-1,4-2 etc... The tune woke this truck up. Now I can also get b/t 19-20MPG if I stay around 65MPH on the interstate. This is a heavy 4x4 truck so those numbers are excellent.

Here is an post of a forum I visit which shows evidence of torque management and what it is does. This post is from 2004, so I'm sure GM has even more tricks in their book now.

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums.../123667-torque-management-pics-how-works.html

 

[IcePickFreak]

Or you can flash back to stock if you use HPTuners, Cortex handheld, or even a few of the tuners offer an interface cable and program to load/unload their tunes.

 

[EightySix Four]

My warranty was expired so I wasn't concerned. What people do in situations where it is a new vehicle or one with a good bit remaining warranty is to buy an extra ECM and TCM (if the car requires a seperate TCM).

They then take the save their stock components and put them back in when they go to the dealer. As far as I know this is the best solution.

I got my tune on a 2004 Chevy Silverado Z71 with the 5.3L/4L60E. It had an overall lazy feel off the line and and going from 3-1,4-2 etc... The tune woke this truck up. Now I can also get b/t 19-20MPG if I stay around 65MPH on the interstate. This is a heavy 4x4 truck so those numbers are excellent.

Here is an post of a forum I visit which shows evidence of torque management and what it is does. This post is from 2004, so I'm sure GM has even more tricks in their book now.

http://www.fullsizechevy.com/forums.../123667-torque-management-pics-how-works.html

Torque management on some of the modern cars is so good that even when you modify the car physically you get no gains because the PCM will learn it back down to stock settings.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Torque management on some of the modern cars is so good that even when you modify the car physically you get no gains because the PCM will learn it back down to stock settings.

Could be true for some cars, but it's definitely not the case on the 6L80. It still does a bit of self learning but you're basically setting it's operating thresholds so it never makes it back to stock. Stock tune can seem like a very relaxed manual shift, while a tuned TCM will bark the tires a bit going into 3rd around 70mph. A TCM tune on these cars is one of the biggest seat-of-the-pants differences (as well as actual times if you hit the track) you will get; for the price you won't find anything even close. The stock TCM tune is really heavy on the torque management.

 

[DivideBYZero]

Great car. Congrats.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

auto or manual?

 

[Viper GTS]

auto or manual?

It's a GT, so auto. Only the GXP had the MT option.

Viper GTS

 

[GoatMonkey]

That's awesome. I wish they had kept the Holden styling, but it looks great anyway. I also wish that there was an in dash GPS option.

 

[XZeroII]

That's awesome. I wish they had kept the Holden styling, but it looks great anyway. I also wish that there was an in dash GPS option.

I rarely ever need a GPS. I have a separate garmin anyway so that's not a big deal to me. Besides, most built-in GPS's don't let you set directions and stuff while you're moving. This is very annoying.

 

[bruceb]

In dash GPS is a waste of money. Aftermarket, such as Garmin, Magellan or Tom-Tom are much less expensive and can move from car to car, if needed. And map updates or repairs to an in dash unit are costly.

 

[IcePickFreak]

They couldn't bring over the GPS from oz because the screen is too low for US standards to be used for GPS.

There is a really good solution for mounting a Garmin though, which is generally better than factory solutions for updates & features anyway...

That's not my setup, but there's quite a few that have done it. It's using all factory Holden trim pieces. The guys doing this have been running the USB cable for updates into the glovebox so they can just hook up a laptop and update when needed.

 

[BlahBlahYouToo]

It's a GT, so auto. Only the GXP had the MT option.

Viper GTS

:thumbsdown:

 

[EightySix Four]

Could be true for some cars, but it's definitely not the case on the 6L80. It still does a bit of self learning but you're basically setting it's operating thresholds so it never makes it back to stock. Stock tune can seem like a very relaxed manual shift, while a tuned TCM will bark the tires a bit going into 3rd around 70mph. A TCM tune on these cars is one of the biggest seat-of-the-pants differences (as well as actual times if you hit the track) you will get; for the price you won't find anything even close. The stock TCM tune is really heavy on the torque management.

I understand that, I was talking about stock untuned PCM's with only bolt on mods.

Some cars completely negate the effects of the bolt on mods without having a tune to utilize them. For example, if you add an exhaust to my car without a tune you can gain 10whp or so until around 5 key cycles in, then the horsepower goes back to stock.

 

[GoatMonkey]

They couldn't bring over the GPS from oz because the screen is too low for US standards to be used for GPS.

There is a really good solution for mounting a Garmin though, which is generally better than factory solutions for updates & features anyway...

That's not my setup, but there's quite a few that have done it. It's using all factory Holden trim pieces. The guys doing this have been running the USB cable for updates into the glovebox so they can just hook up a laptop and update when needed.

That looks pretty nice actually. It would be nice if it could use the bigger display, but at least it's clean looking without the mess of wires you get with a portable device.

 

[bruceb]

I like that mounting idea. Looks like it was factory done. I take it that area was just like a storage bin.

 

[JJ650]

I like that mounting idea. Looks like it was factory done. I take it that area was just like a storage bin.

If it was an '09 it is just a small bin. If it was an '08, there was a red LED display (Nintendo lights...pretty louzy looking really) that would need to be removed.

 

[IcePickFreak]

Yeah I believe the trim piece used for the GPS was a storage bin for the Holden Calais. A vendor just made up a bracket to fit in the back to mount in a widescreen GPS unit.

 

[XZeroII]

Yeah I believe the trim piece used for the GPS was a storage bin for the Holden Calais. A vendor just made up a bracket to fit in the back to mount in a widescreen GPS unit.

That looks pretty useful. Very nice pic to show it too.

 

[AMCRambler]

Very nice. For a while there I was considering trading in my GTO for one of these. Four doors and a split fold rear seat are the things I really miss from my old Ford Contour. While the G8 has a bit less HP than the GTO it's really got the best of both worlds with the four doors. If I had to get a new car now, this is probably what I'd buy.

Congrats on your new car. Enjoy it.