Range or Tune
Drifting
Joined: Aug 2013
Posts: 1,502
Likes: 515
From: Hill Country Texas
I had my favorite tuner tune my otherwise (mostly) stock (AFE Pro Dry Air Filter,) MY16 Z06/Z07 for a variety of reasons. He's one of the top tuners on LS/LT motors out there and been tuning since the beginning. He also tuned my previous MY12 Z06 when I went with a custom mild cam and heads.
Given mine was a MY16 he was able to tune the A8 at the same time (MY17+ HPTuners started charging more to unlock/tune the TCM I believe because GM started making it more difficult to decrpyt,) and immediately after driving it home, the improvements were noticeable. Reminded me of my previous hi-performance vehicle, an F10 BMW M5 with a DCT.
From the factory, these vehicles are tuned really rich, which is part of the reason why a good tune can also net you an extra MPG or two if you can keep your foot out of the gas. All safe AFR's, etc. A good tuner doesn't put you on the edge of the envelope for a few meaningless peak numbers. Also, if you've never heard of torque management, you'll only get rid of that with a tune. +41rwhp/+40 rwtq on the same dyno, same day, tune alone.
And when I brought my car into the dealer four months later for the A8 triple flush under warranty, they didn't bat an eye and GM picked up the tab. The A8 triple flush is a great time to get the MRC update, as well.
https://www.motortrend.com/how-to/16...your-corvette/
Given mine was a MY16 he was able to tune the A8 at the same time (MY17+ HPTuners started charging more to unlock/tune the TCM I believe because GM started making it more difficult to decrpyt,) and immediately after driving it home, the improvements were noticeable. Reminded me of my previous hi-performance vehicle, an F10 BMW M5 with a DCT.
From the factory, these vehicles are tuned really rich, which is part of the reason why a good tune can also net you an extra MPG or two if you can keep your foot out of the gas. All safe AFR's, etc. A good tuner doesn't put you on the edge of the envelope for a few meaningless peak numbers. Also, if you've never heard of torque management, you'll only get rid of that with a tune. +41rwhp/+40 rwtq on the same dyno, same day, tune alone.
And when I brought my car into the dealer four months later for the A8 triple flush under warranty, they didn't bat an eye and GM picked up the tab. The A8 triple flush is a great time to get the MRC update, as well.
Why take a stock Corvette to a dyno for tuning? The factory chooses settings for air/fuel ratio (AFR), timing and other parameters so that the car’s performance is “good” in a wide range of circumstances: altitudes from sea level to 10,00 feet, temperatures from 40 to 130 F, gas from 85 to 103 octane and engines in various stages of wear and maintenance. Plus, every car is a little different; injectors and other parts are never exactly identical.
A properly executed tune on a dyno will tailor the settings to the actual condition of your car. Then it will run better than just “good,” it will run at its optimum. And the benefit is not only peak horsepower. Power and torque throughout the range can increase to make the car feel better in everyday driving. How long does it take to get these results? Bob Morreale, president of The Tuning School, says that its dyno tuning of a stock late-model vehicle takes about an hour.
A properly executed tune on a dyno will tailor the settings to the actual condition of your car. Then it will run better than just “good,” it will run at its optimum. And the benefit is not only peak horsepower. Power and torque throughout the range can increase to make the car feel better in everyday driving. How long does it take to get these results? Bob Morreale, president of The Tuning School, says that its dyno tuning of a stock late-model vehicle takes about an hour.
Last edited by BigVette427; Jul 31, 2021 at 04:34 PM.
Racer
Joined: Mar 2020
Posts: 375
Likes: 144
From: Texas
As far as AFM, GM should have allowed this to be toggled off even if it defaults back to on when the engine is started. I've driven cars with the stop/start feature that allows this but defaults back to on when the engine is started.
JD
JD
Last edited by jdaniels138; Aug 1, 2021 at 04:30 PM.
Melting Slicks
Joined: Feb 2018
Posts: 2,210
Likes: 1,065
From: North Texas
Kinda like our M7 models do.
Le Mans Master
Joined: Dec 2000
Posts: 5,348
Likes: 3,319
Agreed. My BMW allows one to toggle whether the stop/start is activated and remembers this setting even if the engine is turned off. AFM should be treated the same.
Burning Brakes
Joined: Jan 2006
Posts: 1,073
Likes: 331
From: Clear Lake Shores Texas
2016 C3 of Year Finalist
I guess we’re lucky the C7 doesn’t have start/stop. To your point, my 2015 X5 worked as you describe, but my 2019 has to be reset every time you start it. I understand the new ones don’t don’t even give you the option to turn it off any longer.
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Pro
Joined: Mar 2021
Posts: 654
Likes: 418
Some good advice in this thread.
I've owned two C7 with A8, a 2016 Z51. It started the shudder at under 1000miles. At that time dealers were told to change the TC. That worked for a while but at about 7k miles shudder started again. Had the triple flush and that seemed to work. The RPM thing I think is caused by AFM system shifting to 4cyl. I had a range device but only used it about a month- it caused a code related to transmission communication so I removed it.
I just got a 2017 GS with A8. I checked with the dealer and the triple flush was performed back in late 2019. I abolutely hate driving a sports car that can not decide to be an 8cyl or a 4cyl? Plus I think the AFM system confuses the transmission and thus we get weird rough shifts at times? So I got a new Range device and its been working fine. No switching back and forth between 8 and 4 Cyl? It seems to run much better.
The Bad Transmission fluid issue has been frustrurating and interesting. A GM tech described it to me as the old fluid absorbed mositure which cause the viscosity to change thus causing the TC to struggle doing its job? It sounds reasonable, but I wonder if the Shudder happens more in high humidity areas vs very dry climates?? The transmission is a sealed system, but even sealed systems can have condensation. Regardless some small group of GM folks know the real truth, and they have figured out that changing to a new transmission fluid fixes the problem. I wish this same group was smart enough to know that 90% of Corvette owners(my guess) hate having a system that goes from 8cyl working to 4cyl kinda working without any owner control. If they just added a on/off switch for the AFM they could call it MFM and there would be so many happy owners and likely lesss complaints about other stuff?
I've owned two C7 with A8, a 2016 Z51. It started the shudder at under 1000miles. At that time dealers were told to change the TC. That worked for a while but at about 7k miles shudder started again. Had the triple flush and that seemed to work. The RPM thing I think is caused by AFM system shifting to 4cyl. I had a range device but only used it about a month- it caused a code related to transmission communication so I removed it.
I just got a 2017 GS with A8. I checked with the dealer and the triple flush was performed back in late 2019. I abolutely hate driving a sports car that can not decide to be an 8cyl or a 4cyl? Plus I think the AFM system confuses the transmission and thus we get weird rough shifts at times? So I got a new Range device and its been working fine. No switching back and forth between 8 and 4 Cyl? It seems to run much better.
The Bad Transmission fluid issue has been frustrurating and interesting. A GM tech described it to me as the old fluid absorbed mositure which cause the viscosity to change thus causing the TC to struggle doing its job? It sounds reasonable, but I wonder if the Shudder happens more in high humidity areas vs very dry climates?? The transmission is a sealed system, but even sealed systems can have condensation. Regardless some small group of GM folks know the real truth, and they have figured out that changing to a new transmission fluid fixes the problem. I wish this same group was smart enough to know that 90% of Corvette owners(my guess) hate having a system that goes from 8cyl working to 4cyl kinda working without any owner control. If they just added a on/off switch for the AFM they could call it MFM and there would be so many happy owners and likely lesss complaints about other stuff?