Is a dyno tune worth it on a 2019 C7 Grand Sport? Any risks involved?

 

What have you done to justify a dyno tune? The risk is you void any warranty, you could have the engine blow up from a bad software program or just blow up during tuning.

 

If you use a reputable tuner there is no risk...... If you have E85 available locally I would consider adding flex fuel and tuning.

 

If the engine explodes on dyno while running a baseline, then that engine had an issue before it rolled on. These ECU's have a lot of self-protection built in, so unless the person doing the tuning is just deliberately adding risk you should be fine. Also, you can explain to the tuner what your needs are, since thermal capacity isn't something unlimited. The more duration you are spending WOT, the more heat builds. Some tunes are designed for short duration drag racing, where the temps have time to come down, but opt for maximum power via timing and AFR. Other tunes are made for road racing where you will spend 20minutes or more WOT.

Your engine is finite, they wear and degrade, some develop defects. If you want to eek out more power or solve drivability in things like the driver demand table, then have a tune done.

 

I get asked a lot about what's the difference between a dyno tune and a street tune. I'm like the strategies and methodology going into the tuning process should be the same, and the main factor in making power is the guy behind the keyboard. The dyno doesn't tune the car. It just reads RWHP. The skill set and experience of the guy behind the keyboard is what makes the difference on how good your tune will be.

Rarely have I seen guys from stock to bolt ons have their car parts fail that wouldn't have failed anyway. Your going to gain some fun power, but not enough to break parts that weren't going to break anyway. Now, improperly build a cammed or forced induction car and take the cheap way out, I do see them fail.

Recently I saw an IG post of a local shop in Tampa where the shop charged a customer for Callies crank, rods, an other internal parts for his Forced Induction C6. Guess what, his engine blew and as the owner is taking part his new build, there was no Callies parts in the block.
Shady stuff yes, but an example of not the owners fail, but building a cheap engine, then throwing boost on it, and Boom. Time for a new build.

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If you do some aftermarket upgrades, I would say it is definitely worth it. Even just a tune to disable the 4 cylinder mode would be a benefit imo, although it is more of a bandaid to the problem that DOD lifters have rather than a solution. Like was mentioned above a tune will void your warranty. Also, if you have an incompetent tuner, it could damage your motor, so make sure that you have a tuner that you trust. Those are the two main risks, but if you have a competent tuner and have used quality parts, getting a tune can be really beneficial and not really have too many downsides. Just make sure to do your research on parts/reputable tuners.

 

To disable AFM and increase tip in would be what I did. At some point, I may move forward and remove AFM altogether but that's another day.

 

Yeah that's a great reason to get a tune. I went to just deleting the whole DOD/AFM system with a cam install and tuning it from there, but both ways are great to make the car more reliable imo.

 

I would do a cam at some point but not sure if there is a benefit if you want it to be stock. I definitely DO NOT want a lope or lose my "street manners". It would be pretty much a stock grind. Engine shops around here were kinda mixed about do a stock profile cam. Pretty much why I am just cutting off the AFM till I figure it out.

 

Yeah don't blame you. Imo, there is definitely minimal benefit to doing a cam if your going to keep it stock. If you wanted to mod it, a stock profile cam with an increase in the fuel lobe would be beneficial to fueling, but since you are not looking to mod it, there isn't too much of a point. With what a shop would charge, could be close to 5k, it would be hard to justify a cam swap just to replace the lifters, even though it would definitely be good to get rid of that whole system. I think that just the tune should be fine and hopefully you never run into any issues with those DOD lifters.

 

I went down that road before. You ain't foolin me. Started with a Cold Air Intake and that was it. The C4 in my sig later, I was so far in it that if the wife hadn't forced the issue, I would still feel obligated to keep it and keep scrounging parts to keep it going. I know how this goes. AFM removal so why not a slightly larger cam. Better heads, intakes and headwork and headers. After that, trans breaks and we beef that up. At some point, displacement and a blower. At that point, divorce court. One Saturday, when I wanted to do something to the C4, she snapped at me. Made me grab the keys and title and go on the road for a C7. Drove home in the rain that night after visiting a few places.

 

Haha yep trust me I'm currently down that road. First I was gonna keep my car stock. I then wanted to cam it and get rid of the DOD/AFM. Then I wanted 700whp. I got that and it wasn't enough so I went Magnuson 2650 to deal with IATs. I then wanted to put a stall in it and while I'm doing that, why not throw more boost at it, it can take it right? I then maxed the fuel system at 850ish hp. I then wanted to run ethanol to squeeze a little bit more and to be safer than pump 93, so I'm doing secondary port injection. But while I'm doing that, why not put the upgraded oil pump in since my car is already down for the cold months? Fast forward to now with more money in the car than I would like to know and a motor that is torn apart again to preface the oil pump. Trust me I get what you're saying lol. Next thing I know its gonna be 4/5 months later when I drive the car for the first time in spring weather with a new tune and I'm gonna want more and do a full motor build with heads, a built trans and diff. It truly never ends. Sadly, my bank account now hates me. This car has been a money pit, but at least it's been a fun money pit, so far worth every penny.

 

My bank account hating me isn't a problem. I just don't want the wife to have an "accident" with me. "OMG!! I didn't know the gun was loaded." or "OMG!! I didn't know what pills he took." or "OMG!! He got drunk and did a self vasectomy and cut off.......".

 

Haha!

Dude, you are the "money pit" not the car. It didn't decide to do all those after market upgrades (??).

Why you trying to fix things that are not broke? Sorry, I don't get it.

I don't understand "faith healing" either so....maybe its just me. 🤣

 

Some would consider that GM gave them the perfect car. Others think that GM gave them a decent platform to work with for improvements. Don't forget that GM never said they would build you the car that YOU wanted. They built the car that they thought would sell. Kinda like your house. You don't like that yard you were given? Landscapers will help you get something more to your liking.

 

I'm not complaining about the car being a money pit, I'm laughing about it. I personally love to modify cars and take them apart, but that's my hobby, it doesn't have to be yours. As far as "fixing something that isn't broken," go ahead and look up all of the failures related to the AFM and DOD systems, not even in just the C7 platform. There is a problem with that system whether you want to admit it or not. I've also seen multiple cases of STOCK cars breaking STOCK valve springs. The cam swap for me was a 3 for one, make the car sound better imo, make the valve train and related components more reliable and free of DOD related failures that could take out an entire motor, and give the car more power. Sure everything I did after wasn't necessary to fix a "problem", other than my ever-growing need for more power, but I wanted a faster car, so to me it was worth it. I have no problem funneling money into this car as I have no intention on selling it. If you don't like to modify cars, that's totally fine, it is a personal preference, but don't go around and say that there aren't problems with the car from the factory that could/should be addressed because there just are plain and simple. Not trying to be argumentative, but I think you haven't done enough looking at the problems that these cars regularly have. What I mentioned are just a few there are definitely more as well, but I don't want to start a full on debate here.