Performance tune, with the TIP transmission in mind...

**G Men 08** · 03-17-2016 04:02 PM

Kind of a losing battle with the automatic transmission and a tune. With that in mind, what kind of tune would result in better performance and bring the engine to life, while not compromising the auto trans too badly?

**LakeTahoeQuattr** · 03-18-2016 09:24 AM

stlukr tuned my ar in a way to bring on torque later in the rpm band. I ran 20 psi on k04s with adjusted torque curve on my tip for 6 months before I did 6mt swap. I also had JHM tip chip. The whole time I had the TC code, but car ran fine and I beat on it plenty

**G Men 08** · 03-18-2016 10:21 AM

So I should be fine with a "stage 1" possibly "stage 2" if I decided to go that far?

Also considering having the tcu tuned as well.

**LakeTahoeQuattr** · 03-18-2016 10:33 AM

Depends on that tiptronic you have in there and its history. Mine had 185K on it and shifted smooth. I cant speak for yours, but I think if you get a tcu tune and stage 2 should be no problem. Others may disagree, just speaking from experience.

**G Men 08** · 07-02-2016 07:46 AM

Now that i've got her up to date on maintenance, and daily driving, it's time. I was in discussion with DAZ before he passed about the TIP tune and a stage 2 tune. That should be a fairly conservative setup, right? His biggest emphasis on the transmission tune was it helps keep it cooler by minimizing or eliminating it searching for gears. Which now that I am driving an automatic on a daily basis for the first time in 3 years, is very irritating.

I forgot who to contact about his tunes, can anyone point me in the right direction?

**X-ZZ4** · 07-02-2016 09:40 AM

I have an auto with K04's and a stage 3. Unfortunately, the tune was done by the previous owner so I don't know who the tuner was, so no help there.

But I can say it has great power, especially in the higher ranges. I do wish it had better power in the low end, but yeah, this engine and setup seem much better suited for a manual transmission. But that's not just this car, that's many cars.

With that said, mine doesn't perform bad at all. Even at 190K miles the transmission performs very well. There is no searching for gears at all. My only complaint is a slightly premature shift from first to second. At high throttle not a problem stays in first just fine. But if you are not on it quite a bit....it shifts very quickly into second and it definitely reduces the power of the car. I wish the 1-2 shift could be controlled by going to manual mode on the Tip....but it can't, at least not in mine. Not sure if these issues can be corrected in the tune, but they are fairly minor.

Bottom line....the car runs just great with an stage 3 and an auto. Could it be better? Sure. But unless you plan on turning this into a quarter mile racer.....it's just fine.

**fakeID** · 07-02-2016 11:54 PM

pleasantly surprised to see this many cars running true stage 3 on tip with no problem. and it doesn't sound like you guys upgraded the torque converter too...

i've been running stage 2+ for 70k. tc crapped out @ around 30k. if you just simply want to experience a power lift a stage 1 would do. even the conservative apr stg 1 tune doubles the stock boost. the transmission should be fine. the stock torque converter is the weak link.

**G Men 08** · 07-03-2016 08:13 AM

Didn't they improve the TC by 2005?

**fakeID** · 07-03-2016 12:06 PM

my understanding is no. i've the 02 model year, which incidentally is the same as X-ZZ4, who's running K04 stg 3 @ 190k miles w/ stock tc, which is awesome. otherwise, the typical preference is a 6 spd swap for stg 3.

**dannyn424** · 07-05-2016 09:16 AM

supposedly they were updated but now you have other options being Advancd automotion (scotty) and 517transmissions pffering built torque converters.

- - - Updated - - -

also get a tip tune for the trans!!

**X-ZZ4** · 07-05-2016 09:45 AM

Originally Posted by fakeID

my understanding is no. i've the 02 model year, which incidentally is the same as X-ZZ4, who's running K04 stg 3 @ 190k miles w/ stock tc, which is awesome. otherwise, the typical preference is a 6 spd swap for stg 3.

Well, that would be my preference as well. But I sure as hell ain't gonna do that. Way too much money and effort would be spent on this car. I'd rather just buy another Corvette or GTO.....or CTS-V.

This car is my cruiser, not my racer.