Can someone please explain to me what having your car "Tuned" means? What benefits will this make in the performance of the vehicle? My car is just really sluggish when I take off from a dead stop or try to accelerate on a slight hill, where hitting it into passing gear really isn't necessary. So if I were to have the car "Tuned" would this solve this sluggish issue? How much of an MPG change will it make...right now I get between 30 - 33 mpg which I find quite pleasing, but I don't like the sluggish response I am getting. One thing that I found that does help my sluggish response is if I put my foot higher up on the gas pedal....for whatever the reason...this seems to make a difference in response.....

Also...where can you have this done at? I live in the Tidewater area of Virginia and have never really heard of doing this to a car.....but I seemed to remember reading something here on the forum concerning this.

Thanx...Anita

 

Well in broad terms, it refers to having the vehicle's computerized system optimized for ultimate performance, OR economy.

since most cars come off the floor in "generic" tune, to have a car 'tuned' means to have the computerized parameters custom programmed to meet your car's ultimate performance levels, or preferred economy levels.

when new, the car is pre-programmed to cover all the bases, so to speak. decent performance without sacrificing economy. To have it re-tuned, one may wish to increase the performance level by adjusting certain parameters in the cars computer system to "unleash" its true performance potential....some people go the other way...they have their car tuned for the ultimate economy while sacrificing performance.

Understand that under the hood, and throughout a vehicle's drivetrain system, there are sensors. these sensors work in conjunction with the vehicle's PCM and barious control modules to constantly moniter the vehicles performance, and make adjustments according to environment and driving conditions. The input from these sensors helps the car's computer make changes in air/fuel/shifts/cooling system to better enhance the driving performance while maintaining the maximum amount of fuel efficiency possible.

a "tuner" will often re-program the computer or "flash" the system to either ignore certain sensor inputs, or translate their input and react with different results. This is how performance levels and/or economy levels are altered.


I cannot speak for the HHR because i simply dont know yet, but on other cars, you can change things like part throttle shift points(rpms), torque converter lock-up speed/schedule, WOT shift rpms, top speed limiter, air/fuel ratio metering at WOT, ignition timing curve adjustments at different throttle positions, etc.

 

Also be aware that if you mess with any of this, and are subject to emissions testing, you may fail.

 

this is true...many 'tuners' out there offer a hand-held device with tunes pre-loaded in to it. like a flash-drive for your computer at home, this hand-held device will temporarily re-program your car's computer with the 'tune'.

when you have to perform an emissions test, or visit your dealer for warranty work, you simply plug it back in, and re-program the car's computer back to STOCK since it saves the STOCK tune for you.

they range from $425-$600, depending on brand, amount of tunes(yes, you can have multiple different tunes) and specific needs(stock, modified, N/A, turbo-charged/supercharged)

 

I see you have the 2.2L which isn't a negative at all, but you stated you are getting 30-33mpg and that may go downhill if you get it tuned. I would leave it alone.

 

And can be less then pleasant to live with at times

 

I've had a few cars with "tunes"
it is from my experience that I can confidently say...you will have to sacrifice *something* to gain something else.

in stock form, you have the best of everything. If you "tune" to improve one thing, like a see-saw, you will lose something else.

 

here where i live, we have emissions testing called AIRCARE. I believe for brand new cars, you can hold off testing for 7 years. So i suppose a ''tune'' would be ok but i wonder if doing so affects your GM warranty. OR....one could say the heck with any potential headaches and just go buy turbo SS. 0-60 MPH IN 6.3 SECONDS in a manual equipped or 7.5 seconds with auto is good enuff for me! by the way...just to compare our emissions program, here is the website http://www.aircare.ca/

 

You might want to check out this thread ... https://www.chevyhhr.net/forums/racing-discussion-7/gm-looking-non-gm-calibrations-12945/

 

ahhhhhh! i just read that, thanks! when the time is right, i will buy the turbo SS. Coming from a 127 HP Honda civic that i have to rev the crap out of, i should be easily satisfied with a stock turboed HHR.