Who has done a tune without the Cold air intake? What kind of results did you get? I researching the mfg's of the tuners and some have sold tunes w/o CAI.

06 GT Vista Manual Stock,

 

I did a "canned tune" with the Predator, and was disappointed with the results. My cruising avg. MPG went down a solid 10%, and the throttle response was too "touchy". Basically, the throttle acted like an on/off switch: it was either accelerating or coasting, never "just right" as to be able to stay slightly on the gas while cruising.

 

I'm not disappointed with the performance of the car being stock and the 3:55 RE, but it I'm interested if a tune that lets you go from stock to performance gives a bigger grin (if it's even possible). Let's say you drop in a stock K&N filter and a SCT what do do end up with? Today I had a 100 mile 50/50 urban hiway cruise and got 23.9 mpg, I would hate to screw that up!

 

Like you, I was thinking the same thing: tuner and drop in filter.

Gas mileage is important to me, because the car is mostly a highway cruiser. Typically, on the same 200 mile/3 hour drive (switching between 65 mph cruise and 75 mph cruise depending on the speed limit), I can average exactly 25 mpg. After the tuner, I was only getting about 22.5 mpg. Even worse, I can usually get about 27-27.5 at 60 mph. With the tuner, I could BARELY get 25 mpg.

Almost EVERYONE else on this forum will tell you to get a tune, and that you won't be disappointed. But, to me, the $300-plus, the worse gas mileage and the poor drivability seemed to outweigh the power increase.

I came out of an 2000 V6 with a few bolt ons to this GT, so to me the GT's power is MORE than adequate, especially the way I drive. From what it sounds like, it seems that you and I have similar views regarding the car. And, if that's the case, I think you will be very content with just a K&N drop in and a decent exhaust kit. (BTW, like you, I have the 3.55's as well).

But, like I said, I'm sure every other person on this forum will tell you otherwise.

 

Well I guess I am one of those other people

My car is an automatic and the first thing I purchased was an XCAL2 and tune. OMG what a difference, throttle lag was gone, torque management was removed and the auto shifted like a stick car. Also the car could not even spin tires from a standstill it would just squeak the tires then the computer pulled the power out.

I would say it made a big difference, the tune will at least allow you to use what you got and not decide when it wants to go.

Of course with a CAI things are even better, but it you can only afford the tune first I say go for it and I get 22+mpg doing 80.

 

Auto tunes are fun!!!!

 

It almost makes me feel sorry for the stick guys...it's like they are only getting half of what they paid for!

 

I wouldn't say that. The stock AUTO is nice in the GT's: it'll shoot you off the line like a rocket ship. But, the downshifting seemed really SLOW!!. Plus, the auto seemed a little too uncontrollable off the line. With the manual, you can control the power much easier.

But, all things considered, the Auto is still a very nice setup in the cars. Much better than other vehicles. the only thing I didn't like was that when it downshifted, it did one gear at a time (ie: 5-4-3, not 5-3), and there seemed to be a somewhat-long delay doing it too.

 

I ran a XCal2 tune for my auto from Doug @ BamaChips even before purchasing the CAI and the difference was like night and day. A definite first mod must for the auto guys!

 

This is true. But the auto can be fully controlled by the XCal2 tune. You should see the list of parameters. You can take care of ANYTHING with the tune. The slip, lockup, time delays, etc.

I LOVE auto tunes!

CR

 

They still get the increase in horsepower. But there's no way to shift as consistently as the PCM!!