Another happy COW mail order tune customer
11-22-2009, 11:27 PM
#1
Burning Brakes
Thread Starter
Another happy COW mail order tune customer
I have an 05 A4 Z51 3.15 geared Vette, it's basically stock with just a Borla catback.
The car is a daily driver and I purposely bought an automatic as I get in traffic at times. My last Vette was a 6 speed C5 and although I really like the manual transmission, I needed an auto this time around.
After driving the car for several months, I noticed how aweful the auto tranny is.
It always seems to be in a hurry to get into top gear and lock up the converter. Being in traffic and trying to dart around quickly would result in being caught off guard by a downshift to first and a ton of wheelspin and a loose rear end. Other times it would not downshift and I wouldn't get the power I wanted. Just really unpredictable, not what you want from a 400 hp car.
Next, I could be on the highway and just want a quick burst of power to get around a car or just for the fun of it. I never know how far I have to push the pedal to get a downshift.
The car just shifted lazy in anything other than WOT conditions.
I did drive a few A6 cars and this seems to be the same with all of the Generals automatics.
So anyway, now I have a new to me Vette and I'm already unhappy with it due to the tranny.
I start reading threads on autos and decide maybe a tune is what I need. In all honesty, I am a bit nervous about taking the computers out of my daily driver and shipping them across the counrty, and having my car down for a week. So after I have done what I consider ample internet research I call Chuck and we chat about what he can to do my car. First I was impressed he actually answers the phone, everytime I called him. Can't imagine how busy this guy is but I really appreciated him explaining what he does, and taking the time to BS about stuff, this made me comfortable he knows what he's doing.
So I pulled the computers out and sent them off to Chuck. He let me know when he got them, and when he sent them back. I was a bit nervous having my car down and the computers on the other side if the US, getting his emails & calls put my mind at rest.
Flash forward to this weekend, I got them back and reinstalled them. Pretty easy job, as well as changing the thermostat. I can see how people mess up the thermostat, the gasket can roll and get pinched if your not careful, but as long as you pay attention to what your doing it's easy.
After getting the radiator properly filled and making sure there were no leaks, I went on a test ride.
Immediately I noticed the tranny shifted a bit firmer and stayed in each gear a bit longer. As I drove it around I was smiling ear to ear. The transmission now works PERFECT. It shifts nice when cruising, and hard when your WOT just like you would expect it to do. When your on the highway, a slight squeeze on the gas downshifts one gear and you get that instant acceleration, more squeeze gives you another gear and more power. And it's exactly repeatable every time, I now have confidence how the car will react at different throttle settings.
Passing in traffic is also consistant, give it a squeeze and it will drop a gear down quickly and your off under full control rather than unexpected drops to first and wheelspin.
Under normal driving the tranny times the shifts perfect, just like if I was picking the shifts points myself. Under WOT the car lays down some nice rubber on the 1-2 shift, and it really tries to spin them on the 2-3 too.
I am soooo happy I did this, the car is now fun to drive again I'm proud of how it feels from the cockpit.
This totally transformed the transmission & car as a whole. If your on the fence or unhappy with the way your auto works, you really should consider this.
I didn't mention anything about the performance of the engine yet because I was so happy with the total makeover of the transmission. As my car is stock, I didn't expect much but it seems to have more midrange and definately pulls harder at the top end. I'd swear it idles smoother too. Eventually I'm going to add a cold air intake and will ask Chuck to retune it when he makes a trip to the west coast. Nice that the retune will be free.
Anyway, big thanks to you Chuck, another happy customer.
The car is a daily driver and I purposely bought an automatic as I get in traffic at times. My last Vette was a 6 speed C5 and although I really like the manual transmission, I needed an auto this time around.
After driving the car for several months, I noticed how aweful the auto tranny is.
It always seems to be in a hurry to get into top gear and lock up the converter. Being in traffic and trying to dart around quickly would result in being caught off guard by a downshift to first and a ton of wheelspin and a loose rear end. Other times it would not downshift and I wouldn't get the power I wanted. Just really unpredictable, not what you want from a 400 hp car.
Next, I could be on the highway and just want a quick burst of power to get around a car or just for the fun of it. I never know how far I have to push the pedal to get a downshift.
The car just shifted lazy in anything other than WOT conditions.
I did drive a few A6 cars and this seems to be the same with all of the Generals automatics.
So anyway, now I have a new to me Vette and I'm already unhappy with it due to the tranny.
I start reading threads on autos and decide maybe a tune is what I need. In all honesty, I am a bit nervous about taking the computers out of my daily driver and shipping them across the counrty, and having my car down for a week. So after I have done what I consider ample internet research I call Chuck and we chat about what he can to do my car. First I was impressed he actually answers the phone, everytime I called him. Can't imagine how busy this guy is but I really appreciated him explaining what he does, and taking the time to BS about stuff, this made me comfortable he knows what he's doing.
So I pulled the computers out and sent them off to Chuck. He let me know when he got them, and when he sent them back. I was a bit nervous having my car down and the computers on the other side if the US, getting his emails & calls put my mind at rest.
Flash forward to this weekend, I got them back and reinstalled them. Pretty easy job, as well as changing the thermostat. I can see how people mess up the thermostat, the gasket can roll and get pinched if your not careful, but as long as you pay attention to what your doing it's easy.
After getting the radiator properly filled and making sure there were no leaks, I went on a test ride.
Immediately I noticed the tranny shifted a bit firmer and stayed in each gear a bit longer. As I drove it around I was smiling ear to ear. The transmission now works PERFECT. It shifts nice when cruising, and hard when your WOT just like you would expect it to do. When your on the highway, a slight squeeze on the gas downshifts one gear and you get that instant acceleration, more squeeze gives you another gear and more power. And it's exactly repeatable every time, I now have confidence how the car will react at different throttle settings.
Passing in traffic is also consistant, give it a squeeze and it will drop a gear down quickly and your off under full control rather than unexpected drops to first and wheelspin.
Under normal driving the tranny times the shifts perfect, just like if I was picking the shifts points myself. Under WOT the car lays down some nice rubber on the 1-2 shift, and it really tries to spin them on the 2-3 too.
I am soooo happy I did this, the car is now fun to drive again I'm proud of how it feels from the cockpit.
This totally transformed the transmission & car as a whole. If your on the fence or unhappy with the way your auto works, you really should consider this.
I didn't mention anything about the performance of the engine yet because I was so happy with the total makeover of the transmission. As my car is stock, I didn't expect much but it seems to have more midrange and definately pulls harder at the top end. I'd swear it idles smoother too. Eventually I'm going to add a cold air intake and will ask Chuck to retune it when he makes a trip to the west coast. Nice that the retune will be free.
Anyway, big thanks to you Chuck, another happy customer.
Last edited by unstressed; 11-22-2009 at 11:33 PM.
Chuck Rocks!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
01-04-2012, 09:03 AM
#4
Melting Slicks
Member Since: Apr 2008
Location: Russell Ontario
Posts: 2,537
Received 177 Likes
on
122 Posts
St. Jude Donor '09
I agree , Chuck I had my 04 done in Carlise last year really happy with it , can you PM me all the changes you would normally do on a C-5 . I write articles for the Capital Corvette Cub in Ottawa and always get the question , what did he do. Thanks , happy customer ,Ron 
