Tuner Noob

[QCA Stinger]

Hi all. I bought my 2020 Stinger GT AWD back in June and have loved every second of it. I am new to having a car that is actually worth tuning. I have done plenty of mechanical work on cars, truck, medium duty big trucks ... But all of that has been tear it apart replace bad parts and put it back together. With tuning I've been reading a lot and talking to friends who know some stuff, so any help from the community is appreciated.

Only bad thing with my Stinger is 5 weeks ago my transmission started acting really bad. Hard shifting into gears, when it wasn't over reving. I had to put it in manual mode and treat it like a stick, shift and let off the throttle to get it to gently shift gears. Took it to the dealer and they took it out for a drive, immediately they told me the tranny needs to be replaced. But, at that time KIA's computer system was down so it was going to be awhile. KIA OKed new tranny and would be in from Korea on the 17th. Now its not due till 4/2/21. Luckily they gave me a loaner to drive, a Seltos LX.

Going nuts without my car and all the mods I ordered for it are all starting to pile up. And this is where the noob in me comes out. I have Stillen CAI , ADD W1 Dual Catch Cans, HKS M45iL spark plugs (gaped at 0.022) and a JB4 running on map2 (not installed atm). Sitting at home and still to come: SXTH Engineering 2.5" Primary Downpipe w/ HFC, Ark 2.5" Catless Secondary Downpipe, MBRP Pro Series 2.5" Cat-Back, Velossa Tec Big Mouth Rams, Mishimoto IC w/ 3" charge pipes (hot and cold), HKS SQV4 BOVs, Ark Sway Bars, Super Pro End Links, Riaction Coilovers, EBC Pads and Rotors (drilled & slotted) and ATQ Auto Collar Kit. Got some weekends of work to do when my baby gets back.

So, any thoughts, comments, advice even snide remarks are welcome.

Oh and pics will be comming as I can.

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

Hello and welcome!

Sorry about the car's transmission and Kia's delay on solving the problem.

I strongly suggest holding off any modifications for at least six months and six thousand miles have passed after getting your car back with the rebuilt transmission. You don't know what else could be wrong with the car or possibly what else the dealership could mess up with.

Good luck!

 

[RedCal]

Welcome to the hive!

 

[QCA Stinger]

Hello and welcome!

Sorry about the car's transmission and Kia's delay on solving the problem.

I strongly suggest holding off any modifications for at least six months and six thousand miles have passed after getting your car back with the rebuilt transmission. You don't know what else could be wrong with the car or possibly what else the dealership could mess up with.

Good luck!

Yup there's the noob in me lol hadn't really thought about that. Thanks.

 

[QCA Stinger]

Welcome to the hive!

Thanks.

 

[MerlintheMad]

My first thought when you said "hard shifts" is that the older TSB for the transmission "reflash" should be tried first. Several on here have had that done and it fixed the hard shifts.

 

[BrandonFYIA]

I couldn't imagine staring at that mountain of parts and not being able to use them. I hope you get it sorted out quick!

 

[QCA Stinger]

My first thought when you said "hard shifts" is that the older TSB for the transmission "reflash" should be tried first. Several on here have had that done and it fixed the hard shifts.

Yeah I think they tried that first then took it for a test drive and got the same results I did.

 

[QCA Stinger]

I couldn't imagine staring at that mountain of parts and not being able to use them. I hope you get it sorted out quick!

I have to stay out of that room or my blood pressure starts going up lol. Hopefully it will be only another week and a half. Oh, and they are doing some recall work on it too while they have it.

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

Yup there's the noob in me lol hadn't really thought about that. Thanks.

Naaa you're fine! You aint' no noob!

 

[cncBilly]

I couldn't imagine staring at that mountain of parts and not being able to use them. I hope you get it sorted out quick!

With you on that!

 

[G70 Owner]

Might want to reconsider the coilovers, unless you know what you are getting into.

Going FBO all at once for your first modded car is ballsy. Make sure you arent turning your DD into something that can no longer fill that role for you. You do seem better equipped than most having done mechanical work on your own before

 

[QCA Stinger]

Yeah, I'm going to take it slow putting everything in. Add something, drive for awhile, get used to it and add something else. Rinse and Repeat. I'm too afraid to add everything all at once and see my beautiful red head explode lmao.

 

[WRXtoStingerGT]

Yeah, I'm going to take it slow putting everything in. Add something, drive for awhile, get used to it and add something else. Rinse and Repeat. I'm too afraid to add everything all at once and see my beautiful red head explode lmao.

I heard it's best to wait at least 6 months and 6000 miles before doing any mods outside of cosmetic stuff... just to be on the safe side...

My first real mod is gonna be a catback either late summer or early fall

 

[cncBilly]

I heard it's best to wait at least 6 months and 6000 miles before doing any mods outside of cosmetic stuff... just to be on the safe side...

My first real mod is gonna be a catback either late summer or early fall

Were did you hear that? As soon as I got my Stinger it told me, “I CAN’T BREATH”, so I quickly installed the Injen’s I had on hand. Thank god I had the foresight! Nothing worse than driving a choking car.

 

[QCA Stinger]

Cosmetic stuff is first. Then things like rotors and pads, sway bars and links... things like that. These will be stretched out over several weekends as I work 12.5 hrs a day monday through Friday and 5.5 hrs most Saturdays. Then, as long as everything is still running good, I'll start back with IC, exhaust and all that.

 

[QCA Stinger]

Update:

Now the service guy says 4/16/21 for my transmission to be in. Getting a hold of KIA to see what the hold up is.

 

[STLStinger]

I am also a Tuner noob. What are the major differences (besides cost) between LAP3 ECU Tune vs LAP3 Pro-Tuner vs LAP3 Uncle Chip vs JB4? I have been searching the threads and I've googled it, but that just leads me right back to these forums. If anyone has laymen's terms for someone who is trying to learn, I'd appreciate it. Looking to tune my 2019 GT2 AWD. Thank you.

 

[cncBilly]

I am also a Tuner noob. What are the major differences (besides cost) between LAP3 ECU Tune vs LAP3 Pro-Tuner vs LAP3 Uncle Chip vs JB4? I have been searching the threads and I've googled it, but that just leads me right back to these forums. If anyone has laymen's terms for someone who is trying to learn, I'd appreciate it. Looking to tune my 2019 GT2 AWD. Thank you.

Go JB4 the support is second to none. As a newbie this will go a long way. Not saying LAP3 is bad or inferior.