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Tapout Tuning

LF4 Performance Tuning Specialists

ATS-V Tips

Tapout Tune of the Week!

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After losing faith in the quality of work performed by my dealer’s performance shop, I started to question the safety characteristics of my dyno tune. Knowing several friends that had their ATS-V’s tuned by Tapout, I reached out Scott with my concerns. Before purchasing a remote tune, Scott asked me to send him a copy of my tune and a few logs. Upon reviewing, Scott noted several issues, two of which were alarming.

First, the ECM was not reacting to throttle input appropriately. The screenshot below illustrates a full-throttle attempt 33 mph. However, the ECM didn’t open the throttle to 100% until the car hit 58 mph.

ATS-V dyno chart

Next, and of great concern to me, the previous tuner completely disabled the knock retard and intercooler protections as illustrated below.

ATS-V chart

ATS-V chart

Knowing that my car was not adequately protected, I had hesitations taking it to the track, let alone driving it at all. I immediately decided that the car needed a retune with the safety of the engine being my primary concern.

Within about two hours of purchasing my remote tune, Scott sent me the initial baseline tune. Over one week, I received a total of three tunes that not only left the knock and intercooler protections in place. I felt the increased performance and responsiveness. Additionally, the shift points were dialed in, and my desire to drive the car was at an all-time high.

When Scott announced the introduction of two new features, Lean Cruise Mode and the ability to bypass Cadillac’s max boost limit at startup. I reached back out, and within minutes, I received an updated tune file. I’ll let the log speak for itself. The following screenshot illustrates that at WOT, the air/fuel ratio is within one to two percent of perfect across the board using 93 octane from Costco.

ATS-V chart

Getting my car retuned by Tapout was by far the investment that I put in my vehicle. And believe me, there’s been a lot of money put into this thing. If you’re new the ATS-V or have a tune from another company, do yourself a favor and send a log file or two over to Scott. You’ll be pleasantly surprised with the results and professionalism that Scott and Tapout bring to the table.

Congratulations to Tim King!

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Tim King ran a 10.98 @ 125.2 mph at the Street Car Takeover event in Indianapolis this past weekend! Ten second ATS-Vs are always impressive. This one even more so because he ran tens on his very first pass ever! Tim has a 2016 ATS-V with intake, intercooler, fueling and exhaust modifications, in addition to the Tapout Tune and torque converter. Race weight was 4,080 pounds with density altitude of approximately 2,445′. Stay tuned and you will see Tim near the top of the leaderboard as soon as he gets more seat time in the car and the weather cools down.

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

Tapout Tune of the Week!

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Many of today’s roads are filled with boring dog ass ugly cars. Many people view their cars as an appliance and they look like it too, monotone blobs on wheels used to get from point A to point B. If you drive an ATS-V you are certainly not part of that crowd. you find driving your car to be an experience, and something that should be enjoyed to the fullest. That’s why you got a Tapout Remote Tune. It turns your commute to work into a heart racing and thrilling ride that always leaves you wanting more. The ATS-V’s sharp and refined styling stands out from everything else on the road, and does so with an elegance only Cadillac can deliver. You drive because you want to, not because you have to, and that sets you apart from nearly everyone else on the road.

A fellow ATS-V owner that shares those sentiments is today’s Tapout Tune of the Week, Justin from Georgia. Like so many of us, he views driving as an experience and wanted to step up his ATS-Vs performance. That’s where we come in. We know exactly how to take your ATS-V from fast to ludicrous speed so you can get back to doing what you love.

Justin’s car had run a previous best of 10.99 on another company’s tune. Within three days of switching to Tapout, he moved up the ranking charts with a 10.80 @ 127.4 mph!

“Scott has been amazing to work with. His knowledge on this platform is years ahead of anyone around, but what impressed me the most is how awesome of a guy he is and his response time and customer service is second to none”. Tapout works diligently to ensure you have an enjoyable tuning experience and are satisfied with the results. We are always looking for ways to improve the ATS-V so stay tuned. You ain’t seen nothing yet!

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

Georgia ATS-V

Tapout Tune of the Week!

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It’s that time of the day again. You’re at work, it’s Friday and you’ve got one thing on your mind: Going FAST! Fast is a relative term, but you have a Tapout Tuned ATS-V and you know it runs like a bat out of hell so you’re itching to get out on the streets and make your way to Mexico…

As we have all learned, an aftermarket tune is the single best performance enhancement you can make to the ATS-V. At Tapout we determined how to precisely extract the untapped potential that hides within the LF4. Harnessing that power, and doing so safely is the topic of today’s Tapout Tune of the Week. Lee from Texas was working with us on a  Remote Tune, but right away we found that something was amiss. Through further investigation we were able to determine that someone who previously completed service on this car neglected to reconnect a vacuum hose, Lee had been driving his ATS-V for more than one year with only six pounds of boost! That issue was resolved and Lee was off to the races! “I can’t imagine how many hours Scott has spent perfecting my car. His responses were very quick, and his attitude was patient and encouraging”. Before making any changes with our tune we always make sure your ATS-V is functioning properly, ensuring the safe performance of your car before and after tuning. With a Remote Tune from Tapout you can be sure to gap you competition without a worry in the world!

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

Texas_ATS-V                         

Tapout Tune of the Week!

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As many ATS-V owners have come to realize, their cars are in a class of their own. The LF4 is an incredible platform capable of performing well past the limits GM put in place, but along with that comes the realization that this can be a difficult car to fully understand. The complexities of our E92/A ECMs are obvious when you realize there are 8,500 potential charts and tables that are available for modification. Knowing that, you want to make sure that any aftermarket tuning on your ATS-V is done by someone who fully understands all the ins and outs of such a car. Tapout Tuning has devoted itself to the LF4 platform and can provide the expertise and knowledge to safely tune your ATS-V.

We have many customers who voiced these concerns such as today’s Tapout Tune of the Week, JP from Michigan. JP heavily invested his time into finding someone who had a proven reputation and the necessary experience required to safely tune his ATS-V. He had no luck with many shops he spoke with and in several cases he couldn’t even get a response back. But after speaking with Scott he could rest easy knowing his car was in good hands. “Throughout the tuning process Scott has been nothing but helpful, knowledgeable and most of all responsive. Needless to say, my car with a basic Tapout Remote Tune is a monster now!” We’re happy JP enjoyed his Tapout Tuning experience and can’t wait to share those same experiences with many more ATS-V owners.

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

ATS-V Michigan

Maximize Power and Efficiency with Wideband Tuning!

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There is a balance between performance and safe tuning. At Tapout we have found that most ATS-Vs achieve the best combination of these attributes with wide-open throttle (WOT) air/fuel ratios somewhere between 11.8:1 and 12.8:1. Typically we target 12.0 to 12.5:1 on most remote tunes. We set the target range, and all remote tuned cars will be in this vicinity. But every car is different, and in most cases additional improvements can still be found. For customers who want even more performance out of their ATS-V, a wideband oxygen sensor can be installed and we can dial in your particular car perfectly. Each and every ATS-V has its own slight variances, and adding this sensor allows us to pinpoint what those are, and how to best adjust our tune for them.

12.5:1 WOT air/fuel ratio equates to 0.85 λ. See the image below for some data from a remote tune we worked on earlier this week. The green areas are low load where stoichiometric should show 1.00. The red areas are under boost where we tuned for 0.85 λ. This customer has installed a wideband and you can see that we have his WOT air/fuel ratio calibrated within one to two percent of perfect across the board.

HP Tuners data logging can accommodate any wideband oxygen sensor that has an analog output. If you’re running the latest MVPI2 interface you’ll need to upgrade to the Pro Feature Set. The wideband itself can be installed in either downpipe. If you want to get really fancy, you can install a dual channel wideband and we can skew your injectors by bank for fueling perfection!

Feel free to contact us at Sales@TapoutTuning.com with any remote/custom ATS-V tuning questions you may have, we’re always here to help the community.

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

Tapout Tune of the Week!

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Picture this. You’re minding your own business driving your ATS-V in some undisclosed location and some Mustang boys pull up on you. They’re obviously egging you on, and even though you just bough your V a few days ago you give in. You do a quick downshift and you’re off! You keep up with them at first but they start to pull away, leaving you in a cloud of defeat. You tell yourself there must be a way to keep those Stangs from showing you up again. You pray to the LF4 gods for an answer and suddenly everything becomes clear: salvation lies in a Remote Tune from Tapout!

Whether you don’t want to get stomped on again or are just looking to improve the overall performance of your ATS-V, Tapout has a variety of remote tuning options to satisfy your needs. One example is another one of our Tapout Tunes of the Week! Cody from North Dakota was looking to turn up his ATS-V’s performance because he knew there was a lot hiding in the factory ECM settings. He was happy to know whether it takes one day or several weeks, we will work with you until your Tapout Tune is perfect. “I can tell Scott is truly passionate about what he does” Cody said. And that’s true, we want everyone to be able to experience the untapped potential hiding in every ATS-V on the road. With a Remote Tune from Tapout you can be sure the next time those Ponies pull up on you, they won’t have a leg to stand on.

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

ATS-V North Dakota

Valet Mode Keeps Your Caddy Safe!

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It’s the end of the day and you remember you need to run to the grocery store. That’s probably the last thing you wanted to do but at least you can have some fun on the way there since you’ll be driving your ATS-V. As you arrive you make sure to scope out the lot and look for the safest spot to park. You’re in an out in a flash, but despite your cautionary efforts your worst fear is realized – a giant door ding and no culprit in site. Angry and upset you make an appointment at the body shop so this can be quickly remedied. The next day you drop your ATS-V off, and maybe it wasn’t your first shop of choice but they could fix the problem quickly and it’s a load off your mind. Later that night you’re lying in bed and a sudden terror washes over you. What if those punk kids at the shop thrash your Caddy? Your Tapout Tuned ATS-V is an absolute monster on the street and in the wrong hands that could end in disaster. Luckily you remember that you had just worked with Tapout to create a Valet Mode for your V that will put all those worries to rest.

Tapout Valet Mode turns your powerhouse LF4 into a dreadfully slow pig, only allowing for 4 pounds of boost and about 250 horsepower. You can rest easy knowing any time you need to take your ATS-V in for service it will be a tame kitten that even a Prius could outrun, and who’s going to want to drive that? No one likes having a slow boring car to drive, and thanks to Valet Mode from Tapout, you can make sure that’s the case every time your ATS-V is out of your hands.

Special thanks to Alex in Washington for this excellent custom tuning idea!

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

ATS-V Lean Cruise Mode from Tapout!

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How would you like to keep all the performance capabilities of your ATS-V and significantly increase fuel economy while cruising? Many Holden vehicles in Australia have a feature called Lean Cruise mode and under certain conditions the ECM automatically changes target air/fuel ratio and adjusts ignition timing. The result is a noticeable increase in fuel economy while cruising. The necessary Lean Cruise tables are not enabled in North America and European versions of the E92/A ECMs for emissions reasons. However, we have figured out an alternate method of enabling Lean Cruise mode for our customers.

In our testing, we typically see Lean Cruise mode in ATS-V A8 and M6 cars deliver average fuel economy of 30 to 35 mpg cruising on the highway between 70 and 75 mph. This mode will activate and deactivate seamlessly with no driver intervention. All performance functionality remains the same once you need to get on it to show those ricer boys what’s what. I mean what could be better, you’re getting four-cylinder mpg’s while still embarrassing the hell out of those V8 guys that get half the fuel economy you’re getting. That’s a win-win in our book.

This is another important milestone for the ATS-V community and we are proud to bring this solution to you. If you would like to have Lean Cruiser mode added to your Tapout Tune, just send an email to ScottC@TapoutTuning.com.

We would like to thank Justin from Delaware for this excellent idea!

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

Tapout Tune of the Week!

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One of the many great things about the ATS-V community is that we all have common goals – more power, speed and better performance. The LF4 has proven to be an impressive platform that is full of untapped potential, and at Tapout we aim to unlock every bit of power and performance we can find.

Months upon months of research have allowed us to determine the most effective ways of extracting the untapped potential of the ATS-V, and we are able to pass that knowledge to our customers by way of a Tapout Remote Tune. Such is the case with today’s Tapout Tune of the Week, Gautam from Ohio. He originally planned to meet with Scott in person, but a stretch of bad weather and schedules not lining up lead Gautam to purchasing a Remote Tune instead. “Having zero understanding of tuning a car, I was extremely nervous about doing it myself, but with Scott’s help, it turned out to be an incredible experience” Gautam said. We have many customers who are new to the tuning world, and we are happy to walk beginners or experts through the remote tuning process. “I can’t say enough about Scott, his service and my remote tune. Scott focuses on safety and didn’t quit until I was completely thrilled with my car.” We want yo to be 100% satisfied with your Remote Tune and we won’t stop until you are, that’s the Tapout Promise.

#TapoutTakeover #ResultsNotInsults #StayTuned #UnderPromiseOverDeliver

ATS-V Cleveland OH