C8 Corvette LT2 Finally Unlocked, Thanks to Brave Tuner
Don’t expect any real power gains from the tune itself, but the TRIFECTA Performance tune will make power adders more effective.
With the C8 Corvette GM took the American sportscar to a whole new level. The centerpiece is the new LT2 V8 engine mounted in the middle. And as good as the LT2 is, car enthusiasts are always looking for ways to make things better. That is often in the form of a software tune. But the engine in the C8 has been notoriously tough to crack. However, TRIFECTA Performance is happy to announce that they are the first company to native-tune the C8 Corvette LT2. “This has been a long time coming. Today’s success has its roots in a project that started the better half of a decade ago,” said Vince Geglia II, owner and founder of TRIFECTA Performance.
Of course, prior to TRIFECTA Performance announcing they have been able to tune the C8 there were other tuners already working with the car. But those other tuners were forced to use “piggyback” systems when using power adders. These setups can work but are not without their downsides. These stand-alone systems have to constantly trick the engine into thinking it is making no more power than stock. Even if it has a huge turbo bolted to it. That can have negative consequences further down the line. Particularly with the transmission. The transmission will look for a temporary torque reduction when shifting gears. But if there is more torque output than the engine thinks there is, the reduction during a gear change may not be enough to prevent ruining the clutch.
How Much Power?
From the tune itself you will realize practically no gain in power. It is a testament to the engineers over at GM. They left nothing on the table when developing the LT2. “We absolutely respect what GM has built here. Aftermarket tuners have a tendency to cast themselves as smarter than the OE engineers as a dubious marketing strategy for their services. GM without question put their best foot forward with the C8, and from a tuner’s perspective, this car deserves nothing less than the humblest approach,” said Geglia II.
What Good Is It?
As stated above the real benefit to what TRIFECTA Performance has done here is eliminate the need for a piggyback ECU when going with power adders. If you want big power from the LT2 you will need a supercharger or turbocharger or something of the sort. This native-tune will make that a lot easier and safer. “While we didn’t find power, what we did find is that the C8’s software largely works the same way as the older ECUs, like the E92, and that we were able to modify the parameters required to make power adders work on the C8 without stand alone or piggyback systems,” Geglia II explains.
What Next?
Geglia II has a plan. “Now that we’ve examined the performance side of the C8 calibration, we’re going to turn our efforts towards drivability character traits. The C8’s driving manners are very, very good out of the box. Virtually every issue we had about the way the C7 drove has been fixed with the C8. But there are a few places where we can make good into great.”
Native tuning opens up a whole new world of possibilities for the C8. And while TRIFECTA Performance was the first, we are sure they will not be the last to crack the C8 code. We are excited to see how far the new Corvette can be pushed now that the car has been unlocked.
Photos: TRIFECTA Performance
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