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Wow. Decisions, decisions. Looks like Dinan stage 2 can be bought online and installed by the end user in the comfort of their own garage, costs $349.95. Further stages need to be installed by a certified Dinan installer and probably cost a lot more. Based on what I'm seeing online other products seem to offer more user flexibility and possibly better value, so I'm not leaning toward Dinan.
Pedal tuners seem like a good simple/cheap option for addressing my main issue (acceleration lag/ sluggish throttle response), and may be enough for me but I'm tempted to go further (xHP or even xHP plus a reasonable do-it-yourself tune like MHD) if the shifts will be more satisfying AND the lag will go away. AND if I can make more power without sacrificing fuel economy overall (I would not likely drive like a madman all the time simply because there is more power available, honest, and folks who sell the tunes claim they actually improve fuel economy by optimizing RPM). I'd like to do this without modifying the car beyond electronic programming which can be done *and undone* at home by someone like me who's not very tech or mechanically savvy but good at following YouTube instructions.
I'd like to keep the costs reasonable, thinking around $500 total max but if there's a combination of modifications that will make the car truly amazing I would be willing to go over that within reason. I tend to be the kind of person who doesn't regret spending extra money on a value product that brings ongoing satisfaction. I just want to make sure I don't damage the car or invalidate the extended warranty (realizing that I would have to uninstall and reinstall most of these products when taking the car in to the dealership).
Seems like xHP transmission flash (plus MHD tune?) would cure the acceleration lag issue as well as a pedal tuner but would also give me a more satisfying shift profile overall, and would allow better fine tuning. Also seems like it wouldn't significantly increase the risk of damage to the car as long as I drive it like a responsible tuned car owner (ie, moderately hard at times but never stupid).
Seems like the price of the two mods would be somewhere around $500 ($232 for xHP license and map pack plus $270-ish for MHD flasher license plus maps pack (is that what I would buy?).
Burger pedal tuner alone is $199. To me, the difference between that and $500 is pretty minimal considering how much more I expect I'll appreciate the car if indeed the xHP plus MHD would be better in every respect aside from overall cost.
I guess another question worth asking just to complicate the discussion further is, would there be any reason to get the pedal tuner IN ADDITION to xHP (and possibly xHP plus MHD)?
I'm tempted to start with xHP, install it and see how the car behaves. Then I can decide about adding MHD or another ECU tuner, plus or minus a pedal tuner.
Another approach would be to start with a pedal tuner as a possible cheap and easy solution which may be enough to make me stop feeling a need for more, but if the consensus here is that that would not offer as much performance I'd rather not do that.
I'd appreciate any further advice form those with more knowledge/experience than me. Am I thinking about this correctly, or is there a flaw in my assumptions I should know about sooner rather than later? I realize some of the most valuable wisdom can be gained from "learning the hard way," but I'm hoping to be able to avoid that in this case if possible.
Thanks!
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