Learn Down???

Ghost_White · 06-29-2021, 10:27 PM

Have a question for you all. A close friend is ordering a Camaro. He's getting the 2.0L, unless he decides to get the V6. I have an SS 1LE...we both have Solstice GXPs, which has the grandfather motor to the current 2.0L turbo engine. He's a bit older so he doesn't like to mess with tunes and mods, so I was wondering. On our Solstice, the ECM has a "learn down" feature which will allow you to realize any new power from mods for several key cycles, but the ECM will quickly learn down those mods back to the 260hp/260ftlbs. if the vehicle hasn't been tuned. I've had my Solstice dyno tuned and it's pushing 340hp/325ftlbs, while his has the GMPP stage II which was dealer installed and he's pushing 310hp/345ftlbs. so both of our Sostices will realize any power mods we do to an extent. Is that the case with the current 2.0l? Even things like the Pedal Commander and special "chips" will be rendered useless in several key cycles on the Solstice and we were wondering if that's the same case with the current 2.0L in the Camaro??? On our Solstice, things like the Pedal Commander do no more then change the throttle mapping, making it feel as though you have increased performance and we were wondering if the same thing happens with the 2.0L Camaro. Any help and advice is appreciated.

95TA - The Beast · 06-30-2021, 01:21 PM

Simple answer is "YES".

More complex answer is that the 2.0t engine limits the amount of torque to what it is tuned for.

So, add in exhaust, cold air (which is not needed unless you want turbo noise, as a K&N filter dropped in the stock airbox reduces the restriction the stock filter element has and it is already a cold air system from the factory), downpipes and even larger turbos will not produce any more power unless you tune for it.

There are plenty of threads on here explaining why this is the case, but everything on this generation or newer is set to limit power output to produce the power expected for the rest of the drivetrain.

So, ultimately, for any mods to work you need to retune the computer. Anyone else that argues that hasn't let the car run long enough for it to retune itself. Basically exactly what you call "learn down". It is just retuning to get the output it expects.

06-29-2021, 10:27 PM	#1
Ghost_White Drives: 2019 2SS 1LE Join Date: Feb 2021 Location: MI Posts: 76	Learn Down??? Have a question for you all. A close friend is ordering a Camaro. He's getting the 2.0L, unless he decides to get the V6. I have an SS 1LE...we both have Solstice GXPs, which has the grandfather motor to the current 2.0L turbo engine. He's a bit older so he doesn't like to mess with tunes and mods, so I was wondering. On our Solstice, the ECM has a "learn down" feature which will allow you to realize any new power from mods for several key cycles, but the ECM will quickly learn down those mods back to the 260hp/260ftlbs. if the vehicle hasn't been tuned. I've had my Solstice dyno tuned and it's pushing 340hp/325ftlbs, while his has the GMPP stage II which was dealer installed and he's pushing 310hp/345ftlbs. so both of our Sostices will realize any power mods we do to an extent. Is that the case with the current 2.0l? Even things like the Pedal Commander and special "chips" will be rendered useless in several key cycles on the Solstice and we were wondering if that's the same case with the current 2.0L in the Camaro??? On our Solstice, things like the Pedal Commander do no more then change the throttle mapping, making it feel as though you have increased performance and we were wondering if the same thing happens with the 2.0L Camaro. Any help and advice is appreciated.

06-30-2021, 01:21 PM	#2
95TA - The Beast Drives: 2014 Cadillac CTS4 2.0T Performance Join Date: Sep 2019 Location: WI Posts: 117	Simple answer is "YES". More complex answer is that the 2.0t engine limits the amount of torque to what it is tuned for. So, add in exhaust, cold air (which is not needed unless you want turbo noise, as a K&N filter dropped in the stock airbox reduces the restriction the stock filter element has and it is already a cold air system from the factory), downpipes and even larger turbos will not produce any more power unless you tune for it. There are plenty of threads on here explaining why this is the case, but everything on this generation or newer is set to limit power output to produce the power expected for the rest of the drivetrain. So, ultimately, for any mods to work you need to retune the computer. Anyone else that argues that hasn't let the car run long enough for it to retune itself. Basically exactly what you call "learn down". It is just retuning to get the output it expects.

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