[Trail Blazed]

I posted about how I called K&N and the roll out of their replacement filters. This got me to thinking. It has been over a year since this vehicle went on sale in North America and we still have very little support from the aftermarket. I know we like to blame Covid for a good portion of this, but is that really the factor?

I read an article about the new Ford Bronco(not the Sport version) and how Ford will have over 200 accessories available when they start hitting showrooms. If that is true, then how can there be so much available due to Covid? I do realize these are two different types of vehicles, and there has been a lot of hype for the Bronco return.

I do realize there are some accessories available for the TB. but I am wondering if we are going to see much more revealed? and why is there lack of rollout? Sales are pretty impressive for the vehicle. That would make me think that there is an audience for more customization possibilities.

Thoughts...

 

[ZR2LIFE]

Well, K&N does have an engine filter for us now, unfortunately they don't have in stock, lol. My Trailblazer was also scanned for upcoming body parts like splitters, spoiler and window visors. I'll have to wait until renderings are done, prototypes are made and test fitted, but it's something.

What I'd like to see is a high flow cold air intake, free flowing exhaust, a custom tune or handheld tuner for the engine/trans, lowering springs or lift springs for the Activ crowd, performance struts/shocks, larger sway bars and I could go on and on, lol.

 

[TrashPandaPerformance]

You're literally only going to see minimal support. Mostly aesthetic. Tuning these will price 99% out of option that's a guarantee especially for the benefits. I do agree a nice CAI would be ideal. You can easily have a custom exhaust made at most exhaust shops but I doubt it'll sound spectacular given the new smaller engine manifolds being used.

 

[Trail Blazed]

K&N, I called(6-15-2021) not in stock and no ETA projected. No CAI's listed. When there was no ETA for just a filter, I didn't ask about a CAI. Didn't feel confident that they are working on one.
Yes, you can go to a muffler shop and have a one off system done. But none of the big guns have bolt on systems ready. 3 cylinder snowmobiles can sound really good. I believe a really nice system could be made for these.
Tuning programmers should be fairly easy to develop, but yet they are not available either. I thought by now we would see more stuff available.

 

[TrashPandaPerformance]

Oh I'm not trying to dissuade you from pursuing aftermarket. But I've been in that game with enough cars and I feel like I have a decent handle on this. CAI or K&N will inevitably happen but I doubt the big bolt-on boys will do anything these manifolds aren't like a snowmobile GM doesn't do things that way with their Turbo cars you can maybe get a throatier sound but all of there bolt-on boys sound like a tractor on their small displacement turbos. As far as tuning goes let me and I am not trying to be rude in explaining this to you but GM has basically said F/U since 2017 for those trying to tune their vehicles. A few reasons I can make my assumption is they don't get support without the major tuning companies seeing a profit even if it's overtime. The 1.3T or 1.2T simply won't get much more power the way it's designed. You'll be lucky to see 190hp at the crank. But that still won't fix the designed function of the engine and response. They have these built for quick low end torque and HP then the torque drops and the HP plateaus at highway cruising speeds. Then the 9 speed tranny is constantly searching for the most ideal gear and oftentimes has cold feet when searching for a gear. Now for the kick in the nuts. GM uses so much security control on these ECUs that either EFI or HPTuners will cost you a fortune to use. I'll use my 2017 A8 2.0T Camaro as an example to help explain it. 275hp/295tq from the factory just to unlock and tune the ECU was $200 in credits plus tuner fees plus of you bought your own HPTuners Hardware another $300 this is just your ECU. Everything is torque management based in modern GM vehicles and only half of those tables are in the ECU the other half is in the transmission control module. Which is another $200 in credits plus the $100 unlock fee and shipping back and forth then add tuner fees. Now I ended my camaro with extensive modification that made it a ticking time bomb because I went to the 1/4 mile track way more then I should and was at 326whp and 385wtq now this was wheel numbers not the crank numbers GM advertised. You will never see those comparable numbers in the 1.3T or 1.2T because nobody is going to pay over $1,000 in tuning fees be out a vehicle and spend probably another $1,500 in potential aftermarket performance modifications to see what will probably be 160whp and 200wtq. Not to mention voiding any warranty and risking melting or blowing the engine. 99% of any real TB. Build Performance wise will be one-offs.