# Cruze BNR Tune Review



## Karma (May 21, 2015)

I dont know that i have ever really given BNR and Jerry Kinney​ a review over EFI Live. So i will do that now.


I have had EFI Live for almost a year now. When i first got it all i had was a KN Short Ram Intake. Got the handheld in the mail. Immediately went and downloaded EFI Live and went out to my car and got an E78 read for my stock file. Got that loaded on to the EFI Live explorer, emailed it over to Jerry. Couple hours later and i had the base tune. Sadly I couldnt put it on that night. it was already 11pm and i had to work the next morning. Well i made sure i woke up early enough to throw the base tune on the car before work. Mannn can i say that base tune is INCREDIBLE all by itself. I immediately fell in love. Immediately felt more power. More throttle response. About a month later I ported my Intake Manifold. Holy **** even more response. Mainly it was just up top. Anyhow, sent Jerry a datalog. Took a few days as he is now getting more and more people using EFI Live. A month or two later, I did a muffler delete and sent jerry another log. took a few days as well. Still being fairly quick with his work. About 3 months after that i finally went catless. Again sent jerry a log and about a week later got an update. It will take the man some time to get back. hes got at least 300 sonics and cruzes that he tries to get updates for when asked. That brings me to today. I now have an FMIC installed, and need to send him an update. i havent yet have been busy with trying to get a house. Anyhow that doesnt matter. 


Jerry throughout this entire year that i have had EFI Live has been nothing but great. Any question that i had asked him he was quick to answer. 


Just because Jerry doesnt get back to you in a week or two weeks. Doesnt mean that he is ignoring you or doesnt care. He is doing his damndest to make everyone happy. and make sure their cars are running the way they want them to be running. 


I will speak for myself when i give Jerry a 5 star rating. He has done absolutely wonderful.


Now if you are on the edge whether you want to buy EFI Live or not. I will give you a brief break down on what you can expect out of the price that is listed.


$550 is the total price. 


$350 includes the handheld itself, One cable that plugs from the handheld into your laptop/pc, the second cable plugs from your handheld into your OBD2 on your computer. 


$200 covers UNLIMITED tunes/tuning service by Jerry himself. 


Take this into consideration. You go to dyno tune because you put on an FMIC. A lot of places will charge about $100 per hour. Lets say youre there for 30 mins. You still get charged that $100. Then the next month you put on a BOV, and go catless. Yo go back to the shop so that you can get updated for the things you added. youre there for 2 hours. That $200. In TWO trips you dropped $300. 


Where as with EFI Live you spend $200 up front and from then on every single datalog you send to jerry and get an update back doesnt cost you a dime. I dont know about you. For me I like looking at the future. or the Long Range Plan (LRP). To me it was a far better choice. Less money to spend on updates. More money to spend on parts. 


PS: Sorry I did not mean to go on for so long Lol. If you read all of this you are a trooper. 


PSS: here is the link to the website to order EFI Live if you would like to order.


store.badnewsracing.net/?AffId=26


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## Codo_Cruze (May 11, 2016)

Here's my question trifecta claims they give the car better transmission shifting on the autos as well as the boost in power does the bnr tune help with the shift response as well?


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2011)

Codo_Cruze said:


> Here's my question trifecta claims they give the car better transmission shifting on the autos as well as the boost in power does the bnr tune help with the shift response as well?
> 
> 
> Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk



BNR can absolutely change the transmission shifting, except we don't just give you whatever we feel is best and you're stuck with it. We give you our base transmission tune, which is very good and has thousands of hours of testing at this point, and adjust it to your liking. Some people like a firmer shift, some like a softer shift. Some people want max power and shifting early in the powerband, some people want to wind it out to 6500. Unlike some other vendors that sell a canned tune, the BNR tuning service is whatever you want it to be.


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## Codo_Cruze (May 11, 2016)

I like the way that sounds Jerry so in the same tune I can tune the pcm and tcm?


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## pgthe1 (Mar 14, 2016)

Yes, their 2 different tunes thou.. one for the engine and one for the trans. It's just one extra step takes 1-2min max to do the trans part. Now that I have the engine and trans tuned.. I would have bought the tuner just for the trans shifting part(It's night and day).


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## Codo_Cruze (May 11, 2016)

You bought the bnr tune?


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## pgthe1 (Mar 14, 2016)

Yes.


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## Codo_Cruze (May 11, 2016)

Alright I guess you guys have me sold I want 


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## marty68 (Apr 14, 2016)

is there any economy advantage? my car seems sluggish until it gets over 3500 rpm. then if you mash it, it just revs and makes noise. I almost got plowed over at a toll booth the other day. I would like quicker throttle response at lower rpms, and shift points below 6000 rpm. while maintaining 35+ mpg... am I expecting too much from a lunchbox sized engine?


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## jfelix (May 31, 2015)

So i just flashed my 2015 1.4 this morning with a base Tune from Jerry @ BNR, and wow what a difference! I do have a K&N SRI and a down pipe installed, but i can feel massive gains in low end power. But i am curious about how much power i am currently making.


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## mrd8cd (Sep 29, 2015)

jfelix said:


> So i just flashed my 2015 1.4 this morning with a base Tune from Jerry @ BNR, and wow what a difference! I do have a K&N SRI and a down pipe installed, but i can feel massive gains in low end power. But i am curious about how much power i am currently making.


jfelix, what trim and transmission do you have?


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## jfelix (May 31, 2015)

1LT with RS package


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## JoshuaSettlage (Sep 28, 2019)

Does anyone use this still? haha. anyways, is the bnr 2011-2016 limited chevy cruze 1.4l turbo what i need to do all this cool stuff?


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## Blasirl (Mar 31, 2015)

JoshuaSettlage said:


> Does anyone use this still? haha. anyways, is the bnr 2011-2016 limited chevy cruze 1.4l turbo what i need to do all this cool stuff?


Welcome Aboard!

Don't forget to introduce yourself and your Cruze here.


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## Ehsmhs07 (Aug 20, 2020)

Just got my bnr eflive waiting for the processing to be complete hoping to feel some gains with the mods i have

ported manifold
Injen cold air
Mid/downpipe
Full custom exhaust
Msd coil pack

2014 cruze lt rs


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## Shroomie (Jan 16, 2017)

JoshuaSettlage said:


> Does anyone use this still? haha. anyways, is the bnr 2011-2016 limited chevy cruze 1.4l turbo what i need to do all this cool stuff?


Yup, a lot of us here are tuned, but beware that the main factor that puts a smile on our face is increasing the boost levels. Easily in the 20s. The 1.4 can handle these levels and heat generated, but it's not something you want to be doing half the day or during summer. 

It's hella fun and addicting, but you will ruin a piston or burn a valve if you go around wot a lot . Boost responsibly.


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## Aussie Bill (Aug 20, 2020)

I just received my EFILive Autocal from BNR, sent my Stock Tune email to Jerry on August 14th, currently still waiting on my New Tune to arrive, but am feeling excited. I hope I notice the power difference when it's uploaded to my car. 
Cheers Everyone 🤝🍻


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## LisaHamiltonEu (Jul 12, 2020)

Nice review man.


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## Toma (Nov 8, 2021)

Karma said:


> I dont know that i have ever really given BNR and Jerry Kinney a review over EFI Live. So i will do that now.
> 
> 
> I have had EFI Live for almost a year now. When i first got it all i had was a KN Short Ram Intake. Got the handheld in the mail. Immediately went and downloaded EFI Live and went out to my car and got an E78 read for my stock file. Got that loaded on to the EFI Live explorer, emailed it over to Jerry. Couple hours later and i had the base tune. Sadly I couldnt put it on that night. it was already 11pm and i had to work the next morning. Well i made sure i woke up early enough to throw the base tune on the car before work. Mannn can i say that base tune is INCREDIBLE all by itself. I immediately fell in love. Immediately felt more power. More throttle response. About a month later I ported my Intake Manifold. Holy **** even more response. Mainly it was just up top. Anyhow, sent Jerry a datalog. Took a few days as he is now getting more and more people using EFI Live. A month or two later, I did a muffler delete and sent jerry another log. took a few days as well. Still being fairly quick with his work. About 3 months after that i finally went catless. Again sent jerry a log and about a week later got an update. It will take the man some time to get back. hes got at least 300 sonics and cruzes that he tries to get updates for when asked. That brings me to today. I now have an FMIC installed, and need to send him an update. i havent yet have been busy with trying to get a house. Anyhow that doesnt matter.
> ...


I'm a huge noob to all this. I'm not really looking to do a lot of mods to my car but someone local is selling a zzp catless downpipe for 50$ and I feel I'd be a dummy to turn that down. Problem is people say installing it without a tune is gunna set off CEL.

So do I order one of these 500$ tune kit things? Or is there a cheaper way to install my downpipe and get rid of my check engine light?

When all is said and done I plan to have a short ram intake, catless downpipe and catback exhaust, zzp coilpack.
Should I install everything and then tune it to avoid having to re-tune everytime I get enough money for a new part?

I didn't realize when I wanted my car to sound cooler that I was gunna have to spend most my money on telling my computer to accept the parts


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## [email protected] (Nov 12, 2011)

Yeah you want the tune + autocal, its like $550 or $599 depending on year/model


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## Anewman7788 (11 mo ago)

[email protected] said:


> BNR can absolutely change the transmission shifting, except we don't just give you whatever we feel is best and you're stuck with it. We give you our base transmission tune, which is very good and has thousands of hours of testing at this point, and adjust it to your liking. Some people like a firmer shift, some like a softer shift. Some people want max power and shifting early in the powerband, some people want to wind it out to 6500. Unlike some other vendors that sell a canned tune, the BNR tuning service is whatever you want it to be.


Sent in my stock file 3 days ago still no response


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## jcreech (May 28, 2015)

just found this post. I’ve been BNR tuned since 2015 and had a much weaker tune before. The BNR tune is night and day over it’s competitors and I’ve now been running it for 90k miles and my car has never had a single issue. 100% recommend.


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