The three stars update is part of the patch. Everyone automatically downloads the patch as soon as they turn their PS4 on. In the past when there was a new tuner you would be prompted to download it when you started up the game. This year you're not. It seems the only way to get it is to enter an online game which those without plus can't do.
If plus is available for free this weekend that would be all well and good to download the tuner. Except this inevitably won't be the last tuner so when the next one comes we're out of luck. Oh, and I won't be able to be on my system at all this weekend anyway. Again...sigh.
Just for my own informational purposes...is this whole thing of having to have plus to play online new? When I saw on here the way to get the tuner was to try to start an online game I went to do that. And was dumbfounded when I saw I needed plus to even attempt to start an online game which I had no intention of actually playing. Is this a A PS4 thing? An EA thing? An NHL series thing? I'm assuming it's a PS4 thing. I just got mine a couple of weeks ago and have never had any interest whatsoever in playing any game online so I guess something like that would have slipped my notice.