Hi all,
I have a '12 PTTS and I really enjoy it. I'm now in the process of doing a few mods and seeing where it gets me. Right when I got it, I put a BMC filter in it. My only regret thus far is not taking a baseline dyno before the BMC, but it's not a big deal. I next wanted to do downpipes and x-pipe, and I dyno'd the car before and after - same dyno, same tech. It's a great mod, drastically reducing turbo lag and increasing responsiveness, and made the car sound great. However, no gains on the dyno with stock ECU.

It's now time for a tune, but $3,000 is a lot of money, and I'm not spending it without knowing what I'm really getting and actually receiving that value. On this forum, we are marketed to by multiple vendors for PTT tunes, but unfortunately I don't see much data from actual customers to back up the claims. There's a scarcity of technical data on this forum regarding mods, tunes, and their real-world results.

My question is: has anybody not affiliated with any tune vendor actually had their ECU flashed with one of these tunes and had the car dyno'd before and after? If so, what is are the deltas (gains) you saw? Any real customer experiences shared would be greatly appreciated.

I'm hoping that we can help each other out on this forum and make sure we are receiving what was advertised. Let me be clear - IF this car just doesn't make much with an ECU flash, and IF the $3,000 tune mainly just increases throttle response and adds modest power, that's fine with me. I just rather come to terms with that value and make the decision whether or not to buy on the product's actual merits and not end up feeling like empty promises were made.

 

You make a very valid point and after 40 years of doing modifications to cars I have seen all types (good and bad) of companies come and go. If it were me I'd go with someone who has been around and has a long and good track record. For me that would be GIAC. They have been doing this for more than 20 years, and I have used them many times. In fact if things have not changed many tuners offer their ECU programming. One thing to remember tuning is not this plus this plus this gives you this and as you have seen some mods give you nothing but sound and butt meter feelings. There are or should I say were companies that would do custom ECU tunes to maximize what you have on your car. Personally I never found that they really worked that much better unless your car was so modded that it was no where near stock anymore. For most a tune and an exhaust should give (average around 75hp) all you need in a PTT. Good luck!

 

There is only one true ECU remap of the factory unit (GIAC). There are many customers both in this section and in the Cayenne Turbo section that have voiced their satisfaction. GIAC also offers a 30 day satisfaction guarantee.

On a stock car, you will experience very noticeable power gains. Since you also have downpipes and a BMC, it will be a night and day performance difference.

I just sent you a PM as well.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...ml#post3641525

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...-2014-ctt.html

 

"There is only one true ECU remap of the factory unit (GIAC). There are many customers both in this section and in the Cayenne Turbo section that have voiced their satisfaction. GIAC also offers a 30 day satisfaction guarantee."

This isn't totally true - I have FVD's tune on my PTTS and also had it on my PTT - very happy with both of them although no before and after dyno was done. Also I believe them to be similar in design as the actual ECU has to be removed and sent off, which is the one downside to FVD as they do the reprogramming in Germany. I went with them because my dealer has had a good experience with them on builds and I figured if I had an issue they would support me as best they could.

 

+1 for the FVD

 

You're correct, I was confusing it with the Cayenne Turbo option. With that being said, I would take note of the difference between S and non-S Turbos. Factory powerkit cars will have a 195mph speed limiter, and this cannot be removed without a complete DME reflash. You can flash "S" files into a non-S car and see power gains, but this will not compare to a complete remap (which would also make large power gains on an S car).

 

The PTT (and all new Simos based Direct injection Porsches) are heavily torque controlled. Your hardware upgrades won't actually sustain any power gains without our software upgrade , as the DME will adjust to bring the power back down to factory torque specs.

My recommendation would be to have a baseline dyno test performed. After installing hardware, drive the car around for a period of time before having it dyno tested so that it has a chance to adapt. This will show your true sustained gains from anything.

As for buying marketing jargon, etc... Our software has a 30 day money back guarantee on all software. If anyone believe that our software doesn't do what we advertise, they're more than entitled to get their money back.

 

Hi Austin,
Thanks for your reply - yes, since installing the downpipes, I've learned about torque limiting. I did drive the car hundreds of miles before the dyno so it had plenty of chance to adapt. I suspect that with the BMC filter, the baseline dyno was already at the spec'd limits, so the DP didn't have a chance to do much. I hope for gains with a tune.

I was not aware of the 30 day money back guarantee. That is good to know about. Is that through GIAC directly or the vendor?

 

Another question: Do you have a revision of your tune specifically for cars with downpipes and filters? If the DME has a set spec that limits torque, and you revise that in your tune, I would think that not having a specific revision for cars with downpipes would still mean they are being torque limited lower than they ought to be.

 

GIAC doesn't actually sell to the public, so it would need to be done through one of our dealers.

 

We have files that account for downpipes+plenum. The filter doesn't reqiure any sort of re-tuning.

 

What about tuning against more than just the basic intake / downpipe setup? As well as an option for race gas? I have the GIAC tune but am upgrading past the basic plenum / downpipe and have the need for support of additional modification stages. FVD is the only company that I know of that goes to this extent (stage 1-4 tuning) with the panamera...

 

^Great question. I would love to know as well.

 

This is a very interesting thread. Can't wait to see results!

 

Agree - still wondering if GIAC will support more advanced modification stages tuning for the Panamera community. A lot of people are upgrading their turbos to larger 20T as the panamera PDK and fuel syst is built stronger than the 911 and can handle up to 800hp/715tq...