Thank you for all the kind words thus far. We have created a separate thread here to clear up any misconceptions and show exactly what the Accessport is capable of. Since this is a forum thread for customers to express their specific unique experiences I'll continue to check in for ways we can continue to improve and evolve our already robust products to meet the demands and requests of our customers. If you have any questions please feel free to ask!

-Jon

Jon.Hebbeln@Cobbtuning.com

 

Absolutely right Chuck, these threads are always asking for "tuner wars" although it is possible to get good info out of them. I know when I had a bmw 335 and Terry and Shiv were always going at it, the arrogance and low blows Shiv took made me buy a JB3. Hopefully this community can refrain from making the personal attacks and people can become more educated on the products and personnel who sell them.

 

That's not entirely true. GIAC offers more then software for just our hardware components. They also work closely with AWE Tuning, GMG, and a host of others. The tunes that we use for our hardware packages just happen to be custom tunes made for us. Custom tunes are available from GIAC for anyone that is interested.

You can absolutely do this with GIAC as well, just that the process is slightly different. We have provided completely custom tunes to many customers using GIAC software. Keep in mind that when you buy a Cobb AP (and Mitch, please correct me if I'm wrong), the cost of the AP gets you a choice of 4 or 5 off the shelf tunes. Any custom tuning is done by independent tuners who use the Cobb platform, not necessarily by Cobb themselves. It also comes at an additional cost. That's definitely an awesome feature (being able to have access to custom tune your car) but it also means you have to put a lot of trust in the hands of the tuner who is creating the tune.

 

Not true at least with the other cars that I have used an AP for. Cobb absolutely did the custom tunes for my car. That is what I liked about them. Not only did they have the off the shelf but they had some of the best tuners with great experience with the platforms they specialized in to custom tune what you needed.

Now maybe for the P car they don't custom tune but not the case for the other makes.

For this reason that is why I wouldn't go buy an AP from just anyone that wants to sell one. Unless you really trust that tuner and know what they are doing. For the same price, why not just buy directly from Cobb.

For the OP. Obviously this thread got off track a bit. You asked the basic question GIAC vs Cobb. I will answer your question as a customer and not a gear head (so no technical stuff). The Cobb was awesome because literally a monkey can install and uninstall the tune. The AP is also nice because it gives you some data right there on the read out. It was also really nice to be able to data log what the car was doing and get it to Cobb to triple check everything was fine with the car. For me I didn't really care about the max performance, I wanted really, really safe added performance so the "comparing dyno charts" didn't matter because I wasn't going to buy the one with the most HP gain. Lastly for me it was nice to have the super convenience of adding and removing the tune in about two minutes whenever I wanted.

Good luck with your search of a tune. At the end of the day you will find that company that you trust and then you will be a customer for life if all goes well.

 

I wasn't saying you were the only shop GAIC creates maps for in fact I was using your company of which is very good one to prove a point as to say GAIC has aligned themselves with tier one companies.

And you say the process is slightly different how do you mean can you elaborate on how I would go about this?

As I have done with Cobb I've done three separate rounds of adjustments. Once the one I am doing now is complete I'll move one to the 4th. Naturally this is not the norm I've just upgraded over time. However the process is very simple. I simply share my logs, adjustments are made and I repeat till the car is to my liking. The whole adjustment process takes minutes and I'm logging again.

 

Strange. I contacted several shops and asked if I could get custom GIAC tune based on my setup and ability to log and retune. Without exception, they all said no. I would have also had to pull/ship my ecu for every single reflash

 

I'll play Devil's Advocate as well. Both are great products as we all know but in the end, it's up to the customer to buy what is better suited for them.


I wouldn't classify "Cobb FTW" as a bold statement because the poster was merely voicing his opinion on which product he likes best (in 2 words). Certainly, IMO, didn't seem like he was looking to get into a pissing match. There is really no right or wrong answer in threads like these and ultimately the consumer decides who "wins."


As far as matching the performance of 997.2 or 991, I don't think there has ever been 2 similarly modded same model cars, at the same location, racing the same race to get a true comparison. Kudos to you guys for being the first and only 997.2 to break into the 9s so far though. Certainly something to be said about setting the benchmark so soon after the car was released.


Cobb has a list of accomplishments as well though, and I don't think they should be discounted:
- They took 1st (991) and 2nd (997.2) in class at the Pikes Peak Hill Climb in 2015. This, IMO is a true torture test and speaks volumes about the reliability and R&D Cobb puts into their tuning/product.
- A Cobb tuned, stock turbo 997.2 has the verified 60-130 record (the guy in Greece and although controversial, let's not forget to date the only other 997.2 to run 9s 1/4 mile is the 68mm turbo + meth + custom GIAC tune one in NJ.)
- I "think" they have the highest HP 997.2 record, the alpha 30 6sp with 688hp.
- Podium finish at the Optima Challenge in 2014 with a Cobb tuned 997.2


I think that is a pretty good start for a tuning outfit that has only begun supporting Porsche cars since early 2014. If nothing more, the competition between brands will be good for everyone by pushing the platforms farther. If everyone was running the same tune, what fun would that be? We all have our favorites and for different reasons but that is what makes this sport so fun. Choices and competition.
Happy to see what both camps will do with the 991! (makes me want one too)

 

To me, the fact I retain the car's warranty is very important and adds value to the mod.

 

Well that is not going to be any tune so stay stock. And if you are being told that by someone you are being lied to.

 

Not true.

http://championmotorsportonline.com/...yagreement.pdf

 

I encourage you to become better informed.
You stated safety in the tune is important to you. That may be to avoid damage to the engine and the cost associated with it. It appears you missed the value of a warranty by means of financial risk transfer. Not so safe.

 

The 997.2 piggy back warranty is where I initially became very intrigued about the GIAC product. No other tuner has done this from my knowledge. I have a few other cars all modified with other vendor tunes. I have been modifying cars for 25+ years.

I started simply with the GIAC tune and IPD plenum for my 997.2 Turbo S. Since then, I have made other modifications and along the way (catted exhaust, intercoolers, meth, Y pipe - that's it), GIAC provided me revised tunes - all specific to my modifications. We have data logged and they have attended race events with me to make sure I was a happy customer. I have texted and called them who knows how many hundreds of times. I have never paid a dime other than the initial purchase price.

My experience has been nothing other than extraordinary. My car has been bulletproof from a reliability standpoint. I haven't dyno'd but I can't defeat physics and with the 997.2 and 991 fuel system limitation, I'm probably around 650 wheel HP. Maybe a little less, maybe a little more.

The performance of my car speaks for itself. It's all been recorded, documented and posted. I don't go out and do glory runs on crazy DA. I run in poor conditions (like high elevation high DA airstrips) or at drag strips with no prep and are never tracks people post records from. And I run right in front of competitor tuners.

I do not measure performance with one glory run. Maybe others. That's why I don't post my "stats" in my signature. I race my car against others. At the airstrip at the race track and at the drag strip. Whenever wherever. 100 degrees sweltering hot? Bring it on. Performance is about consistency and reliability in all conditions. Performance is about pulling a 6.4 second 60-130mph on a zero slope on a hot day at 1:30pm with a headwind in front of your competitor tuners. What can I do in neg DA with a slope with no other cars around? Who cares. Performance is about running head to head from a roll and keeping up with other well-documented cars making over 700 and 800 wheel HP (like Anthony's old Switzer E911 set up, Ryne Cunningham's 145mph trap 1/4 S/C vette, Greg Kim's built e85 Ford GT, etc) - all head to head from 40-140. At the drag strip, performance is not about just having the highest trap speed for a stock turbo 997.2. But doing it 6 times in a row back to back all in 20 minutes all 135+ traps at a crappy drag strip in high DA. Famoso, not ATCO.

Every one of these dozens of events - airstrip, track, drag strip - I have driven my car there and driven home on the same set of stock centerlock wheels/tires in my full weight interior with nothing removed and enjoyed my air conditioned seats and nice Sat stereo.

This could be the first time in years I have ever gone a posted in one of these tuner threads. And it will likely be my last. I'm not a cheer leader. I don't want to get involved in any back and forth.

I simply want to give a shout out to GIAC that in my experience, their product from a reliability, performance, and service perspective has completely exceeded all expectations. For anyone with the Porsche 3.8L DI platform, I would unequivocally recommend GIAC. This is by far, the best single product for any car I have ever owned in my life. Period.

 

Thanks for the support Chris!

-Mitch

 

Well I guess then you should get Porsche informed. I have called multiple dealers and spoke to service managers. Everyone of them stated the same thing as every other dealer states with modifying your car. If they feel the tune has caused whatever the issue is because of the added stress, your warranty will not be accepted. If you are telling me that this is not true then please send me something directly from Porsche that guarantee's with your tune that my warranty can no way be voided, I would love to see it. Them I can show that Porsche authorized letter to all the service managers and prove them wrong.

At the end of the day the second you modify ANYTHING in your car the warranty can be voided if the dealer can prove your mod caused the issue.

 

Call Porsche yourself and ask them. You are a fool if you think modding your car can't jeopardize the warranty potential. There is zero tunes for any company that Porsche will guarantee and if they feel it caused the issue you are out of luck. Call them yourself.