Many of us sell the aftermarket parts when we sell our cars - shocks, springs, seats, stereo, etc. When we do that we recover some of the cost of the upgrades which the next buyer may or may not be interested at all. So I think we should be able to do that to tunes/flashes also, afterall many of the off the shelf flashes aren't customized to a particular car and IMO tunes should be like computer software and can be uninstalll from one computer (ECU in this instance) and legally re-installed to a buyer's. Will tuners lose business in the long run? Or will more people tend to spend the money on tunes when they know they can transfer it if they don't like it or upon selling their cars? I for one may keep my 997 TT for only 3 years and just don't feel like paying for a flash/tune if I can't recover some of the investment.

 

Why would you uninstall and reinstall on the same car ?

Edit - I think I am following . If one part's out a car it's very different than selling a tune . It may seem like a simple plug and unplug event even the same model may have cars built at one time requiring a slighly different tune . Plus software can be updated .This is such a critical piece of the car's engine .

 

I agree, but you will be missing out on a lot of driving enjoyment if you don't do an ECU flash because you can't recoup some of the costs when you sell it.

ECU flash is one those mods that will put a smile on your face everytime you smash the throttle.

 

I know I know. I'd definitely do it if I were to keep the car longer but if I were to keep it for say 3 years only, then paying $3K+ for it would mean I am spending $100 a month just for a few more ponies isn't worth it for me, especially for my TT CAB which is just a dialy driver anyway. Trying to decide whether to spend this much on the TT to gain 50HP and the same amount can also buy me a set of Bellanger header and high flow cats and install for my ACR which also nets 50 HP. But the ACR is for track and a car that I'll probably keep longer and the parts can be pulled off of the car when it comes time to sell and I'll get back at least 50% of the initial investment.
As to the tune that I'm referring to since most of the tunes aren't customized so transferring it to another car w/ even just an exhaust and intake should be no problem.

 

dont think so much of the hp increase, think the torque and drivability improvements it makes, its unreal vs. the stock car. I hear you on the resale issue but you will kick yourself for not doing the tune sooner once you get it. For maximizing ROI we bought the wrong car to begin with, dont let $2 or $3k sway ya.

 

It's hit and miss with some ECU tuners. The Cobb Accessport for my car for example is a handheld tuner that can flash the ECU with a tuned map, then flash the car back to stock if you want. Much like GIAC's flashloader You can then un-marry the AP from the car and sell it to recoup some of the costs.
Would be nice to see something like that for the P Cars.

 

Heard great things about the Cobb AP too in the GT-R market. As for P cars, is there any reputable tuner out there offering tunes for the TT for around $2000, as most I look at are charging from $2500 and up.

 

Hey, how 'bout a group buy on ecu programming? Any takers?

 

I would jump on that group buy......

 

I'am pretty sure this possible as i just talked to someone about doing this,as they are selling there 08 turbo. This is one of the brands you here about here the deal is they have to overnight both our ecu to them to do the transfer,then the warranty & everything is in my name they are charging a transfer fee for this service.Also over the weekend at the festival of speed in Fontana there was a tuner offering a plug in device that they said guarantees 60hp it plugs in to the engine compartment somewhere & can be returned to stock by just unplugging it and disconnecting the battery for only $799.00 money back guarantee.I'am going to go with a more trusted name myself but i'am going to try this one out as they have one for sample at the shop were my car is at right now & said i could take a couple runs by he shop with it .

 

$799 is cheap but I would really worry about going with a non-reputable tuner.... I would like to know more about the deal you got going?

 

The flash is worth every penny, even for a weekend. The guys at Stuttgart Performance in Costa Mesa have I believe the best ecu flash anywhere

 

The Cobb Access Port w/ a tunes sells for $695 and is very popular w/ the Japanese imports so $795 isn't out of line but considering the number of sales of Pcar tunes vs. Japanese imports tunes, I don't mind paying more, but when it gets to $2500 and up, then it starts to make me think twice before I do the mod.
If we can get a group buy together at around $2K, I'd be IN.

 

Sounds maybe like the XEDE. They are big with the BMW 335 world as well as the mazdaspeed tuners. Their ECU is a piggyback and plugs into the OEM ECU and runs it's own maps. It comes preloaded with a map, but you can also tune it like any other tuneable ECU.

The Cobb AP is like that as well. Any shop that has experience tuning Cob products like the accessTuner Race, can do custom maps for the accessport. That's what I'm looking to have done. Used AP for 500-550, and a couple of hours tuning on the dyno for 400 or so and I"ll have a couple of custom maps. Race gas, premium gas, etc.....If someone offered this for the P Cars, it'd sell like hot cakes.

 

What brand is this and do you know how much is the transfer fee? Lets say if two similar tunes cost about the same and one offers the transfer service for a reasonable fee, then it is a no brainer to go with the transferable one.