EPL did my flash and the car is a monster! Best bang for the buck for sure!

 

I did the softronic flash a few weeks ago and am very pleased. The process was relatively painless. If you follow the instructions it is really easy. Key is to turn off any interruptions on your laptop (antivirus, sleep mode, screen savers etc. ), make sure you have power to your battery and follow the instructions. The entire process took less than 5 mins. I wrote a blog post about it at: http://www.richardfrench.net

Rationale for softronic was I didn't want to remove the ecu and have a dead car for a week or more while I waited for the update. With an obd2 solution I was in control. Have a chat with Dan at vividracing / softronictuning.

 

There are pros and cons for either method (cable or bench flash). The cable flash conveniences are being able to go to and from the stock file as and when required but make no mistake cable flashing needs to be taken VERY seriously on each occasion or it WILL brick your ECU. The over riding factor to any conveniences is being able to get service and back up when you need it. That said you'd be hard pressed going past Sharwerks and im not just saying that to give a free plug. These guys are always there for you and will ensure 100% satisfaction and, If ever i eat a tune it will be over service. Don't ever under estimate the value of service .

 

protomotive

 

So if I choose someone like evoms, and send my ECU in, couple questions.

1) if I need warranty work (that involves engine...), what do I do? Can I send the ECU back to EVOMS to reflash the factory flash, or am I SOL? It's not a huge concern, but it is something for me to consider.

2) If I want to run on race fuel on occasion, will it take this into account? Or would I need to get a completely different map? I've seen tunes on other cars (Audi for instance) that use things such as the headlight stalk to choose different tune maps, is something like this avail?

 

The other advantage of the OBD type mod is that one can switch back to a "stock tune" when going back to the dealer for service.

 

Depends on what and how major the problem is and your dealer. You take a risk either way, bench or OBD flash. My dealer, who will absolutely not partake in any aftermarket mods, still reattached a boost hose when it popped off free of charge. I was completely upfront with the SM who I told that my car was modded. I even let him drive it afterwards so we built a relationship. I understand that he has his limits what he can do on a modded car. I flashed my car, I assumed the risks of voiding some aspects of the warranty, if not all of it.

If you want to run race fuel, then you need to get a tune that is optimized for race fuel. The benefit of race fuel is the higher knock index which allows you to run more boost and timing among other things. Unless your tune is programmed for this, you will not see any significant benefits on race fuel from a "generic" 91/93 pump tune which is programmed to run less aggressively for obvious safety reasons.

 

I assume you're saying dealer techs can determine when a car has been reflashed by OBDII and reloaded with a factory file?

 

I don't think there is a consensus answer regarding this. Dealer techs, probably not but I assume if there was a major engine issue then PCNA will dig deep and likely find something.

 

basically if there is nothing major that will make dealer to dig deep find out if the car has been flashed or not, why would they do it?

My car is flashed and still under warranty. Not because porsche accept it but there was no reason for the dealer to start question me about it.

 

I'm confused what these tunes offer. Has Porsche written its software to run richer than it needs to be safe? I don't see any of the tunes changing timing at all, and nobody offers cams, so apparently base timing is where it should be. Am I paying $2K to put my car into a lean condition or is there more to it than that?

 

Has anyone tried the EVOMS Dual mode ECU ? It sounds like the most advanced ECU using dual EPROMs With two completely different data sets.
That sounds pretty good but has anyone used it ?

 

where can i find more info. I had evoms before. Normal mode: pump gas, Sport mode: race gas.

I was be able to switch between maps by using factory button

 

Here is the link to their web page: http://www.evoms.com/marketplace/ViewProduct.asp?

 

We use it a lot for the higher HP applications. Very useful for going from a true 91 octane tune to a true 94/100.