I think the best mod for you right now is seat time in the stock car as others have indicated. Then as you are used to the car....Mod as you see fit. Mods will always be there...And I think you will find that these cars are scary fast right out of the wrappers ... Also agree that dealers become very "amnesiatic" when something actually goes wrong....Enjoy...and Good luck!

 

An ECU tune may not be for everyone but I enjoy the GIAC tune in my car tremendously (and there are other good tuners besides GIAC). It significantly reduces subjective sensation of lag and makes my car feels more powerful, much less ponderous. I actually had another tune in the car before GIAC and the sensation was the same: explosive power, less lag. Both are humble stage 2 (Exhaust and ECU), and that's enough to make a notable difference.

I am quite confident of my finding because with GIAC (APR is the other one), you could do A/B comparison of stock versus tune instantaneously with a push of a button. Yes over and over again, as much as your heart desires :-) you could compare stock vs. tune. Anyone new to this and curious: check out the GIAC link in my signature, and maybe, welcome to the dark side.

If you could restrain yourself LOL, a stage 2 tune also has an outstanding record as far as reliability, in general. Knock on wood but so far in my car it has been perfect for 3 plus years. (It's when you start adding more power and hardware changes that **** happens, or at least *tends* to happen with more frequency.)

 

Keep in mind, after the tune porsche denies any support.And they will find out (Iam very sure about that). Start with sthg. easier.

 

Frizz, fair point but Mezger 2007 and 2008 Turbo's are now out of warranty, and 2009 will be soon, so the point is mostly mute. Either way, Porsche doesn't deny support per se, they just want money for their support :-). In addition, a stage 2 tune (ECU and exhaust, NO hardware change) has outstanding, perhaps even near 100%, reliability record. It's when people mess with changing other hardware (diverter valve, plenum, header, filter, intercooler, turbo, etc.) that bad things *may* happen, IMHO.

As mentioned, there is significant less turbo lag between tune and stock mode making the stock car feel very, very ponderous, and in a tune like GIAC, for your peace of mind you could always go back to stock mode to make sure the tune is not doing something "funny," and that it is indeed better to your satisfaction. If you don't like it, GIAC gives you full refund. For me, it's a no brainer. And it's not just about wanting more power (not that the tune doesn't make more power), subjectively the car feels far less ponderous and as a result a lot more fun.

An ECU tune is not for everyone I agree, but I wouldn't want to be without one. It transforms the feel of the car.

 

You are right, Mezger turbo is out of warranty but I stay with my advice to start somewhere else.

 

at cannga a tune and a nice exhaust will make your car run better... the stock map DOES not account for the crap gas we have here in calif!! check out BBI here in Los Angeles Co. GIAC is a well known tuner, however, they are an "off the shelf tune", meaning one size fits all.. Protomotive will tune your car so it runs safer with the gas you use, and a BBI exhaust combined, will make your car a 10 second, high 10's car.. your car will run harder on less boost, last longer, and breath the way it should... post around, your see... you can't go wrong... I'v bought an off the shelf tune, ok, but not the best... a plenum, better DV, would also help, they are just built better then stock..

 

Get the exhaust eny you like! and tune car by PP-Performance!

 

Yes, we absolutely 100% do cover that....and it's in writing.

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

 

Tom, how do you reconcile the wording in the warranty strictly forbidding modifications, are you replacing the existing factory warranty(that is now void bc of champion parts) fully?
So, if you affix the tune to your cpo'd car, and the motor has a major issue where pcna denies the coverage, are you saying Champion will unequivically pick up 100% of the cost of a new motor?
I just want to be perfectly clear on this point. The wording seems very limited.

 

It's all pretty specifically worded in our warranty above.

Basically, we make no claims about your factory warranty...that is up to your dealer and Porsche. But what we provide is a blanket of coverage that covers the car for as long as the factory or CPO warranty would. It only requires that the car have strictly our parts on it and be serviced at a Champion approved dealer or tuner.

 

Seems ok, but clearly once you mod the ecu in particular, the warranty is in the can, that's a fact. Nothing to do with the dealer, it's a pcna issue. Basically, it sounds like the champion warranty takes over for the defunked factory warranty as long as you use champion parts/dealer. Interesting.

 

You blow your motor on a tune and good luck getting anyone covering that cost. There are always exclusions in these warranties that dealers/shops can pull on you. Someone could just say that you ran a bad tank of gas and with high boost--kaboom--not their fault. Moral is mod at your own risk, don't assume otherwise.

 

this is very sound advice.

now I did a quick search but can't seem to find any threads or posts with engine problems using one of the several off-the-shelf moderate tunes that are available out there (~550-600hp range with no mods to the engine itself).

Can someone provide links to threads where folks have had engine's fail from one of these readily available plug-n-play tunes?

thanks

 

aa909/TTdude,

I agree with the advice about the risk of modding, whether suspension, exhaust, or ECU. They all increase the probability of something going wrong. Do not mod the car unless you are prepared. That said, if you get the right person and the right company, you have a reasonable chance of eternal happiness. :-) For me, I would sell the car and replace with a GT3 without the mods to my Turbo, so there is no choice really.

At least for these Mezger Turbo's, the warranty is out for all except 2009 and therefore not that critical of an issue now. But true 99% of times, they will know (I seem to hear and see evidence, here and there, that a very knowledgeable tuner with great familiarity with Porsche ECU has the ability to trick even the factory's ECU inspection, but I can't talk much further than this because it is in PM. So please don't press me and don't flame :-).) Regardless, the point is mute for Mezger Turbo's; you are on your own as there is no more warranty anyway.

Re. ECU tune and power mod, my observation has been that if you stick strictly with stage 2-software and exhaust only, the reliability is outstanding, if not near perfect. When you add hardware such as intercooler, turbo, etc., meaning more power, is when things are more likely to go wrong. IMHO more power + more hardware = more potential trouble, regardless of tuner. The 3 cases of engine melt down that I know about (one never published on this forum) are all high power, multiple hardware, cars.
For these reasons, particularly for high power car, I think it is most important to give the car to one tuner only (no mixing of hardware/software from different companies), whether AWE/GIAC, Champion/GIAC, Switzer, etc., so if something goes wrong, there is no finger pointing and only one person is responsible.

 

Can, any details on bad things that may happen with an after market diverter valve? I was considering the replacement part from EVOMS and just curious on what potentially could go wrong.