Hello to you all,
Last week I spent a couple of days tuning my 997.1 turbo cab. You see for some people sometimes there's a bug in the back of their head that convinces them that horsepower is just not enough and then it just takes control of them and their pocket...
As you can see from the title I installed an EP1 exhaust and flashed my car with APR software although I intented to follow a completely different approach in tuning consisting of modified GT2 turbos, intercoolers, intake, exhaust and ECU reprogramming. But then I thought that the APR software would be nice as a first step taking into acount those great reviews I run into about it and especially for its effectiveness in terms of torque and horsepower. I thought it would be nice to try it out in combination with an EP1 and a BMC drop in filter.

Regarding Europipe exhaust, words just can't describe how satisfied I am with that product and the service I was provided by Stef. I'll get straight to the point by saying that EVERYONE in search for an AM exhaust should hear the sound of a Europipe and also feel it by beeing in a car with a Europipe installed before making up his mind. Do that and a Europipe is the only choice when it comes to sound, performance, zero drone and responsiveness of the car. Needless to say the packaging and the tools that Stef provides show that you're dealing with professionals. To be honest I can't imagine myself owning a 911 without a europipe exhaust taking into account that it's actually my second Europipe for my second 911. If you would like my advice avoid watching videos with the sound of the exhaust as they actually have nothing to do with the reality and you can even say they underestimate this product!

Now regarding APR tune I have to confess I was really against it in the beginning as I couldn't really believe you can get that much power out of just a tune in a reliable way. It felt impossible and the numbers promised by APR seemed completely misleading to me. Well I was wrong being objective at those numbers as much as other people. Anyway, selecting different maps using the cruise control was really easy and kind of handy as there are choices (at least in the European version) to select the stock file, the 95 octane one, the 100 octane one and finally the "race" file for a more aggressive timing advance. I loved this opportunity to switch between maps from the begining because you're given the chance to easily load the stock file in your car and go to the dealer without worrying about anything. When I filled the car up with 100 octane pump gas and loaded the corresponding file with the cruise control I felt the extra power coming strong and the low end torque was a really nice feeling. When you take the car for a ride and step on the gas pedal you simply feel it can eat up just about everything you come across on the road. Those promised 900+Nm or almost 700lb-ft of torque should really be there. You feel confident and I have to confess it really maintains its factory everyday drivability. You really feel its power being about 600hp at least depending on fuel quality. The power and torque have a really decent duration and the ICs just don't seem they have trouble coping with the extra boost and its consequences. At least on the street as I haven't tracked the car and I actually don't intent to. One thing someone has to bear in mind is that tracking the car with the “race” settings is not really advisable at all as you feel the tires spinning even at a 3rd gear and oversteer as well as understeer is actually much more intense and sometimes it’s scary!
But in the bottom line It's really nice seeing a performance motorbike trying to outrace you on the highway and in the end it ends up being 10 car lengths behind till you see 310km/h or 190miles/h on the speedo and stop before you find yourself having big trouble with the police.
Everything so far feels nice with the APR software, but sometimes there's always a big difference between "feeling nice" and having a happy engine. Preferably I choose the second and I am willing to sacrifice big power from a tune in the favor of engine reliability and longevity. The safety bits in that tune are left intact which is really nice. And that means that EGT, IAT, lamda and the knock sensors are still there and do the job they are meant to do in order to protect your engine if it's necessary. I ordered a durametric to actually data log everything and see what this software actually does. The durametric cable is going to be received in a couple of days so I will post some data logs for everyone to see what's the story with this tune. Besides, I told the guys at APR that if I don't really like what I see on paper I will ask for a refund right away taking advantage of the 30 days money back offer that APR dealers provide worldwide. I don't actually care if I am faster with that tune when I find out that my engine is struggling hard to keep its internals in one piece and cope with the new settings that are thrown to the ECU. So data logs followed by some P-box numbers are to be published by me in the next few days. Stay tuned!

P.S. I would really like to thank Stef@europipe for his assistance and also Matt@GMP that replied to all my e-mail messages providing me with some decent answers regarding APR tune.

 

Glad you are happy with the tune and Europipe. I have the Europipe and love it also. Can't imagine having a Porsche without it. Just makes it feel/sound so much more enjoyable. Haven't got a tune yet, but keep going back and forth about getting one. Guess I'm just nervous about reliability engine issues. I'll have to research the APR tune. Enjoy your improved ride!

 

You picked the best exhaust...and the best flash available for your car...dont worry about reliability...Just enjoy...

 

Congrats. Nice pair of mods--transforms the car. If you datalog, record rpm, load, timing, and boost. You can monitor other PIDs but those are the most informative regarding performance.

 

Congrats on the upgrades! EP is the clear choice here... I love the sounds EP brought under WOT and it's stock for normal driving w/no drone. Enjoy her in good health.

 

Thanks a lot guys! The car is really transformed there's no doubt about that! I just can't get enough of it!

 

Thanks! Well, my concern is related to pump gas mostly... You just don't know what you're being sold sometimes at the gas stations. Have you ever data logged your car?

 

Yes i ve datalogged my car many times...When you are about to use pump gas just switch the flash to pump gas file...Even if bad gas enters the tank,dont worry...motronic 7.8.1 has so many safety features that ARE NOT bypassed from APR so your engine wont be damaged...

 

Thanks a lot buddy! Do you usually run the car with the tuned "100" file? I was wandering if I use real race gas how it would look on the data logs... I know that the "race" file uses a more aggressive angle in terms of timming advance... Have you tried race fuel at all? Not additives just pure race fuel like VP...

 

My pleasure George and thanks for being a returning customer.

So where did you get the modified turbos from?

 

Hello Stef! I'm running stock turbos for now... I intented to upgrade them, but then I thought I should try a flash first along with an EP1 and a BMC filter. I tried APR's flash as it is considered to be the most powerful one and it got some great reviews also. The car's totally transformed and I am happy with its performance AND SOUND!!!

 

for 2 and a half years that i own my 997TT i always run it at race flash...The fuel i use is euro 100octane which is equivalent to us 95 octane...I ve tried adding some torco race fuel from time to time and it did make a difference...however i havent tried any pure race fuel like VP...

 

Congrats on the upgrades! EP all the way

 

Thanks! EP is a must-have for the turbo!