I haven't seen much buzz around fashing the 997.2S on this or other forums -- and I'm wondering why?

Upon searching, sure, there are posts here and there, but it's rather sparse. ECU flashes are of course a big topic in the Turbo forum as the gain are significant, and I understand the gains from a flash on the NA engine are very modest.

I do, however, see many posts about people modding the exhaust, but the majority seem to not flash the ECU.

I understand that for $1K (give or take) you only get maybe 15hp, so that's a lot of money/hp when the noticable hp gain is probably minimal.

On the other hand, I must imagine the flash will make the car feel faster and so will offer a more satisfying experience. My Cargraphic exhaust plus the Sharkwerks bypass has proven to be a huge improvement in sound, and I can tell the car runs faster/better.

If I were to gain a noticable improvement in engine response with a flash, I'd probably do it largely to feel more connected to the car. A gain in hp would be a bonus, not a primary goal.

Thoughts?

 

There have been plenty of threads here and at RL about flashing the 997.2 Try a search on "Softronic", "ECU Flash 997.2", etc. and you should find them. Controversial of course. Those that do flash and those that don't. Some that feel it will void warranty and others that don't. Some that find the value, others that can't (because they haven't tried flash). Some that believe the claims, others that don't.

I very much like the Softronic in my 997.2. Changed the responsiveness totally in a good way. If asked if I would do it again, answer is yes.

 

I have a 997.2 and considered a header/cat exhaust plus a ECU update, until I talked to both of my local dealers. Each said any headers or cat change would void the entire engine warranty, regardless of the involvement with the modifications I made. An ECU update would also void the engine warranty. For that reason, I am not making the changes I wanted. They will "Overlook" the Primary By-pass pipe so they are allowing some exhaust system change. Both dealers said Porsche is really watching these exhaust mods and regional reps are not letting anything through.
I guess I will have to wait until the warranty expires.

 

I dont think a ECU flash can void the warranty legally. In fact think the law is that it CANT void the warranty. Now the dealer can approach it from what ever angle he wants but legally he cant void the warranty on a ECU flash.
This is a good question though because Porsche uses the new 9A1 motor in the S and the TT. What I dont know is how much modification are on the TT 9A1. If all they did was
strap on some turbos and mod the ECU then I think the 9A1 motor still has some hp on the table that Porsche left there. IF they did more than that and did some piston mods etc etc, the chances are Porsche didnt leave much hp for tuners. Lately in the GT cars
Porsche had squeezed out MOST of the HP that the motor can produce. Exhaust mods were more or less just to change the sound because Porsche has done such a good job
of extracting everything thats there. I dont know this on this new 9A1

 

We've gone through all of this before, but one of the points I remember making was that Porsche itself flashes ECU. For example, the X51 flash is an "upgrade" from the regular. They also have X51 headers on the 997.1, so how could Porsche ever say "Sorry, because you added X51 headers to your 997.1 S, your warranty is voided". Same with X51 intake.

I do agree that I would never touch the internals. Innocuous Flash and SharkWerks primary bypass is as far as I'm willing to go on this 997.2.

 

raising power output with all those changes has something to do also with lubrication in the engine head plus if you remember X51 engine does have different engine head, same issues on force induction cars with extreme boost - there may be issues with engine head there, so, who knows.

Best approach probably if your engine gets busted - flash stock ECU back instead of softronic prior to giving car back to a dealer. BTW dealer will not see anything, all that stuff will be analyzed when they will unmount ECU and ship it to Porsche for examination. If at that step they will see software was altered from original stock version - warranty gets cancelled, it is a fact.

 

How "adaptable" is the stock ECU program to changes made to the exhaust and/or intake? Since the electronics have to be able to adjust just to keep up with the various enviornmental challenges that have to be dealt with (i.e. air density, temperature, altitude, etc), wouldn't the stock software be able to adjust for minor changes in backpressure and/or lower restriction/ increase in air volume intake?

Since the gains in NA applications seems to be comparatively modest, perhaps the stock software has already recognized the changes and has adjusted (as much as possible) for the modifications. $1K for 10-15 hp? I'll pass.

 

Perhaps true of other software, not true of Softronic. Once you revert, it is impossible to tell it was ever there.

 

My car is flashed with FVD software mated to their complete exhaust system. The poweer delivery makes a very nice gain trrough the the entire range. It was a nice upgrade. I tend to agree with you .. that an exhaust by itself is only half of a system.

 

yes, once you revert it`s OK, but if you did not and they will see it differs from stock one - ...

 

Yep, and I know Scott spent a load of time on just this subject to insure that the "old" file is saved with the correct info and if returned to stock, the correct information is returned, while other information like operating hours, etc. are preserved. Makes sense to me because if I want slightly adjusted throttle response, optimized everything, etc. and want to go back to what I had, I should be able to be sure it's truly original. It would be interesting to hear from other tuners how they handle this aspect - the "return to stock" coding.

 

Ditto.

And I would add that you will especially find benefit if you sometimes run high-octane (100 for example) pump gas/race gas as I do. The FVD flash will allow the knock sensor to really advance the timing (power) if there is no knock (high-octane).

Happy with my FVD flash.

PS- an N/A, naturally aspirated, engine will never see the same power gains as a turbo engine will on a flash. Bumping boost is a no-brainer however it does come with added risk and attendant requirements such as upgraded inter-cooler, oil-cooler, etc.

PSS-Regarding warranty, if your flash is of high quality, then you have low risk of engine problems and therefore who gives a crap? If your flash is a cheapo, then you deserve to have your warranty voided. Quantify your real risk and then make an informed decision based on facts not fears.

 

In one of the many other threads on this subject I remember mentioning that for probably 25 years or more Porsche people have been chipping / flashing their cars. Heck, my 92 964 had a chip way back. To date I've never heard of 1 instance where a chip / flash has caused any issues.

 

All:

I guess I wasn't too clear - sorry about that. This thread is not about warranty w.r.t flashing. Just thought it was rather silent (over the past few months) on people reporting back on their flash experiences on the 997.2S.

 

Since I responded to the thread I unwrapped my car, prepared it for the season and took a nice long drive. The Softronic really did make a significant difference over stock. This is really the 1st time I was able to really try it out since the mods were done around Thanksgiving and there was snow on the ground when I brought my car home from Dan Jacobs' where Scott flashed the car. So, warm weather pre to warm weather post there's a very nice bump in throttle response / map and overall performance. April 5 is first track day and I'll record some TraqMate data to compare.