So I see a lot of companies offering a software upgrade to get a little more performance out of your car. Evolution Motorsports, Softronic, etc. What's the forum's thoughts on this? I'm not looking to get huge HP or torque gains, but little ones would be good. I've seen some great customer reviews on the Softronic website. I've got a 2006 4S Cab. Thanks in advance for your two cents!

 

I literally just picked up my 06 C2 this morning. I had the IPD plenum, GT3 throttle body, FVD headers and 200 cell cats installed. To tie it all together I had the EVOMs tune performed.


I have not had a chance to really check out the upgrades but it does see to have more punch in the middle of the power band and it sounds wonderful. Will let you know how it goes.

 

Thanks for the reply. Can't wait to hear what you think (although I'll have to Google most of what you modified...)

 

lacrosse- I'd love to hear your feedback as well. I currently have the same hardware as you except I'm still waiting on my headers, but once I have them, I'll have Sharkwerks install an EvomsIT tune since they're local to me.

Gains from bolt-ons and tunes aren't drastic, but they do help improve responsiveness with improved HP and torque curves. This is mainly what I'm after rather than actual gains.

 

After talking to Scott at Softronic for about 30 minutes, I was convinced! Ordered the software mod. Can't wait! I'll report back after my car is flashed. Happy Labor Day weekend everyone!

 

There are many ways to do the same thing if flashing your ecu is the goal.

Any custom tuning generally will be a better result than a generic off the shelf tune.

We look at your cars fuel trims when it comes in, we look at the build we tweak it to your needs, fuel etc. When folks come in for racing prep, we look at the whole enchilada.

It would cost you and us both less to just flash a file and send you on your way without a human taking the time to read the file we pulled off your exact car and ecu in the 1st place. Sometimes one size fits all sometimes it doesnt.

Its often hard to do but define your build goals then choose a tuner who has the experience and proven setups that meet your needs.

 

EvoMS- after installing hardware (i.e. 82mm plenum and GT3 TB), how many miles should the car be driven in order for the ECU to adapt and provide you with meaningful data to customize the tune specific to the cars setup?

 

I have a 2009c4s that Scott tuned for me, nice guy - very subtle difference but a difference ....

 

I too have Softromic on my C2S and love it.

 

Softronics on my C2S. I love it, plus you can tune it straight from your Laptop!

 

Hurry up and stomp on that thing! Eager to hear what you think...

 

Softronic here also with good results...Very easy to load and easily removed when you need to.

 

Thanks for all the replies everyone! Can't wait for this to come.

 

Let me elaborate just a little on the process before I answer the question, our methods and solutions are somewhat proprietary so I cant get too in depth, but you can see from my reply below why you may choose our tunes and our methods over an off the shelf solution :

The ECU stores information two ways--in volatile (think RAM) and permanent memory (think firmware). Things like your fuel mixture, adaption, your car's and any fault codes are all stored in the volatile memory, while the maps and programming that runs the car are stored in the permanent memory (on the EEPROM and/or CPU, depending on the car/ECU).

When we ask for the ECU to be read out before we create tune, the main goal that we're achieving with that is to get the exact ID AND exact file structure specific to your ecu and your vin, so that when our software tech makes the tuned file, it can be flashed back onto the car without having any version or checksum mismatches between the old software and the new tuned file. This is important to us. Its sometimes not the way others may do it.

No actual adaption information is stored or given to us during this part of the process as it can't really be read out and isn't of much value most of the time, for tuning.

We do like to 'see' that things are in order and so when possible we like to verify the integrity with a quick peek at the numbers running thru volatile, the trims when possible, the values that are running live, its all helpful to a degree. Whats possible in a shop is not always possible remotely.

There are dozens, sometimes hundreds of OEM software versions for a given model depending on when the car was built and what options it came with, so it's important to match that stuff up so the car works as close to perfect as possible for the many revisions of parts that can span a given model's build life.

When we 'read' the ECU, there are two different processes depending on the car.--

On 991/981/970/958 models, the ECU can be written to but not read out, so the flash tool provides our tech a software ID and (to keep it simple) 'file structure'. Our tech uses that ID, and 'writes' his tune to that ID and and 'file structure'. If we receive a software ID that we have not seen before (usually either brand new or very old versions), it takes more time for us to generate the files correctly.

On all older models (pretty much anything 2000-2012), we may read out the data stored on the ECU, either partially or entirely. This is important because some other tuning companies will change the data structure inside the ECU, and when we write our file over that it may not overwrite all of their custom programming and create a conflict/interaction between the two. If we see this in the file that is read out, we advise the customer to do the following in the order of convenience in order to eliminate the conflict:

1) Have the car flashed back to stock through the previous tuner's tool/system if possible, then reread the car using whatever flash tool is being used.

2) Have the car 'updated' to latest stock software by a dealer or indy shop equipped with a PIWIS/PST2 factory scan tool, then reread the car using whatever flash tool is being used.

3) On some cars, we can create a file or flashing protocol that overwrites any possible preexisting programming and overwrite everything ourselves.

To answer the point of the original question, we do have tuning that is developed for the IPD plenum+TB along with just about any other combination of hardware out there, so in most circumstances we should be able to provide a tune based on his car, parts list, and fuel quality that is close to spot on based on development work we've done on the street and dyno prior to release.

Our goal is to get the file within 98% of perfect on the 'average' car, to the point where the ECU's built in functionality can adapt that last 2%.

On non-DFI cars, this process usually takes less than 20 hard miles of driving.

On DFI cars, the adaptions are much more comprehensive and some cars will take 50-100mi before they make best power and technically 200-300mi before the adaption is 'complete'.

Glad to have you as a client!

 

Great! Thanks for the response. Time to go drive 20 hard miles then head over to Sharkwerks!