I was thinking about getting a flash for my .2 GT3. Only mod now is a Sharkwerks bypass. What is the consensus. Can you feel it seat of the pants for street driving?

 

For sure other than the additional power (14-16hp) we smoothed out a few kinks/dips and added left foot braking Plus the throttle response is improved.

You can see the dyno work done here on our car:
http://www.sharkwerks.com/products.php?pid=233

And it's easy to remove/send the ECU:
http://sharkwerks.com/porsche/techni...2-and-gt3.html

 

The dyno chart indicates 91 octane gas. Are the gains higher on 93 octane?

 

Stick with Softronic for tuning. Nice 20hp/tq gain. Every tune we have gotten from them is very solid and in line with promised gains.

www.softronic.us

 

I have never seen any real gt3 data from softronic. Do they have anything to back up this claim? I am sure they don't own a car like sharkwerks and I would bet they have not Dyno tested this car. Do they even have a Dyno? Stick with sharkwerks on anything gt3.
They have owned every gt3 and have shown the community real results time and time again. Not some hyper inflated theoritical power gains.

 

TOTALLY AGREE!! I have called and emailed softronic on more than one occasion to provide data for their supposed gain in HP and torque and was ready to purchase their product for my GT3 since I had one on my previous Cayman S. No answer. Never.

The EvoMSit software offered by Sharkwerks is the way to go. They own this car, they test and tune on this car, and they have the data to support it which they publish to consumers. I'm sure there is some noticeable difference with this flash, but the only reason I hesitate is that my car is too new and under warranty so the dealer has the right to refuse any warranty work due to the flash. At some point I will do it, just not the right time now.

 

I've had the Evoms tune with the Sharkwerks full track exhaust. Get it. Please get it. I love the torque and sound. It drinks a little gas, but it will run with a turbo and leave an RS standing. If you get the lightweight flywheel. Inexpensive mods that make it a different car.

 

Not to rain on the parade here, but street only? 3% increase. Why bother.

 

I thought I would start in saying yes Softronic has and uses not only an engine Dyno yet also a Superflow 1200hp wheel dyno. I can also say that I have personally built and tuned more engines and transmissions for GT3 street and race including Cup cars than most if not all on this site.

Softronic doesn't hyper inflate any results and in fact a wheel dyno is not a definitive answer on gains as they are all easily manipulated or used incorrectly in general. There is more to tuning a car than what a wide open throttle shows in open loop on a dyno ... This only shows a defined fuel and timing map for WOT and not the other 99% of drive ability.

I just recently completed a tune on a RUF GT3 and another conversion 996 with a 997X51 engine that had good dyno power yet the drive ability was terrible. Both of these cars had been at many different tuning shops and hadn't been fixed. I tuned these cars not on a dyno yet in data logging and in the same principles all original tuned files in Porsche cars are made at the factory. When completed they had been given back to the owners in which were ecstatic on how the car now runs in which was night and day in the drive ability. They also took them back to there own dynos and they both showed substantial gains over what had been in the cars yet a dyno wasn't used to tune them directly this time.

While I do not specifically post dyno's many companies I tune for do under their own brand.


Best Regards,
Scott Slauson

 

uh huh. Very subjective, not objective.

 

these "tunes" provide minimal gains at the expense of a reduced residual at resale time. my opinion of course. i'd never subject the ecu/dme on my gt3 to any altering.

 

I've done Softronic flash installations on two Porsche's of mine. It's done through the OBD2 port with a cable they provide, so you don't need to remove the ECU to send it anywhere. It's an easy do-it-yourself install that takes no more than about 10 or 15 minutes. You can also flash it back completely to stock at any time, so it's not irreversible.

I dyno'd one of the cars after the flash and power gains were in line with Softronic's claims. Everyone needs to realize that dyno numbers can vary a lot from one dyno to another and are NOT absolute truths. They are useful only for showing relative changes. You cannot compare numbers from one dyno to another. I speak from experience, having done dozens of dyno runs on different dynos.

The gains from just a flash are not huge for sure. I have found they are noticeable, however, if you are a discerning driver. Remember that a 3% improvement in hp can be compared to shedding about 100 lbs of weight from the GT3. The hp/weight ratio improvement is the same, and I think most of you would say that a 100 lb weight reduction would be at least noticeable, if not dramatic.

 

I've had the FVD flash on my '04 GT3 for several years now. I asked them to tune to my minimally mod'd exhaust and intake (Cargraphics mufflers, GruppeM cf airbox) with a desire for better low-end for street driveability since I am no longer on the track.

Very pleased with the result, which was in line with what they said. From a stock 323 rwhp to 340 rwhp, and much smoother driveability.

 

Although the gains are not quite as obvious and significant (as a Turbo for example), after years of owning multiple GT3s, testing and driving, logging, dynoing, and identifying and then modifying (properly!) the different maps, we have managed to eek out some gains. HP gains are about 12 to the wheels at the peak, smoothing of various kinks, enabling features like left foot braking and of course the throttle remap for sharper pedal. This is a small percentage of the overall power, but it is more power and icing on an already magnificent cake.

A lot of journalists and/or forum members have installed the software on their own cars and had very good things to say based on the driveability, improved performance, and fine tuning for specific fuels like 91 octane. Look for another article in European Car from another editor that tested the software on his own GT3 even without the throttle remap and was pleased. We've also had ALMS, Grand AM and other race car drivers hop up their car with us in this fashion as even they enjoy getting a tenth here and there where they can. It works for them and of course I agree these are the kind of decadent modifications one does vs spending the same money on driver Ed -- you can always learn to use what you have versus spending more money on what you can't use. But it's all fun and helps some people get from a to b quicker. Even Akrapovic has recommended that anyone who buys one of their exhausts actually do so in conjunction with our EVOMSit software.

Is 12 HP worth it? Maybe not necessarily on paper, but it's all in the driving. We do really believe in it, but that's because we spend a lot of money R&Ding and driving these cars, various ones, as well as tuning them. The tuning process can take months or years (such as our 3.9L engine or continued development we do with our own cars). It's very hard to get any extra power out of these vehicles, and much easier to make changes and lose power on these vehicles, so any increase is welcome for us. Sometimes people bring in cars with "other" software, and complain of issues, we can look at the maps and see the timing increased recklessly, fuel trims adjusted improperly and the cars genuinely drive worse than stock. These show evidence of guesswork on a computer vs. real world testing, and these cars always run better after we tune with our software instead.

For those asking, here are a couple videos showing the emulator and live tuning in action. You'll see this is more complex than resistors or off the shelf shizen. It's a very meticulous process requiring expensive tools and sometimes hundreds of hours per vehicle:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=1G5mx0Tym7A

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=JJw8QFp3fVI

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=XzeLcvgOVzQ

 

And remember for folks EVOMSit has a 45-day back policy if for some reason it doesn't do what you want