Is the Cobb's Accessport a waste of money?

[f1anatic]

^ I dream of having a CarPC with a tactrix cable always hooked to the OBDII port. Never have to fiddle with wires, a laptop or AP and changing the map would always just be a flew clicks a way. The only problem I see is that I'd like get the new one and use the display as a gauge cluster for boost, EGT etc. and there is only one OBDII port. I think it would just be ubber-cool to have the ability to tune self-contained(cant think of the right word) in the car.

 

 

You surely do not know what you are wishing for. As AKLGT mentioned years later and thousands of dollars later I tell you that is not as easy as it sounds.

 

I agree that Cobb AP is overpriced. But it is a convenient tool and I tell you, the tuner in my area only tunes with APs. While I do not see it a superior product nowadays anymore, at the time it was the only way.

 

The closest I have come to having what you want is being able to have the PA hooked up at one terminal; the carpc at another terminal of the Y cable that is fitted into the OBD-2. Realistically you never have to switch the map - the turbo Subarus do not have the ability to save fuel that much based on the tune.

 

You may flash it if you go on long highway trips but I tell you, a great tune makes up for any fuel improvements that you may get by flashing an economy map. As a matter of fact I get better fuel economy with my protune than with the Cobb OTS economy map. And definitely enough power. Same map. Realistically when am I gonna need the "fuel economy map" ? I will soon hike to Minneapolis - yes that will be a time to use it. But in my humble experience it ain't worth it.

 

If you want a fuel economy button really just hit your cruise control every time every where. You will never be able to get the most out of the AVCS in terms of timing compared to the cruise control.

 

Now being able to display a few parameters on your monitor - that would be useful.

[camber]

Realtime/Ram tuning is in the future but no the new cable will not implemet this.

 

Rats...

 

Warranty covers the AP unit and you can also flash back to the original stock map unlike the first AP.

 

That's good to know.

 

Is realtime tuning that much of a benefit to a tuner?

 

I will eventually be going for a mild turbo upgrade(ie AVO 380-420 ish) with associated parts. IIRC, the APV2 flashes the ECU much faster now.

[Infamous1]

Is realtime tuning that much of a benefit to a tuner?

 

I will eventually be going for a mild turbo upgrade(ie AVO 380-420 ish) with associated parts. IIRC, the APV2 flashes the ECU much faster now.

It is much faster to dial in a tune with realtime capability, however if there is a flat rate you will be fine. I can usually dial in a stock turbo tune within my laptop's battery life so just over an hour. Realtime would cut this down quite a bit and is great for a vehicle in which you have no base map to begin with.

[Boostjunkie]

Realtime tuning is awesome. The biggest benefit for me is dialing in the MAF curve. It is so much quicker, easier and more precise when you can instantly see the fuel trim changes that results from your changes to the curve. The graphing in Protuner for MAF curves is also so much nicer than OS as you can see the whole curve in much greater detail. After you stare at them long enough you can see the little bumps and deviations that actually impact AFR.

 

Subaru flashes take forever on the 32 bit ECU's. I really don't mind OS on the 16 bit ECU's and on Evo's because the flashes are super quick (less than 30 seconds depending on how much many parameter you changed), but for the 32 bit Subarus waiting around and then having to restart the car and wait for the post start enrichment to decay gets annoying. It's not the end of the world and it's awesome software especially since it is free, but I definitely prefer using the AP as an interface. Being able to make quick back to back runs also allows you to tune a heatsoaked car with thermal conditions like it will encounter on the street. That's a nice little bonus that can help to make for a safer more consistent car.

[NSFW]

So... With a new Tactrix Openport cable susposedly coming in June for CANbus cars. Do you think it would better to get tactrix cable or AP V2?

 

Does anyone know if the new Tactrix Openport 2.0 now support real time tuning/maps?

 

 

There is no timeline for live tuning with open source tools. It doesn't appear that anyone is really working on it now, so I'm guessing it's going to be a while. That's pure speculation on my part, but I have been keeping an eye on the relevant forums and I have no reason to think it's coming soon.

 

It will also take some time before definitions are available for all of the ROM images from the CANBus cars. However I get the impression that merchgod et al are working on this already, so I'm optimistic about the timeframe for that stuff. (On the other hand I haven't been following that stuff closely because it doesn't affect me personally.)

 

If you want to tune yourself, you need to add $200 to the cost of the APV2 for the tuning software. If you plan to pay for your tuning, then you only need the AP (and of course, money for the tuner person).

 

I went the Tactrix / open source route because I want to do this myself (at least some of it) but otherwise I'd probably just get an AP.

[whobaru]

\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/\/ <------- To harman.khinda

[harman.khinda]

What the **** is that? zig-zag, huh?

[whobaru]

It's pointing to my sig