Accessport why is it so expensive?

[rtbrjason]

If you look at it from a hardware stand point, of course it's expensive. You can get a laptop for half that. You can't however plug that brand new laptop into your car and be "tuned" in 30 mins ..

 

For me, I would rather do the tuning myself via laptop. Since I have an 08 and don't know a lot about tuning, it just makes sense to get the AP. I will want a better tune, but the minute I get it I can use it to go stage 1 or 2 at least.

 

People like and are willing to pay for instant gratification.

[Infamous1]

If you look at it from a hardware stand point, of course it's expensive. You can get a laptop for half that. You can't however plug that brand new laptop into your car and be "tuned" in 30 mins ..

 

For me, I would rather do the tuning myself via laptop. Since I have an 08 and don't know a lot about tuning, it just makes sense to get the AP. I will want a better tune, but the minute I get it I can use it to go stage 1 or 2 at least.

 

People like and are willing to pay for instant gratification.

If you have a Tactrix cord you can do the same thing with a laptop. There are shops who sale OTS maps for that engine management as well.

[John M]

I love the implications that open source software is somehow stolen, or got its knowledge from a "real" commercial effort. Then there are the claims that freely-traded maps were taken from proprietary work. I'm sorry that the voodoo of ECU tuning is gone. Someone moved the curtain and we can now see it's an old man instead of the Great Wizard.

 

I'll admit it right up front: I'm too cheap to pay the Subaru Owner's Tax. I will not purchase overpriced hardware, whether it be "custom" turbos, exhaust, or electronic mods. I'd rather spend the time to learn how to do it myself rather than spend the money and gain no knowledge.

 

I've got a stack of modded cars in my past. I've never blown one engine, and if their setup was "inferior", I never found anyone else with better results for the same mods. It was my $30k investment and I trust nobody more than myself to be careful with how it is tuned.

 

Too many people think more expensive = better and that's just not the case. Just because you paid for it doesn't mean it's good; it just means it cost you money. I'm impressed by results, not expense. Like Tommy Boy said -- "I can shit in a box and put a guarantee on it."

[Touge Tuning]

What happens when you fry your ECU with the Open-ECU/self tuning programs? Are all of the Open-ECU owners going to pitch in and buy you a new ECU?

 

The Accessport for the money is probably the best investment one can make for there Turbo Subaru. Resale value on an AccessPORT is very good. You also have a large company who stands behind there products and offers GREAT customer support. What happens when something isnt working right with your Open Source Software? You go on the forum and make a thread and hope someone can help you. When you really think about it the cost of the AccessPORT is low for what you are getting from it. Someone had to take the time in there life to crack the ECU programming, sorry but people have to get paid for there time. Then you have to pay employees to be there for customer and product support on a daily basis.

 

For some people tuning there own cars is the way to go, you dont see people with AccessPORTS calling those who self tune cheap. You only see those who self tune critisizing those who own accessports, this is suppose to be a mature community.

[Infamous1]

You sit back and wait for Cobb to send you a new ECU

Just so you know if your ECU requires a bench flash Tactrix can offer the same service as Cobb free of charge.

[Touge Tuning]

You sit back and wait for Cobb to send you a new ECU

Just so you know if your ECU requires a bench flash Tactrix can offer the same service as Cobb free of charge.

 

If a problem arose with your ECU due to a problem with the Cobb AP I know Cobb would help the customer out.

[BDII]

And just a side note...

 

Vendors don't make sqaut off selling AP's

 

It's the extra maps and other items likek DP's and UP's that make them the $$

[kadesh]

i paid 695 cause i wanted to. driving to Oregon for a stage 1 tune didn't seem right.

 

don't want to buy a laptop. and am not interested in installing stuff into my gf's work pc.

 

400$ is NOT a "boat load of money". if 400$ is breaking your back get a kia.

 

wanted a boost gauge. not to mention it measures other parameters. don't have to buy a gauge and install it now. and i'm fine with the way the ap woks in this regard.

 

wanted to uninstall should the car break down in the middle of driving or for service.

 

maps on the fly

 

can add more maps in the future and can easily be resold.

 

it's not for you that's fine. it works for me.

 

as others have said...i too have other hobbies. i would have rather spent 700 towards a new tuner for my system. or a new fully built r/c car. new phone. new watch. not to mention the time spent.

 

overall i am happy with it and with what i have gotten.

 

also some folks e-tune.

 

hope this helps.

 

Ya. Cobb is trusted am im willing to pay a few bucks for it. If i know Cobb is there for me, a few hundred dollars is nothing but money well spent.

 

I also can't drive 1000's of K to a proper tuner, there are none around here that i know of.

 

Also bang for your buck the Cobb Ap isn't expensive, there might be other brands that can do similar things for cheaper, but the Cobb Ap still doesn't cost that much, well at least not for my pocketbook.

 

It would take a LOT more than this thread to convince me to buy anything else, too bad i don't have time to get a bit more knowledge stuffed in my brain!! =)

[Hugo L.]

It's not expensive at all for the ease of use and the flexibility it provides.

[eqt2010]

What happens when you fry your ECU with the Open-ECU/self tuning programs? Are all of the Open-ECU owners going to pitch in and buy you a new ECU?

http://www.tactrix.com/product_info.php?products_id=38

[AKLGT]

If a problem arose with your ECU due to a problem with the Cobb AP I know Cobb would help the customer out.

as would my tuner.

[Infamous1]

http://www.tactrix.com/product_info.php?products_id=38

I know members who have had this done free of charge as well.

[qikslvr]

Well, now that I have about $1000 invested in my APv1 and StreetTuner Advance; I COULD NOT BE HAPPIER. It was worth every penny to be able to start out with e-tunes from vendors and to be able to swap RealTime maps in under a minute without connecting a laptop. Now that I've actually started doing the tuning myself it's even better.

The statement that it only takes a coule hours is a little bit of an understatement. I spent hours and hours studying all the available literature on ST, RR and where ever else I could find it. Then I had to strip my car back down to as close to a basic Stage 2 setup as possible(Header/UP,DP,CBE,TurboInlet,DW 7400's...minus AEM CAI, TMIC and BOV...).

After getting the hardware stripped; it took a couple hours to get the software "married" and attached to the car. It took another couple hours to get injectors scaled and get my AF Trims down to +/-2% along with other minor adjustments here and there. Then it took another couple hours of logging and adjusting to get the timing adjusted. A couple more hours were spent getting WGDC's set so I could actually hit my boost targets without overshooting them, then correct timing for added boost. Then I added the TMIC/BOV and CAI back in the mix and spent a couple more hours getting my intake calibration done so my AF Trims are +/-1% with the new intake. A couple more hours were spent logging and adjusting timing for the higher boost levels. It goes on and on and on.

The AP is great for the enthusiast who doesn't want to go through the above steps in order to get to work on Monday. Sure you can make the car run in a couple of hours, but it will take a couple hundred to get it all diealed in throughtout the RPM range. As I am finding out; self tuning is not for the timid or the overworked. I've spent countless nights up until 3AM looking at logs and adjusting maps. For me personally; I'm loving every minute of it, but most would be in misery at this point.

Again, for me the AP and ST were worth every penny. I guess I'm still pretty attached to my RealTime maps at the moment.

[rtbrjason]

If you have a Tactrix cord you can do the same thing with a laptop. There are shops who sale OTS maps for that engine management as well.

 

Really? I was under the impression you weren't able to do this yet with 07/08 models?

[Infamous1]

No, you can't that was in reference to the 05/06 vehicles. However the cable to flash 07/08 vehicles will be released 6/15. You should be able to get your hands on a map from vendors around fall.

[ShadowImg]

FWIW, Jorge Carillo(sp) posted a pretty long discussion of why he doesn't do tunes for OpenECU over at NASIOC way back when. It might be worth reading up on why he's willing to do AccessPort/Ecutek/etc tuning but not OpenECU.

[Infamous1]

FWIW, Jorge Carillo(sp) posted a pretty long discussion of why he doesn't do tunes for OpenECU over at NASIOC way back when. It might be worth reading up on why he's willing to do AccessPort/Ecutek/etc tuning but not OpenECU.

That was back in like 2006, also had nothing to with it being inferior or anything. Was mainly because the ability to view and alter the tune. FWIW he will not tune with AP street tuner as well.

[qikslvr]

I'll have to call up there and find out for sure if he will or won't use ST.

[Infamous1]

I'll have to call up there and find out for sure if he will or won't use ST.

http://forums.nasioc.com/forums/showthread.php?t=1034738&highlight=open+source

[qikslvr]

This/that was kinda my other option. They have ST training classes listed on their website. I'd prefer to keep my ST installed and usable after the dyno tune.

http://pandlmotorsports.com/tuningservices.htm

[RiftsWRX]

I won't use the street tuner, I'll use the protuner. BUT, I have no problem converting that map to street tuner for consumption.

 

Understandably, the only thing is that there is no sort of implied responsibility for what happens at that point, because its one word over the other that the map was played with, etc. (in the event something goes wrong).

[qikslvr]

Thanks Jorge. That's the answer I was looking for. I'm 8 hours west on I-80, so it's not just a quick trip across town for me to come back. I'd personally be willing to sign whatever you want releasing you from any responsibility when I drive out of your shop.

I'll contact you directly to start working on a tune date later this year. I kinda shelled 1st gear, so I'll have to re-build the tranny before I come down.