Sebastian Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 I see there are a couple of options for ECU tuning. I have a couple of questions I haven't found on the board so far. Does the AP have any advantage over a cable/laptop other than it is one small unit? Could a VAG-COM and a $200 netbook w/ free software do everything the AP can do? When my engine blew, the car wouldn't start, and when I tried to turn the key, the dash would go dead for a second and then "ER IU" would appear on the odometer. Everything seemed to work until I tried to start it. Under conditions like these, can you reflash the ECU back to stock? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
tbssubaru Posted January 28, 2009 Share Posted January 28, 2009 what the heck is a vag-com ? i didn't know you could talk to those things Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biz77 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 The A/P does have the advantage of: Real-time map switching. Real time tuning through AccessTUNER RACE. The Tactrix cable has the advantage of: being much less expensive, obviously. More universal: you can use the 2.0 cable on almost any Subaru/Mitsubishi vs. multiple versions of A/P depending on application. Romraider arguably offers better datalogging functionality and more parameters that can be adjusted by the tuner. In the end, if you just want a map flashed to your ECU and don't need any of the MAP switching capability of the A/P, the open source method might be the best way, if you have the capability to use the software for flashing and logging. Spend some time at Romraider reading the FAQ section as well as Merchgod's explanations of the ECU logic to see if open source is something you want to pursue. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Infamous1 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 I vote for opensource, and yes I e-tune... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
dbrunone Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 the AP also has the advantage of being a fully tested and supported product, where the opensource stuff is sort of an enthusiast-supported thing. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted January 29, 2009 Author Share Posted January 29, 2009 So you can only do on-the-fly map switching with an AP? Does anyone know if you can reflash back to a stock map (with AP, Tactrix, or VAG-COM) if your car won't start? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biz77 Posted January 29, 2009 Share Posted January 29, 2009 So you can only do on-the-fly map switching with an AP? Does anyone know if you can reflash back to a stock map (with AP, Tactrix, or VAG-COM) if your car won't start? I believe ECUTEK also allows some form of map swithcing now as well. BTW, I wouldn't really try to switch maps driving down the road. It takes ~ 30 seconds and doesn't require connecting the green connectors like flashing a new base map or flashing an open source map. As long as your ecu is still functioning properly, either the A/P or open source method should be able to flash you back to stock. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted April 14, 2009 Author Share Posted April 14, 2009 Reviving the thread.. So does anyone else have an opinion on cable/laptop vs AP? What I want to do: 1. I want to be able to download or buy tunes and put them on the car. 2. I want to be able to take the car to a dyno, and have them tune the car, and store the map on my AP or laptop. 3. I want to be able to read and clear CEL's. 4. I want to be able to data log. 5. Being able to switch maps on the fly would be cool, since I plan on getting an electric exhaust cutout. Again this is cool, but not an absolute deal breaker. As far as tuning, I'm new to this and don't plan on doing that myself anytime soon. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
boostsr20 Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 Flashing a map to your car with opensource takes all of 2 minutes, but you do have to be parked (no on the fly). Thats really, the only advantage that the AP has anymore. You won't really get much from a tune specifically for a cutout so I wouldn't factor that in much, if at all. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Legacy_GT_Pilot Posted April 16, 2009 Share Posted April 16, 2009 The biggest benefit with the AP is you can switch maps in about 5 seconds. I have a pump gas map targeting 22psi, and a race gas map I created targeting 25 psi. When I go to the track it's obviously easier to deal with the realtime map on the AP versus flashing my car with a laptop and then flashing back. It's not a big deal either way, and if I did things again I would have went with Open Source. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 With the AP, can I use maps created with opensource software or just Cobbs software? Also is the data logging capabilities for the AP up to par with open source? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
biz77 Posted April 17, 2009 Share Posted April 17, 2009 With the AP, can I use maps created with opensource software or just Cobbs software? Also is the data logging capabilities for the AP up to par with open source? No and No. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted April 17, 2009 Author Share Posted April 17, 2009 Well that makes things more difficult... With the cables, I noticed the Vag-com cable is MUCH cheaper than tactrix, is there any real difference? Will both work with ecu flash and rom raider? Also, what are laptop minimum system requirements for romraider and ecuflash? Can't find anything on their websites.. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSFW Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Also, what are laptop minimum system requirements for romraider and ecuflash? Can't find anything on their websites.. I don't think anyone knows the minimum system requirements. I suspect that's because computers that aren't good enough don't exist anymore. or if they do exist they don't have Win XP. Basically, any computer that can run XP comfortably will be fine with RR and EcuFlash. I guess RR works on Macs but I have no clue about that, and you'd need EcuFlash anyway. I run both on a 1.4ghz P4M laptop with 1gb RAM and with no issues at all. 1.0ghz and 512mb would probably be just fine. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
NSFW Posted April 19, 2009 Share Posted April 19, 2009 Also, Cobb has speed-density now - I haven't seen that mentioned above. I don't trust the MAF readings I'm getting from my car, so I'm starting to think that might be worth paying for. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted April 19, 2009 Author Share Posted April 19, 2009 Thanks for all the advice. Ordered a netbook today, downloaded ecuflash and romraider, and ordered the Vag-com cable in the link below. Can anyone confirm that that's the right cable? http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270361675161&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&viewitem= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Mega Users LieutenantDan Posted April 20, 2009 Mega Users Share Posted April 20, 2009 Im interested to see if that is the correct cable. That's incredibly inexpensive. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
churnee Posted April 20, 2009 Share Posted April 20, 2009 Can anyone confirm that that's the right cable? looks like the right cable. dont have much experience with OS, but i did research it and that appears to be the correct cable. good luck! check this thread out.....http://legacygt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=96737 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted April 30, 2009 Author Share Posted April 30, 2009 Oh so I got the cable in today, followed the directions for installing the driver in the link above (the "Using The Autonostics Cable To Datalog " thread). Also set the baud to 4800. I can't seem to get it to work.. I plug the cable into the car and the laptop. Turn the ignition on, and then open Romraider Logger. I select the correct COM port, but at the bottom of the RR screen it says: "unable to send ECU init - check cable is connected and ignition is on". What am I doing wrong? Edit: this is the cable that I got: http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&item=270361675161&sspagename=STRK%3AMEWNX%3AIT&viewitem= Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Odd, I think I got the cable to work with learning view, but still can't get it to work with Romraider. I downloaded learning view, went out to the car, plugged laptop into car, started learning view, selected same com port I use for RR, and started the car. I drove around for a couple of miles, hit connect on learning view a couple of times to update info, and pulled back into my driveway. I closed learning view, opened RR and got the same "unable to send ECU init..." message. I am using v0.5.2 Beta of RR. Any ideas on why I can't get RR to work when learning view does? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Scrad Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 I originally was using a Tactrix cable when I started OS and then I got the Blue Vag-Comm cable. I tried to just plug it in and use it but it didn't work right away. All I did was install the CD that came with the cable and plugged it in and it working right away. The comm port changed numbers in RR. I never changed the baud thingy. So maybe change the baud or re install the CD that came with the cable. I also noticed that sometimes I will have to either pull the cable out of the laptop while RR is up or turn RR off and re start it. Sometimes you have to do things in a certain order. But if the LV worked then the cable works. I don't know if you were trying to run both programs at the same time, but you can't. Ohh, did you install the latest definitions for RR? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Sebastian Posted May 2, 2009 Author Share Posted May 2, 2009 Figured it out! I had RR logger location set to the ECU defs, not the logger defs. Seems to be working now. Now that I can log, can anyone point me in the right direction for learning how to read what I'm looking at? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
TPLGT Posted May 2, 2009 Share Posted May 2, 2009 Figured it out! I had RR logger location set to the ECU defs, not the logger defs. Seems to be working now. Now that I can log, can anyone point me in the right direction for learning how to read what I'm looking at? Since you decied to take the opensource route, do yourself a favor and get Infamous1 to put together a map for you. He knows what he is doing. He has always been helpful on this forum and will take good care fo you. GL Rehab is for quitters. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
nka Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 check the sticky topics, I think they are pretty clear Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
02rusWRX Posted May 3, 2009 Share Posted May 3, 2009 Sebastian, can you please point me to a current eBay listing of the VAG-COM cable that you bought? Both of the links you posted in this thread are now showing as invalid on eBay. I bought the VAG-COM cable directly from the Autonostic site 2 weeks ago and still haven't gotten it. I've sent them 2 e-mails asking to update and have tried calling several times but nobody picks up. I just wanted to make other vendors aware, that if they plan on buying the VAG-COM cable, do it through eBay and not Autonostics. The company is a complete ******* joke and I basically just lost $20 because I don't think there's any way I can get my money back since nobody over there is answering my e-mails or picking up the phone. -Sergei Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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