b071dc0 Posted March 16, 2011 Share Posted March 16, 2011 I'm new to tuning an ecu and am trying to figure out what rout would be better. Heres my background: I'm a college student on a budget looking to get a little more sound and power out of my OBXT. I live in an area with no garages to have it tuned at, so doing it myself is the only option. The car is very basically modded so far, with only a SPT intake on it. But I've got an Up pipe and down pipe on the way and plan on purchasing a 16G turbo (for reliability and a little more power), so I think it'd be a good idea to tune it once those are applied. I've been reading over the forums about tuning for a while and am having trouble picking the right method. I like how easy the accessport appears to be but am turned away by the price. Would it be worth buying that or should I tackle tuning the car via laptop? Any advice is much appreciated. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Balrock Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 Get on Ebay and buy a $15 Vag-com cable. Send Infamous1 a PM and get an E-tune. You will be much happier, unless you really know what you are doing and like to play with your car. But, I am guessing you have no idea since it says new to tuning. There is just way to much shit you can screw up and ruin your engine. If you have a laptop then open source is a no brainer. Get all your parts together, install them and get tuned for all the mods you put on. If you add more mods later, i.e. upgraded TMIC or FMIC, then you have to get your tune touched up which means a little extra money. If your turbo upgrade is a ways off, then I would get the stage 2 for immediate gratification. Search on! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Boostin1657615274 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 On a Subaru when you buy an accessport you are buying the hardware. You aren't really buying the "access" part due to the availability of open source options. If you had a BMW 335, or an R35 GT-R, or an Rx-8, well when you buy an AP you are paying for the fact that Cobb is one of the only ones to have actually cracked the ECU. There are no open-source options on those platforms. On a Subaru you are paying for the handheld device with specific features and you are paying for tuning software that can make changes in real time. You get the accesstuner software which has realtime tuning unlike the open source options. If you permanently mount the Accessport you could use it as a boost gauge, a temperature gauge etc, which I personally like. You can clear codes with it and take logs without a laptop being hooked up, so you can view them later. If your plan is to buy an AP, flash a map somebody else made, then put the AP in the closet you aren't really taking advantage of its features and it would be hard to justify the cost. On the search for a new DD... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bushman33 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I agree with Boostin. I have a cheap Bracketron mobile car mount that I mounted to the drivers side vent for my AP. I love the fact that I can look at my realtime short and long fuel trims, Dynamic Adv Multiplier (DAM), boost (Use this ALOT), A/F ratio, etc. About the only things that I cannot see are Oil Pressure and EGT, but I can always get gauges for that if need be. I was headstrong with going Opensource, but when the guys at my local Cobb shop told me to try it out and if I wasn't happy, then they'd refund me my $$$..........that was game over. I haven't looked back since and I think its money WELL spent. Yes its much more off the bat, but soo easy to load maps and log. For instance, I'm getting tuned by Infamous1. I go run a datalog (simple as a button push), and it takes me about 2 min to download the log and send it over to him. A couple days later, he sends the revised tune and with the realtime map capabilities, it litterally takes 30 seconds to load. I don't have to worry about keeping a laptop in the car to monitor vitals or anything. I wanted to learn to tune myself, but after using the AP I said F-it. I am very busy and don't have time to fool around with the car too much when I'm not working. I'd rather work a few hours of OT and pay for a badass tune from Shamar(Infamous1). I know its a bad analogy, but if you really want an HD LCD, you can go buy a cheap Westinghouse or Coby......OR..........you can spend a little more and get a Samsung or Toshiba with an obvious sharper image and more features. Again, bad analogy but you get the point. AP for me!!! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
motorbykemike Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 and get rid of that intake , stock works great unless you are AT a big power level & NEED to flow more air , you are not & are far from needing it , it is hurting , not helping at this point . spt intake has known issues and can create problems . Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock2534 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I know I will sound too conservative, but honestly, being a college student I would say the best mod for your car, is NOT to mod it. You are in school and have a turbo wagon, I am sure it is quick enough. If anything goes wrong you need to be able to fix it. I have been going thru the stage 2 process and halfway through the clutch started slipping badly. So that required a $500 investment in a new clutch (and that was a sale price from Sprank), plus install. After that, the upgraded TMIC I had no longer fit properly, so I sold that and bought an Avo(also from Sprank). So you really need to allow for things to go wrong and have the budget to support that. With that disclaimer out of the way, I would skip the cheap ebay cables, there are lots of threads from people stating that their vag com cable works with RR but not ECU flash, or some combination. If going opensource, just get a tactrix which you know will work and be done with it. The AP isn't bad either, but will cost you considerably more. I would also stick with the stock turbo for now, or you might as well add a new TMIC to your list. The UP/DP with good stage 2 tune(Infamous) will wake that thing up nicely and keep it safe. You definitely don't want your car sitting in the college lot for weeks because it doesn't run due to taking the cheapest route. If the notion of potentially having to sink some more money into it halfway through is unacceptable, don't even get started. And yes, take that intake off and sell it, that should cover the cost of the tactrix alone. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
bnguyenbb6 Posted March 17, 2011 Share Posted March 17, 2011 I know I will sound too conservative, but honestly, being a college student I would say the best mod for your car, is NOT to mod it. You are in school and have a turbo wagon, I am sure it is quick enough. If anything goes wrong you need to be able to fix it. I have been going thru the stage 2 process and halfway through the clutch started slipping badly. So that required a $500 investment in a new clutch (and that was a sale price from Sprank), plus install. After that, the upgraded TMIC I had no longer fit properly, so I sold that and bought an Avo(also from Sprank). So you really need to allow for things to go wrong and have the budget to support that. With that disclaimer out of the way, I would skip the cheap ebay cables, there are lots of threads from people stating that their vag com cable works with RR but not ECU flash, or some combination. If going opensource, just get a tactrix which you know will work and be done with it. The AP isn't bad either, but will cost you considerably more. I would also stick with the stock turbo for now, or you might as well add a new TMIC to your list. The UP/DP with good stage 2 tune(Infamous) will wake that thing up nicely and keep it safe. You definitely don't want your car sitting in the college lot for weeks because it doesn't run due to taking the cheapest route. If the notion of potentially having to sink some more money into it halfway through is unacceptable, don't even get started. And yes, take that intake off and sell it, that should cover the cost of the tactrix alone. +1. I'm in college, when I blew a ringland, I thought I was going to have to sell it. Luckily, my mother was quite understanding and I have some good friends who own a shop and our family had a spare car(horrible car but runs). Even though all those things went my way, paying back all the money for the car to be rebuilt is still an on going thing + 9-10 weeks of not having the car and all the time fixing little stuff(boost leaks etc) after the brand new motor were and are a pain. I personally am opensource tuned and don't see a need for an AP unless you run different fuels such as E85 and 93 or you have a racegas map. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b071dc0 Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 Thanks for everyones input!! I've decided to go with the Cobb Acesstuner because of its ease of use, ability to be resold, use on the fly and the various gauges it has. ...Now to find a decently priced used one. Anyone know of any currently on the market? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b071dc0 Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 I would also stick with the stock turbo for now, or you might as well add a new TMIC to your list. . Yeah, I wasn't too sure on buying a turbo. The only reason was because I've read that the turbo on my car is do to go out at 80,000 miles and my cars currently at 77,000. Would it cause problems to the engine if i just let go out before replacing it? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
goneskiian Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 It can cause engine problems. Especially if you keep driving after it goes. Better to replace before it dies. As for when it will go, nobody knows for sure. Some are well over 100K on their stock turbos and some have gone through a few by 100K. How often do you change your oil? Check the classified's for used ACCESSPort's. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
b071dc0 Posted March 18, 2011 Author Share Posted March 18, 2011 It can cause engine problems. Especially if you keep driving after it goes. Better to replace before it dies. As for when it will go, nobody knows for sure. Some are well over 100K on their stock turbos and some have gone through a few by 100K. How often do you change your oil? Check the classified's for used ACCESSPort's. I'd defiantly replace it as soon as it went out, as long as it couldn't ruin the engine when it goes out, but it sounds like thats a possibility. I'd rather spend the money now than rebuild an engine later. I change my oil every 3500 miles and use mobil 1 (fully synthetic of course) and just the basic fram extra guard oil filter. Also I just started using the high mileage oil. Thanks, I did find a tuner shortly after I posted the message. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
rock2534 Posted March 18, 2011 Share Posted March 18, 2011 Yeah, I wasn't too sure on buying a turbo. The only reason was because I've read that the turbo on my car is do to go out at 80,000 miles and my cars currently at 77,000. Would it cause problems to the engine if i just let go out before replacing it? Yes, that is a possibility. I just meant that I wouldn't go replacing it if there was nothing wrong with it. If it is showing wear, than yes it might be a good preventative move to replace it. But I am no mechanic, so how to tell is another story, I would guess you would need someone to look at it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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