[Mitch89]

Im gonna be getting the AP here in a week or so. My biggest question is i thought about going ahead and plugging it up and using the stage 1 map. What do you think? How soon do i need to try and get a tune if i do this? Will it hurt the car until i do get it tuned? Or should i just wait all together and hook it up when im at the tuner?

 

[wrxtreme06]

The whole point of the accessport is to tune your car. Once you flash stage 1 that's it. You don't need to see an actual tuner.

 

[Mitch89]

well i talked to a guy here in north carolina and he mentioned a pro tune. I just didnt want to take a chance by flashing stage 1 and then not have a proper tune. im kinda stupid when it comes to this though. i just want to fix the lag though at lower rpms

 

[Drews]

well i talked to a guy here in north carolina and he mentioned a pro tune. I just didnt want to take a chance by flashing stage 1 and then not have a proper tune. im kinda stupid when it comes to this though. i just want to fix the lag though at lower rpms

I'd ditch the AP if you have access to a local tuner. It will probably be cheaper and it's going to be better.

 

[RayfieldsWRX]

You're talking about the difference between "OTS", or "Off the shelf", maps, and the custom maps that a tuner develops for you on his dyno. Cobb will provide some OTS maps with the AccessPort device for Stage 1 and 2. They'll be conservative, and you're on pretty safe ground to go ahead and flash them.

 

[chiron]

well i talked to a guy here in north carolina and he mentioned a pro tune. I just didnt want to take a chance by flashing stage 1 and then not have a proper tune. im kinda stupid when it comes to this though. i just want to fix the lag though at lower rpms

The AP stage 1 IS a tune.
And a tune won't help the lag through the lower rpms much. That lag is called turbo lag, and can only be helped with an upgraded turbo charger, either a smaller turbo, or a twin scroll turbo. Upgrading your turbo is extremely expensive. I just live with the lag, it's a characteristic of the car, you drive it differently than a N/A car.

 

[Mitch89]

yeah the tuner in north carolina wants $380 for a protune and he says thats for setup and 1 hour on the dyno. as for the accesport its $595 but if i can just go with the AP for a little more and not have to worry about a tune then later on when i go for a CAI and downpipe i can use different maps instead of a new tune each time i would think

 

[zax]

The AP stage 1 IS a tune.
And a tune won't help the lag through the lower rpms much. That lag is called turbo lag, and can only be helped with an upgraded turbo charger, either a smaller turbo, or a twin scroll turbo. Upgrading your turbo is extremely expensive. I just live with the lag, it's a characteristic of the car, you drive it differently than a N/A car.

Going with an aftermarket downpipe, uppipe, 3-port boost solenoid, and some port-and-polishing will reduce some of the lag.

yeah the tuner in north carolina wants $380 for a protune and he says thats for setup and 1 hour on the dyno. as for the accesport its $595 but if i can just go with the AP for a little more and not have to worry about a tune then later on when i go for a CAI and downpipe i can use different maps instead of a new tune each time i would think

I honestly wouldn't go with a pro-tune for stage 1. Not enough modifications to make a huge difference between a pro-tune and OTS tune. A better use of your money would be to purchase a Tactrix cable (google this) and a 3rd-party map -- I've heard good things about Torqued Performance maps -- that way you save some money and switch maps. If you want to do the pro-tune right away, I'd purchase and install a downpipe at the very least.

 

[Drews]

Going with an aftermarket downpipe, uppipe, 3-port boost solenoid, and some port-and-polishing will reduce some of the lag.

What's lag?

 

[Mitch89]

alright sounds good. But to say the least if i just get the AP and flash to stage 1 i should be fine and no worries about anything else

 

[Wussola]

If your car is completely stock, then the Access Port is a good simple alternative to a pro-tune. I like the added performance I got from a simple stage 1 AP flash on 93. If you plan on adding on parts step-wise (either a Cobb or AEM intake, down pipe, exhaust, etc) again an Access Port is a good alternative (so you won't have to get multiple pro-tunes $$$). That's what I'm doing with my car now.

If you don't plan on modifying the car beyond the ECU flash, then you might consider a pro-tune over the Access Port. This way you'll squeeze very possible drip of performance out of you stock car (at your altitude, etc.). However, once you start to mod and see the car's hidden potential ... it's hard to stop.

However, with that said, once you start to get into more advance modifications (electronic boost control, bypass valve, upgrade TMIC, etc) then you are going to definitely want (and need) a pro-tune to make everything work together and get the best performance out of your ECU. With the tuner, you can do this trough your Access Port and run diagnostics on your car in the future. Again, this is what I'm doing and feel that it works best for me ... but everyone's a little different and you need to determine what works best for you.

Hope that helps!

 

[mrd]

I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but I also think of using AP, or a Tactrix cable. My dilema is that I don't know yet if os will cover a good stock engine tune, and later cover moded engine. Personally I like to be able to change or download maps, later when I get more familiar with the process.
I've checked romraider site, and it looks interesting, but do available maps work well, and could they just be plugged in?

Again appology for may be a silly question, but right now I am at the position, that every info I get is new to me.

 

[Wussola]

I'm not trying to hijack your thread, but I also think of using AP, or a Tactrix cable. My dilema is that I don't know yet if os will cover a good stock engine tune, and later cover moded engine. Personally I like to be able to change or download maps, later when I get more familiar with the process.
I've checked romraider site, and it looks interesting, but do available maps work well, and could they just be plugged in?

Again apology for may be a silly question, but right now I am at the position, that every info I get is new to me.

If it were me, I would be very cautious downloading maps for the AP over the internet if they are not from a reputable source (i.e. Cobb). You won't know how safe they are for your engine until it's too late.

 

[zax]

If it were me, I would be very cautious downloading maps for the AP over the internet if they are not from a reputable source (i.e. Cobb). You won't know how safe they are for your engine until it's too late.

Torqued Performance has had many positive reviews. I'd look on NASIOC... there are many reputable tuners that may agree.

 

[kcwrxfan]

Torqued Performance has had many positive reviews. I'd look on NASIOC... there are many reputable tuners that may agree.

I can give props to Eric at Torqued. His maps are great, and it was first run at OS tune and i emailed him and he called me back and actually helped me through the install process. I noticed a huge difference from the stock tune. In all cost me like $260 bucks.

 

[mrd]

If it were me, I would be very cautious downloading maps for the AP over the internet if they are not from a reputable source (i.e. Cobb). You won't know how safe they are for your engine until it's too late.

Thanks for the reply, it stands that the best jdgement has to be used. Maps should be double checked before uploading. I'm still comparing these two, as I think that os has more flexibility, but again ap is plug and go.

 

[EJ257]

Base maps react differently to each car; the only way to know if a tune is safe (regardless of the source) is to flash it and datalog. Given the choice of Cobb vs Torqued Performance, I would go with TP.

I wouldn't bother with a $400 custom reflash without a downpipe. When you decide to go StageII, then consider a custom tune.

 

[mangostick]

The AP stage 1 IS a tune.
And a tune won't help the lag through the lower rpms much.

Heh.. if that's the case you should fire your tuner... Seriously, a lot of bottom end can be woken up with a proper tune. Especially on the 2.5 liter cars.

The AP also comes with support from Cobb, tuning software if you choose to dl it and also has some other nice functions that make it useful. Bottom line is its just an interface in which you can tune with. That said however, there are other ways to skin the tuning cat. Open source is always an alternative that many people have had great success with. I've been happy using my AP and ATR software to tune.

alright sounds good. But to say the least if i just get the AP and flash to stage 1 i should be fine and no worries about anything else

Correct As stated, cobbs maps are very conservative and are tested thoroughly to make sure they're not liable to damage your car. HOWEVER.. you really should data log ANY tune you flash onto the car. Another thing to remember is that immediately after you flash the car, the full timing advance has not come into play yet and it WILL feel weird for a day or so until it "re-learns".

Dont be affraid of E-tuning either. As mentioned (Torqued Performance) and other vendors can give you a base map and make adjustments from datalogs that you send them. This method is pretty effective and doesn't require you to actually go to or pay for Dyno time. Both AP and Open Source have a following of tuners that will do this for you.

My suggestion is to get the AP and flash Stage I .. see how you like it. If you want more, do some more reading and/or call some vendors and see what options will work best for what you want out of the car.

 

[mycologist]

Get the cable. Buy or download a free map. Log car. If you bought the map, have tuner adjust it from your logs. As long as you log (easy) it doesn't matter if the map was free or off the internet.

Both the AP and a cable have their benefits, however although it is cheaper the cable is a much more powerful tool IMO.

 

[Mitch89]

Heh.. if that's the case you should fire your tuner... Seriously, a lot of bottom end can be woken up with a proper tune. Especially on the 2.5 liter cars.

The AP also comes with support from Cobb, tuning software if you choose to dl it and also has some other nice functions that make it useful. Bottom line is its just an interface in which you can tune with. That said however, there are other ways to skin the tuning cat. Open source is always an alternative that many people have had great success with. I've been happy using my AP and ATR software to tune.



Correct As stated, cobbs maps are very conservative and are tested thoroughly to make sure they're not liable to damage your car. HOWEVER.. you really should data log ANY tune you flash onto the car. Another thing to remember is that immediately after you flash the car, the full timing advance has not come into play yet and it WILL feel weird for a day or so until it "re-learns".

Dont be affraid of E-tuning either. As mentioned (Torqued Performance) and other vendors can give you a base map and make adjustments from datalogs that you send them. This method is pretty effective and doesn't require you to actually go to or pay for Dyno time. Both AP and Open Source have a following of tuners that will do this for you.

My suggestion is to get the AP and flash Stage I .. see how you like it. If you want more, do some more reading and/or call some vendors and see what options will work best for what you want out of the car.

Yeah thats what i was figuring on.. worse case scenario is i dont like stage 1 and i want to go back stock at least with the AP i can do that... But from everything i read the stage 1 is alot better than stock anyway. i havent heard to many instances where ppl went back to stock...