GIAC VS COBB on 991.2
08-20-2018, 09:05 PM
#31
Have fun waiting for that.
09-24-2018, 09:17 PM
#32
Rennlist Member
Spoke to both GIAC and Cobb today. Both very friendly.
-Sending in your ECU: required by both regardless where you have it done, in your garage, at a dealer or a tuner.
-Gains: Identical in both cases 18.5% HP and 36% Tq.
-Turnaround: very quick in both cases.
-Location: Cobb=Texas, GIAC=California
-Price:Cobb=$1695 includes Access Port and overnight shipping back, GIAC = $2200 plus shipping in each direction
-Process:Cobb = can be bought on their website or via phone. They will send you package will take two days and you pack your ECU in it and ship it. Ship it overnight, they reflash same day and ship it back overnight same day.
GIAC= You fill out a form and email it to them, required ECU part number so you need ECU in hand, can forgoe it in case current or older cars which they have done a lot of. Once they approve it they let you know and ask you to ship the ECU. They tune it and ask for payment over the phone and ship it back.
So considering above Cobb is a better deal as it does allow you to switch tunes back and forth and access port is included.
-Sending in your ECU: required by both regardless where you have it done, in your garage, at a dealer or a tuner.
-Gains: Identical in both cases 18.5% HP and 36% Tq.
-Turnaround: very quick in both cases.
-Location: Cobb=Texas, GIAC=California
-Price:Cobb=$1695 includes Access Port and overnight shipping back, GIAC = $2200 plus shipping in each direction
-Process:Cobb = can be bought on their website or via phone. They will send you package will take two days and you pack your ECU in it and ship it. Ship it overnight, they reflash same day and ship it back overnight same day.
GIAC= You fill out a form and email it to them, required ECU part number so you need ECU in hand, can forgoe it in case current or older cars which they have done a lot of. Once they approve it they let you know and ask you to ship the ECU. They tune it and ask for payment over the phone and ship it back.
So considering above Cobb is a better deal as it does allow you to switch tunes back and forth and access port is included.
12-21-2018, 12:06 AM
#33
Rennlist Member
Good luck with that. Just because a dealer installs it, doesn’t mean Porsche North America will cover it. At the end of the day, it all falls on you.
12-21-2018, 12:11 AM
#34
Rennlist Member
I have experience with Cobb + warranty concerns from my 981. In short, by installing the tune you will void your warranty even if you reinstall the factory tune when taking it to the dealer.
What happens is that if you have a complicated or intermittent problem with your engine or transmission (PDK was getting into limp mode intermittently for me), the dealer must get a dump of the ECU/DME and send it to Porsche for analysis. This data very clearly indicates that the car isn't stock or has been tampered with. The dealer can easily see this and will recommend you don't proceed with sending the data to Porsche. This leaves with no options.
There is a law stating warranty coverage can't be refused for aftermarket parts unless they're determined to be the cause of the failure. It is however very reasonable for the dealer/ Porsche to assume that an aftermarket tune will be cause of an engine failure or problem. Sure you can fight them in court, but somehow I doubt that's going to be worth the time/money and you are an individual don't have a chance against a large corporation.
If you're getting your car tuned, just assume your engine/transmission warranty is gone. Not saying the tune will blow up your engine or something bad will happen - likely not.
What happens is that if you have a complicated or intermittent problem with your engine or transmission (PDK was getting into limp mode intermittently for me), the dealer must get a dump of the ECU/DME and send it to Porsche for analysis. This data very clearly indicates that the car isn't stock or has been tampered with. The dealer can easily see this and will recommend you don't proceed with sending the data to Porsche. This leaves with no options.
There is a law stating warranty coverage can't be refused for aftermarket parts unless they're determined to be the cause of the failure. It is however very reasonable for the dealer/ Porsche to assume that an aftermarket tune will be cause of an engine failure or problem. Sure you can fight them in court, but somehow I doubt that's going to be worth the time/money and you are an individual don't have a chance against a large corporation.
If you're getting your car tuned, just assume your engine/transmission warranty is gone. Not saying the tune will blow up your engine or something bad will happen - likely not.
Now, the only situation that is perfect in the tuning world is the Dinan and BMW relationship. Dinan gives you a parallel warranty with your factory warranty. Whatever the factory doesn’t cover, Dinan does. I wish Porsche had a tuner that provided the same thing.
My Dinan-tuned M6 was a beast.
12-27-2019, 07:23 PM
#35
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01-03-2020, 07:00 PM
#36
I'm surprised to see only a few folks chimed in on this Cobb v. GIAC thread - I would have thought a bunch of guys would have done one or the other to their 991.2 base Carreras and shared some thoughts. I'm in the same boat here and need more public feedback to help me choose the right one. If anyone can send me a link to a thread that may have already covered this very thoroughly, I'm much obliged.
01-03-2020, 07:05 PM
#37
Spoke to both GIAC and Cobb today. Both very friendly.
-Sending in your ECU: required by both regardless where you have it done, in your garage, at a dealer or a tuner.
-Gains: Identical in both cases 18.5% HP and 36% Tq.
-Turnaround: very quick in both cases.
-Location: Cobb=Texas, GIAC=California
-Price:Cobb=$1695 includes Access Port and overnight shipping back, GIAC = $2200 plus shipping in each direction
-Process:Cobb = can be bought on their website or via phone. They will send you package will take two days and you pack your ECU in it and ship it. Ship it overnight, they reflash same day and ship it back overnight same day.
GIAC= You fill out a form and email it to them, required ECU part number so you need ECU in hand, can forgoe it in case current or older cars which they have done a lot of. Once they approve it they let you know and ask you to ship the ECU. They tune it and ask for payment over the phone and ship it back.
So considering above Cobb is a better deal as it does allow you to switch tunes back and forth and access port is included.
-Sending in your ECU: required by both regardless where you have it done, in your garage, at a dealer or a tuner.
-Gains: Identical in both cases 18.5% HP and 36% Tq.
-Turnaround: very quick in both cases.
-Location: Cobb=Texas, GIAC=California
-Price:Cobb=$1695 includes Access Port and overnight shipping back, GIAC = $2200 plus shipping in each direction
-Process:Cobb = can be bought on their website or via phone. They will send you package will take two days and you pack your ECU in it and ship it. Ship it overnight, they reflash same day and ship it back overnight same day.
GIAC= You fill out a form and email it to them, required ECU part number so you need ECU in hand, can forgoe it in case current or older cars which they have done a lot of. Once they approve it they let you know and ask you to ship the ECU. They tune it and ask for payment over the phone and ship it back.
So considering above Cobb is a better deal as it does allow you to switch tunes back and forth and access port is included.
01-03-2020, 07:06 PM
#38
Rennlist Member
I have had 2 Cobb tunes and Giac a while back on an older Pcar. Love the ease of install and uninstall of the Cobb and the gains. Also have the Cobb PDK update which improves overall shift character. Cobb all the way.
01-03-2020, 08:47 PM
#39
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I put another 50 miles or so on my recently installed Cobb tonight and she is really coming to life...noticeably better than the first 50 miles.
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01-03-2020, 08:57 PM
#40
Burning Brakes
This discussions started with the question of whether Cobb or GIAC offer the more aggressive tune. Then with all of the discussion about likely warranty problems if the engine or transmission suffers after the tune is installed, it makes me wonder whether one should be seeking the less aggressive tune.
It also depends on which model you have. It is my understanding that in the 991.2, the base, S, and GTS engines and transmissions are all identical. The differences are in the sizes of the turbochargers and the programming of their engine management systems. In other words, we know that the basic powertrain components are absolutely safe to 450 hp.
So if you have a base car, as I do, you can use a tune to increase power by 50-80 hp, without risking your powertrain very much at all. The most likely possibility is that you might overspeed your small turbos and damage them. Based on the numerous write-ups, that does not seem to be a common occurrence, so the risk seems small.
On the other hand, if take your GTS to 500-plus HP, I suspect you are taking a considerably greater chance with your engine. I'm sure the engine has a useful safety margin built-in, but on a hot day, with perhaps subpar fuel, you would be eating into that margin far more with a tuned GTS than with a tuned base car.
It also depends on which model you have. It is my understanding that in the 991.2, the base, S, and GTS engines and transmissions are all identical. The differences are in the sizes of the turbochargers and the programming of their engine management systems. In other words, we know that the basic powertrain components are absolutely safe to 450 hp.
So if you have a base car, as I do, you can use a tune to increase power by 50-80 hp, without risking your powertrain very much at all. The most likely possibility is that you might overspeed your small turbos and damage them. Based on the numerous write-ups, that does not seem to be a common occurrence, so the risk seems small.
On the other hand, if take your GTS to 500-plus HP, I suspect you are taking a considerably greater chance with your engine. I'm sure the engine has a useful safety margin built-in, but on a hot day, with perhaps subpar fuel, you would be eating into that margin far more with a tuned GTS than with a tuned base car.
01-03-2020, 11:26 PM
#41
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
I'm surprised to see only a few folks chimed in on this Cobb v. GIAC thread - I would have thought a bunch of guys would have done one or the other to their 991.2 base Carreras and shared some thoughts. I'm in the same boat here and need more public feedback to help me choose the right one. If anyone can send me a link to a thread that may have already covered this very thoroughly, I'm much obliged.
01-03-2020, 11:28 PM
#42
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
Rennlist Member
This discussions started with the question of whether Cobb or GIAC offer the more aggressive tune. Then with all of the discussion about likely warranty problems if the engine or transmission suffers after the tune is installed, it makes me wonder whether one should be seeking the less aggressive tune.
It also depends on which model you have. It is my understanding that in the 991.2, the base, S, and GTS engines and transmissions are all identical. The differences are in the sizes of the turbochargers and the programming of their engine management systems. In other words, we know that the basic powertrain components are absolutely safe to 450 hp.
So if you have a base car, as I do, you can use a tune to increase power by 50-80 hp, without risking your powertrain very much at all. The most likely possibility is that you might overspeed your small turbos and damage them. Based on the numerous write-ups, that does not seem to be a common occurrence, so the risk seems small.
On the other hand, if take your GTS to 500-plus HP, I suspect you are taking a considerably greater chance with your engine. I'm sure the engine has a useful safety margin built-in, but on a hot day, with perhaps subpar fuel, you would be eating into that margin far more with a tuned GTS than with a tuned base car.
It also depends on which model you have. It is my understanding that in the 991.2, the base, S, and GTS engines and transmissions are all identical. The differences are in the sizes of the turbochargers and the programming of their engine management systems. In other words, we know that the basic powertrain components are absolutely safe to 450 hp.
So if you have a base car, as I do, you can use a tune to increase power by 50-80 hp, without risking your powertrain very much at all. The most likely possibility is that you might overspeed your small turbos and damage them. Based on the numerous write-ups, that does not seem to be a common occurrence, so the risk seems small.
On the other hand, if take your GTS to 500-plus HP, I suspect you are taking a considerably greater chance with your engine. I'm sure the engine has a useful safety margin built-in, but on a hot day, with perhaps subpar fuel, you would be eating into that margin far more with a tuned GTS than with a tuned base car.
01-03-2020, 11:30 PM
#43
RL Community Team
Rennlist Member
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01-03-2020, 11:59 PM
#44
I'm not sure about 800hp capacity on boost flashing alone but your point is well taken. I've heard discreetly from many Porsche Service Techs and salesmen that the base 3.0 ltr engine is way undertuned and of all the asking around I've done, I've never heard of problem with a stage 1 Cobb or GIAC tune hurting an engine and a dealer warranty being voided. I could be wrong but that's why I chose to revive this thread. I need to fully vet this as it's big money for me at stake - I'm at the bottom end of the Porsche family financial barrel, lol.
01-04-2020, 12:07 AM
#45
In any case, that's awesome. You have a base C2? What do you feel different? Any additional turbo lag? Is the surge still linear or does it spike suddenly? Is the turbo whistle any louder or higher pitched?