grecomfs

Having done aftermarket tuning on LOT of different cars over the years from tuners ranging from Dinan to Cobb to APR to GIAC to RS Tuning in Germany and others, I have always made a point to disclose to the various dealerships, where the cars were to be serviced, exactly what I had done or planned on asking them to do in the way of modifications. In doing so, I have had a largely unbroken string of cooperative dealerships, most of which were actually amazingly tuner friendly and enthusiastic. Not sure if it was the novelty of someone being upfront about things or maybe just an opportunity to vary from from routine workload a little. Have I ever had a massive vehicle failure and had to deal with repercussions of mods? No, but a number of comparatively low level fixes were done under warranty with no pushback at all. All of that said, modifying any car, especially a high line vehicle, should only be done with the knowledge that if the s**t hits the fan, there may be big out of pocket expenses not covered under warranty. After all, even the most user-friendly dealer can only do so much if a problem is so large that decisions on ultimate disposition are made at the regional, national or factory level.




Back to the Cobb AP for Carrera T. I scheduled the car with the local dealer to have the ECU/DME pulled and explained what I was planning. Cobb sent the dealer a shipping box which the dealer returned to Cobb with DME inside. Cobb "unlocked" the DME and overnighted it back to the dealer who then reinstalled it. I dropped the car on a Wednesday morning and picked back up early afternoon Friday. Pretty quick and smooth so far. The dealer had to do some very minor reprogramming and clearing of fault codes all of which were due only to completely powering down the car. There was however, one non-clearable fault code stating "faulty DME". Car was 100% operational but, not surprisingly, it "knew" that the DME had undergone some kind of alteration and wasn't willing to just "forget about it" even when asked nicely by the tech. Car only had about 650 miles at this point so I put on another 50 miles or so using the stock, but unlocked, DME. Absolutely unchanged in all regards. My plan to wait until at least 1000 miles before flashing gave way to impatience and curiosity and so it was time to flash. Newest version of the AP is as easy to use as ever, just a little sleeker, smaller and easier to read than the 8-bit images from years ago. Located the OBD port under the drivers dash but was unable to remove the purple plastic cover. Which is good because it's actually not a cover but a pin guide to make plugging into the OBD easier. Which it was. Turned the ignition to power on/engine off position and the AP correctly ID'd the car as 991.2 with 3.0 liter turbo engine. A sufficiently recent version of the stock program came already loaded onto the AP so saving the stock program from the DME prior to flashing wasn't necessary. Scrolled down to the stage 1 91 octane window and pressed "OK". Nothing happened initially as the percentage complete bar went from 0% to 10%. At about that point, an apparent demonic possesion of the car began. The previously switched off radio came on. And then off. And then on again. Likewise the the lights, blinkers, instrument indicators, fault codes popping up, error warnings etc etc. The doors and trunk and deck lid began wildly opening and closing on their own.... OK, not really but all of the rest absolutely happened. Not sure if this was integral to overwriting the blocks of stock performance codes or something Cobb threw in for dramatic effect. I assume the former but if it was for effect, it definitely worked. I actually seriously thought about aborting the procedure as all of this was so unexpected (and not part of the experience when I did a Cobb flash of a GT-R I previously owned). However, the bar went to 100%, the car became silent and dark and I switched the power off and unplugged the AP as per instructions. Waited about. a minute, crossed my fingers, toes and eyes and turned the key. On it went with no codes or CELs or anything else popping up. Took it for a little drive and until I put my foot into a bit, totally as per stock. With some throttle though, no question the power/torque was VERY significantly improved. In stock form, the closest comparison the prior Porsches I owned, both in terms of driving and power, was actually a 997.1 GT3 odd as that may sound. With Cobb, the power felt to very nearly approximate what my 996TT power kit car felt like only much lighter of course and rear drive only. The car is now easy to rotate using the throttle and otherwise, about 25-35% punchier everywhere along the power band. Haven't fully wrung it out yet as it is still in "break-in" but very pleased with everything about the process thus far. Hope this helps anyone thinking of doing this particular mod.

Bob Z.

Glad to hear all went well but it should when dealing with Cobb. I have used most of the available tuners for various cars over the years and when it comes time to tune my Targa GTS I plan to use Cobb since I believe they have the best product and best support as well. I know they are trying to eliminate the need to send them the ECU and if anyone can do it they can...stay tuned.

pfbz

Wow that is hard to read without any paragraph breaks and the large font...

tgavem

grecomfs

Cyberbug

If you check with Cobb - let us know. Haven't heard of that code issue before.

Ukkid74

That takes some big ***** on a 125k car with 650 miles on it ! Lol I am tempted but just don,t have big enough units to do it ya know. When i put my Akra pipe and Akra cats on my 2019 T at 400 miles I almost had a heart attack ! Smh. I guess you can,t win if you don,t enter right ? Lol I have 5,500 miles now on my T and really want a 992 but its the waiting process for me on the manual trans and also Akra to make pipe and cats. There is no way I can drive a 911 with stock pipe now as I am jaded by the sound and fun it makes the drive.
I should have put on a dyno prior but after both cats and pipe on a dynojet in florida heat It pulles 383hp @ the wheels
matty

Needsdecaf

Back when I tuned my Volvo V70R, that same type of behavior would occur. Not the radio going on and off, but certainly warnings on the dash going haywire. But then again, this was in 2007 or 2008 back when the car's CAN was connected to about 50% of what it is now. So not surprising.

Freaked me out the first time it happened.

ryandarr1979

This post did nothing to convince me to tune my GTS. Plenty of power as is and prefer the peace of mind of knowing Porsche won’t bend me over for getting caught altering their recipe. I don’t have “F*&# you” money.

Jim991

When I installed the Cobb AP Stage One tune I had a similar experience with the AC turning on and off, radio turning on and off, etc. The install went fine with no CELs. Car runs great with a very noticeable increase in power.

K-Nut

I have 2018 Carrera T Manila with Akrapovic exhaust and HF air filter, install Cobb tune , super happy , crazy power , only one issue . Exhaust suppose to crackle on Sport mode and now it crackles only in Sport + and in a little weird way . Is anyone experiencing same ?