ECU Mod List & Feedback
12-11-2018, 01:17 PM
#16
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I have used Cobb tuning on past cars and I would use them again in a heartbeat, and probably will after the break-in of my new Targa GTS is done. And I agree that most users are probably completely satisfied with the gains...too bad a few that always want more make it seem that Cobb is not a viable option.
12-11-2018, 03:21 PM
#17
I would wager some of the frustrated Cobb owners are hard core and a small % where most opt for an OTS and done for the day. (pure guess without any kind of survey) But its these hard core guys that push the envelope that also push the best (or worst)out of the tuners. I learn a lot everyday from them. But for now I am happy with my Cobb OTS stage 1 . Once I start to track next year I am sure I will want more 
Having the Access port gives flexibility and easy to flash on and off or swap tunes.
Having the Access port gives flexibility and easy to flash on and off or swap tunes.
But stage 1 on the street is fantastic and easily the biggest bang per buck mod by a country mile.
I have used Cobb tuning on past cars and I would use them again in a heartbeat, and probably will after the break-in of my new Targa GTS is done. And I agree that most users are probably completely satisfied with the gains...too bad a few that always want more make it seem that Cobb is not a viable option.
12-11-2018, 04:34 PM
#19
Thank you so much for the very detailed review and rationale - to recap right now COBB is the only tuner with an access port which means we can easily tune via pro-tuning once the Stage 2 is released + if we get the ECU flashed for some reason at update or we want to put back to stock for a service inspection it will allow you to go back to the original settings. And there aren't any other ECU providers who can provide that ability (aka access port)? Sounds like I'll wait until Feb as that is when I will be looking for the install and if Stage 2 COBB is actually released we will even have data to compare against the other modders.
12-11-2018, 05:33 PM
#20
I have used Cobb tuning on past cars and I would use them again in a heartbeat, and probably will after the break-in of my new Targa GTS is done. And I agree that most users are probably completely satisfied with the gains...too bad a few that always want more make it seem that Cobb is not a viable option.
12-11-2018, 05:45 PM
#21
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12-12-2018, 08:03 AM
#22
I am an old guy (learned to drive on a 3 on a tree), and have been taking cars apart for over 45 years. Drove my first Porsche 48 years ago, and bought # 42 a couple weeks ago. Number 39 is a 997 S I bought and took apart 24 hours later, it has over 135K in modifications in it, many of the parts one off and designed by me. The word tuner did not exist (at not the way it is used for cars) when I started rebuilding cars, and over the years (with the 462 cars I have owned and others I have helped make their cars better) I have learned a great deal, and made many, many mistakes. I have blown up engines, multiple transmissions, and for I while I was the guy people came to when they wanted to turn their AWD car to RWD (I built RWD Gallardo in 04, and multiple 996tt RWD cars). I tell you this because there always comes a point where you must realize that there are limits to what you can do to the car without pulling out the engine rebuilding it and then adding a supercharger or turbo kit to it (I found this out 13 years ago with my 997, ending up doing just that. The other way is less weight, changing wheels and tires (or going to a lighter braking system) going to a smaller lighter wheel may not look good but if you can save 7-10lbs a corner the difference is far bigger than you think. Or you could take the car apart and rebuild the chassis with lighter material. Just remember if you are not prepared to make some radical changes there is only so much you can gain by tunes, I have spent 10's of thousands of dollars over the years trying to change cars that just would never be what I wanted them to be. In the end you need to ask yourself what you want from a car, and if you bought the right car. By the way I still have that 997S I have now spent over 280K (it blew a transmission up last summer), it has 17k miles on, can only be driven in perfect conditions (it has no traction controls and over 600HP) and the Porsche dealer considers it a kit car, and it is essentially worthless to anyone but me. Happy Holidays!
12-12-2018, 09:27 AM
#23
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I am an old guy (learned to drive on a 3 on a tree), and have been taking cars apart for over 45 years. Drove my first Porsche 48 years ago, and bought # 42 a couple weeks ago. Number 39 is a 997 S I bought and took apart 24 hours later, it has over 135K in modifications in it, many of the parts one off and designed by me. The word tuner did not exist (at not the way it is used for cars) when I started rebuilding cars, and over the years (with the 462 cars I have owned and others I have helped make their cars better) I have learned a great deal, and made many, many mistakes. I have blown up engines, multiple transmissions, and for I while I was the guy people came to when they wanted to turn their AWD car to RWD (I built RWD Gallardo in 04, and multiple 996tt RWD cars). I tell you this because there always comes a point where you must realize that there are limits to what you can do to the car without pulling out the engine rebuilding it and then adding a supercharger or turbo kit to it (I found this out 13 years ago with my 997, ending up doing just that. The other way is less weight, changing wheels and tires (or going to a lighter braking system) going to a smaller lighter wheel may not look good but if you can save 7-10lbs a corner the difference is far bigger than you think. Or you could take the car apart and rebuild the chassis with lighter material. Just remember if you are not prepared to make some radical changes there is only so much you can gain by tunes, I have spent 10's of thousands of dollars over the years trying to change cars that just would never be what I wanted them to be. In the end you need to ask yourself what you want from a car, and if you bought the right car. By the way I still have that 997S I have now spent over 280K (it blew a transmission up last summer), it has 17k miles on, can only be driven in perfect conditions (it has no traction controls and over 600HP) and the Porsche dealer considers it a kit car, and it is essentially worthless to anyone but me. Happy Holidays!
12-12-2018, 01:08 PM
#24
I am an old guy (learned to drive on a 3 on a tree), and have been taking cars apart for over 45 years. Drove my first Porsche 48 years ago, and bought # 42 a couple weeks ago. Number 39 is a 997 S I bought and took apart 24 hours later, it has over 135K in modifications in it, many of the parts one off and designed by me. The word tuner did not exist (at not the way it is used for cars) when I started rebuilding cars, and over the years (with the 462 cars I have owned and others I have helped make their cars better) I have learned a great deal, and made many, many mistakes. I have blown up engines, multiple transmissions, and for I while I was the guy people came to when they wanted to turn their AWD car to RWD (I built RWD Gallardo in 04, and multiple 996tt RWD cars). I tell you this because there always comes a point where you must realize that there are limits to what you can do to the car without pulling out the engine rebuilding it and then adding a supercharger or turbo kit to it (I found this out 13 years ago with my 997, ending up doing just that. The other way is less weight, changing wheels and tires (or going to a lighter braking system) going to a smaller lighter wheel may not look good but if you can save 7-10lbs a corner the difference is far bigger than you think. Or you could take the car apart and rebuild the chassis with lighter material. Just remember if you are not prepared to make some radical changes there is only so much you can gain by tunes, I have spent 10's of thousands of dollars over the years trying to change cars that just would never be what I wanted them to be. In the end you need to ask yourself what you want from a car, and if you bought the right car. By the way I still have that 997S I have now spent over 280K (it blew a transmission up last summer), it has 17k miles on, can only be driven in perfect conditions (it has no traction controls and over 600HP) and the Porsche dealer considers it a kit car, and it is essentially worthless to anyone but me. Happy Holidays!
12-13-2018, 01:06 AM
#25
I am an old guy (learned to drive on a 3 on a tree), and have been taking cars apart for over 45 years. Drove my first Porsche 48 years ago, and bought # 42 a couple weeks ago. Number 39 is a 997 S I bought and took apart 24 hours later, it has over 135K in modifications in it, many of the parts one off and designed by me. The word tuner did not exist (at not the way it is used for cars) when I started rebuilding cars, and over the years (with the 462 cars I have owned and others I have helped make their cars better) I have learned a great deal, and made many, many mistakes. I have blown up engines, multiple transmissions, and for I while I was the guy people came to when they wanted to turn their AWD car to RWD (I built RWD Gallardo in 04, and multiple 996tt RWD cars). I tell you this because there always comes a point where you must realize that there are limits to what you can do to the car without pulling out the engine rebuilding it and then adding a supercharger or turbo kit to it (I found this out 13 years ago with my 997, ending up doing just that. The other way is less weight, changing wheels and tires (or going to a lighter braking system) going to a smaller lighter wheel may not look good but if you can save 7-10lbs a corner the difference is far bigger than you think. Or you could take the car apart and rebuild the chassis with lighter material. Just remember if you are not prepared to make some radical changes there is only so much you can gain by tunes, I have spent 10's of thousands of dollars over the years trying to change cars that just would never be what I wanted them to be. In the end you need to ask yourself what you want from a car, and if you bought the right car. By the way I still have that 997S I have now spent over 280K (it blew a transmission up last summer), it has 17k miles on, can only be driven in perfect conditions (it has no traction controls and over 600HP) and the Porsche dealer considers it a kit car, and it is essentially worthless to anyone but me. Happy Holidays!
Today its much simpler. Its basically 5 Stages.
Stage 1 is just a Tune on a stock car.
Stage 2 Is some bolt on's for freer flowing exhaust. Headers, Sports Cats, Exhaust and CAI or Air filter - With more tune.
Stage 3 Is usually about cooling, Upgraded intercoolers and radiators to get rid of the extra heat from more agressive tune as well.
Stage 4 is bolt on turbo's. Most these days make pre-made Hi-Flow turbo's (Most even do exchange)
Stage 5 is a Fully built motor.
But today with how clever ECU's are, all along the way, you can play with Fuel mixtures. Most here would be unfamiliar with E85. It sounds fearful. But it provides extra cooling and octane. It makes a huge difference.
Stage 3 with a custom E50 tune (half E85 and Half 93) will knock your socks off. It should exceed 600HP. To go beyond that, you'l need to upgrade the Turbo's.
Pretty much as soon as COBB release Pro-Tuning. I will jump from Stage 2, straight to Stage 3 and some E85. That may be enough. It depends on traction. If it can still get most of it to the ground, then I may keep going.
It takes time for the right set of Turbo's to come along. Most will move the Power curve to the right, so that usually helps with traction and drive ability. I still want an all rounder. One that can be epic at the track, and still be taken out to dinner at night.
Building a straight track car is easy. Building a really fast car, with no compromise, is much harder, and much more expensive. I did buy the right car. I was going to get a GT3, but really there is little that can be done to the N/A.
The turbo is much more interesting to mod. Happy Holidays.
12-13-2018, 07:59 AM
#26
The 991.1 I just bought is the first PDK 911 (my girlfriend drives a 718 Cayman S PDK) I have ever owned and what interests me more than the ECU tune is the PDK tune (I don't think you can get one without the other) since the better the cars transmission works then better the power comes on. The IPD unit interests me, and of course (something I blame Audi for) drive by wire delay, which for I have installed throttle controllers for. I seem to be overly sensitive to the delay drive by wire causes (and when I blame Audi it is because of the cars that the gas pedals got stuck on 30 years ago I think they were the 100's series). I have lost out on a couple of used Cobb units with the PDK, and since I live close to Fabspeed (I have known Joe since he was selling out of his trunk), I may take a ride up there and see if they will let me test out the Cobb unit. I did a transmission tune on my 4C, and put a different TCU (from a stradale) in one of my360's, and it made a huge difference in both cars. Right now all my summer cars are in storage including my 997, so I can concentrate on what the 991 needs. I do agree that building a car that can still be used as a road car (especially a daily driver) as well as a track car (I have owned a few Corvettes including a heavily modified C6 Z06) can make things more complicated.
12-13-2018, 12:02 PM
#27
Burning Brakes
I'm not quite that old, but I used to pretend to drive my dad's three on the tree. : )
Today its much simpler. Its basically 5 Stages.
Stage 1 is just a Tune on a stock car.
Stage 2 Is some bolt on's for freer flowing exhaust. Headers, Sports Cats, Exhaust and CAI or Air filter - With more tune.
Stage 3 Is usually about cooling, Upgraded intercoolers and radiators to get rid of the extra heat from more agressive tune as well.
Stage 4 is bolt on turbo's. Most these days make pre-made Hi-Flow turbo's (Most even do exchange)
Stage 5 is a Fully built motor.
But today with how clever ECU's are, all along the way, you can play with Fuel mixtures. Most here would be unfamiliar with E85. It sounds fearful. But it provides extra cooling and octane. It makes a huge difference.
Stage 3 with a custom E50 tune (half E85 and Half 93) will knock your socks off. It should exceed 600HP. To go beyond that, you'l need to upgrade the Turbo's.
Pretty much as soon as COBB release Pro-Tuning. I will jump from Stage 2, straight to Stage 3 and some E85. That may be enough. It depends on traction. If it can still get most of it to the ground, then I may keep going.
It takes time for the right set of Turbo's to come along. Most will move the Power curve to the right, so that usually helps with traction and drive ability. I still want an all rounder. One that can be epic at the track, and still be taken out to dinner at night.
Building a straight track car is easy. Building a really fast car, with no compromise, is much harder, and much more expensive. I did buy the right car. I was going to get a GT3, but really there is little that can be done to the N/A.
The turbo is much more interesting to mod. Happy Holidays.
Today its much simpler. Its basically 5 Stages.
Stage 1 is just a Tune on a stock car.
Stage 2 Is some bolt on's for freer flowing exhaust. Headers, Sports Cats, Exhaust and CAI or Air filter - With more tune.
Stage 3 Is usually about cooling, Upgraded intercoolers and radiators to get rid of the extra heat from more agressive tune as well.
Stage 4 is bolt on turbo's. Most these days make pre-made Hi-Flow turbo's (Most even do exchange)
Stage 5 is a Fully built motor.
But today with how clever ECU's are, all along the way, you can play with Fuel mixtures. Most here would be unfamiliar with E85. It sounds fearful. But it provides extra cooling and octane. It makes a huge difference.
Stage 3 with a custom E50 tune (half E85 and Half 93) will knock your socks off. It should exceed 600HP. To go beyond that, you'l need to upgrade the Turbo's.
Pretty much as soon as COBB release Pro-Tuning. I will jump from Stage 2, straight to Stage 3 and some E85. That may be enough. It depends on traction. If it can still get most of it to the ground, then I may keep going.
It takes time for the right set of Turbo's to come along. Most will move the Power curve to the right, so that usually helps with traction and drive ability. I still want an all rounder. One that can be epic at the track, and still be taken out to dinner at night.
Building a straight track car is easy. Building a really fast car, with no compromise, is much harder, and much more expensive. I did buy the right car. I was going to get a GT3, but really there is little that can be done to the N/A.
The turbo is much more interesting to mod. Happy Holidays.
No argument about the cooling and octane benefits of ethanol, but since ethanol requires a richer mixture for the same output than gasoline, and the increased output requires even more fuel, can the stock injectors keep up? How much headroom do they have?
12-13-2018, 12:10 PM
#28
Burning Brakes
The 991.1 I just bought is the first PDK 911 (my girlfriend drives a 718 Cayman S PDK) I have ever owned and what interests me more than the ECU tune is the PDK tune (I don't think you can get one without the other) since the better the cars transmission works then better the power comes on. The IPD unit interests me, and of course (something I blame Audi for) drive by wire delay, which for I have installed throttle controllers for. I seem to be overly sensitive to the delay drive by wire causes (and when I blame Audi it is because of the cars that the gas pedals got stuck on 30 years ago I think they were the 100's series). I have lost out on a couple of used Cobb units with the PDK, and since I live close to Fabspeed (I have known Joe since he was selling out of his trunk), I may take a ride up there and see if they will let me test out the Cobb unit. I did a transmission tune on my 4C, and put a different TCU (from a stradale) in one of my360's, and it made a huge difference in both cars. Right now all my summer cars are in storage including my 997, so I can concentrate on what the 991 needs. I do agree that building a car that can still be used as a road car (especially a daily driver) as well as a track car (I have owned a few Corvettes including a heavily modified C6 Z06) can make things more complicated.
In that 1 out of 1000 circumstance, however, the driver accidentally hit the gas and floored the throttle. Thus was born the out-of-control, unworldly powerful, madly accelerating Audi. The German engineers understood this pretty well, but they didn't comprehend public relations. Telling Audi customers, who were, and are, largely affluent, educated people, that they were at fault didn't go over well. Denying the problem in general didn't help either. All this happened in 1986 or 87 and in a matter of two years, Audi sales fell about 80% in America and took about a decade to recover.
12-14-2018, 07:48 AM
#29
I was able to purchase the Cobb unit with the PDK software yesterday, it should be here next Tuesday. There is also another issue I have encountered over the years and that is tolerance for risk. Some owners like me could care less about warranties since they cannot enjoy the car the way it is out of the box (my reference to a stock car), though I am very well known at car dealerships in my area and have never been denied a warranty claim. Others are less inclined to risk anything and will wait till the warranty ends before doing anything. Then there are those who are worried that changing their tail pipes will void the warranty. I myself am not a purist, I believe cars are made to satisfy a wide variety of users. I should probably tell you I am different (I am autistic and have only an 8th grade education), and see cars without emotional attachment they are merely machines to me (or adult tinker toys as I call them). I am only telling you this because I found out on the Ferrarichat forum that because I cannot be offended, I do at times offend others. I will apologize in advance if I do, I never mean to.
12-14-2018, 09:30 AM
#30
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I was able to purchase the Cobb unit with the PDK software yesterday, it should be here next Tuesday. There is also another issue I have encountered over the years and that is tolerance for risk. Some owners like me could care less about warranties since they cannot enjoy the car the way it is out of the box (my reference to a stock car), though I am very well known at car dealerships in my area and have never been denied a warranty claim. Others are less inclined to risk anything and will wait till the warranty ends before doing anything. Then there are those who are worried that changing their tail pipes will void the warranty. I myself am not a purist, I believe cars are made to satisfy a wide variety of users. I should probably tell you I am different (I am autistic and have only an 8th grade education), and see cars without emotional attachment they are merely machines to me (or adult tinker toys as I call them). I am only telling you this because I found out on the Ferrarichat forum that because I cannot be offended, I do at times offend others. I will apologize in advance if I do, I never mean to.