Robert Henriksen

kk, the '96 993 used a different chip that can't be flash upgraded. That's why Steve doesn't have a price listed for it. I'm in the same boat.

The two options are to buy a 97/98 DME, and pay for the flash upgrade/reprogramming of it; or wait a while longer & hope Steve succeeds in coming up w. a way to reprogram the '96 DME. He *is* working on that, but it doesn't sound like it's a front-burner, any-minute-now project.

Randall G.

Hey Kkcy,

I wish I had a before/after experience to relate on the software upgrade ... but, I don't. Perhaps there are people on this board that do have a before/after experience?

I'm not sure if one can honestly expect 18-20 hp. But, if Steve W. says so, I would tend to believe it's true. I would be happy with just an honest 10 hp, personally, although it's getting a bit pricey at some $1300-1600.

To add confusion to matters, someone on the 964 board recently did extensive dyno testing (before/after) of a chip that was supposed to add similar power. Bottom line, his testing (meaning, I wasn't there, and can't vouch for the testing's accurary--but it appeared to have been done properly) did not show nearly the power advertised. As I recall, the power increase was so minimal, he returned the chip. You might try a search of the 964 board, looking for the thread and author.

Is it possible Protomotive's cost is on the high-side because the price quoted is for a '96? Also, would that possibly be an installed price? Anyway, if you can get a '96 upgrade for less (or even similar price) from Steve, that would be a good way to go, as well. Just not sure if you're comfortable with pulling/installing your own ECU, besides having the car O.O.S. while you ship your ECU, then wait for its return.

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

[quote]Originally posted by kkcy993c4:
<strong>Steve, after reading numerous praises about you, I trust you must be an expert on Porsches. I just visited your website looking for the 96 DME. However, I found only 95 and 97-98. Would you be kind enough to provide me the pricing information on the 96? Once upgraded, is it still reprogrammable? Do you think a larger throttle body will help with only the DME upgrade? Please advise. My email: kkcy@earthlink.net

Thanks.


Randall, thanks for your feedback. I just got a quote from Protomotive. They tend to be quite expensive comparing to other tuners. Todd Knighton quoted me $1595 for the 96 while most other companies are in the $1250 range. Do you honestly think upgrading only the chip will bring a realistic 18-20 horses? Performance I can feel?</strong><hr></blockquote>


Hi:

As Robert indicated, there are no options for the '96 DME's since they use a one-year-only internal architecture with a dual chipset that are not flashable. These were special proprietary chips made by Bosch that are no longer available and these DME's are no longer supported by Porsche or Bosch.

So,....as of now, we simply buy a new 97-98 DME
(which has an EPROM) and reprogram that for the '96 993's. We are working on an alternative that will let us modify and retain the '96 DME but its in development and time is not always available to devote to that. Its a work-in-progress and it will be closer to the end of the year before its completed and we can do some testing. This will be selectable between several optional programs, though.

Please e-mail me directly for pricing should you be interested.

FWIW, the 993 chips definitely make a greater torque & power increase than 964 chips do and making any direct comparisons is not accurate, IMHO. Further, the 3.6 litre engines do vary a lot more in output from each other and do account for the variations in each engine's response to chip tuning. Cam timing and compression account for the bulk of these differences.

Hope this helps,

Randall G.

[quote]Originally posted by Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems:
<strong>

***snip***

FWIW, the 993 chips definitely make a greater torque & power increase than 964 chips do and making any direct comparisons is not accurate, IMHO.

***snip***

Hope this helps,</strong><hr></blockquote>

Interestingly, Todd K said something similar to me--that the 993 engine responds very well to "chipping." Now, I wonder if that is in reference to the VRAM engine, or even the '95 (non-VRAM) 993?

Steve Weiner-Rennsport Systems

[quote]Originally posted by Randall G.:
<strong>

Interestingly, Todd K said something similar to me--that the 993 engine responds very well to "chipping." Now, I wonder if that is in reference to the VRAM engine, or even the '95 (non-VRAM) 993?</strong><hr></blockquote>

Both of these,....

Joe@Fabspeed

If you have a 1996 dual chip 993 or 993TT another option over buying a new 1997 brain is to Unichip or Piggyback program the car. This is a non-invasive chip that is alo proven to work as an alternative system.

Benefits are non-invasive and you dont have to spend $1000 on a new brain and then spend additional money to have the new brain opened and then chipped. Call the Racer's Group for a qualified installer near you. 707-935-3999

kevin993c4

Anyone know if the Unichip will cause the "Check Engine" light to come on with OBD2?