6ta1

Hi y'all,

I did a quick search but couldn't find answers to my questions.

Who here has done an ECU tune to their cars and what feedback do they have?

I am not expecting any huge gains but a few ponies would be welcome if the price is right

Options I have found so far:
ECU Tuning Group - I believe they claim 23hp but not convinced by the company claims - $645
OE Tuning - they claim ~20hp, have an X51 offering - $395
Authority - they claim ~19hp, not convinced - $1,195
Softronic- well know tuner, they claim 20hp but no X51 offering - $895
EVOMSit - well known tuner, they claim 13hp on stock engine - $1,000
Upsolute - fairly known tuner, they claim 25hp (!) - not sure about pricing but probably $500-$700

Any other option or feedback on the above mentioned options?

KrazyK

I researched the same thing and the general consensus is @20HP at a cost of $800 + or - a few hundred. Thats actually not so good for the $$ but its what we're stuck with for a NA M96.

6ta1

that's why the OE tuning option seems not too bad. waiting for alpine to chime in on this as I am sure he looked into it as well

NineEreven

the 800 is better spent elsewhere to get the performance gains, an then everytime you change something on the car a new tune is suggested. I would wait until you do something major before spending that money on a tune.

alpine003

They are all more or less the same in terms of power, just different marketing.

Where they differ is after service and how ragged they tune their maps. Some run maps with more margin of error while others run it toward the edge. Some offer 93oct specific maps. Some have the option to lower the cat efficiency threshold value. Some offer the option to bypass the factory alarm starter interrupt. Some will offer free retuning if you put it on the wideband and the fuel ratios are off.

I personally like the DIY obd load(like softronics) due to convenience/time of not having to remove your ecu and send it in.

Remember the factory ecu will eventually make minor adjustments on its own up to a point. So given this, an ecu would benefit more to those that have extensive bolt ons or head/cam work.

Dennis C

I had the EVOMS ECU flash done last year. I considered it for several years before finally doing it. Overall, I'm pleased with it. It's certainly not a dramatic improvement, but it is noticeable. This is especially true in the low end of of the torque band. My "butt dyno" tells me that the car pulls harder than it did before, and the throttle response feels better. I like the EVOMS flash because my understanding is that it's not a true custom flash, but it is a flash designed specifically for the na 996 (as opposed to a "generic" flash).

I do think that there are better places to spend money on a totally stock car, at least initially. I'd definitely get Fister sport mufflers first, as an example.

EVOMS

Short of doing cats, headers, and major engine work (higher compression, more displacement, cams), a tune should give you the biggest increase in power on an otherwise stock car (relative to an intake, mufflers, pullies, a drop-in air filter, etc.).

Peak power gains aside, with the drive-by-wire cars (2001+), there is a lot of control with a tune to change how the car drives. We do a lot of work with the pedal maps to boost responsiveness at low RPM and at partial throttle, for example. IMO, it's a bigger improvement to the car than the peak power gains, as you'll 'use' that feature more often driving on the street.

Mufflers with the rest of the stock exhaust in place aren't going to give very significant power gains, and I would recommend doing them mostly for the sound. Sound is a great reason to do exhaust on these cars, but if you're looking for quick power gains those are not where you should be looking...the car will sound like it gains more power than it actually does.

We're regularly $900 for the 3.4 cars and $1000 for the 3.6s. We're 20% off of those prices until the 31st, and I can get you a deal on an intake if you're interested in the same timeframe. We have x51 tunes as well, the gains are roughly the same as the non-x51 cars.

weldingmachine

If your in Texas, it pointless not to use Chris Delgado for anything tuning wise. If your not sure who that is, pm me.

alpine003

[QUOTE=EVOMS;11006258
Peak power gains aside, with the drive-by-wire cars (2001+), there is a lot of control with a tune to change how the car drives. We do a lot of work with the pedal maps to boost responsiveness at low RPM and at partial throttle, for example.
.[/QUOTE]

Exactly. Another thing I forgot to mention is some maps will have revised pedal mapping too to give you a "sprint booster" type effect and responsiveness. That can be another bonus with a tuned ecu, power aside.

6ta1

not that I know the guy personally, but I thought he moved to NY to work for a tuner there?

But I agree i would definitely prefer a custom tune so I can have the guy work on the tq curve.


@ EVOMS: Agreed, don't care too much about peak power, more about the delivery.
can your tune be customized?
specifically turning off the SAI **for offroad use only**


@ all: other company I forgot to mention is unitronic, $949. I have no experience with them at all but they have a dealer local to me which would help

weldingmachine

Nope, he started D3 performance in Houston with two other guys on the North side... But you know him.. hes travels all over..No doubt about it, he knows what hes dong no matter what the car is...

Might want to check as they just opened it as well, i know they hes running some specials on tuning.

Randyg308

EVOMS!! no question,noticeable improvements across the lower and mid torque bands,of course ive also done headers,cats mufflers,pulley,plenum,and evoms air box,yes the slippery slope of upgrades,all it takes is cash!,but no doubt the performance has improved,its kind of limited what can be done with the N/A 3.6 engine,but once you have the fever.............good luck!

EVOMS

We should be able to accomodate that, shoot me an email at sstone@evoms.com and I'll follow up with you with more information.

Sam

6ta1

following up on this - not pulled the trigger on anything yet as I am still researching local options.

Would love an EVOMS tune but just happen to be one of the most expensive options (you get what you pay for I guess)

Adding to the list:
ECU Tuning Group - I believe they claim 23hp but not convinced by the company claims - $645
OE Tuning - they claim ~20hp, have an X51 offering - $395
Authority - they claim ~19hp, not convinced - $1,195
Softronic- well know tuner, they claim 20hp but no X51 offering - $895
EVOMSit - well known tuner, they claim 13hp on stock engine - $1,000
Upsolute - fairly known tuner, they claim 25hp (!) - not sure about pricing but probably $500-$700
Pedro's garage - kind of off the map, their tune is $499
FVD - well known tuner, their tune is $995

alpine003

Upsolute has been around quite a while now with other cars so they are legit.

FWIW, I wouldn't be surprised if most of them use the same tune more or less.

The ones that have the remote install availability is a nice option if you ever want to return it back to stock or need to modify the map later down the line.