Hoosier_Daddy

Boy, you can say that again -- and it seems to be evident here with the "clearly I made the best choice" nonsense.

larry47us

Here's the situation with regard to Softronic's Tune. I bought a 2001 Turbo that has the Softronic Tune, and with the car came their installation cable and software. I sent them an email looking for some additional information on the specific tune they installed in my car. I got no response.

Giving them the benefit of the doubt, I sent them a second email last week asking again for some additional information on the flash installed in my car. This is the response that I received.

I bought my car from a dealer. They won't tell me who the PO was, much less detailed info on how I can reach him. I am happy with the tune and responsiveness of my car. But, I would have liked to have some customer service. This certainly leaves a bad taste in my mouth.

larry

Kevinmacd

Reply asking why they are taking that stance since you bought the car from a dealer, and you expect better customer service.

larry47us

This afternoon, I received a call from Scott, the guy that owns Softronics. He said that it is a lot easier to answer questions over the phone than through a series of emails, so he decided to call me. He explained to me that they don't give out any information to people that call with VIN numbers. He said that if someone can show that they own a particular car, they would be more than happy to give them any information that they want.

He said that they have gotten a lot of phone calls from people that are buying cars at dealerships and call them before the purchase to find out if the car's ECU was flashed or not. A lot of work for people that really don't have a vested interest in the car yet.

If I send them documentation showing that I bought the car, he said that they would send me a zipped copy of the two files that relate to my car, the flashed ECU program, and the stock one. He said that with the standard K16 turbos, which were on the early 996 Turbos, that their flash is capable of either 91 octane or 93 octane programming. They use the 91 octane programming for California cars. In a 93 octane configuration, their flash generates up to 1.2 boost with a standard exhaust. This generates an additional 80 HP over the standard configuration.

We chatted about a number of other things, but I am now satisfied that I will get what I need for my car. And, Scott was willing to spend as much time as I wanted from him. A lot nicer than the email that I received.

larry

Mikelly

Hell, you posted while I was writing my post... Glad that Scott got back to you about this... Atleast they're trying to work with you.

Mike

Kevin

1.2 bars on stock K16's isn't wise.. The compressor wheels are running off the map. The end result is alot of heat pumped into your IC's.

larry47us

I haven't found a long enough straightaway with no smokies to be able to hold the car till it spooled up to a 1.2 bar. I am regularly running 0.3 - 0.6 boost. Once, I thought I saw it flash to 1.1. I'm not trying to burn up my car. I appreciate the advice.

larry

Kevinmacd

Well glad you are getting somewhere.

Cosmo007

Go with Kevin @ UMW, as he is a Porsche guru and you will get great customer service, as Kevin is easy to get ahold of and will not avoid you if you have any problems.

JIM in Texas

haulinkraut

I cannot speak for every tuner's reputation personally but I would bet some you money that you couldn't find a single tuner with a 100% satisfaction rate. If you do, then you didn't look hard enough. Everyone has their own way of doing buisness and many of the deciding factors for which person you decide to do buisness with is personal or emotional more than a subjective. You can strive for perfection all you want, but you are in denial if you think mistakes are never going to happen. I think you are really safe with EPL or UMW, but I cannot guarantee that you will be happy with your decision because I am unaware of your expectations.

I chose EPL due to their reputation and my personal past experiences with them and I am happy with them. I didn't decide against UMW because of the quality of their service or the tune. Just remember that if you ask here which tuner is the best most will say UMW and if you ask on 6speed most will respond EPL. That should tell you how much of the forum information should be treated as a guide more than a deciding factor. Use your own judgement and don't let anybodyconvince you that a tuner's tune is magic. It isn't and most of the good tuners use the same tricks but in a slightly different way when it comes to writing maps.

993GT

thread bump, and a happy EPL customer

volv4life

I had the exact opposite experience. I had an issue applying the flash and tony was quick to help me get it fixed, he called me on my lunch break and we had it all sorted out in after a 5 minute phone call. I know most people would love to hear direct feedback over "I heard from a guy".

TheDeckMan

Having had both, I prefer Kevin's tune's throttle/boost mapping over the EPL file.

Having met and dealt with Tony in the past, he is very nice to deal with for the 2.7t's. So is Chris Tapp at Eurodyne who does awesome tunes for 1.8t's. I always like to find the tuner that has great contact and has a good record for long term ownership of the cars.

My experience with tuners has been that they come and go like the newest pop song and have a huge following that says "More power, faster ect"....but then things start to unwind/support goes away as soon as there is a possible issue with the tune which they will continue to blame on hard ware till the day they die.

"02996ttx50

"some" tuners(?!) will let the new owner of a tune identified as having come from a certain tuner ( oh lets say apr for example since "they" aren't "here" ) "register" their new ownership with whomever supplied the tune. and for that, often will allow them to upgrade and whatever else for a small "fee" that is lower than the cost of the tune itself.

with these cars, i think it really does make sense to be able to go with someone proven that also when called can also fairly reasonably be reached by ph/text whatever and is there for you when you DO need help. again, that tends to be the boutique ( hate that term but its appropriate ) tuners, and less so the bigger outfits.

993GT

In my experience, EPL/Tony was there for me long after purchasing his tune(recalibrating the OBC for larger injectors).
I'll add, the industry 'standard' seems to be street tunes, they hit hard and give most guys the thrill they want. I asked Tony for a track tune=more linear throttle/boost curve, and he delivered.

Rob