Gibbo

Hi there


Been reading all about softronic maps and in general they seem to have a very good reputation with 99% of customers been very happy with the results, but I'd like to hear more, especially from guys first hand who have been running them for sometime please.

1. Did you get a noticable gain, are you still happy with it?
2. As long as you restore your original factory map can Original Porsche Centre (OPC/CPO) detect this?
3. Will a DME Scan show any change to the "number of programming operations"
4. Is there any limit on how many times you can flash and restore your ECU using softronic?
5. Anyone here who has or had a softronic map made a warranty claim? How did it go?

Be very interested to hear from those who have and be rather interested if the DME logs anything in the "number of programming operations" as mine is currently "02" and my car is stock so am assuming they have come from OPC/CPO updating the car when its been in for services as its had 2 services?

911SLOW

1. I will refrain from commenting
2. yes if they are looking for it
3. no
4. no
5. n/a

Gibbo

2. yes if they are looking for it

So it is detectable then, will Porsche actually be able to tell/prove it was a remap though, or be a good enough reason for them to void a warranty claim?

utkinpol

1. it is not 'gain' it is re-map and it helps to flatten out torque curve in hi revs. so yes it helps.
2. softronic says 'no'. practically i doubt anybody will dig for this much.
3. imho no
4. no
5. i have heard of such cases, both negative and positive. but usually it is never ecy flash alone - it may be aftermarket headers, cats, etc. then engine block temperature issues, etc.

if you get a sport car and want to make it run faster it will go beoynd factory stock enforced limits. most likely it will be fine. people put force induction systems on m96/m97 engines and those engines do survive fine for long long time. but any fluctuation of stock engine you do on your own risk, if you cannot accept this risk and buy new engine if old one blows - do not go far away from factory stock drivetrain configuration.

RonCT

Yes, but don't think it's like adding a super charger.
No.
No.
No.
No. Honestly, has anyone ever heard of a warranty issue in the past 30 years from any sort of software adjustment? Chips before software. I've never heard of a problem.

911SLOW

As I said if they are looking for it they can and will find it.
The local dealer with a simple PIWIS scan won't be able to see the flash as the "number of programming" counter is not changed.
And if no obvious DME faults are present they will not even see it by reading the VAL.
However in case something goes wrong and a warranty claim is submitted, your dealer might ask Porsche AG (or vice versa) to examine the DME and some specific values of it will reveal that the original map entry was tampered.

You know that your warranty coverage is primarily determined by the local dealer on the spot and it is at his discretion to decide. It all depends on your relationship with them.

GuyIncognito

I don't have it, but I'm considering either a Softronic or APR tune on my car. '06 997.1 C2 (not an S). purely a daily driver road car, no track time.

is it worth dropping $1k for a flatter torque curve and a few extra bhp? or for my purposes should I just leave it alone?

my first 997 was a C2S with an APR tune, then a 6-GT3...the base Carrera feels a bit underpowered, relatively.

kyrocks

Not worth it.

I had it on my Cayman S and was barely noticable - maybe a bit at higher rpm at the track.
I've emailed them a few times to give me dyno numbers since I was considering it on my GT3 - they've ignored these emails, but not other ones.

I say stay away from it. It's not going to give you that "magic" you've been waiting for and wanting. It's not worth the possible headaches and the money (rip off). My 2 cents.

utkinpol

if you do not track car - i do not think any of that is relevant. all those things are getting done to ensure that motor pulls perfectly equal after 4.5K rpm until 7K.
for a m96 engine it is apparently typical to put on m97 X51 headers, 100 or 200 cell cats, mufflers do not add nor remove much power - so decide for yourself.
after you altered exhaust allowing for more airflow then you flash ECU.

if you still have stock exhaust and drive car on street only - there is no reason to flash ECU.

mufflers exchange do not change amount of exhaust airflow much so it 'does not count'.

gu9cci

I don't think you feel any difference.I was exited to have it remap and after come disapoitment.Not worth the money.
If you have turbo then yes.remap make huge difference.

RollingArt

Several responses have answered "no limit" to this question.

I have to ask to all who answered this; do you know this as a hard fact that came from a certified Porsche source, or are you all making educated guesses? Because I would agree, this seems like the logical answer.

I ask because I know for a fact that BMW DMEs have a limit of 14 reprograms.






Phil

911SLOW

Good question. I have done it about 20+ times in the same car.

Bear in mind that we are not talking about an official reprogramming of the whole DME. One that formats it and requires codes to be sent from the factory. These are indeed limited for the Bosch ECUs for Porsche cars to 3 IIRC. (and they do show up in the "numbers of programming field")

The tuning "flashes" are only partially erasing and rewriting the bank memories that store the DME values for the engine maps etc.

mdrums

I had Softronic on a 2007 Carrera S. This car had BMC air filter and Fabspeed hi flow mufflers. I ran it totally stock then with the air filter mod and mufflers and then added the Softronic ECU flash. I noticed very little if any power gains in respect to how the car felt while driving it. I felt the car breathed slightly better above 5000rpm to redline.

These type of mods are not a night and day type of feeling and they are expensive for what you pay.

When I traded my car in the dealer called me 3 weeks later asking me what flash I did to the ECU. I told them and they were not happy asmthey were trying to CPO the car. It got into a small mess but resolved.

Basically if your car is under Porsche warranty and you flash the ECU you void the warranty of the power train and electronics of the car. This is straight from PCNA. Remember your warranty is with Porsche PCNA and not with the dealer. If you end up with a issue with your car the dealer will look to PCNA to sign off on paying to fix it and PCNA will what ECU print outs. My 2009 has a cracked header weld and PCNA and the dealer asked me if I flashed the ECU again as they were not going to pay for a new header. I have not and will not flash my ECU again and so Porsche checked my ECU found it stock and never tampered with and they replaced my header.

RollingArt

OK then, that's good to know as I have a softronic flash on my Boxster S. What flash or flashes are you using on your GT3?



As I stated above, I have the softronic on my Boxster S. In combination with an Evoms CAI, headers, 200 cell cats, and #2 cat delete pipes, I am very happy with the softronic flash. The car definitely has more "jump" to it now.

That said, I probably wouldn't flash a car that was still under warranty, especially after reading mdrums reply above.





Phil

Gibbo

So did you not bother flashing the car back to stock before you traded it in then?