Not sure what your point is, but it certainly seems like things are changing for the worse. I think investing in desalinization plants or seawall construction might be a good bet going forward.

Now as far as the tuning goes, I don't know much about it, but the two cars I have a tune on (both Audis) still keep all the emissions gear, including cats and run well. Not sure what the various tunes available for the 997 do specifically, but I don't plan on removing cats or any other emission items when I do go that route. Maybe Cobb's change is a killer for tuning your Porsche, I don't know. Like with the Audis, if I can gain a nice percentage in power, I will be happy, but that's just me and YMMMV.

Possibly you can view this with the same eye as the tech that has infiltrated our cars. I look at my 1995 Urs6 engine bay and then my 2008 S6 engine bay and cannot believe the differences, but they are there and I have to deal with them. Whatever the reasons are that move anything in a specific direction, whether political or not, are normally the result of a confluence of complex interactions that influence those choices, some of which may be in no one's control. The choices themselves may not always be something desirable, but like my massively complex engine, I will learn to deal with them. I don't have the energy, time, money or power to change what drives those choices at that level in any significant way, but I can gather information, interpret the landscape and make the best choice for myself. I think adapting is a better use of my time.

Right now, that choice is heading to the fridge and downing a Molson XXX after reffing a couple of men's league games. God forbid they stop making Molson XXX. Of course I could always grab a Victory Golden Monkey or a New Belgium Voodoo Ranger. Ah, the simple pleasures.

Ed

 

I first caught wind of this last week when I saw a video of Chris Miller throwing COBB related tuning gear out of the door of his shop. The EPA has been cracking down on independent tuning shops for that past few years with big fines being handed out to small business owners. Xtreme Diesel Tuning and PFI speed to name a couple. It kind of sucks that COBB is going this route, but honestly, what choice did they have? Their options were literally 1) Comply with the US Government 2) Don't comply and face the fines associated with that and ultimately go under as a company. For us 997 Turbo / GTx owners, we're basically stuck with the same files that we currently have saved to the AP or PC. As of the end of this month, you won't be able to have your tuner change anything MAJOR that is related to having our cars run with aftermarket parts that require an emissions modification to keep a CEL off. Examples of this would be:

-Speed density tuning
-SAI pump monitor modification to keep secondary o2 sensors off
-I THINK also coding out VGT to run conventional gated turbochargers.

You would still be able to run bigger injectors, more boost, catless pipes etc. so long as you trick the DME in other ways to seeing the values that it expects. Running o2 Sensor Spacers is an example of tricking the DME to seeing a functioning and healthy catalyst (this is what I do). So bolt on modifications like that will be OK and a protuner should be able to modify the map using the new updated tuning software so the car will make more power. It becomes a problem when you're shooting for BIG power and need to go to a speed density tune or different turbos. You'll have to go to a stand alone like Motec or Syvecs.

Me personally, I plan to run the COBB and my files that I have now. I would like to try and get another custom tune in before the 30th to at least have on file.. but it doesn't look like that'll happen.

 

Hi Ed,

It is my opinion that positions of indifference like this lends a lot to why we got the phrase “we get the government we deserve”.

For example, what if I shipped my car to race somewhere else (eg another country) without such emissions restrictions? I’m not sure if I could still use Cobb tuning if I had certain mods as a result of whimsical CARB EO and EPA guidelines.

 

What I would like to see is more robust open-source tuning coming available. If individuals were equipped with the know-how and capabilities, and people documented, collaborated and communicated on these things more, they can’t really do much, and perhaps the tuning scene can push the envelope in terms of innovation even better with opening the knowledge base up a bit.

 

If someone somewhere were able to hack into the COBB AP and write their own tuning software to go along with it and make it accessible and purchasable to the masses, I could see there being a market for that. **COUGH** any software engineers reading this....

 

For those with significant tunes, I wonder if a COBB tuner can still provide support when it comes to reviewing data log files and making slight timing or air and fuel delivery tweaks? Will a COBB tuner’s new software recognize a car that has adjustments to DTC, O2, ect. and immediately say, “nope…I can’t accommodate this vehicle in any way”? I haven’t yet come across seen any info on this aspect.

 

haha Reading this

 

What vokain wrote had nothing to do with the topic at hand was meant to be caustic. I will continue to edit/delete posts that meet this criteria.

 

More or less. Based on what I read on COBB’s website and the tuners I follow on social media, I understand it to be that as of the end of this month, the old tuner software is out and all registered protuners will be required to use the updated tuning software. So, if a calibration file that was built using the old software is being revised using the new software, it won’t allow any current emissions defeat coding done to the current file to continue onward. Basically have to turn everything back on and revise from there. You should still be able to make changes to air:fuel/ignition timing etc. though.

 

Hmmm…that was my fear. Having a speed density tune on what will be the old software, I’m pretty much out of luck if I need any minor adjustments 😒. Oh well, I’ll cross that bridge if I need to. Thanks for the info!

 

It'd not indifference, per se, just a realization of where I want to spend my efforts. I am a realist and other than voting for who I think will do a good job, I don't do much more from a political activism perspective. At this point in my life, I am not inclined to protest or organize other than with my choices. If enough choices go in a particular direction, they, in and of themselves, have their own impact. If they are economic in nature, they might even influence the change you want, if enough momentum is gained, regardless of who is in government. It seems the money part of things drives most decisions today (pay attention to what's happening with Netflix right now), although there are enough other issues going around right now that are a bit scary. But if the voting public votes for people that want things that way, that's the government we get.

That's the way I understand democracy, at least for my part in it. But like I said, YMMV. Maybe if I was younger (I'm going to be 60 soon) I would allocate more energy to these big issues, but I know I only have so many years left, so I focus on the things that make me happy, like family, friends and more personally on the hobbies and activities that bring me joy. Working on cars, playing and officiating ice hockey, building scale models and helping my kids grow into successful young adults are some of those. I try to bring a little joy into others' lives, whether it's the person behind the coffee counter, a flight attendant on my next trip or the guy sitting on the lift next to me.

Many years ago, when I was much younger, I did help organize a group that stopped a water company from installing a giant pump to suck water out of our water table (how's that for forward thinking), but it was as local as you can get. So maybe that's my advice for advocacy of a physical nature. I think people can have a bigger impact with the folks who govern locally, and a better return on their "investment" of time and energy. Big things like these, for me, are just beyond my ability, or more accurately, desire to effect change. Not that I don't want it, just that the cost/benefit ratio doesn't hold up for me. That may be selfish, but again, that's my reality. I maybe have 20 - 25 years left, maybe 15 of them staying as active as I am now. So that time is precious to me, and I allocate it based on that priority. I still donate to the causes I believe in, but that's about as far into as I get now. Maybe some donation I have made will have a lasting impact that will help others, I don't know.

No matter what, I will continue to vote for the people in government who have ideals that are in line with mine. If enough people vote like me, then things should move in the direction I would like. If I am in the minority, then I have to deal with whatever the results are, scary as that might be. What I won't do is create any agony over an issue when I engage with others. That is the one part of today's landscape that bothers me the most, and there is absolutely nothing I can do about that. I can state how I view things, but I am not going to argue with someone about this stuff. Sex, Religion and Politics... are things that touch raw nerves with people, today more than any other time in my 6 decades on earth. I'd rather have a discussion about how to handle a CEL or diagnose a miss or remove and replace a part. Much less controversy and defensiveness there.

That's why I love and contribute to this forum. Without it and other sources I would never have been able to do the work I have done on my vehicles. Maybe something I post here helps someone or saves them some cash, that would be cool.

Ed

 

In your case, you may just have to live with a CEL; the default action is to fall back to speed density if there is a MAF failure anyway. I don't have access to the lower level COBB software, but I would imagine that setting 'enable MAP/speed density only' simply tells the ECU to fail on first error/no cel (for the MAF).

EDIT: they've already updated their documentation (they deleted the section regarding speed density)

https://cobbtuning.atlassian.net/wik...1+Tuning+Guide

 

Pretty good breakdown of it all.

 

Nice find. This guy does a great job of explaining everything so that even I could understand!

Ed

 

I feel bad for the flex fuel guys who no longer have that as an option (well, at least dynamic flex fueling).