Scooby921

Cobb has always made "soft" base maps to account for the fact that they are located at one given climate and altitude. They always back off the fueling and timing so that someone in humid Florida or in the thin air in Colorado doesn't end up with knock / detonation on an off-the-shelf map that was developed in Austin, TX (formerly in SLC, UT).

I don't know if Cobb has changed the base software in their AccessPORT and how it connects with an ECU, but in the past there was a "marriage" procedure which does lock the tool to a single ECU. If you don't remember to un-marry it before getting rid of the car the device is locked and would need to be sent back to Cobb to be reset. So yes you can keep the device to use with a different Porsche purchase (or sell it), but only if you decouple it from the ECU.

JCviggen

May have been true once (or for certain cars) but a modern ECU like the one we have takes care of adapting to atmospheric conditions all by itself. The targets shift all the time based on temp and atmospheric pressure. My pro tuned car (+20 WHP over the included Cobb stage 2 map) has run in temps from -20C to +35C and from sea level to the Eiffel mountains in Germany... never a hiccup. I think it's little more than a convenient explanation for them in this case.

Well yes, sure. You need to take 10 mins to let it uninstall itself. Doesn't change the fact that it's the only tuning option for our cars with this capability.

andy7777

My experience with FVD is very positive. I just have a basic tune on my 987 Boxster S and it appears to be seamless with the car. Noticeable extra power, feels a bit more than the 15hp stated by FVD when using the less restrictive air filter with the tune. Sharper throttle input without the car being too jumpy, a problem I thought was baked into the Sorts plus setting of my former 981. The install was easy, I couldn't be more pleased with the package.

Scooby921

Yes, but there are limits on how much the ECU can adapt before it moves into a more major correction reaction. OEM target on your injector duty cycle is probably a maximum of 80%, just to allow some overhead and protection for swings between high and low altitude and hot and cold temps. An aftermarket "power" tune is going to push the air-fuel targets and timing such that your nominal IDC is now closer to 90% or 95%. You have less "room" in the injectors to then add fuel for cold temps and low altitudes (dense air). The ECU then relies on pulling timing (reducing ignition advance gain) when knock / detonation happens. It's mostly seamless to the driver, but it's possible that you run into the occasional knock event and the ECU pulls 5° of timing advance in that instant, and then over time the gain climbs back to full advance.

You do bring up a good point though. If you are going to drive the car at both low and high altitude and hot and cold temps then it's something to share with the person tuning your car. It'll help them adjust calibration tables to avoid what I've described above. Maybe you only get 20hp instead of 25 or 30hp, but if you never get knock events that pull timing then it's healthier for the engine in the long run.


Personal opinion though, is that the cost of the parts, tuning tool, and actual dyno tune are so high that only getting 20hp just isn't worth it. Last time I looked at costs it was going to be close to $8000 for headers, cat-back, intake, and new ECU tune to get 15-20hp on my Cayman. For $4000 I added 100hp to my old WRX. I'd love to have more power and adjust the torque dip between 3000 and 4000 rpm, but it just isn't worth the money for the minimal gain. That's $8000 I'll keep in the bank as I save up for a next, faster car.

michaelscain

If the you have a Porsche Boxster 981S then you have the most to gain, FVD will get you from 315BHP to 352BHP.
on the other hand if you own a Porsche Cayman 981GTS then you have the least to gain from a ECU tune, you will go from 340bhp to 352BHP.

Just goes to show the boxster 981 was de-tuned the most in the 981 series.

JCviggen

I guess it depends on your starting point. I didn't get that much power because I started off with a 340 PS GTS and the dyno on the stock map was already with race headers. If you've got a 315 PS Boxster you end up in the same place as I did but you get a lot more HP per dollar.

Still, my car got to 371 PS and I "only" spent 1K on used race headers, 1K on a second hand Cobb, $400 on exhaust tips and $250 on the pro tune. These mods made my car quite a lot faster than stock (like -1.5 sec faster from 62 to 124mph) and like I said I started from a car that wasn't really restricted all that much from the factory. I've just now spent another $300 getting a new 991 intake plenum and 82mm throttle body that will be put on the car for hopefully another 10 HP at the very top of the rev range. It doesn't _have_ to be expensive but there are lots of companies out there that are happy to take your money of course if you leave it all up to them.

Tuned NA cars actually tend to run a bit leaner than stock, mine certainly does, so IDC isn't an issue. You see that more on turbocharged cars where you can actually shove considerably more air mass into the cylinders.

Kcobra

I purchased a package deal from Soul. Off Road headers, intake/throttlebody and DIMSPORT tune. All I can say is night and day difference. Not sure of the HP increases but definitely added significant power. DIMSPORT was great to work with.

DiabloBlanco

BTW, I went with the FVD ECU tune. Seemed to be the most responsive manufacturer. They gave me a file that has extra crackle on the back fire. It's almost obnoxiously loud but I certainly don't mind it. I do respect my neighbors and close the valves through my neighborhood.

Question for y'all. If the FVD tune says I go from 375 to 411 hp with their tune and my header manufacturer says I get an 11 hp boost, would this be additive (i.e. 422 bp in total)? Or does the ECU tune account for the header and optimize the component to get to the 411 hp. Not that an extra 11 hp matters.

Anyhow, looks like I can say that the hp boost is comparable to the new Spyder. Next, what do I do with my old license plate (LASTNA6)????!!!!!

MidEngineRules

Change to say, LASTX73

MidEngineRules

I live in Texas, but I'll take a German beer all day long. Buying FVD is like buying a factory upgrade. Even if FVD produced less power I'd still go with them as I would prioritize safe power as supreme.

dlbehrns

My first Porsche 981 Base. Found a IPD Plenum and TB for half price and I couldn't resist. Has anyone installed FVD on the 2.7 liter and if so, tell me about it. TIA dlb

pdds

I also live in Texas however I've decided to go with FVD. I'll update once I install. Thank you all, love this place!

dlbehrns

That's what I chose.and I'm ok with the results with the IPD plenum and 82mm TBody. My expectations weren't high given that I have a 2.7 liter. I installed the mods and kept getting the CEL P00068. I would reset it with a CAN device hoping the ECU would adapt but, as it was explained to me, the "tables" were not broad enough to accept the higher air/fuel flow volume
I had issues installing the software. The video shows a thumb drive as part of the package to load the software into MyGenius hand device before you read your own ECU. My bad for not reading the email from Rhonda completely. So, with that said, I started the download from the FVD program. NOT. There should have been, IMHO, something in the video instructing the user to disable firewall/antivirus software. Not my bad. Had to exchange emails to get that figured out. Once I had the download into the MyGenius device the video says plug in the device into the OBDII port and click on Reading. Nothing says Reading on the device. It did say Writing. I paused naturally. More emails. Guess what? Nor does the video say turn on the frigin key. I'm just following the f'n instructions, right. It does tell you when to turn the key off.
Two days later after multiple emails Rhonda takes over from a good chap who's primary language is not English> I read the ECU, send it to Germany, they send it back and I get the job done. JMHO, the instruction video needs editing. I read another thread and one of the posters said he had no problems. I sure did.
The power gains were noticeable but not profound. Those with an S with headers, 200 cell CATS and sport exhaust would probably experience more. I am happy with what I paid for. But it was a struggle. Kuddos to Rhonda for bailing me out. dlb

pdds

Good day fellow Rennlisters!

When I traded in my 7.2 GT3 and drove the Spyder back to back, I thought to myself that if this car had just 30 more HP, it would be on par with the GT relative to my butt dyno. So the search began for a tune and I found this thread!

I have just installed the FVD tune (no filters) on my 981 Spyder. The process was very straight forward without any issues! I was a bit nervous as I read the previous post and I also did not use a battery tender, so I was hoping my car wouldn't die in the middle of programming. Thank you Garfunkle and Tidybuoy for your input and sharing your experience with this install, I don't think I would have had the courage to tinker with the tune if not for their guidance! I watched the install video and read the directions MANY times prior to even starting the process, the package had been sitting in my kitchen for about 3 weeks haha.

I was finally free yesterday and decided I'd get it done. The initial download of the stock file was easy and took about 5 minutes. I emailed the file Sunday afternoon and I woke up with the tune in my email in the morning, happy Monday! Loaded the file onto the MyGenius and started the upload to my car. The reprogramming took around 10 minutes, which was quite nerve wracking as I was not using a battery tender and was just hoping my car wouldn't die mid-programming.

I requested the file that DiabloBlanco mentioned above with the more aggressive backfire and holy ****, it's very aggressive with lots of crackle and pops! As far as the power goes, there is a noticeable increase in power mid-range to redline. I'm very happy with my purchase and glad the install was trouble free.

Cheers!

inkatouring

If you want to really take advantage of the tune, get some nice 200 cell cats. My Cayman has the FVD tune and Cargraphic headers/cats and frankly the latter did more in terms of performance. When I got the Cargraphic headers, there was considerable debate about the German ones versus Fabspeed, which are made in the USA and cheaper. Not sure I would make the same decision today but regardless of which headers, the combination is the nuts!