Alright, so I've nailed down most of the mods in regards to my wagon, and I definitely need a tune, as Ive avoided boosting now for far too long. The car is currently tuned on a protune from MN, before the sti catback and the PnP work was done. The major changes to here have been an increase in elevation by about 2500 feet, temperature change, and most importantly, the highest octane I can buy is 91. I have a MY 02 wrx wagon, PnP'd td04, intercooler elbows, and throttle body. My current mods are as follows (not including the PnP stuff: GM boost solenoid hks uppipe Sti Catback I will be gutting the stock downpipe, and replacing the midpipe cat with a hi-flow model before I tune. So, that that said, what are my options, and what is the best? What I think is available: Open ECU: I cant find anyone local. I dont know if its possible I log my own maps with a program and can email them to someone for tuning. I havent heard of that service and would imagine it would be much bigger if it were possible. Cobb AP: Not cheap, but if I look for awhile I'm sure I can find a decently priced one. More concerned about the accuracy of the maps in relation to my climate and octane levels available. I like the ability to change tunes on a dime, and to return to stock settings also. Seems like there is also a lot of room for upgrading the tune after adding new parts in the future. Ecutec: Know nothing about it. Protune at a shop: EXPENSIVE and only good for one time. Will probably have to retune for summer considering the 80 degree temp difference we will be seeing, (the low was 50 today). The only available shops are also at sea level vs my 3500 feet.
Also, I need to replace my spark plugs and have searched, including Nasioc only to find that there are a million opinions, none with any sort of experience to back them up other than "this one time on a dyno". I'm leaning towards NGK step colder's right now.
Wait, what mods exactly have you changed since the last custom tune? The 91 octane isn't great, but it isn't a dealbreaker, provided you trust that your current tune/tuner set up your map correctly. The car will learn around the lower octane gas. Also, if you're money crunched, I would suggest you find a good email tuner. From what I have seen on NASIOC, 555 Motorsports knows what they're doing.
Well I'm not sure the first tune was very good. I was having issues with the performance before I even left minneapolis, but the gas and elevation has compounded the problem. I have been waiting on a tune in order to get the rest of the mods to the motor done.
and thanks for the link to 555 motorsports I'll check their pricing, etc. So is an AP not a good investment at this point? What will I need to buy, equipment wise in order to tune with 555?
Good question ^ I'm going to see what everyone recomends, I'm wondering what the best option is too, I currently have a Cobb access port 2, But alot of guys recomend a reflash, I Know that the reflash is less expensive but which is the best for a car that is slowly building his car? And isn't an acces port like a reflash that is just easier to switch maps?
Well, you need to pick your tuner first. If you find a tuner you like that only tunes with the AP, then sure the AP is a good investment. You would need a tactrix cable and a good working knowledge of how to log and flash your ECU to do mail order tuning with 555. If you're getting or planning to get a custom tune, you'd basically follow the same advice as I gave Jack above. First pick your tuner. If you like a tuner who only tunes the AP, and want to pay for him to create numerous custom maps for you (pump, meth, race gas, etc), then the AP is a good path. If you find a good tuner who tunes OS, and you only want one map (ie; pump), then OS is a good choice. Cliffs: The only thing the cost of the AP gets you is entrance to some of the more popular tuners that only tune AP, and map switching capability.
