not sure exactly why he (chase123) would want an "unlocked" tune but i can tell you why i think it is important. a locked tune is only good for that particular shop there for if there is a falling out or you just are unhappy with the shop/tune/service then you are stuck. either continue to work with the guys you are not happy with or start over somewhere else. i am sure the tuners wanted this feature to keep other shops from stealing there tunes but i think in the end it hurts the end costumer, the person with the car and accessport. the shops don't care if they have to start over or not, it is just more money to them for dyno time. also around where i live we get shops that come and go, granted none of them are accesstuners, but what if the shop you are working with goes out of business, then you are back to square one. just my 2cent.

 

If you were unhappy with your tuner wouldn't you want to start with a fresh tune anyway? If i went to another tuner i would get him to start from scratch.

 

maybe, maybe not that is why i said "unhappy with the shop/tune/service" there are a couple of shops around here that i feel are good but i don't like the people that work there, usually due to the way i have been treated while at the shop. doesn't mean they don't do good work just means i would rather not continue to give them my all mighty dollar vote!

 

Well, on my evo9, I received one of the infamous flash-"tunes" by one uber famous socal tuner.. it lasted probably 20mins (barely any chatting). I also waited over 4hrs @ the shop.. But anyways.. The tune made power, but after a month or so p0300 came up and problem after problem. Later on we found the injectors were scaled ridiculously off, which may or may not have caused most the problems, but anyways.. <-the point of that was, there are bad tuners or at least tuners that have off days/don't like you for whatever reason and do "ehh" jobs..

Also, I'm no PROtuner, but I would like to learn. If I pay $300-400 for a tune, personally, I feel I'm paying also for the chit-chat-explanations of what adjustments are being made while @ the shop (ie; "i'm adjusting your timing because yadda yadda"). Idealy, I hope to, with more research and guidance, maybe just one day, be capable of adjusting/tuning myself via RACE.

However, I understand where you're coming from also.. Just would be nice if the $600 AP was as open to end-users learning and utilizing the tool for the X, as ecuflash and a tactrix were for the 8/9's..

 

I believe it was mentioned already. If you want to tick with it a bit you can't. So technically you could never tune your own vehicle unless you do it all from the begining.

What if you want a tuner to do the mayor work, and you want to go behind a refind what he did?

 

There are a couple of reasons why an unlocked tune is important to me.

First, I need the ability to edit it myself using the Race software. I live 5 hours away from Cobb in Plano, so driving there anytime I want a small adjustment isn't feasible.

Then there is the principle of it. I write code for industrial robots. When I program a system, the company gets a copy of the code and the ability to edit it. I don't see any difference here. I should be able to do what I want with the work that was done for me.

 

I think is going to come down to asking the tuner to leave it unlock or ask if they will. If they choose not to, call another tuner.

P.S. Cobb is not the only tuner that can dyno tune the car, just in case you didn't know.

 

They are the closest reputable place.

 

So what if the company that purchases your code decides to give it away to a bunch of other companies for free - and then you have no more customers b/c it is freely available since the original company purchased it and is giving it away...

 

Not the same. When you write code for a company, you are on their payroll and they own everything you produce.
A tuner sells a turnkey product to you, i.e. the tune. It’s his right to lock his intellectual property to protect his business and at the same time it’s your right to take it or leave it. If I’m a tuner I would definitely not want a customer or some other shop ”fine tune” my work, burn a hole in a piston and then blame me for it.

 

That scenario is not applicable as our customers are competitors and do not help each other. But anyways, there is nothing to stop a customer from loading the same code into another identical system. I have found that DRM that hinders the end user causes more problems/loss of business than it solves.


I'm not an employee of the company that the code is for. They pay me the same as I pay a tuner to alter my car's ECU parameters. Also, a person could "fine tune" the other mods on their car ,e.g., change the intake, which could just as many problems as altering the tune itself.

 

that link available yet?

 

Sure, just let whoever will be tuning your car know your plans whether it be Tim, Christian, John, or Calvin. I'm sure they will be accommodating.

Thanks,
Rob

 

We're on holiday until the 5th. We'll start final testing then and get the links up ASAP.

Thanks,

 

Rob, what does a tune cost at the Plano location?

I assume you need to buy an access port and then there is some cost associated?

I'd need at least two and likely three tunes (91, 93, & STU legal [ie. no boost changes ])

I'm thinking that the cost of the tunes will be > than the cost of the accessport.