Sorry guys first let me welcome myself, 1st post purchased my silver evo x about 2 days ago with 2 miles on it, now has 200 miles!

Well anyway been searching and reading up on tuning, i wiould like to keep it lightly modifed. Now i have already done the drop in intake, now for tuning on your opinion which should i get and which would lead me to btter results.

Z chip or Cobb accessport?

I read up on both, and search past threads but before i buy figure i would ask to see if anyone has tried both or know anything else?

 

The biggest difference is the COBB AP actually writes back to the factory ECU. The Z chip is a piggyback you can take out before going in to a dealer for warranty services and such. But having said that, The cobb AP has/will have more potential tunable options as opposed to any piggyback. Decide what is more important to you. There are many more details that differentiate the two, I am sure the other members will chime in with their opinions and facts.

 

Welcome to the forums!

It is good that you have done some searching and reading on the products but this topic really has been beaten to death. There should be enough information out there to make an informed decision on what would fit you best.

They are both great products but each has pros and cons. It really just depends on what you are looking to get out of a tuning device. If you have a list of priorities of what you want the most out of a tuning device then you might get some better replys. I am sure you will get some promotional posts from the vendors.

 

This is a good start to explaining but also remember that the Cobb stores all the factory ECU settings when it is "married" with your car and then it can be "unmarried" to set it back to the factory state. Rob from Cobb has confirmed that this is undetectable.

You can start with Price: Z-chip - $439, AP - $695 (retail) $625 (some vendors on the forums). The Zchip has shown to provide very nice power gains with or without a MBC and when ordered it can be custom taylored to the mods you have on your car. The AP comes with Stage I and Stage II basemaps along with a fuel econ map, stock map, and valet map. The AP can store several maps, the Z-chip stores one. The Z-chip comes with free software to custom tune while the AP does not currently have software but is working on releasing a free tuning software soon. The AP can modify almost every aspect of the ECU (Fuel, timing, boost, MIVEC intake/exhaust, Etc.). The Z-chip I think just changes the fuel and ignition. The AP can read and clear CELs and can datalog from most of the factory sensors. I think this is enough stuff to get you started on making your choice.

 

One other difference is that the ZChip is a bit safer since it doesnt modify the ECU it can't brick it either. That has some value.

 

thanks guys, as for the car only thingfor now on order is short shifter, Hallman Pro MBC, boost gauge, and proberly going towards the cobb accessport since it seems to have more options.

Any

 

I am no expert but I am pretty sure the AP has built in features that prevent a Bricked ECU and it is also backed up by Cobb who will be able to provide support if there was an issue. I have not heard of a case yet where this was a problem.

 

i like my AP.

plus I can clear and read my codes.

 

AccessPort all the way

 

Does anyone have an install guide on the AP, I am curious how it hooks to the ecu.

 

Via the factory OBD2 port on left side of steering column, under dash. Just exactly where your left foot/leg will bang into it.

 

So it literally just plugs in, 1 wire? Thats awesome

 

Yes you plug it in via the OBD2 port. No splicing, etc.

You flash the car with the map you desire and it's done. You don't even have to have the AccessPort plugged in after that unless you want to use the logging and/or realtime gauges on the unit.

 

Thats amazing to me, my other car you have to add a socket to the ecu then flash eeproms

 

Yeah, it's pretty cool that you just plug and go lol