DeweyD

Hey guys/gals,

I just bought and installed the STX300 off the shelf tune from AMS and thought I would share my first impressions of the product. This is the first mod I've ever put on a car and most of my comments will be subjective. I've only had the tune on the car for a few hours and driven 30 miles on it. It is otherwise completely stock.

First, hats off to Cobb for making such an easy to use device. So far it seems pretty idiot proof. Haven't tried any of their OTS maps yet and probably won't.

I have a 2012 GSR and AMS sent me a 92 octane map. I informed them that I only put 93 gas in the car, but mentioned I would be interested in 91 if it was a good safety/power compromise. In the end I told them to use their judgement so I ended up with 92. Even if it is a placebo, I like the peace of mind that the 92 offers.

I haven't logged any data yet so I can't provide very detailed numbers but using the live data option on the AP I saw

Max boost: 25.4 psi (Most WOT runs hit 25.0 or the low 25's)

Knocksum: 0/2 was the highest I've seen going WOT so far. (I'm still not sure what this really means in terms of knock) Only some WOT runs produced a knocksum, many stayed at 0/0. Maybe someone else can elaborate on what should be expected.

Subjectively speaking the car feels a little stronger when boost kicks in. Nothing outrageous but the rush of acceleration is still there. The biggest difference is now instead of losing steam at 5,000 rpm, the thrust stays strong and smooth all the way to redline. The power band feels much stronger 5K to 7K. I am nervous that I will break the car so it may take me a while to get comfortable with wringing out the newfound power I realize this thread may be useless without a dyno chart to back up my comments and maybe I am only describing everyone's generic first time experience with a remap.

Now to a pleasant surprise, gas mileage!!! It is too early to tell, and maybe the trip computer is lying to me, but after taking the car out and flooring it here and there, interspersed with a little highway driving I saw 26 mpg on the trip computer. That is a big improvement over the 21-23 I would normally see on that route. I won't really know what the effect is until I run a fresh tank of gas through the car. My last few fill-ups have consistently been 20.5-21.5 for a whole tank. If I really do see an average of 1-3 mpg improvement and drive 18,000mi a year then thats a savings of $200-600 a year! The package could eventually pay for itself.

Anyways just thought I would share my thoughts, if I get more info/data I will certainly share, but I am a lazy enthusiast so no promises. When I bought the car new I told myself that I would wait a couple years before modding the car. That only lasted 5-1/2 months! I want MOAR!!!

hexaggram

iTrader: (1)

With a company like COBB , you shouldn't be afraid of your new tune. if anything its X10 safer than the stock tune or so ive heard; apparently the stock tune is really lean and dangerous as it is.

I personally want more information on how much i can tune the car with that device.
like for example: (add injectors, bigger turbo, tubular manifold, test pipe, Port and polished heads and intake runner, ICP and IC, etc.)

DeweyD

It's not a COBB tune, it's an AMS tune on the COBB AP. I was also under the impression that the stock tune is way too rich.

hexaggram

iTrader: (1)

oh ****, badass! so what can you do with this device? like, how far can you go as for tunning

3000GT-GTO

Would you be willing to try out COBBs new released map for 2012 EVO GSR
http://www.cobbtuning.com/Accessport...M-12-EVO-X-GSR

download the map for 93 octane and tell us which map feels better AMS map vs Cobb Free map
I wanted to know if its worth additional 400 dollar you paid for.
In order to run the new cobb map you need to update your COBB AP to newest beta firmware or else it wont display live monitor correctly.

Andrew@AMS

iTrader: (11)

Thanks for the review!

Very happy that you are satisfied with the tune. Please let me know if you need anything in the future or if you have any questions

adw123

Hey all,

I just purchased this same STX300 tune for my EVO. I have the MR model so thought you guys might be interested in my impressions thus far for those that have the dual clutch transmission.

As with the OP, I'm very much new to mods so keep that mind. Prior to this tune I had only installed a drop-in air filter, and prior to my EVO, never modded a car before.

Normal Mode:
Acceleration is much the same although with a small amount more umph when it kicks in. Haven't noticed a huge difference here. One thing that I do seem to notice though is that the vehicle is kept in the low RPM's much more frequently.

I haven't tracked by MPG yet but I suspect this will be the factor that is improving gas mileage if anything. Those that have the MR are probably used to the normal Mode being a bit sluggish to spool up, and this hasn't changed much with the tune, but this mode really isn't where it's at if you want to go fast.

Sport Mode:
Overall feels much faster here. It's been a while since my EVO has taken my breath away the way it first did when I test drove it a couple years ago. It did it again a number of times on my way to work today while in the Sport Mode.

In the stock EVO, my experience was generally that shifting into 2nd (or 3rd) gear was where the boost kicked in and you got that big rush that makes driving the car so fun. After this shift, the next gear seemed to offer less of a rush and it then evened out. Now with the tune installed the car is giving a noticeably stronger initial rush, but then a second rush when you shift into 4th that is just as strong. By then you're approaching 90 and really can't push it much further on street roads.

Beyond the power, the transmission just seems to be smoother overall too. Sport mode can tend to be a little lurchy when you're in stop and go traffic but this seems to be improved upon by shifting earlier when you're not hitting the gas hard and shifting later when you do slam the gas.

S-Sport Mode:
Haven't had an opportunity to test this yet but will report back when I get a chance.

Price:
At a few hundreds dollars more than the AccessPort by itself, it is expensive but for me if I was going to mod my car at all, it had to be done reliably. I daily drive my car and need it to last for a long time so going with AMS is piece of mind. From reading the forums over the last several months their reputation seems to be that of one of the top vendors for EVO tuning and having that support is important to me.

Hope my impressions are helpful to other MR owners. If you have any questions, I'll do my best to answer them.

Thanks.

Andrew@AMS

iTrader: (11)

I do appreciate your review and also your feedback with the package. Please let me know if you need anything else or if you have any questions.

DeweyD

So I thought I would add an update. During my last oil change I uninstalled the AP and drove the car around with the stock tune for a few days (depressing). I then reinstalled the AP and loaded the new Cobb v401 93 octane tune to get a comparison. I drove like this for a couple weeks and just recently reinstalled the AMS STX300 tune.

It is not exactly apples to apples since I have 92 octane for the AMS map, and the Cobb was a 93, but here are my subjective opinions.

Cobb 93 v401
-Boost had a lot of variability, logging on the AP I would see peaks of anywhere from 24 to 26.6 psi. The map detail says 23.5 +-1.5psi, but this was never the case for me. I know the old Cobb maps were 26 so maybe this 23.5 is just BS and they are secretly still 26.
-The power delivery felt rougher than with the AMS. Sometimes thrust would kick in at 3,500; sometimes it would kick in above 4,000. The power curve "felt" a little different each time I went WOT, more peaks and dips in power.
-Felt more powerful above 5,500 rpm than the AMS. This may be due to more aggressive timing with the 93 octane or just more boost. I was seeing boost taper to roughly 17psi by 7,000 rpm; and overall boost pressure was generally higher than with AMS.

AMS 92 STX300
-Consistant peak boost numbers. AMS claimed 25psi peak and they were pretty dead on. 24.9 to 25.4 was about as much variability as I ever saw. I feel like this is evidence of the care they took in creating the tune.
-Stronger, smoother low/mid range power than the Cobb tune. With Cobb the power felt more like an on/off switch at 4,000 rpm. The AMS felt stronger before peak boost and the mid range power definitely felt stronger. A little more "shove" when you get on the gas.

Conclusion
I will definitely be using the AMS tune. It's smoother, stronger mid range makes it much more enjoyable as a DD. Also I trust the AMS tune more in terms of reliability. I am not saying a stock car with a Cobb tune will explode or anything, but when AMS says their tune will hit 25psi I expect 25psi. It worries me that I was seeing over 3psi higher that what Cobb was claiming. The Cobb's power delivery was kind of fun, it hits the "on switch" suddenly and drags the needle quickly past redline, which reminds of my lovable old 8th gen Civic SI.

Overall the AMS tune is superior in my book, now is it worth an incremental $400 over the Cobb tune? Maybe, maybe not. The Cobb tune is still way better than stock and I would feel comfortable using it if I didn't have the AMS. For $450 you get the AP (which is awesome) and a tune. You are looking at roughly $10-15 per hp, and you will never get a better bang for your buck. With the AMS you will be looking at more like $20-$30 per hp. The AMS tune is better, but obviously not TWICE as good!

I think if more mods will appear in the very near future, skip the AMS and wait for a Protune. If you plan on keeping the car close to stock for a while and want the best off-the-shelf tune then I think the AMS is great. My next upgrades will be a short shifter (later this week woo hoo!) and CBE, neither of which will necessitate a new tune, so the AMS STX300 will probably last a while (you know how that goes )

3000GT-GTO

Your next map to test will be, Cobb Stage 2 93 v401 all you need to run this map is a test pipe or HFC Pick one up on ebay for dirt cheap and you'll enjoy another free 20HP. .

Vit0

iTrader: (1)

Doing a simple package like the stx300 package really wakes the car up. Nice write up.

NFSLancerRA

iTrader: (8)

OP, can you please post a log with your AFR's por favor?

st0k3d

Interesting results