I was told I could possibly damage my 2012 MR (OEM Tune) if I ran with an intake, exhausts, etc. So I've held off on doing anything to it and have driven it for a while now. I'm finally wanting to do stuff to it but I don't know where to start as I'm uneducated on most things. I've been told Cobb Accessport is the best first mod and that it will allow me to use an intake and other parts without worrying about damage. But it leaves me to wonder..

I'll start with my artillery of questions, prepare yourself!

• Will the Cobb Accessport really make it safe to run with mods? Or is professional tune the way to go?
• What are maps? ( Are they like a pre-determined set of settings? )
• I'm sort of confused on what kind of exhaust systems / pipes I can use without tuning. I've been told Cat-back Exhausts are safe with OEM tune, but anything else is not. Does this mean downpipes / HFC are not safe?

These are all questions you guys probably get alot on the forums, haha. But that's what forums are for right? Community and passing on knowledge? I'll apologize beforehand and thanks for your patience with dealing with another new guy.

 

An access port is like a chip, but it has a lot more features and capabilities, a pro time is ideal and a tuner can use the accessory to tune the car, car backs are fine it's test pipes and down pipes where you start needing the accessort or tune to avoid over boosting and getting a check engine light

 

Good questions. Questions that have been discussed in detail many times on the forum. Take some time to read some of the many threads and you'll find all the knowledge you seek to help you make your decisions and feel confident with what you'll be doing to your car.

 

The cobb accessport will make it safe to run with some mods like intakes, exhaust, and some others. People swear by them. I personally just waiting to buy all my parts and get a pro tune. The Accessport you have to see if they make a map for what you have but a positive is being able to change it whenever you want. Once you get a pro tune its there.

Maps are pretty much changes in your fuel/air ratio across you rpm range.Also with a turbo car you can make adjustments to your boost levels as well. You can have ones for economy or performance. Most pro tune will give you 2 to 3 maps. My friend on his gti got a special from his tuner, one for perfomance, one for economy, and anti theft(car wont go above idle), and a valet mode(car wont go above 3000 rpm) and he can switch between them using his wiper controls in some specific order.

And intakes catbacks intercoolers, are good to run without a tune, but will def run better with a tune. a turbo back system you will need a tune to be on the safe side and really get the performance out of the parts you bought.

I plan on getting my intake and intercooler, then buy a turbo back and a 3 port and tune all at once. Also I have a 2013 so an accessport does not have maps out for my car yet.

 

I appreciate the explanation and the information. I can see what you mean by installing all the parts and just getting a professional tune, so you'll be set in that configuration.

 

If you want a safe intake that makes great power without a tune get the K&N typhoon hands down. Unlike other intakes, its calibrated for the stock MAF and will only lean out the engine by 0.5 AFR, 20whp for you and comes with upgraded upper intercooler pipe.