I'm trying to educate myself a little more on options for tuning the Evo and came across the Accessport. I understand the concept and think it is fairly straight forward, but I have a few questions that searching has not answered for me. Right now I have Buschur air intake, buschur dp, high flow cat, and full 3" exhaust, Evo MR bov, and a Turbo Trix tune.

When using the Accessport would my TT tune be my base tune and the other Cobb options would be available on the port? If I have other mods like Cams, 10.5 hotside, o2 housing, fuel pump etc would I just run the stage 2 tune from Cobb or would I get a tuner to do a custom tune? I was reading that Al, ams, and some others have to capability now.

Can any tuner tune for this and will it be saved on the accessport? Is it really as easy as getting the tune emailed to you and working with the laptop or is it more detailed than advertised? How much of a pain in the neck is the process?

I know they say you can switch basically on the fly... so as you're driving you can change between an economy setting and a high HP setting? I've read so much it is starting to get jumbled. Anyone who is using an accessport with some mods I'd like to hear your opinions or some dyno numbers. Any dissappointments? How are they working on the Evo's? Thanks in advance.

 

The tune you have right now will be your base map. I really don't think you can use any of the other base maps because of the mod you have and are going to add. You have to get Protuned for all those add-ons.

The AP is probably the easiest reflasher to use. Once you get tuned for all your diff mods, they will all be stored on the AP. They work awsome. Everyone I talked to say nothing but awsome things about it.

I do have to say, the path that you are taking, I'm not sure if the AP is going to be necessary. Once you start adding all those mods, the base maps won't be that good for you. You have to get tuned.

 

I was really thinking it would be nice to have a "long trip" map for fuel economy. Or have a map made if you have to leave your car out and worry about getting it stolen; maybe one with minimal boost so it runs like a dog and can't get trashed. Another tune set with the two step launch control, if they are able to set that yet.

Just kicking around some ideas. wasn't really sure if it still had to be plugged in after you set a map. Can you set a map and take off the AP or is the base map set when it is unplugged.

I plan on having a tune done when all the mods are complete, but thought this could work too. How much are tuners charging for a protune; which I assume is just a custom tune to your cars specs. Are they able to send them via email or disc or do they have to physically tune your car to set the map? I know Al has a huge data base of flashes from years of R&D, but a lot of protuners may not have as much Evo experience.

This whole thing seems like it is still being worked out. Reading other posts leaves me with a lot more unaswered questions than answered ones. Sounds like potential is being held back a bit from the tuner side for sure. Cobb is a top notch Suby tuner but may have a harder time cracking the EVO scene. Maybe I'm way off, but I want to learn more and educated myself so I have options.

 

To answer your ?? on leaving AP plugged in or not...once the map is flashed to the ECU you can unplug the AP and that map will stay....if you leave the AP plugged in you can view some LIVE DATA parameters like rpm, mph, fuel trims, coolant and intake temps, and the one I view everyday while driving is the knock sum counter.

With your mods you'll defintely need to get PROTUNED if you are going to use the AP....since your mod list is beyond COBBS base maps....

Christian from COBB emailed a few guys some tweeks to an existing map that was on their AP....so Im sure in the near future some PRotuners could email you a canned map they might have with your type mod list and you could download to your AP....(once again this a guess...but I think Al from D.F. said he could email out tunes for the AP)............I think most tuners will charge anywhere from $300 to $500 for a custom tune on the AP...depending on how much time they need to invest in creating you a new map........AccessPORT "custom" tuning from a valid "Pro-Tuner" may cost more than a typical ECUflash custom tune because for the tuners to able to custom tune on your AP they need to fork over dollars to COBB just to have that TUNING SOFTWARE.............not like open source which is free to everyone

hopefully this helps some

 

Thanks for all y'alls help so far. The real question will come down to simple economics. The price of the port is not an issue, but I may have issue with paying more than a "mail in flash" for Protunes. Is it worth having switchable maps if you have to pay for the port and for protunes. It would be nice to get a protune with the purchase of an AP.

I don't really travel that much, but the ability to have a tune for different octanes is nice. On the "economy tune" that comes on the AP what are some realistic mileages people are getting with HWY miles?

Does the AP connect via USB to a computer to download the maps or do you have to download Protune maps direct from the laptop?

I think what would be ideal for the AP would be to have a Case Study flash file like Al has to dras from. That way when you need another map you could pay draw from the "pool" of flashes. COBB is not advanced in the EVO market enough to have that yet though. The AP is a great idea; we'll see if they follow up enough with it to keep folks interested.

 

Your current tune will not be the base map when you install the Accessport. It will be saved in your Accessport for when you ever decide to get rid of the AP and "unmarry" the unit.

Currently you would need a custom tune if you have parts that are more advanced then the current COBB staged maps.

 

By unmarrying the unit what do you mean? I understand the terminology, but what does that entail? If I set a "tune" through the ap that is a protune for all supporting mods and I sell the car, but don't sell the ap unit. Does that protune stay on the ecu as the base flash for the new owner? Or would the original flashed ECU be the setting. That would be pretty dangerous bc it would be a tune for a different setup assuming I change my mods.

 

You will not be able to move the AP unit onto another car unless you unmarry it. If you sell the car without unmarrying it, you then basically have a useless AP unit.

If you unmarry it, whatever flash you had on the car before would then be the actual flash.

 

ya ur bette off just getting it flashed by a tuning shop or something. And i believe if you just put ur boost lower for long trips then ur saving gas

 

I'm learning... I'm learning. This is good stuff. Still interested, but definitely want to dig deeper. I'm not sure turning the boost down will get the same effect but I understand the point. Thanks guys.

 

Just want to verify this. I am currently running a stage 2 map, but am wanting to revert to the custom tune that was on my car until I can get into you guys at GST hopefully early next month. If I unmarry the AP, will it load in the previous tune for sure or will it just load in a stock map?

 

I believe it will load the previous tuned map. Remember when you first installed the AP it downloads the current map on the ECU which for you was the custom tune map. The AP saves that for when you unmarry it, it will reload that same map back.

I hope I'm correct. Cobb, please correct me if i wrong.

 

When you install the AP you are given a choice on what you want to use as a stock map. The AP can download your stock map (whether it be a stock map or another reflash) to use when you uninstall the AP. Or you can select an override option that will erase whatever is on your ECU and use a generic stock ROM when you uninstall the AP. You would use the override feature if you didn't know what you had on your ECU and wanted to make sure you had stock data or if someone had changed your ECU identifier with another tuning program.

 

In talking at length with the boys from Cobb - there are a number of things to consider -

Convenience - whether using OTS Maps or any myriad of custom tune maps, the premise is the same - convenience - on the fly mode switching - live data logging, etc.

Price - for $700 you have a very easy to use reflashing and datalogging device, which negates the necessity of a collection of other electronic equipment to achieve the same end.

Whether you're using Stage 1 or Stage 2 OTS maps, or have done significant upgrades and want something outside of that, the unit is capable of reflashing for any amount of hardware, per qualified tuner.

Custom tuning involves, obviously, purchasing of the device, paying the tuner for the dyno time and development of the custom tune. Assuming the vehicle is in excellent working order, with no leaks, no electrical issues, etc., this is a viable option with the same funcionality available in theory, as the OTS Map archetype.

For instance: if you are finished upgrading hardware (or if you're not, you simply retune) you have a custom map made for all the things that well, anyone and everyone ought to look for if they are interested in the longevity and performance of their vehicle and upgrades - that is efficiency, dependability and margin of safety. This becomes your base map. This cost money. In the future if you require some tweaks to this map for any reasons, in theory, it should cost less, because you'll have the base map and be constantly datalogging different parameters. If you should decide that any economy map or valet map or race map is in your interest, again one can be developed and costs money for the associated time invested. In the end you can have yourself a collection of custom maps to be employed by your on the fly mode switching, to your hearts content.

At least that is my understanding in talking with the boys from Cobb.

 

Will the Cobb AP2 be the Microsoft Zune of the car industry Be nice to swap maps. Or! The AP3 should have wireless satnav capabilities and every time someone gets a new tune for a part, it is uploaded to a central database where all AP owners have access to to "piece" together a map for their exact parts. Won't be as exact as a custom tune, but if the logic behind the scenes properly takes this into account, we needn't worry.