I'd love for someone out there to sell me on the Xflash.

If I have a friend with a wideband sensor and the ability to tune (via ECUflash) my 03 Evo VIII ecu, why shouldn't I do it? Money really isn't an issue, but my results are going to be exactly the same. Or are they?

Shiv can't be here to see what the wideband is saying so how could he possibly tune my ECU as well as my friends could? Every EVO is really different, or are they more alike than we are lead to believe?

I'd prefer to go with Shiv because when it comes to my car I want realibility, but I am having a hard time seeing why I should pay more money for a tune that isn't as accurate and might give me less power.

 

then do it. i would never get a flash anyway.

 

No, base flashes are base flashes. They are best guesses just like every other mail-in flash. Of course it's not possible to get it perfect, since every car is different, but you're paying less than normal for a mail-in flash for that very reason. A custom tune is always best, but they always cost more. If your buddy is really an expert at tuning Evos, and you don't mind him using custom tuning your car, then go for it. You're only worried about power and accuracy when you should be more worried about if your car will blow up as a result. EcuFlash is an amazing and awesome breakthrough for the Evo community, but the downside is that people think that the expert Evo tuners (Dynoflash, TurboTrix, Vishnu, etc) are just companies taking people's money. No, they are experts who have been there and done that, so they know all the nuances, details, quirks, and dangers of flashing an Evo ECU. Random Joe's usually don't have anywhere near the experience level, and even if they have the proper tools and understand tuning theory, it's very easy to make mistakes when you've never encountered certain problems before.

Get flashed by your buddy at your own risk or get a mail-in flash at no risk.

 

Why not? A flash is second only to a standalone ECU in terms of tuning power, flexibility, and reliability. Add in the awesome factory knock protection, and it could be argued that a flash is safer to a standalone...

 

nah, let people blow up their motor's trying to tune it themselves w/o a dyno.

 

not if you have a good tuner. and again as you always have something to say about what i say....i said "i would never get a flash anyway"
many people have flashes and are fine. but in my personal opinion, from those around me who have flashes, i would never do it.

 

i go with Tuning Tech.

 

ya i imagine a lot of wannabe tuners are popping up now that ecuflash has gotten popular, as said before get tuned by your buddy at your own risk!

 

and i might not be the guru on all things tuning, but please explain how a flash is better than a personalized tune. (from a professional of course)

 

i definately agree that this guy should not tune it himself.

 

A personalized tune performed by A PROFESSIONAL, who has experience with tuning evos will probably be better than a base flash. Becuase you mentioned RELIABILITY, I would totally recommend a reputed tuner as most of them have good track records. I can personally vouch for the reliability of Shiv's tuning.

 

Um, a flash is a personalized tune by a professional, or at least in my case it is and in the case of thousands of other Evos. Referring to a "flash" does not mean it's only a base flash. Many of us have custom FLASHES. Referring to a "flash" is just referring to the tuning method. It does not mean the tune is a base or custom tune - it's just a flash, meaning the ECU is reflashed. You can't name one tuning device for the Evo better than a flash that isn't a standalone. Any piggyback is only using the stock ECU indirectly and is limited by the ECU itself as well as whatever was put into the piggyback's code. A flash directly modifies the ECU and has direct access to every single parameter within the ECU. There's really no reason to dislike flashes...you can dislike individual tuners, and you can dislike non-custom base flashes, but flashing itself is the best solution.

 

Well, unfortunately, California is pretty far from where I live. Like 30 hours away.

In a car with no cruise control.

 

My "friend" is purely hypothetical. There is someone locally with whom I can have this done, but I don't know him or his level of expertise.

My question was only meant to bring about discussion.

 

Well, you can get custom tuned by professionals all over the country, but I wouldn't let some random shop tune my Evo just because EcuFlash is available. It's a disturbing trend that such things are now happening. It used to only be expert tuners flashing Evos, and there were still a few mistakes and incidents. I can only imagine how that # will rise with EcuFlash and people trusting non-experts to tune their Evos.

If you only want Vishnu, you would need to get to their location or join one of their tuning trips elsewhere in the country like in Georgia, New Jersey, and Washington state (or is it Oregon?).