Any tuners in the area familiar with the Cobb AP?

Thinking about picking one of these up and just wanted to know if anyone around here has any experience with them.

We have an awd dyno, and can tune the car for you. However if you havent bought it yet, save the money and we can reflash your stock ecu, saves 500 bucks over buying an accessport and then paying 500 for a tune on top of that. (im making the assumption you have a wrx/sti) any questions just pm me, or call me at 412-596-6803

I have a Mazdaspeed3 actually. I know Cobb is most well known for Evo and Subi applications but they make stuff for the Speed vehicles as well.

I would take your advice and come down for the reflash of the ECU but I’m also interested in the functionality of the AP for datalogging and troubleshooting engine codes. Not to mention the ability to flash it back to stock for dealer visits. Basically the speed3 isn’t a platform that has a ton of knowledge behind it yet and there are lots of people not having success with even mild mods and the stock ecu. I want to go with a CAI and a Downpipe in the spring and i want to know i’m safe with these mods. It wouldn’t hurt either to have a map for like 15 psi and one for 17 psi and the ability to flip between them.

At the moment i’m having engine code trouble and a retard dealership who can’t seem to find the real issue. So the AP would help me out in the meantime to be able to post data logs on forums to tap into some knowledge on possible issues the dealership can’t see on the fucking idiot proof flow chart of car problems.

Plus cobb just announced a price reduction for Speed applications so it’ll at least be a bit cheaper now.

Ok since it’s a speed3 I’d say just get the accessport, the subaru community makes the mistake of buying the accessport and then paying for a “pro tune” so in the end it costs 1000-1200 to get there intake and exhaust tuned, when it could have been done for 4-500 on the stock ecu, thats all i was stating. However lol, if you do need to get tuned on the accessport let me know we’ll take care of it for you if your interested.

Sweet Thanks!

For the time being I won’t need a tune but knowing that there is a local dyno with the ability to provide a good tune using the AP down the road makes me feel better. I could just get a Dash Hawk and do data logging to find issues but I’d rather spend the extra bones so that once i get some mods later i can get them tuned properly.

no problem good luck with it!

I have a 06 wrx and i got sucked into the hype of a access port. Now that i want to do more then intake and exhaust im stuck with the decision of driving back out to Agile in maryland and spending another 500 for a protune after i just spent 500 for a protune last spring and 500 for the access port.Or sell my access port and just get a protune from turbob16 at J&S dyno. The data logging program doesnt do much of anything. The only good thing about access port is reading codes but even then it doesnt do much. The car still has to go the dealer to get further diagnosis. So take it from me and dont fall into the access port hype if you plan on doing more mods in the future then just a intake and exhaust. It will save you in the long run

how would it be any different with another tuning solution? You know you can download access tuner race and mess with it your self if you know how. I guess a better question would be, what are the limitations of the ap? Are there limits to the stock ECU for bolt ons?

the access port only has maps for basic bolt ons. Once you past that your gonna have to put out big cash to get it tuned after you allready spent 500-700 for the access port because the rights for access port tuning are expensive and if tuners have the rights there going to want to make there money back and probably charge more then a stardard open source tune. The access port does not replace the stock ECU. It simply has different maps that you load onto the ECU to gain some performance. If you get the car tuned on open source your not gonna end up paying the 500-700 plus another 500-600 for a tune.

The AP does come with a bunch of out of the box maps for use with a few bolt ons but that’s not all it can do. The rights for access port tuning are FREE, you can download Access Tuner Race if you have an AP here http://www.cobbtuning.com/products/?id=4640

It allows anyone with an AP to toy with all the stuff listed below. The license for the pro tuner software does cost 2000 dollars but the only thing taht provides is a way to tune multiple APs at a time and lock maps so that your tunes that you charge a bunch of money for aren’t shared.

    * Same tuning capabilities as our AccessTUNER Pro shop grade software
    * Access to multiple tables for full tuning control
          o Fuel
          o Ignition
          o Boost
          o Closed Loop 
          o Idle
          o Sensors
          o Cam
          o Load 
          o Limiters
                + Engine Revs
                + Maximum Speed
    * Launch Control and Flat Foot Shifting settings
    * P0241 MIL Defeat - Catalyst Efficiency
    * Integral Data logging: Unlimited data logging of multiple channels of data from the ECU for detailed analysis of engine performance
    * Integral Dashboard: Shows tuner chosen gauges to be displayed on-screen throughout the tuning process
    * Unit Conversion: Ability to easily convert between metric and standard units so the tuner can use units he/she is most familiar with
    * Map Database: Free access to the OTS map database from COBB Tuning that provide excellent starting points for specific modifications
    * Technical Support: Outstanding technical support from the software engineering team and our expert calibrators
    * Hot Keys: Convenient on-touch short-cut keys allow easy data manipulation of common tuning operations
    * Open WBO2 Interface: Integrates with a wide selection of Wideband O2 sensors
    * Embedded Stock Data: Stock tuning data (ROMs) are self-contained inside the software itself, providing the OEM baseline tune for each vehicle supported by the software
    * Manufacturer specific AccessTUNER Race Forum support
    * Share and change maps with other AccessTUNER Race users
    * COBB Tuning provided tuning documentation:
          o MAZDASPEED Tuning Guide
          o MAZDASPEED Help File: Table Descriptions and Tuning Tips for each Table

Also I know it doesn’t replace the ECU, i was just asking if there was a limit to what you can flash the stock ECU for. For me I’d really like the ability to be able to re-flash to stock for dealer visits as my car is still under warranty. I’m not really concerned with getting big power, I do however want to know that doing some mild mods won’t blow my shit up. I can get the access port for 600, get a tune over the internet using data logs for 250. Then down the road when i add mods i can get a more accurate tune. The other nice thing about the Speed3 at least is that the ECU controls the boost, so i can get a tune for 15 PSI and one for 18PSI and have the ability to flip back and forth in between them like an electronic boost controller.

The dealer if they want to be dicks are able to see if the computer has been reflashed and how many times. Subaru showed me on there scan tool. It shows that my car has been reflashed 6 times.which 2 were done by the tuner that i went to and the other 2 were done by me cause i was having issues and i guess the other 2 were done by the first owner. Also again the data logging atleast on the subaru end is not useful and people dont even bother trying. Unless you have tons of loggs to send to a tuner iv seen nothing but terrible losses from mail order tunes. Me personally i lost 4 tenths at the track on my old F-body and it was an automatic so it wasnt driver error. The maps on there are safe but are not the cars full potential. I picked up 26horse at the wheels and 41ftlb of torque at the wheels from my protune that i got last spring.The access port is nice tool if you have all the mods that they are asking for. Dont go beyond what they want or the car runs like crap.

Also as for Free tuning with those characteristics that you can change. All hand held turners have that. You can only make very slight changes, nothing dramatic to really increase a ton of horsepower

Accel. Ped. Pos. % % %
Battery Volt. V V V
Coolant Temp. AFR lambda AFR
Equiv. Ratio degrees degrees degrees
Inj. Pulse Width mS mS mS
RPM RPM RPM RPM
Inj. Duty Cycle % % %
Intake Temp F C C
Knock Retard degrees degrees degrees
Calculated Load % % %
Long Term FT1 % % %
Mass Airflow g/s g/s g/s
MAF Voltage V V V
Short Term FT % % %
Throttle Position % % %
Vehicle Speed mph kph kph
Actual AFR AFR lambda AFR
Boost Air Temp F C C
Throttle Duty Cycle degrees degrees degrees
Fan Duty % % %
Fuel Inj. Amt. # # #
DI Fuel Press. PSI kPA kPA
Boost PSI kPA kPA
Spark Advance degrees degrees degrees
Intake Valve Adv degrees degrees degrees
Wastegate Duty % % %

These are the possible data logging items to choose from

The only thing I dislike about the email tunes , is that we’ve had probably 3-4 cars come through the shop(all evo’s) with mail in tunes, or email tunes, and they are never properly set up. the last car we had, the email tune was set at 28psi on pump gas with a 13.4 afr. The previous one before that 29psi on pump gas with a 12.9 afr, and rediculous amounts of knock across the board. Accessports are safe simple ways of getting your car to recognize the different modifications added to it. However they are by no means meant to be a FINAL tune or a real tune, sure you’ll pick up a few pony’s but there basic general maps ,not customized to each car. a full tune goes over every aspect and is where power can really be made specific to that car. If you do get an email tune, i would definetly atleast have the car put on a dyno, not for power numbers but for simple air to fuel readouts from a wideband, so you know exactly where you sit.

I think the Speed3 has a factory wideband o2 sensor, not sure if its the best in the business or anything but I think its good enough to give fairly accurate AFR readings for what I want at least. It sounds like the AP is going to do what i need it to, help diagnose issues with CEL reader and data logs, help make sure that a few mild mods are safe, and allow me to return to factory settings. I don’t have a ton of knowledge on making tunes but i know enough that if someone sent me a map and my car did any of the things you described I’d notice and get it fixed.

ya i think it should work out nicely for what your looking to get out if it

Word, I will def keep you in mind when i get to the point of having a custom tune or if I hit any snags along the way!

remember at J and S we do all sorts of work too including installations of parts, tuning, repair work, and some fabrication as well as dyno stuff.