anyone have a cobb tuner?

[silverbullit05]

does anyone have a cobb tuner i just ordered 1 and was pondering the installation. i got it cheap for 450 new in box. but i keep hearing mixted reviews on it. some people love it some people say they would rathered get TS chip instead. but nobody is able to give me any true pros or cons. im looking for info not bias opinions pls. so if you have it these are the things im curious about. throttle responce, hp & tq to the flywheel and to the wheels. rpm rev limiter kick in point, dyno charts, and if there is anything that sticks out that is great or bad about it. thanks for reading

[zozoka1212]

To my knowledge nobody bought the Cobb tuning here. The reason is the system requires stock everything. 1 time we looked into it and turned out they requrired stock engine. No intake or an other mods suggested.

zozo

[silverbullit05]

yea that is what i have herd. but i have contacted cobb tunining and they have told me there is 2 stages 1 for stock application and 1 for modded with exhaust and high flow cats and injectors. that is what their site says so i called them and they told me that the map for stag 2 is sufficient to hand a cai. i also explained that i have a plenum spacer and throttle body spacer and he said that with the new map and the maf sensor working together it should be fine. he also said that if the maps they provide are not efficient for the amount of mods done that the tune can be dyno tuned by a accessport tuning rep. this will yeild optimum gains anyway

[Sentientbydesign]

I couldn't justify spending...$600+ for 7 rwhp and the possibility of running too lean and killing my engine.

What also got me was that the fuel economy "benefits" looked to be nothing more than a MPG read-out. I wanted something that would modify the throttle position, trim fuel...something other than just tell me that accelerating slower and driving slower is going to get me higher MPGs

You can gain those same 7 rwhp by getting a JWT pop-charger and z-tube for $189...sorry (6.5 rwhp) lol.

[silverbullit05]

ok i see your point but let me tell you this if you are looking for fuel economy you have the wrong vehical. and ill tell you this i have the pop charger and the tube by stillen and this did not yield 6whp i was at approx 3 maybe 4 with just those mods on the dyno. then i dynoed after the plenum spacer and notice much more gain then what they rated it for. with car stock i pulled 248.9whp then with pop charger and stillen z tube my best pull out of 5 yielded 252.6whp. then i installed blox plenum spacer and noticed the bigest gain of 8whp then dynoed after stillen td exhaust and ended with 267.5whp. and ill be honest i have not seen any gain in fuel economy except on highway for long distance. other than that city fuel economy stayed the same

[Sentientbydesign]

Thanks, but I'm well aware of the car's "short comings".

I'm currently getting 16 mpg in the city. I'd like to just get back to the 18 or so that I used to get and possibly 22-25 on the highway (currently 20).

I still don't think 7 hp is worth $600.

[BrandAidDesignG35]

Thanks, but I'm well aware of the car's "short comings".

I'm currently getting 16 mpg in the city. I'd like to just get back to the 18 or so that I used to get and possibly 22-25 on the highway (currently 20).

I still don't think 7 hp is worth $600.

I agree, the cost and associated risks make this mod worthless.

Nice numbers though silverbullit! We have similar mods I wonder what kind of #s I would pull Hoping to go to dyno this wednesday...

[joe603]

Well I say congrats on the mod purchase! As you can see, most didn't get one...but don't let that scare you! Just tune it conservative, and I'm sure you'll maximize the potential of your mods!

Post up a how-too and I'll hook you up with a custom sig

[TeflonG35]

I'm actually curious what gains can be produced from a custom access port tune. I wanna see the different things people can do with our cars. Kinda like the mechanical fan conversion. It was something that was under the radar but really helped with performance. I'm not saying I'm ready to shell out $600 yet but I am willing to see the results of someone else' purchase.

Besides. Last time I checked the access port wasn't even offered for my car.

[tollboothwilley]

still not out for the 2003 yet, you're right...

The access port is going to have downloads that you get from the net and load..

they are just finishing up the 2007/2008 HR engine and 3.7L engine before they go back and get the 2003 done (like they had originally promised me a very long time ago)

Might be a good idea to get your car tuned up fro ma shop after you have the mods you are planning to get done.

[Jons_G35_sdn]

i got one but its for my 04 wrx, like stated above not availible for the 03 sedan. Ill tell you this much it really woke my subaru up, im running stage 2 witch only requiers a down pipe and puts my engine hp to 285-290 from the stock 227hp and it has so many features to mutch to list. I know you wont get gains like this from a n/a car but im sure curoious about it.

[dasoupdude]

I know you wont get gains like this from a n/a car

Indeed, this only does good for factory turbo cars because its mostly tuning the A/F.

[eZg001]

"Besides. Last time I checked the access port wasn't even offered for my car."



You bring this up every time someone even whispers the name "Cobb"

cracks me up

[TeflonG35]

Lol. Because the 1st gen sedan is the neglected child of the G family.

[tollboothwilley]

you know that they haven engine management systems that you can get dont you...even for the 2003.

[silverbullit05]

ok so i have been speaking with cobb for approx 3 days lookinf for that ol mighty stock intake question. here is what was the rendered outcome we came up with the early model cob tuners they where only offered w/ a single stage upgrade that was not set up for any mods except cat back exhaust. however just in the past 3 months they added stage2 which is a more aggresive tune. now they have said that it is for stock air box but the people at cobb where comparing the a/f ratio with those i fax'd from my dyno and the comparison shown that stage 2 is capable of being rich enough to handle an intake system. so im going to try it out and get my car dynoed with it and have another a/f test done to find if its running to lean.

[silverbullit05]

the accessport is availible for both 05 and 06 coupes. not yet out for the hr

[silverbullit05]

well i finally installed the accessport last night! i am impressed with all the features. however i dont seem to notice a big hp gain but the torque i noticable from 2800 to just about redline. now ive noticed that there is the option to advance the timing 2 degrees. i played with it a little but i didnt feel any power gain. i notice by advancing the timing i got better fuel economy. i have to speak with cobb repersentitive about the raised rev limiter. that had not changed. but the feature that monitures 0-60 60' time and 1/4 mile time is a nice touch. how ever i couldnt get traction last night to save my life!!! lol!!! oh let me know where to post the how to.

the other thing thing is a benefit is it can be custom tuned but a cobb otherized tuning dealer. they say that its the best way to optimize performance for the mods that have been done to the vehical

[tollboothwilley]

do they have any authorized retailers that you can go and get it tuned at yet?

[silverbullit05]

actaully i was pretty surprised that in ct we have 2 dealers that are able to tune the accesport. xxtuning and ics. i found that if i just wanted to reflash my ecu i would need to have to drive out of state to get it done my choices were drive to rhode island or massachussets. so i think this was a better fit for me. and u live in utah where the main cobb tuning business is so u would be better off tuning it right with them. but im not sure how far away they are from your house. its well worth the money consisdering if you wanted to buy just the device that plugs into your lighter that tracks you 0-60time and 1/4 mile time it costs $350 to $400 and thats all it is capable . with cobb you get so much more. ecu codes reading capability, sensor status, code clearing, and for those of us not equiped w/ gps it moniters fuel economy. and it improves performance. so it seems like alot of money but its really not. just my 2 cents.

[tollboothwilley]

I know....I've driven down to COBB

where did you get the tuner for that price?

Cost of the tuner, plus added cost of them tuning it...

they dont have it for the 2003 yet

Maybe they can tune it though?

i'll have to call them again.

[silverbullit05]

i purchased it off ebay. however i did not buy from a dealer it was from a guy that had a g35 ordered the accessport then got into an accident and totaled the car. meanwhile he already had the accessport but found it wouldnt install. because the odb2 connector was faulty so he couldnt use it anymore that his car was totaled and he was planning on a g37 w/ the settlement so thats how i ended up with it. but i did have to send the part that was inop back to cobb to get replaced but they warrentied that . im not sure about them pro tuning your car being the fact they never made the accessport for 2003 sedans. maybe if you went there they could make a map for your car only.

[tollboothwilley]

what are your thoughts on the Cobb Tuner?

[silverbullit05]

well so far i think it is deffinately worth the money. performance wise i see very little gain but torque is better on the low end. but i think the features are what makes it worth it. while driving you can view any of the sensor data. this was good becuase everyone was wondering about leaning out the engine when having aftermarket intakes. well my a/f was far from leaning out at 12.5 to 1. but i can say this when i had i/e/underdrive pulleys i raced my buddy with his 06 mazdaspeed 6. and he was stock. i beat him by a half a car from a 20mph roll. then i got cobb and throttlebody spacer and he upgraded i/e and tuned but left boost the same. we raced again from 20mph this time he jumped ahead but when i hit 3rd i walked by him and kept pulling to 145mph at that point i was 3 to 4 cars ahead. we thought his car might have lost power but he raced another stock mazdaspeed 6 and smoked it later that night. so did th accessport help i guess you can say yes. some advise to those of you interested buy accessport directly from autherized dealer or cobb directly. because if you have warrenty issue it will not be a pain in the *** to do. being i purchased it from a private party i had to go through hell to get the dongle warrentied.

[DrNick]

I'm glad you're happy with your purchase. Keep in mind that engine management is one of those mods that will grow with you. The more mods you have on your car the more you should gain from the AP.

I know from reading here that the AP is not your best bang for the buck mod, but as you progress it should actually make your modding process safer and allow you to gain more from your previous and future mods.

I find it strange that others in this thread talk about engine management being dangerous due to the the possibility of leaning out the fuel mix, however praise intake systems which do just that w/o the benefit of being able to directly compensate for the additional air flow. I wouldn't worry about the dangers too much.

[Sentientbydesign]

The reason I talked about the dangers of leaning out the engine with the Cobb tuner is because that is basically the only thing the tuner can do. It either leans out or richens the AFR. Timing advancement might also yield small gains.

The intake on the other hand improves airflow and reduces losses. HP gains aren't made by intentionally delving into the safety margins like the COBB tried to do.

[DrNick]

In my experience, most gains from tuning any car come from the ability to safely advance timing while keeping the fuel mixture where you want it to be safe. I don't disagree with you that bigger gains can be had elsewhere for cheaper, but it doesn't make sense that one mod leaning out the fuel mix is ok but another is dangerous. Especially considering one mod allows precise control over the fuel mix and the other does not. Safety is not the only reason a car maker would detune a motor.

[Sentientbydesign]

The reason it's "Ok" is because it's a side effect of a more efficient intake. The intake wasn't designed to lean out the AFR, it was designed to flow better.

Maybe I'm wrong and every intake manufacturer intends on gains based on a lean AFR, but I highly doubt it.

I agree that EM is important just not as a performance mod for N/A applications.

[DrNick]

Just so you don't confuse what i'm trying to say. I'm not arguing that on these motors an intake is not one of the first places to start. As an engine is basically an air pump, moving more air good.

I agree that allowing the engine to be more efficient by tackling the intake and exhaust systems should be the primary objective for most people here. However, adding more air will also lean the mix if not compensated for. It's just the way it works. Intake mfgrs may not intentionally design the part to lean out the mix as it's primary function, but it will happen. I've yet to see any aftermarket performance intake system that does not make the engine run leaner. If a mod leans out the fuel mix and another does the same I don't think it's fair to say one is inherently safe and one inherently dangerous unless one leans out significantly and one not so much.

The only reason I felt the need to chime in is that there are few modern cars that cannot benefit from better computer control of engine parameters. I know i'm coming from a different application and might not have the benefit of experience in this specific application, however, there are some concepts that are universal and I just don't understand how everyone views engine management as worthless or dangerous here. It may not be the cheapest, or best place to start, but do most members here not realize that you can get more from each mod by adjusting the tune to take full advantage? There is much much much greater of a chance to blow a motor by adding more air and leaning the fuel mix w/o any direct control or compensation vs. adjusting the fuel and timing maps directly in the engine computer. There's always a learning curve, but Cobb has a good overall reputation elsewhere and they didn't get where they are today by consistently blowing motors.

[Sentientbydesign]

I understand what you're saying and I'm not trying to dog Cobb as some useless manufacturer.

I think it's safe to say that the generally accepted belief (some time fact) is that EM like an ECU reflash is best saved for FI. Can it benefit your modding? Sure. Will it make your mods safer? Possibly. Is it worth getting the Cobb Accessport as your first mod? HELL NO!

Our cars are pretty aggressively tuned. Or at least that is my understanding. As the mods rack up, EM can definitely have a positive place among the other mods. I think it would be easier for most (and more performance appropriate) to get an exhaust system to compensate for the intake than to go EM though.