I have an 04 wrx, and i just installed up / down pipes, catback, and i got new tires.. should i do some EM? or should i wait for bigger upgrades? if i sould do EM which EM would be the best in my situation?

 

Since you are in CA, go to a shop and get a Cobb or Ecutek reflash/dyno tune. It will make a HUGE difference in performance and if you get a custom tune it will be tuned for YOUR car.

Unless you are planning on buying more power mods soon I wouldnt wait. Your car will run much better with a good reflash. If you want to tune the car yourself, look into Cobb, Utec or XEDE

 

DEFINETLY GET ENGINE MANAGEMENT!!!! You feel a huge difference with just EM given the mods you already have. You EM can evolve with your mods. Do it!!!

 

Go EM !

If you do not want any wiring nor cutting etc. then Cobb should be your choice.

 

Yes, I would suggest EM. The 2 most popular choices on the market are the Ecutek reflash and Cobb Accessport. The Ecutek reflash is just 1 custom map for your ECU while the Cobb AP, you can store up to 10 different maps. You can also get Protuned with the Cobb AP as well.

thanks,
Preston

 

Okay so if i decide to go between ecutek / cobb accessport (which i probably will), how much do each of them cost? what are the differences between them? and what are some reasons why i would choose one over another?

sorry i'm a noob
but you guys are seirously such a big help!
thanks!

 

The ECUTEK prices can vary depending on the tuner. I'd say expect to pay around $600 for the software and a tune. The Accessport is about 560 for a tuner full of generic maps that are intended for your car. These maps will not yield the power a custom tune will just because every car is a little different as are the conditions it runs in. HOWEVER, like Gruppe-S mentioned you can dish out an extra (I believe) about $500 and get the AccessTuner to go with your Accessport which will allow you to get the custom tunes that yield the most power. Then you can run your custom map, switch to valet when you drop your car off at the hotel then switch to the fuel economy map for your drive back home. I personally would get the Cobb but the decision is all yours.

 

I went Ecutek custom tune, mainly for the 'set it and forget it' factor. Multiple maps would be nice though. Good Luck

 

gummy - Since this is not a vendor post, I'm not allowed to post prices. I'll PM you instead.

thanks,
Preston

 

Okay so let me get this straight, cobb accessport is cheaper, has more maps, but is ultimately less custom for your car + you can set different modes for different times of driving?? while ecutek has 1 map but gets dynoed for an hour, and is set until the next tune?? Why would i choose ecutek over cobb? Is the cobb AP hard to configure and use? thats the only reason i would see why to choose ecutek over the cobb ap..

 

No, the AP gives generic maps that won't yeild the power an ECUTEK tune will. Unless you buy the extra Accesstuner you can't get a "custom" tune map with the AP. I'd get the AP w/ the accesstuner so I could have an awesome tuned map (or several) and the generic anti-theft/fuel economy/valet maps too.

 

If you go to a shop that has the protuner software you don't need to buy the accesstuner to get a custom tune. If you want to tune the car yourself then you should get the accesstuner.

Basically, ecutek custom dyno tune = accessport w/ protuner custom dyno tune. The accessport does give the option of having multiple maps though so its probably the best way to go.

 

Thanks for the clarification.

 

how would it cost to have the car reflashed again after adding on another mod (like headers or intake)? I heard it was somewhere around $150? Is this true?

 

yeah... but what if you need to put your car back to stock to get a smog done? im assuming the car wouldnt run right...