flash + exhaust are no brainers. The benefits are huge (+100hp) and the cost is relatively small. No reliability issues to worry about at this power level. I went with an EVOMSit flash and a Europipe exhaust. Car runs fantastic, sounds fantastic, and no issues, codes, CEL, as a result of the mods.

 

Get EPL.

You'll never look back.

 

I tend to agree....

 

Hi,At your level most of the known tuners will give you a good performance gain...Pick one that will be there for you AFTER the initial sale with customer service and be availiable....
Since others are helping to give you their choice on a tuner,I will give you my info....
I have had and tried a few tuners and now since I went with Protomotive I couldnt be happier,should have went with him first.....

 

Ill try to be as unbiased as possible... but I've had a few cars show up recently that had the ecus flashed... clients were not happy for whatever reason... one 6 speed member in particular could not believe how a flash alone changed the car- and he was on a very popular flash as is... the other out in east coast also a 6 speed member had the car flashed prior to going with us... he swapped it and was shocked as well..
my point is: if you do not play with cars that actually have various tunes on them you will never know the advantages or disadvantages of them... sure, anyone with a OEM flash will love a 1 bar tune if even its with stock timing... but it is when you start comparing back to back on the same car that is when you see the difference...
just my .02 cents
markski

 

The flash/exhuast combo turns it into a beast. I went with a Softronic flash because it was a DYI. You get both your stock file and tuned file back and you can flash it through the OBD2 port back and forth as needed. I went cost effective on the exhaust (Speedtech dual cans). (I might change up to the Speedtech crossflow). Does this work..Hella yah. I just smoked a 2012 Shelby GT500 multiple times from 5mph pulls. It wasn't even close. I stopped and talked to the guy because I thought he was backing off, but he told me he was all in.

 

I highly recommend UMW datalogger unit and software if considering UMW flash. With datalogger you can log actual real time data and see how your engine is doing. You see if the tune is taking engine too close to the limit under current conditions (fuel quality, temp), if your O2 sensors and MAF are giving adequate data for the ECU to work properly, if there is detonation in cylinders etc etc and much more. Datalogger really gives you peace of mind and heads up to swap deficit components to new ones before something breaks down.

UMW makes the tune according the data you log before the tune. After you flash ECU using the tuned file they send you, you take multiple datalogs, e-mail the logs to UMW and UMW analyzes if the tune needs to be adjusted in order to make sure the tune is safe for the engine.

Without seeing actual datalogs from your engine you dont have a clue if the tune is a bad one jeopradizing engine longevity, a good one or a great one. A bad one may feel incredibly good on butt dyno but will eventually destroy your engine.

 

That data logger feature comes standard with the flash cable on a Protomotive tune AND with some of the other tuners,Markski and Softronics do also.
Most tuners encourage you to do a data run after their flash in which they will tweek if needed.

 

Unless people disclose who they used and why they left a specific vendor, none of the comments about people switching really helps since there are too many variables.

Based on my research, Markski has a good product and good support...but his product does cost more than the common EPL and UMW tunes. I even like the GIAC product with that little box to switch tunes. In the end, if your car is stock, it will be hard to say one vendor is better than another.

Based on my limited budget, I was debating between Upsolute, EPL, UMW and Softronic. Upsolute is absolutely the cheapest, but they don't have any vendors in CA, so you have to mail in your ECU even though theirs is flashed based now. So I went with EPL when it was on special. I chose EPL over UMW because I can revert back to stock and reflash from my computer (with little or no intervention from EPL). UMW, unless you buy the $400 datalogger cable or the flash loader, you will need to "rent" the flash loader to revert back to stock and so forth. I would've gone with Softronic, but EPL was cheaper and gave me similar versatility.

I don't plan to do any other upgrades other than exhaust and I am not looking for maximum HP from my stock setup. I just wanted a 91 octane tune that is reliable and reversible.

Yeah, a lot of people will give me flack for going cheap on a Porsche...but not all of us have the bank roll to spend on toy cars.

 

Tuners who provide data logging units are the only tuners one should consider. IMHO.

 

I disagree. I can employ a programmer to develop data logging capabilities, but you would never want me to tune your vehicle.

UMW only released his data logging unit not so long ago (I tried to be one of his beta testers, but got tired of waiting and had to move on). Plus, there is Durametric which is what I have (and many others) and I believe is a sufficient data logging software.

Don't get me wrong tho...if I didn't have Durametric, I would have totally ranked (bang for your buck and not necessarily the better tuner) UMW higher, but in my case, the extra $400 would've yielded me nothing additional.