OK,,

Spoke with Champion about doing the Exhaust & ECU flash on my car.

They told me that it will be a few weeks for the Tubi,
Since they are on order but I can do the ECU now and exhaust later.

Questions please,,

1. Really worried about Losing my Warranty From The ECU Flash

Champion assures me that my warranty will stay intact, Being that they are doing the ECU flash?? (CAN I REALLY BANK ON THAT??)

2.What potential risk do i run with having the ECU flash ?
If any being that i have a tip car??
I am aware of the risk with a manual car (miss-shifting) how about with a tip??

3.Just doing the ECU without exhaust (What type of HP gains can i expect)

Any Advise Highly Appreciated.......

 

You really need to do a search. This has been covered a lot and there are threads upon threads on these topics specifically.

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...t=ECU+warranty

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...t=ECU+warranty

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...t=ECU+warranty

https://www.6speedonline.com/forums/...light=giac+ecu

 

sorry if it is a repost,

I did do you a search.
while finding ecu info ,,I did not really
find much about Champion's Ecu flash & Warranty ...

 

I didn't mean to criticize...sorry.

Anyways. You are referring to Champion Motorsport in Pompano Beach right? They are an authorized distributor for GIAC. A large number of tuners in the US use GIAC as their ECU software. The people involved with its development are Imagine Auto, AWE Tuning, and Evolution Motorsports. You'll find these tuners are frequent contributors here on 6speedonline.

The good news is it appears you have found a dealership that is "mod friendly." They seem to be willing to provide warranty coverage despite modifications that Porsche has banned. This relationship between you and Champion's service deptartment is probably the most critical part of keeping warranty coverage. Be warned, however...if you take your car elsewhere...or if something happens to the engine that requires a Porsche Regional service representative to be involved...your warranty may still be in jepardy.

Porsche has already come out and stated that ANY ECU modification is grounds to void your new cab's warranty. This goes for GIAC, FVD, Softronic, 9ff, Sportec, etc...The only ECU that carries it's own warranty is RUF...and a RUF conversion is considered to be the most expensive, and can not be done outside of a RUF workshop (ie you need to ship your car to Dallas.)

 

I just wanted to note that RUF offers the warranty on their conversion however Porsche does not. A RUF tuned ECU or also known as a DME falls under the same classification as all the other tuners. This is like Champion offering the warranty as you described.

 

Thank you for clarifying...I thought I had stated that. Officially, RUF will offer a 1 year warranty because they are doing the install. Their RUF VIN cars carry longer warranties. If there is engine failure, often they will have your local dealership address the issue, and make payment for the local repair.

 

I was told that it would be a good idea to install an exhaust and then get your ECU flashed so that it'd be able to "learn" the system with exhaust in place. If you were to do it afterwards, you may have to get your ECU reflashed. So, I would suggest that you ask Champion for clarification on that part. If it were me, I'd just wait until they get the Tubi installed before doing the ECU flash.

As for the warranty coverage, yep, as bbywu stated, it depends on the dealership. I know for one that my dealership will NOT cover my car if I were to flash the ECU so I've stayed away from that. GIAC has a system that allows you to "hide" the ECU tweaks with a handheld remote. I haven't heard of anyone who has successfully used this system to actually hide their ECU tweakings yet.

 

thx for they info....

I really don't know IF want to chance it??

There is alot at stake!!

 

Champion are reputable dealers... if they will still honor the warranty, then you're safe... but usually an ECU flash will waive your factory waranty... and don't do it without also changing the exhaust! you want to get the most out of this process, since you've decided to go for it... having said that, the gains are quite minor... I would invest in advanced track driving courses (regardless of your driving skills) and get the most out of your car... save your $$$ for an upgrade to the 997 MKII...

 

[quote=bbywu;1580072].

or if something happens to the engine that requires a Porsche Regional service representative to be involved...your warranty may still be in jepardy.
quote]

DING, DING, DING, we have a winner. This is the important part and a point that I've argued with people before - especially on the Mercedes forum when I had my E55 (modded by the way). Many MB dealers are Kleemann or Renntech dealers and will install these mods, but trust me, call in a regional MB tech for a problem and you've got big trouble. You could enact the Moss-Magnuson act, which puts the burden on the dealer/manufacturer to prove the mod caused the fauilre but that will take time and you're car will probably sit there while the issue is investigated.

I got to know the North American head of AMG pretty well, and let me tell you, these guys HATE modded cars.

Obviously it helps to have a "mod friendly" dealer and i'm sure Champion wll be able to run interference for you for any problems but once the regional guys are called in for a SERIOUS problem all bets are off.

Your car is also pretty new, correct? If I were you I'd wait a bit before modding just to make sure all is well with the car and get any issues sorted before you mod.

with that said I have an exhaust on my car with springs (will probably do coilovers in the spring) and will most likely do the ECU. The chance of something catastrophic happening are pretty slim but you should no all the facts and not be lulled into a false sense of security.

Porsche no likey when you mess w/ ECU

 

+1 on the driving school! I'd go to that first before even thinking of MODS.

 

So let me get this straight,,

Champion being a mod friendly dealer will honor my warranty...

But lets say i decide to sell the car in a year or trade it to another dealer.

They will know the car has been flashed and warranty voided?? (HOW??)

If thats the case the car will be worth peanuts!!

Maybe i should just do the Exhaust & wheels for know??

 

Your worries about the ECU is exactly why I haven't done mine yet. Don't want to void my warranty.

 

One of the only ways around it is that the DME is written back bit for bit 100% stock before it ever goes to a Dealer every time and then re-flashed with the tuned software.

Another option is you use Champion and flash the car and only go to them. Unfortunately once the car is plugged into the networked PIWIS system PCNA will know about it just after . This would be at any Dealer including Champion.

 

Most P dealership mechanics are not even going to be able to tell your chip is flashed. The GIAC handheld flash loader allows you to flash back to stock before taking it in. Not foolproof of course but my car has been in for MAF sensor and timing issues and there were no problems (and the car was not reset to stock AND I had an EVO airbox installed).

It all depends on your dealer. A good thing to do is find a Porsche tuner in your area that has connections with the mechanics at the local dealership and have them call ahead for any appointments you need. I've gotten my car in within the hour for service with this technique as well which is a nice bonus (switched to multi-function carbon steering wheel which requires PST2 work - done in 20 mins for $100).