I would note here that it would be important to know exactly what the Porsche Warranty states in regard to software alteration, or whether it is silent to the issue. Legally, that is where the game would be played.

 

Wake up guys. No tunner can assure that their flash is undetectable to Porsche neither that it keep factory warranty, besides Porsche power kits, but we never had that luck for the 997TT. The only thing that the tunners can assure is that the M97.70 engine is bulletproof in stock form, and that they have knowledge enough to flash the ecu and still keep a resonable reliability level.

PS: The key is to find a nice dealer to deal with. I rather flash it under Porsche warranty than wait to its end. This way you will still have a chance to get someone to pay the failure.

 

Again... If you load back the True Original file Softronic sends you back to your car, there is no detection that you flashed your car, period, done, finally, etc... If you take your car to the dealer with the flash loaded to the car, they can connect with the PIWIS and see there is an update done to the ECU.

 

That is simply not true. Yes today's KS are far more sensitive then those used 10+ years ago, and the strategy they employ is far superior at detecting knock earlier and reacting quicker. But it is still occuring and must occure for the software to adjust accordingly. And that's the problem. Whether it's auditable to the human ear or not is irrelevant. It's still causing massive pressure spikes in your motor and hammering your bearings and rings. Running 91 in ca all the time does not mean you are seeing regular knock. Why would it?

 

Hi Dave, thanks for the very interesting discussion. Let me be the devil's advocate and ask this please: If it's a problem, why do we not see Softtronic modded engines breaking down yet?

The other question that's even more important for me is this : do you happen to know if the other well known US tuners (namely GIAC, EVOMS, Swizer, Protomotive) use a different approach from Softtronic? If they all use a different approach, then IMO that would raise a question. TIA.

 

A 997tt in California is running around on the knock sensors all the time. Not just waiting for any random knock, but since they’re designed for 93-94 octane, and we have 91 octane/E10/oxygenated junk, the cars are forever optimizing their mapping for the fuel. Get a datalog of a California car, vs. an East coast car running 93 or 94 on stock programming and you’ll know what I’m referring to.

 

How about FVD? Do they use a different approach from Softtronic ? Both of them use OBDII flash right now.

 

Freeman - Softronic was the first to release the OBDII flash for the 997TT. FVD writes their own code, but uses the same flash interface. I am not sure of their tuning principles and equipment they use. I am not sure if they keep any of the above similar that Softronic does. They are a great company though.

 

Dave, this would not be true for cars with GIAC and EVOMS tunes, no? Both tunes are developed with 91 octane.

Following this argument, I wonder if it's safer for California/Arizona owners to use only either of these 2 tunes? There was a discussion on this a while back, at the time I believe about RS/Cargraphic Tuning. The program is of course developed for higher octane European gasoline, and I remember vaguely that it was an "unresolved" issue wether it should be used in California even if it had been available.

 

Softronic has a 91 or a 93 octane map for users. We ALWAYS ask what pump gas the customer has to get them the correct file.

Cannaga - you did not read his post right. The 997TT is made for 93oct from Porsche. Hey it even says on the door to use 93 LOL. So the **** 91 that the west coast gets the car is always running on knock sensors is what he is saying.

 

Dan, thanks re. Softronic info; I stand corrected.

Re. Dave's post, I understood. On the West coast, a tuned car runs better, or at least has more appropriate timing map, than stock car!

Still trying to understand what Dave W & TTdude are posting regarding how the Softronic tuning is different though. Very interesting discussion.

 

At the end of the day, the OP got Softronic and is very happy

 

Good deal.

 

+1 Softronic and is very happy

 

Hi Can, I'm not a tuner as you know but have had extensive conversations in the past with my tuner about this when selecting which tuner to go with for my set-up. I believe DaveW comment is over exaggerated or else there would be a lot of problems showing up both in the 996tt and 997tt forums. There are a large number of 996tts with Softronic tunes and a growing number of happy customers with 997tts. You have a GIAC flashloader that allows you to load whatever octane file you want. Each file will have a different threshold for knock safety whereas a tune like mine will have all the maps, including race. In order for you to take advantage of race fuel, you have to load the race fuel map. For me, I just dump in some race gas and the ECU will automatically adjust. DaveW makes the claim that if you run 100 octane one day and then 91 the next, you're going to get a bunch of harmful knock. That is simply not true. The ECU won't allow it. If what DaveW says is accurate then we would be seeing problems with stock programming, Softronic tune, etc. and we just don't see that.

As far as your 91 tune being safer than stock, I'm not so sure I would agree. You are getting more power out of your GIAC tune so it is tuned more aggressively than stock. The knock sensors are even more critical here.