100 HP gain for $2,000.00? Softronic tune was the best money i ever spent.

 

+1. I loved my Softronic tune on my 997.1TT.

 

EPL tune, Cheap and very effective!

 

OP, I do feel where you are coming from. However from a dollar per hp standpoint you will hardly find a better bang for your buck. People spend 2000-3000-5000-6000 on exhausts, or similar money on intercoolers or even headers. You won't get the same return.

It's also not only R&D, if they blow up a Porsche motor with a bad tune, it's going to cost a huge amount of money so they'd better make sure it works properly. And from what I've heard the Porsche ECU's are not always the easiest to work with.

You have a $25000+ motor. You can't expect the tune to cost as much as a 135i motor. There is some liability assumed by the tuner.

 

+1

It's also supply and demand. There are less potential customers relative to most other cars and people are less price sensitive in this market.

 

You can always try one of the piggy back tunes offered from the Bimmer tuners like split second for I think $800 there on eBay ,it just plugs in by the ypipe I did try it for free from a dealer & there def where some gains but didn't feel comfortable with on my car & went with trusted tuner Protomotive ,it's a $30k motor why chance it .

 

sorry but this is incorrect. Softronic provides no warranty:

Direct from Softronic website:
http://www.softronictuning.com/guarantee/

"Like any modification, there can be risks associated. SoftronicTuning.com, Softronic.us, or Vivid Racing does not cover any warranty claims. ECU flash loading is done at your own risk and if the instructions are not clearly followed, damage to your vehicle can occur. SoftronicTuning.com cannot be responsible for any issues that you may cause during flash loading. Once the cable is connected the car it is tied to your VIN. At this point there is no return or cancellation of the product. If there is an issue with the tune, Softronic may require the ECU to be sent in. Many times, mechanical or installation errors can cause problems which Softronic cannot be liable for. "

 

Let's us know what you ultimately decide.

 

heh, I happened to glance over a price sheet of a well known tuner on the boards... their margin for dealers is 50%. Pretty crazy, and they don't really allow discounting beyond what is normally advertised.

Price is always what a particular market will bear. Apparently, the 997.1 turbo market is ok with a $2000 price point, plus or minus. I think the addressable market is not large, figure about 8000 or so total cars in the US. There is a relatively fixed cost for development, breaking into the software, dealing with whatever encryption, figuring out how to write new parameters, testing, validation, etc. When you're dealing with an small addressable market, obviously margins have to be higher to cover the cost of R&D.

That said, I think you're right, people are just willing to pay that much. I'm having trouble paying $2000 for a reflash... I guess I hope someone does something cool for Black Friday.

 

I guess price seems to be between 2-3k U$ but there might be minor differences worth looking into. I got a price from protomotive (Todd) but it included 3 flashes and he was very supportive (I want to run E85 if available to me). So he suggested I got two flashes, one for the E85 and one for pump gas, and to save one for later (if I choose to mod the car further).

So I guess even if it is alot of money for a flash, there is some extra value in this business model. I would probably want to use the "third" for a more custom flash based on logs I can gather from my car.

I am in the same situation as the OP, I will try to get my money's worth at least, a E85 flash (with new injectors) will make the 997.1TT a beast

 

Thanks folks. After the initial "onslaught" *g* there were some pretty interesting responses. I'm still giving some thought as to what my next move will be.

 

That's irrelevant, if softronic tunes a motor, and it blows up, the word will get around, and it will cost them money (via sales). If protomotive, or EPL, or AMS, or any of the tuners on this forum were to do so, you think they wouldn't lose a ton of money?

I bet they would at least try and help fix it before dealing with the mayhem that would ensue. Their recognition and reputation is worth a lot of money. You can't explain your way out of a blown motor with a tune/exhaust unless there was a money shift, and that can be proven.

Call internet brands and see how much some of the vendors are paying to advertise here (I have) and you'll see how much it's worth for them to have a good name.