On a NA motor I am not sure of how much of a bump in power could be made as opposed to a forced induction. I suppose changing out the headers with the tune will yield some power or shift the power to a more useful range.
As far as detection of the flash goes, I don't know. I know on some Cobb platforms its difficult for dealerships to detect flashes. Like the older Subaru platforms. I have seen engines changed out under warranty once the flash is removed because on the dealership level its very hard for them to detect it. On the Porsche platform I do not know how sophisticated they are at the dealership. I believe each time it is flashed the checksum increases. With the price of a PDK unit you just have to ask yourself if its worth it I guess.

 

On the plus side: Cobb has been doing these tunes for a long time and we don't have reports of motors or PDK going down because of the new software. I'd say the risk of damage is pretty low.

The down side: In a warranty issue I believe the dealer *can* detect an aftermarket tune with diagnostic tools. Whether this would affect your warranty probably depends on the nature of the failure.

With a stock NA motor these software tunes mostly find a few extra HP by raising the redline and moving the torque curve to the highest point on the rev range. This results in some measurable peak hp gains on a dyno. Does it result in faster laps on a race track? Not much evidence to suggest that it does. Lots of tuner types love this mod but as a guy who spends a lot of time on a race track and runs a lot of track data comparisons, I have no use for a software tune on an otherwise stock NA motor. Drop in a custom 4.2L race motor and now a custom software tune becomes mandatory. YMMV

 

COBB looks to be claiming almost 25hp with their tune. Is this not the case?

 

“Does it result in faster laps on a race track? Not much evidence to suggest that it does. Lots of tuner types love this mod but as a guy who spends a lot of time on a race track and runs a lot of track data comparisons, I have no use [for it.]”

Really? How, specifically, have you evaluated this upgrade on the track? What documented track data comparisons have you run that are relevant to this? Or are you just saying that 25 more HP is peanuts to guys who play in “ the big leagues?” I’ve spent 25 years wheel to wheel racing on road courses in various dedicated race cars. I find my Softronic ECU flash with catback mods to be a worthwhile, simple and low cost track day upgrade for dual-purpose cars like my ‘14 BS.

 

Agree with dcharnet. This stuff is all well documented on this forum over the last few years. When guys broadly say there is not much to be gained with software on a NA motor, that is only a generalization. When Porsche takes a 911 3.4L motor and deletes 25 hp and 14 lbs of torque to start with through software adjustments, that changes the whole ballgame. Add in some headers for 10-15 hp/tq, not a big gain in itself, but then add 15 hp/tq more with software, and then throw back the deleted power, and you have some substantial improvements that will be noticeable and quantifiable at the track or on the street. The headers and protune software on Tpalm's car yielded peak gains of 42 hp and 41 ft/lbs of tq as seen on COBB's dyno database page. Peak torque gains occur about 3700 rpm to the tune of 50 ft/lbs of torque. Now tell me you are not going to notice that, a 27% increase in torque. As you can see by the graph, there are some chunky gains all across the rev range with these modifications. In is not a peak here and a dip there, but the whole torque is lifted up dramatically, just like with a larger motor. To date, we have not heard of any failures from these improvements on this forum. The software will be detectable if PCNA looks hard enough, but many dealers are friendly to such changes if done properly. Porsche has had much more trouble with their previous GT3 motors or the GT4 transmissions than any of these modifications might ever cause. Fortunately the Brand stands behind their products, and has a long history of making things right when appropriate.

 

FWIW I just installed the COBB/TPC Racing tune on my 2014 Cayman S (PDK) and I love the results. Without the empirical data to back up this statement, my highly sophisticated seat of pants feeling would say the car definitely pulls much harder through 1st and 2nd. I have not experienced 3rd+ gears as I'm already going much too fast on public roads. It actually feels quicker than my GT4. I'm sure the PDK vs MT contributes. If you are considering an ECU flash I would suggest you consider the COBB/TPC Racing product.

 

Yes it's safe, yes the dealer can detect it, and yes it's worth it on an -S as Porsche is artificially limiting the power output via the ECU.

I've not seen a single report of engine failure due to ECU tuning, and frankly with NA engines even the worst tune in the world would struggle to do any damage. It could run like crap but breaking it would take a special effort. Forced induction cars are much more critical.

 

I will pretty much echo the thoughts of others in this thread. Safety wise the COBB seems to be a non issue, I have never heard of any engine or gearbox failure related to a tune. I suspect that many will agree, get your "hardware" upgrades (headers, exhaust, plenum etc.) done before the tune and save the tune for last, that way you don't need to have it rewritten.

Evan

 

Thanks for all the replies guys, I’m not interested in hardware upgrades, just this software tune. Getting 25hp from software alone, for $1200 or so, is plenty fine for me.

Now, for dealers detecting the tune, I would go back to normal before any trip to them.

 

They can tell even if you flash back to stock the car has had something done.

I've put a tune on a 981, and I can assure you the car feels quicker. That coupled with the PDK and you can really get in trouble quickly.

 

Any other possible risks to consider? Increased wear seems obvious, but enough to cause anything to prematurely fail?

 

As already stated, its the same motor that is already running at the higher performance level in the 911. Its detuned electronically for the 981 so as not to compete with the higher priced car, so all that is happening is you are recovering the power that Porsche electronically removed. 911s aren't falling apart because they have 25 more HP using the same motor.

No, increased wear is not "obvious" if the motor is already built by Porsche to withstand more abuse and power than you will ever be able to extract from it. There is a limit to what you will ever get from any specific naturally aspirated engine design, and you can bet these motors are not designed and tested to just barely hold together at the exact rated power from Porsche and not a bit more. Now start bolting turbos or other extreme mods to it and its a different story because you are now moving well outside of what the engineers intended for the motor to withstand in stock form.

 

Ok, I’m getting more and more excited about this tune. Has anyone done before and after, 0-60, runs? Or, any 1/4mi runs?

 

I think JCViggen who posted in this thread has some actual track and possibly some other timed data before and after if I recall correctly.

 

JC posted some trap speeds of his car vs other caymans at his track a while back. Seems like the GT4 was 195 kph vs his modified car at 194kph. That is pretty amazing for a Cayman S.

 

Dang that it fast! It’s simply amazing that this can be achieved with just a software tune.

 

To be fair I also have race headers and crossover exhaust tips for mods, and I have a Fabspeed protune. In my testing, the protune delivered a bigger gain over the standard Cobb "stage 2" map than that itself gave me over stock. But then I have a GTS which starts off at 340 horsepower. With an -S you will see +15 hp more gains than I saw because of the lower starting point which means the stock tune will give you 2/3rds of what there is to be had. Still, for only 250 bucks more the protune was a no brainer.

http://www.planet-9.com/981-cayman-...ical-data-fest-cobb-ap-fabspeed-race-headers-fs-protune-real-world-testing.html (the only thing missing is whether the DREAM2 exhaust tips that were fitted after my testing made any more difference, which I feel they did, but don't know by how much)

Last time at the track my speeds at the end of the back straight were identical to 718S PDK and 0.7 mph behind the GT4.

 

So what kind of 0-60 times are people seeing? I know that that isn’t a real measure of performance of our cars, but I won’t be doing 1/4mi runs around here.

I see TPC has a tune claiming 33whp from a stock 981S? Is that likely without any new hardware?

 

Softronic which is what just ordered with there 20% off holiday sale has a similar claim basically 360hp for a DFI 3.4.