ECU tunes available

[Bill in Bama]

I speculated early on that if the only difference between the GTS engine and the GT4 engine was software, as Porsche has stated, then it wouldn't be too long before the tuners came out with a flash to give us lowly GTS owners the power of the mighty GT4, and that has happened, only better. I have no affiliation with any of the tuners, just commenting on some things I've gleaned from the boards, mostly RL. Soul/Softronics has one on sale through today (hurry, be the first kid on your block to get this!) that bumps both engines to 440 hp and 346 ft. lbs. torque, so we get the whole enchilada. I'm tempted to do this, but I did a tune on my 981 GTS and barely felt the difference( admittedly it was only supposed to bump it about 10 hp) and I keep telling myself that at my age (73) I'm not a young hot rodder anymore, so I probably won't jump on this, but wanted to put it out there for anyone considering. That is a significant hp gain, and comes out to less than $31 per horse, a pretty good bargain IMO. The torque improvement is considerable too and should be felt immediately. Back in the day I modified all my cars, starting with my '65 Chevelle 250 hp 327, putting in the 350 hp cam/lifters, and 4 bbl. Holley carb. Nearly everything after that I also added performance enhancement to, an intercooler for my XR4Ti, and 6 speed manual for my E36 M3, etc. I enjoyed the wrenching as much as the gains I received, but now in my advancing years I keep telling myself its rather pointless, I can't use the power I have now in my GTS, and sometimes it is scary fast when I try to rev to redline before running out of road. I don't track anymore, so that is not the answer, and its harder and harder to find a road with no traffic where I can wind it out, so I just enjoy the terrific handling and occasions when I can use the power for a few seconds. Passing cars on a country road it still a great pleasure.

But for you guys still doing the modding game, this is something to consider, I know I would be ordering now if I were 20 years younger (maybe just 10) and with the reduced weight it should be very close to competitive with the C8 Corvette.

[Tom]

On your car, I'd hate to compromise the extended engine warranty too.... My dealer is super good about honoring the warranty and not nit-picking things, but they told me flat out that a tune would be a problem if I had engine problems (knock on wood), especially since the factory needs to be involved on engine failures. On my Turbo, they are getting crazy gains via tuning, so I've thought about it too, but -- for now anyway -- I'm holding off. I too added HP to nearly every car I had in the past (my 944 Turbo dyno'd at 500hp to the wheels), but the 992 is already fairly insane with 640hp so not even sure what more power would feel like. Launch control is already enough to get me nauseous on occasion, and I'll never be good enough to drive it to the limit as is, and I don't want to compromise the warranty, etc. But, despite all that, it's tempting.

[Bill in Bama]

Yeah, forget to mention that aspect as well. Since I've got a six year warranty on my car now I don't want to jeopardize it.

[Bob Z]

I have the Softronic tune on my Spyder and it is subtle but man, does it pull hard in every gear! The car runs better overall though and for the money it is well worth it...Scott knows his stuff! And when I got it I had to send him the ECU but now he includes a handheld device so one does not have to do that anymore.

I play the odds that the tune will not likely cause any problems with the drivetrain - I have been getting tunes for vehicles for years and never had a problem.

[Tom]

I have the Softronic tune on my Spyder and it is subtle but man, does it pull hard in every gear! The car runs better overall though and for the money it is well worth it...Scott knows his stuff! And when I got it I had to send him the ECU but now he includes a handheld device so one does not have to do that anymore.

I play the odds that the tune will not likely cause any problems with the drivetrain - I have been getting tunes for vehicles for years and never had a problem.

When I lived in Florida, they were still serving up 93 octane gas. Are they still? That alone gives you more headroom than us California folks stuck with 91octane max. High humidity helps too (in terms of knock control, not so much power). Also, with a non-turbo motor like that, you normally don't see design-stressing power increases from a tune the way you do on factory turbo cars. There are tunes on the market for my car that claim to add over 150hp, and if you start adding exhausts and such, it gets insane. Temping for sure, but I'd like to see a LOT of people run these cars at that power level (without breaking things) before jumping in. Even if the motor itself is ok at 800hp, that much power seems likely to reveal the next weakest part. On a 4.0 n/a motor, adding 30+ hp can add some extra push without necessarily pushing anything beyond its basic design. And by my math, that tune puts you right at the Porsche 959 power levels, with similar weight and better balance. Must be a blast.

[Bob Z]

I have the Softronic tune on my Spyder and it is subtle but man, does it pull hard in every gear! The car runs better overall though and for the money it is well worth it...Scott knows his stuff! And when I got it I had to send him the ECU but now he includes a handheld device so one does not have to do that anymore.

I play the odds that the tune will not likely cause any problems with the drivetrain - I have been getting tunes for vehicles for years and never had a problem.

When I lived in Florida, they were still serving up 93 octane gas. Are they still? That alone gives you more headroom than us California folks stuck with 91octane max. High humidity helps too (in terms of knock control, not so much power). Also, with a non-turbo motor like that, you normally don't see design-stressing power increases from a tune the way you do on factory turbo cars. There are tunes on the market for my car that claim to add over 150hp, and if you start adding exhausts and such, it gets insane. Temping for sure, but I'd like to see a LOT of people run these cars at that power level (without breaking things) before jumping in. Even if the motor itself is ok at 800hp, that much power seems likely to reveal the next weakest part. On a 4.0 n/a motor, adding 30+ hp can add some extra push without necessarily pushing anything beyond its basic design. And by my math, that tune puts you right at the Porsche 959 power levels, with similar weight and better balance. Must be a blast.

93 is everywhere here but I only use Shell V-Power in the fleet. But the gains I had on my 991.2 (turbo) with a Cobb tune was much more than on the NA in the Spyder, but I can still feel it; however, I am running Soul headers with high flow cats along with their Race exhaust so it really moves now with the tune!

[Tom]

I have the Softronic tune on my Spyder and it is subtle but man, does it pull hard in every gear! The car runs better overall though and for the money it is well worth it...Scott knows his stuff! And when I got it I had to send him the ECU but now he includes a handheld device so one does not have to do that anymore.

I play the odds that the tune will not likely cause any problems with the drivetrain - I have been getting tunes for vehicles for years and never had a problem.

When I lived in Florida, they were still serving up 93 octane gas. Are they still? That alone gives you more headroom than us California folks stuck with 91octane max. High humidity helps too (in terms of knock control, not so much power). Also, with a non-turbo motor like that, you normally don't see design-stressing power increases from a tune the way you do on factory turbo cars. There are tunes on the market for my car that claim to add over 150hp, and if you start adding exhausts and such, it gets insane. Temping for sure, but I'd like to see a LOT of people run these cars at that power level (without breaking things) before jumping in. Even if the motor itself is ok at 800hp, that much power seems likely to reveal the next weakest part. On a 4.0 n/a motor, adding 30+ hp can add some extra push without necessarily pushing anything beyond its basic design. And by my math, that tune puts you right at the Porsche 959 power levels, with similar weight and better balance. Must be a blast.

93 is everywhere here but I only use Shell V-Power in the fleet. But the gains I had on my 991.2 (turbo) with a Cobb tune was much more than on the NA in the Spyder, but I can still feel it; however, I am running Soul headers with high flow cats along with their Race exhaust so it really moves now with the tune!

Nice, I had no idea you had were a hot-rodder. That car must scoot! I assume you'd outrun a GT4 at this point? And probably a good chunk of the 992 fleet?

I'm warranty-paranoid, so put all my hot-rodding instincts into my 944 Turbo. I built the 3 liter motor in there now, and it's dyno'd as high as 500hp. It's fully built, runs on E85, water injection, can hold 23-24psi of boost, etc. This was the car that taught me the next weakest link lesson (3 trannies, lots of clutches, even more head gaskets, etc.).

[Bob Z]

When I lived in Florida, they were still serving up 93 octane gas. Are they still? That alone gives you more headroom than us California folks stuck with 91octane max. High humidity helps too (in terms of knock control, not so much power). Also, with a non-turbo motor like that, you normally don't see design-stressing power increases from a tune the way you do on factory turbo cars. There are tunes on the market for my car that claim to add over 150hp, and if you start adding exhausts and such, it gets insane. Temping for sure, but I'd like to see a LOT of people run these cars at that power level (without breaking things) before jumping in. Even if the motor itself is ok at 800hp, that much power seems likely to reveal the next weakest part. On a 4.0 n/a motor, adding 30+ hp can add some extra push without necessarily pushing anything beyond its basic design. And by my math, that tune puts you right at the Porsche 959 power levels, with similar weight and better balance. Must be a blast.

93 is everywhere here but I only use Shell V-Power in the fleet. But the gains I had on my 991.2 (turbo) with a Cobb tune was much more than on the NA in the Spyder, but I can still feel it; however, I am running Soul headers with high flow cats along with their Race exhaust so it really moves now with the tune!

Nice, I had no idea you had were a hot-rodder. That car must scoot! I assume you'd outrun a GT4 at this point? And probably a good chunk of the 992 fleet?

I'm warranty-paranoid, so put all my hot-rodding instincts into my 944 Turbo. I built the 3 liter motor in there now, and it's dyno'd as high as 500hp. It's fully built, runs on E85, water injection, can hold 23-24psi of boost, etc. This was the car that taught me the next weakest link lesson (3 trannies, lots of clutches, even more head gaskets, etc.).

Oh yeah, my cars run as good as they look! I cannot remember the last stock sports car I had! Even though the Spyder is not a turbo it is fast and since it started with the 4.0 (same as the GT4) it should have no problem out running one, even with a manual!