[BigTrippin]

Should I get my whip professionally tuned or buy an accessport?

[dewey]

Your going to need an EM to get a protune so your gonna need that accessport or you can get ECUTEK for the same price I think for an accessport but its just a reflash of the ecu where as the accessport you have something to hold in your hands.

[BigTrippin]

You mean I need to buy an accesport to get it tuned? i didn't think that was the case.

[dewey]

lol I posted something similar to your post a while back http://www.iwsti.com/forums/ecu-tuning-performance-electronics/108016-does-protunes-require-em.html

[Turbineguy]

AP and a protune. Two peas in a pod.

[WRC~06~STi]

IMHO the AP excels over the ECUTEK b/c what dewey said, you have it in your hands, plus you get all the live data you want, all kinds of security modes, economy mode, 60ft 1/8 and 14 times. and you can save your tune on your AP and go to a different mode whenever you want. it is a genius and perfect piece of technological brilliance for our cars. good luck

[ninjaboy76]

A protune is a generic term that refers to having a "professional" tuner tune your car. The protuner term orignally started being used at first to refer to having a tuner use Cobbs Protuner software which works with the Cobb Accessport, but now its pretty much a blanket generic term that refers having a professional tuner tune your car with whatever engine management setup you are using. To get "protuned" you need to have a way to access your cars ecu. This can be accomplished by one of the following methods:

Cobb Accessport (CobbTuning.com - Home Page You can purchase a Cobb Accessport which is what a majority of people are using on these forums. You can flash your ecu with an off the shelfmap (OTS) from Cobbs website and then eventually get it tuned by a professional tuner that will make a custom tune based on your mods and your car. The map(s) made by the tuner will be stored on your Cobb AP so you can switch between them. The nice thing about the Cobb setup is that you can have multiple maps made (pump gas / race gas). Cobb's system uses two types of maps. A base map and a realtime map. Run both at once. The nice thing about the Cobb setup is that you can keep the same base map, but switch to a different real time map very quickly if you want to go to a different tune.)

Turbo XS UTEC (Turbo XS This setup is a piggyback which will give a tuner access to some of the ecus parameters, but isn't as robust as Cobb Accessport, Ecutek. It also has the capability to allow the tuner to make multiple maps. The newer versions of the UTEC have come a long way and have gotten a lot better, but I still don't think they are quite a good as reflashing the ECU like Cobb, Ecutek, or opensource tuning methods.)

Ecutek tuning software (   www.ecutek.com This program will flash the ecu the same way that Cobb Protuning software will, but cost a lot more and doesn't allow you the ability to switch maps easily like the Cobb Accessport will.)

Enginuity or other opensource ecu tuning program (This requires the purchase of a tactrix cable, and is the cheapest method. It will allow multiple maps to be made, but will require you to re-write the ecu entirely everytime you switch maps and/or make a change to a map. The advantage to this setup is that you have access to your ecu and can learn the tune the car yourself. I like a majority of Evo owners am using an opensource method to tune my car. Main Page - OpenECU)

[Boostpimp]

Or spend a grip of cash and get a Hydra w/ wideband and let it self tune.

[Loubaru]

Originally Posted by dewey

Your going to need an EM to get a protune so your gonna need that accessport or you can get ECUTEK for the same price I think for an accessport but its just a reflash of the ecu where as the accessport you have something to hold in your hands.

This is untrue. The access port allows you to switch maps without a laptop. With Enguity (a free program) all you need is a laptop and a cable (which your tuner would probablyh have) to tune your car. You don't NEED an AP or ECUTEK, people just like them because you can switch maps easily.

[FlybySTi]

you need em to get tuned!! so both

[La Mer]

Originally Posted by BigTrippin

Should I get my whip professionally tuned or buy an accessport?

You need an AccessPort to utilize the 'Protune'.

The answer is BOTH.

[Loubaru]

Originally Posted by FlybySTi

you need em to get tuned!! so both

God, I don't understand why everyone thinks this. YOU DON'T NEED A AP OR UTEC TO TUNE YOUR CAR!*

*deleted, didn't understand what you were saying i guess. the need in the statement makes me think your telling him he needs to buy it.

Sorry for the rant, I just can't stand the snowball affect forums have with spreading incorrect info.

[Siegel Racing]

^^^ mostly right...

The Cobb AP tuning software is titled "AP Protuner." When they were first released there was Pro Tuner Software and Street Tuner software. Getting "Protuned" has generally meant having a professional Pro Tuner use the Cobb AP Protuner Software to tune your car. It has sort of devolved into meaning getting professionally tuned...

So... well... dunno

Siegel

[La Mer]

Originally Posted by CKLewis

God, I don't understand why everyone thinks this. La Mer, Please stop spreading this misinformation.

This all started from a poorly structured question by the OP. No reason to get mad.

Since you decided to call me out I will respond.

Originally Posted by CKLewis

A "Protune" is just a term, its not a product. When you get "protuned" all you do is pay a tuner (the "pro") to tune your car for your mods, altitude, gas, etc.

Protuner is/was a product. See it here. It is a commercial tuning program used by shops. This is where the term 'Protune' derived from. The misinformation that you so overwhelmingly dread is spread by YOU and your definition of a 'Protune'.

Originally Posted by CKLewis

The AP just allows the tuner to communicate with and modify your ECU; a Tactix cable, a laptop, and software (such as Enginuity) will do the SAME THING.

The AP allows the tuner (professional or Joe Shmo) to use Protuner or Streettuner software to communicate and modify your ECU.

By the way, I've been using Enginuity for about a year now. I am fully aware of alternative methods of modifying your ECU. Before Enginuity, I was tuned by professional tuner who programmed my AP using Protuner.

EDIT: In fact I was tuned by Topspeed (I noticed Siegel from Topspeed posted above me).

The thing is, Lewis, the OP used the word Accessport specifically. This a Cobb product. Again, it would require Protuner or Streettuner to generate a map.

Originally Posted by CKLewis

Sorry for the rant, I just can't stand the snowball affect forums have with spreading incorrect info

Deleting your 'Protune' definition is a start.

[ninjaboy76]

Originally Posted by Siegel Racing

^^^ mostly right...

The Cobb AP tuning software is titled "AP Protuner." When they were first released there was Pro Tuner Software and Street Tuner software. Getting "Protuned" has generally meant having a professional Pro Tuner use the Cobb AP Protuner Software to tune your car. It has sort of devolved into meaning getting professionally tuned...

So... well... dunno

Siegel

As perfectly explained in my post, which it seems that nobody reads

^ Yes it originally started out as a term / product from Cobb that allowed tuners to make car/mod specific maps that could be stored in the AP. Now the term "protune" has taken on a completely different term on this forum to mean a professional tuner tuning your car with whatever EM you have, which is not what the original term ment.