[a3ng25]

What are peoples feelings on OTS vs Protune if the long term goal is just a little more fun/response over stock? This is for a 2020 Sti base.

Power gains between OTS and protune are negligable to me here. So I'm really coming from the reliability pov here.

I know the pitch about how protune will be better because every car is different and protune accounts for your specific car and climate. But at stage 1+ is it your opinion that the protune is worth the money still over the Cobb OTS? In my area protune by IAG means $700 for the precheck and tune...plus getting a cobb fuel pressure sensor on top of that.

Everything I ever see is people using stage 1 as a hold over until they go higher. So just wondering what people's thoughts are if the plan is never going higher than stage 1+? It's a decent chunk of money and effort if it's really not much different at this stage. But vice versa it's not that much more money over the life of the car if it is that much better.

Thanks

 

[magnetite2020sti]

I have tuned multiple platforms over the years and always went the custom tune (Protune) route. Zero engine failures to date. I personally would never run an OTS pump gas tune on a Subaru. I have spoken... .

Plus, if you have just spent 35-40k on a car would not spending $400-500 more to make sure the tune is dialed in for your car and gas you run be important...? If you cannot afford to do it right either wait and save or do not tune at all.

 

[mheyman]

$500 for better performance is nothing.
$500 for improved reliability isn't much.

The question is how do you know what you will get? That answer is to pick a reputable shop/tuner.

Still OTS tunes run on thousands of cars, and if they can't provide a reliable tune that runs on the same exact parts then there is something wrong. Every manufacturer does this with every production car. I DD the Cobb Stage 2 STI tune for app 60K with the appropriate parts on my 05 (2013-2015). It was vastly better than OEM performance and it significantly improved drive-ability. After warranty, I will likely run an OTS tune on my 2020 till it gets built . . .

 

[MastiffHouse_STI]

Cobb Stage 2 STI tune for app 60K with the appropriate parts on my 05 (2013-2015). It was vastly better than OEM performance and it significantly improved drive-ability. After warranty, I will likely run an OTS tune on my 2020 till it gets built . . .

I also ran the Cobb stage 2 for close to 75k on my 05 without any issues and preferred it over stock as well. I would say for an OTS Cobb is good at customer service for when I had questions or didn't understand something on my logs. Having driven stage 2 for a long time I decided to go full send and go built.

For me, I didn't want to protune until I could throw parts in the car that would provide a seriously noticeable butt dyno difference, but that's just me. I am also not someone who is chasing a specific HP number or specific trap time either so there will be different opinions depending on your goals and how you want to use the car.

 

[dlheman]

OTS tune should be fine and they are conservative for this very reason - it is supposed to factor in any known or potential variables that makes one engine different to another.

What is important is that be sure the engine is in good shape. So get a compression check done and do vacuum leak test before flashing the OTS map that is appropriate for the stage your engine is in.

 

[yamahaSHO]

I won't say anything more than I took this log off an STi with an OTS map.

 

[szemely]

I think I understand most of what’s on the graph (not necessarily why it’s bad or good), but what does the timing line correspond to? I’m assuming degrees from TDC when ignition occurs. (Sorry for pinging questions off of you, this is something I’ve been interested in, but don’t know a lot of good resources for learning).

 

[magnetite2020sti]

That OTS map has boost and timing all over the place. Thanks Jason for reaffirming what I already know. .

 

[Jay11STI]

Me personally, id prefer a protune over an OTS map. I think the OTS map is ok for a short period of time while you wait for parts or a tune. Ultimately, a pro tune will be the best in my opinion especially if you are looking at long term.

$700 + parts seems pretty high for a protune, i guess thats the IAG price.

 

[a3ng25]

I won't say anything more than I took this log off an STi with an OTS map.

I have trouble believing that the Cobb map on its own is the sole contributor to this cars issues...

 

[yamahaSHO]

That's fine... I got tons of tuning stories your probably wouldn't believe either.

BTW, I tuned that car afterwards and I started with one of my base maps and tuned it like normal with no issues. Sooo...

 

[magnetite2020sti]

Makes you wonder why OTS is so popular on a platform that has a bad reputation for ring land failures...? Heat (boost) plus questionable octane (pump gas) and tad too much timing breaks ring lands. ??? I’m a newbie so don’t listen too me. .

 

[Karlot]

Tune will make a world of difference. You will get better power and better reliability. One of my best friends tuned mine like 2 weeks after and he’s now been tuning it fir 8 years. I had friends with ots “stage2” STi’s that I could easily outrun, and my engine lasted longer than theirs. (2 friends with ots)

edit: to be fair the ots on my friends cars weren’t terrible. Did last quite a while. They didn’t beat on their cars near as hard as I diD mine. So long as you’re using a reputable company they will be ok. But a pro tune is definitely significantly better

 

[mheyman]

Pretty sure mine wouldn't have looked like that - and while that one does, there is no reason an OTS tunes needs to be bad.

 

[a3ng25]

I appreciate all the responses. Looking into protune options in my area.

 

[[email protected]]

I can post 20 OTS logs without the issues you are posting. That is definitely not a common occurrence with COBB OTS maps.

Not saying you're making this up but we Pro-tune COBB stuff all day, 6 days a week on our dyno and we don't see this happening on properly running cars with proper fuel.

I won't say anything more than I took this log off an STi with an OTS map.

 

[yamahaSHO]

I can too. However, it proves the point that you should not blindly rely on an OTS tune. Additionally, I did not spot anything off with the car when I preceded to tune it. This was one of the worst case scenario... But I have plenty where they're dropping DAM as well.

I also ProTune Cobb stuff every day. It gets more problematic when you start removing atmospheric pressure

 

[Parker]

I'll say this...I ran a Cobb OTS tune on my 06 for 6 years and without a detailed inspection I can say it was problem free. Could it have been better with a protune? Sure, won't discount that. A protune on a stock car is better because the stock tune is too conservative. However, I will always recommend getting a true protune for your specific car from a reputable tuner as more piece of mind. they can take your logs, your driving style, your cars specific behaviors and dial it properly. I'd gladly pay $500 for a protune vs. a $500 deductible to a dealership.