Tuning stock BRZ with stock exhaust. Will I feel the difference?
 

Just took delivery of new BRZ 2020. Can't modify much for at least 3 years to comply with warranty. Not planing to update any component of exhaust system at this moment. I would assume custom tune will add some 15-20hp max assuming it's naturally aspirated. Softwares tuning will be done by custom tuner service with dyno test.

Are there users who did tuning on stock BRZ with stock exhaust? Did you feel the difference and most of all do you think it's worth it?

Thanks.

1 yes 2 maybe? 3 No

It's kinda useless to do a tune with the stock header. You're just leaving too much on the table. The tune by the right person and a good header and these cars wake up.

I went through a progression of tuning on my 18 BRZ. Initially got Ecutek and remote tuned on a stock car with some revisions. Followed this with a header later and a revised tune. Followed this with a couple hours of dyno tuning just for fun (gained another 4hp/4tq). Followed this with a flex-fuel kit and a revised tune.

I recall a tune on the stock car being quite a minor bump, but still nice. You won't be seeing anywhere near 15-20hp for sure. I'd say something in the 5-10hp range would be more realistic. In terms of feel, the car felt a little quicker just prior to the torque dip and a little quicker near peak power. It definitely makes a difference, but the difference is slight. With a custom dyno tune, you may gain a couple ponies over me throughout the power band, but I wouldn't expect much more, so it should still feel as I described more or less.

My thing was, I knew I was going to mod little by little over a period of time, so I grabbed Ecutek first for tuning as the tuner I chose does as many revisions as I would like without additional charge. So once I paid the price initially, all tunes since then for upgraded parts have not cost me any more.

A tune will void the warranty. Even if you flash it back to stock, they can go in and see where it has been tuned. You can change the axleback, front and midpipe without a tune. You won't notice much of a power increase just sound and weight.

I did a stage 1 OFT tune and lost most of the torque dip, it was the easy solution. I just got my new header and will do that this weekend and move to a stage 2 OFT tune. I expect the results to be even better than the stage 1 :)
That was my experience

dont modify then if you worry about warranty lol

A friend did a custom ecutek tune with the car stock and a catback. There was a small bump but hardly worth the cost vs performance. I drove it a bit and couldn't tell there was a difference.

If you want to tune the ecu you may as well swap parts. The dealer can see if the ecu was flashed and that tends to be where a dealer will contest issues if at all.

Only thing you can do and retain warranty is catback exhaust. I was told by my dealership they can see a tune based on engine starts. If you flash back and have 20 engine starts over two years, that's obvious.

So interesting enough, I was told about a story like this when purchasing my BRZ. Some guy had purchased a WRX from the dealership and put a hefty tune on it (probably with some parts) shortly after and blew his trans at like 5K miles. He stripped all the parts, placed the stock tune on, and took it to the dealership. The dealership replaced his tranny under warranty. They did check and find something like 2 or 3 engine starts over the period of those 5K miles, but they could not PROVE that he didn't drive those 5K miles within the few car starts. After this tranny replacement, he apparently managed to blow the second one a few thousand miles later. They actually replaced his tranny AGAIN, as the situation was still the same, and they did not have anything to prove it against him. But this second time around, they made him sign some agreement that they will not be replacing any other drivetrain components or something like that because they obviously knew he was doing shit to his car.

Sounds like a super cool dealership haha Around here, people seem to get kicked to the curb over a stained cup holder.

OFT and E85 is the cheap (relatively) and easy way to improve your stock BRZ.

As an aside; can a good tuner/programmer tune in additional engine starts? Clearly it is variable. If it was for a warranty request, it would easily be worth the cost of a tune edit.

Or is that fraud? Idk I’m a potato

Well! If you do a code scan and just because you can clear any even if there`s none. The count restarts. Will that void warranty?.