BRZedit - My thoughts so far
 

I have used BRZedit, EcuTek, Openflash, Romraider and I am of the view that the best software by far is BRZedit.

1. The logger on BRZedit is by far the most advanced with all channels defined (US and International) and includes very advanced analysis tools and very intuitive user interface. It also includes useful features like the dyno calculator. In particular I found it very useful to be able to monitor IAM live.
2. The flashing process with BRZedit is much faster than the other solutions. It takes no more than 2 minutes to complete a flash compared to the others that could take up to 5 minutes if not more.
3. The definitions with BRZedit are complete and all US and International roms are defined fully as opposed to other solutions where usually International roms are semi defined.
4. The software is very organized with tables clearly grouped by function so you don't have to go fishing around for the relevant table you want to edit.
5. Patched features such as Launch control rev limit, Flat foot shifting is defined for all roms (US and International)
6. Customer service is great and I always get a quick response with the ability to remote diagnose problems (was very useful when troubleshooting PC related issue that I thought was due to the software)


I am in no way affiliated to the developer of @brzEdit and the views expressed are my own after using all available tuning solutions.

How do you use it? Tactrix?

Yes you use the Tactrix cable. An added benefit of having the Tactrix cable is that you are able to use it for other software as well such as Romraider or ECUflash. In addition you can use the Toyota Techstream software to customize certain options such as seat belt alarm on/off, interior lights functions etc. It also allows for external wideband direct input that can be logged by the BRZedit software. And finally, a Tactrix cable is a good investment (I had mine when I used to have an EVO X) and can be used for various other cars.

the problem is... no one e-tune with brzedit as far as I know.
So unless you have a good tuner or you are willing to do it by yourself why using it instead of ecutek for example?

I don't wanna start any war, I'm just trying to get a better grasp of the pros and cons.

Ecutek is: 650$ entry package
BRZEDIT: around 480-500$

BRZedit can load any of the open source maps out there. Shiv has put out numerous Stage 1 and Stage 2 maps that are free. Those can be flashed with BRZedit. Also the logger software in BRZedit is lightyears ahead of EcuTek. That alone justifies the cost of getting BRZedit.

A more reasonable example on price would be:
Ecutek : $850 hardware and tune (can only be used to flash and limited logging)
BRZedit : $420 hardware and tune (logger is amazing and the hardware can be used for many other things)

Let alone that if you want the good features of Ecutek you have to pay $399 extra for the Racerom.

To put it simply, I bought my Tactrix, Shivs OFT tablet, and my BRZedit software for less than a Ecutek package....

Brzedit isn't bad. The software itself is fine. I have to disagree on the support though. I had several emails go unanswered, and the software itself hasn't been updated at all since I bought it many months ago.

I wouldn't recommend it to anyone at this point. OFT and BRZedit both offer nothing that you can't get for free with ecuflash and romraider, certainly once the open source logger defs improve. With OFT you at least get great support and a tablet.

James, wouldn't you agree that OFT and the great service that comes with it is complemented by the superb logger found in BRZedit? Out of curiosity what are you using for logging?

Mostly agree with #1

That is because he is doing a partial write only

Sorry but this is just plan wrong. Most of the defs are missing lots of tables. He has not bothered to update definitions since any of the open source movement gained momentum. Many of the defs he has have incorrect descriptions as well

Agree, but not on the table order. We should have the option of re grouping tables into our own org system

For basic stuff you are correct, but I have a number of issues that were never addressed despite my frequent emails to both the support address and epifans address. I have been told the same by many others.

I like the logger. I don't like being locked out of table definition editing. I also don't like that my logging issue was never addressed after countless emails. For me the logging is great for 2 drive cycles after a flash, then the sample rate drops by a factor of 3 or 4 (goes from 67ms to 250ms sample rate). This means if i want to log, i have to flash every day.... guess how many times i have flashed my car at this point???? At least an average of once per day since i purchased the software on launch day.

His less expensive software, that is the same software just not licensed for the twins, ecuedit is in fact better than what we get with brzedit. You have to buy the pro version of brz edit to get the romraider definition import tool, the definition editor, the hex editor that makes finding me tables easy etc etc.

I even told Epifan i would buy ecuedit on top of brzedit if he would open up map editing (not reflashing) for the twins roms in ecuedit.

He makes good products, but brzedit was never completed in my opinion. It's about 80% there and he just stopped or moved on to something else. Shame, because it has soo much potential.

At least the logger will open any csv format log file so i can still use the log analysis features which i love.

i use ecutek for logging. brzedit's log viewer is better, of course but i don't spend much time looking at the editor's logger anyway. i have tools and other methods that i use to filter and format the log data. looking at raw data in a log doesn't really buy you much.

i agree that OFT logging is lacking severely. i've never needed anything i couldn't log with ecutek, though and the viewing component is certainly good enough for what i use it for. of course you can always just switch over and import any csv log into brzedit for viewing as well.

soon romraider logger will be fully baked and own all, so it's really only a temporary issue if anything.

Looking forward to that! For some reason i never seem to be able to find dev info on raider (program not the site itself lol).

do you need a tactrix for romraider and ecuflash as well?

yes

I bought BRZedit right when I bought my BRZ in august.

Initially I thought it was great, roms seemed well-defined for a pretty new car and setup, and it did it's job very well.

Once the open source movement picked up and OFT came out and better definitions came out, I started using RomRaider for my editing.

I still use BRZedit for flashing and logging (the logger is excellent, IMO), but I have tried to contact epifan on a few occasions for questions and have never gotten a response. I wish the support and updates were better, like others have said this could be something great with some more updates.

Question for you guys that are much more versed with the different types of software. First i had Ecutek and Visconti tune. Visconti said that if i wanted to completely remove ecutek from the car i had to flash a Rom-nilpir file to completely get rid of it so dealer couldnt see. I asked him if there was a way to do it differently so that the license stayed.....he then told me to flash the same file but just to remove the nilpir from the file name.

I did that and then i got tuned uzing BRZedit at my local tuner. I can still use my Ecutek for logging because i didnt buy BRzEdit.

Main question is what state is my car at interms of licenses and whatnot? I plan to get one of Shiv's Phantom SC tunes and a OFT this spring, not sure if i will have to do something before he can flash?

Is there anyway that i can salvage the money i put into ecutek so that it would be useful to someone else?

Thanks for the help.