Expert Review: Plug-and-Play performance for the FRS/BRZ with Vishnu Openflash Tablet
 

Everyone knows the FRS and BRZ are short on power; this is not a new complaint. Luckily there has been an explosion in bolt on modifications, such as the ARK Grip catback exhaust, Borla headers and Takeda cold air intakes which are popular mods to try and increase the power output from the sports car that many have deemed “slow” by today’s current standards. Adding bolt on modifications is a great way to customize your car, and make it truly yours. The issue? With more free flowing and efficient parts, the stock ECU or “computer” doesn’t know what to do-and the hp gains you should be getting from your new parts is almost non-existent. Back in the day, issues like this could be overcome with more ghetto mods, such as resistors, map clamps and piggy-backs. Luckily, you no longer have to trick your car trying to maximize the most from your mods, and we have much safer and efficient means of tuning. ECU Tuning, or ECU Reflashing.

One the cars computer is tuned, it can see all the necessary parameters and inputs from the sensors in the engine to keep your engine running safe regardless of elevation, gas quality or air temperature. There are a few ways to tune your car, one of them is going to a “tuner” or “tuning shop” that specializes in custom ECU flashing and tuning. The only downside of tuning your car this way is seeking out a local and reputable tuner for your car. Going to a tuner can sometimes be troublesome, time consuming and expensive when just trying to tune for basic bolt on mods. The easier method of tuning (which applies to most car enthusiasts with bolt on parts), is using a hand-held flash tuner. And today, we will be using the Vishnu Openflash Tablet (or OFT as you may find in this article or forums online).


The Openflash tablet is a GPS sized hand-held tuning device that allows you to tune your car in your own driveway based on the mods you have. Don’t have any mods to your car yet? Don’t worry, the OFT provides benefits that even a stock car can use…but more on that later. Tuning with the OFT is super easy to use (on-screen, step by step directions), and it only takes a few minutes of your time to flash your cars computer. First, you plug the OFT into your OBD II plug, located where the center console and plastic under the steering wheel meet.


Next, turn the key in the ignition to the “acc” position, so the car has power but isn’t running. Follow the on-screen instructions, and the OFT will make a copy of your stock factory tune (which protects you if you ever need to go back to the stock tune, for any reason). Next, you get to “flash” or re-write the cars computer with a new tune-each one customized to make the most power from the mods you have. Included with the OFT are “Canned” tunes. A canned tune is one that has been made with changes in the tune based on other cars with the same mods. Canned tunes are created after a tuner, in this case Vishnu has tuned other cars with various mods, and they come up with a custom tune that will work with a variety of cars. This is a very safe and cost effective way to tune, and will get you 80-90% of the potential power your mods can give you. Once your car has been reflashed with a new tune, you can unplug the Openflash tablet and have fun knowing your car has been safely tuned and is making the most power it can with your bolt-on mods.


Besides tuning your engine, the OFT can be used for switching between tunes (such as pump gas and e85), data logging, engine monitoring and code reading/clearing.


And remember when I said even a stock car can benefit from the Openflash Tablet? The tune that comes with the FRS and BRZ from the factory/dealer is lacking in a few areas. The idle is the first and most notable one. Have you ever noticed when you’re sitting at a stop light, the engine idle fluctuates and almost seems like the car is about to stall? The OFT will help this by providing a much more stable rpm while idling-so no more feeling like you’re in a car that’s about to break down. The next change in tuning for your engine is rather huge, and will definitely have an effect on the longevity of your car-The Direct Injector Seal Update. Under certain driving conditions, there can be detonation in the engine, and it damages the seals of the direct injector system. Over time, this can lead to expensive repairs needed to your car, and most likely your warranty will have run out, and you’ll be left to foot the bill. Luckily, the tuners over at Vishnu Performance are aware of this issue, and have included this tuning fix in every single one of their tunes!

With that said, I personally run the Vishnu Openflash Tablet on my FRS, and have done so over the past 10k miles. I have had nothing but fantastic results from it, and the OFT has allowed me to maximize the performance with the mods I have. When I’m feeling like a race driver or heading to the track, I can fill up my car with E-85, flash the ECU and enjoy great gains in hp/tq without bolting on anything-all I did was fill up my gas tank with E85 and flash my ECU. Or, when I pick up future mods, such as a new Front Pipe from Berk Technology, I can flash a different tune and take full advantage of my new modification!

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Nice! :thumbsup:

Excellent review! Thanks for sharing. Subbed for future future feedback(s). :thumbup:

So who else is running an open flash tablet? I'm sure there are a ton of guys on this forum who do. How do you guys like it so far?

Hey Jurrian,

I've run OFT Stage 1, Stage 2 e85, and now the Phantom Supercharger tune and love it. Waiting on Stage 2+e85+Phantom ESC. Running off the shelf (OTS) maps that are tuned for performance and safety has been great. The e85 tunes cover ethanol mixtures from e50-e90 without a flex fuel kit. There's a review from someone on the board that has run OFT e85 for over 30k miles with no issues. Shiv is constantly adding features and more logging channels. Most exhaust products are supported, and for FI, the OFT supports Phantom ESC, Vortech SC and now SPD Turbo.

I will eventually make the drive to Vishnu to get dyno tuned. Till then, the Vishnu OTS maps are awesome. The functionality is good for probably 85-90% of owners and the price has not been touched.

How's that?

This is helpful as I wasn't really sure how this open flash tablet worked.

Me neither! ;)

Thanks for the write up ModBargains!

Great, concise write-up. It answered a lot of questions I had! A few more for you (or anyone else):

1) How does one get the OTS maps? Do they have to email Vishnu every time, or is there some sort of username/password-protected repository of tunes?
2) How quickly are new maps released for new parts? e.g. - does the new FT86SF catted-UEL have a map?
3) For the DI seal issue, didn't Toyota release a TSB to fix that for earlier ('13) cars and '14s already have that update applied?


Thanks,
Jyn

Cool. Never done any kind of tunes on a car before so had no clue how it worked.
This looks much easier that what I pictured in my head.

Would have been cool if there was some kind of dyno comparison on the review to show the gains from a tune (specific to the reviewer and his vehicle).

1) The OTS maps come pre-loaded in the OFT. After you install the OFT (read the stock ECU), OTS tune files will automatically be generated (see video on front page of www.openflashtablet.com). Then just select what OTS file you want (Stage 1, Stage 2 UEL, Stage 2 EL, Stage 2 UEL E85 or Stage 2 EL E85) and you're off.

2) Map releases/updates come regularly. We don't necessary have OTS maps for every single header since that would be impossible. But our OTS maps are carefully calibrated to work with a wide range of mods.

3) All OTS maps have the latest DI seal fix applied in them. Along with add-ons like Launch Control and Flat-Foot Shift.

Cheers,
Shiv

The regular map release updates always give me something new to look forward to. They keep getting better and better

I've had the OpenFlash combo for a good part of this summer and it transforms the car. It adds much needed torque in the dip, increases the response and is dead easy to use. Free updates are always welcome and soon we will have 91 and 93 optimized maps.

So far, very happy with my purchase :)

Sent from my Nexus 5 using Tapatalk

Good review, this is one of the few mods that I actually will consider doing even though I will be keeping the car stock.

Worth it just for the Launch Controls :). That and the magical sound when you hit over 4k :)