I know that normally a discussion about engine tuning belongs in the tuning thread but I wanted to put this here so that those that are planning to attend the Summer Kickoff would be sure to see it.
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shiv and his crew from Vishnu Tuning were at 86Fest last fall and had a stack of
Open Flash Tablets for sale at the event for a discounted rate. He sold out of them fairly quickly. My guess is that they may do the same again at the Summer Kickoff.
I picked one up from them a few months ago. Here are my impressions of it.
Since I am pretty much bone stock, other than a drop-in air filter, I ran a Stage 1 tune. Installing the tune is very easy because the touch screen OFT device gives you step-by-step instructions as you are doing it.
After installing the tune we drove it around and I could feel a difference in acceleration. I didn't put it on a dyno to baseline it but the "butt dyno" noticed. However, I noticed that the engine would get raspy around 3500 to 4500 rpm. This is because of the change in injector usage to try to curb some of the torque dip.
I should say, that is what I gleaned from reading other posts about it. @PMok noted that he heard it was a change in intake valve timing. Either way, the reasoning is the same.
Last week I got the fuel pump replaced under warranty so I flashed the car back to stock. The raspiness was gone but as I drove it to a from the dealership I noticed the drop in power. But, on the plus side, I got a new pump and the crickets are gone. Huzzah!
After talking with @
PMok and a few others I decided to run the tank almost dry and make the e85 switch. This was so easy because the OFT has a ELH tune for e85 that Shiv already programmed. After filling up I drove across the street to an empty business park and installed the e85 tune. It took about 5 minutes to write it to the ECU and afterwards, the car fired right up with no issues. So, I drove it easy for next 10 miles so that all of the previous 91 gas got used up that was still in the fuel lines. Then I drove like normal for the rest of the day.
Now that the car is sipping the booze the engine feels so much more smooth (through idles and up to around 4k). It pulls even harder than the previous Stage 1 tune. "Butt dyno" says probably 10~20hp, maybe a little more. I am very happy with the results and I don't see myself going back any time soon.
Here are some Pros and Cons of the OFT that I have noticed.
Pros:
Moar Powah!!!
Easy installation
Free tunes (download them at their
website)
Cheaper than most other tuning options. No need for dongles, licenses, nor the need to pay a trained tech for your custom tune.
Data logging
Real-time analytics. More of a "neato!" thing but it looks cool seeing your engine parameters in real-time
Best bang-for-your-buck power upgrade available, period.
e85 is about $1.00 cheaper per gallon (see caveat in Cons)
Cons:
Well, let's be honest, $500 is $500. But, it is cheaper than alternatives.
Raspiness of engine to compensate for torque dip.
Lack of e85 stations in West Southbay (That isn't a fault of the OFT, it just sucks that you have to go out of your way to find a station.)
Aftermarket tunes can void warranties
You get fewer miles per gallon on e85 due to the stoichiometric combustion difference between petrol and ethanol. Basically, Air-Fuel-Ratio is lower meaning it takes more fuel for the combustion to take place.
Long term effects on your engine are not known at this time.
Vishnu Tuning doesn't do any advertising. They don't need to. Just ask anyone using the OFT. Word of mouth from actual owners will tell you that this is a great deal.
They will be at the event this weekend and I would bet that they will have another stack of Open Flash Tablets on hand (possibly at a volume discount). So, if you were on the fence about it, maybe this will help you decide to make the leap. When you see Shiv at the NorCal86 Summer Kickoff, tell 'em Battlebot Buzz sent ya.
*edit* added some information that I forgot to mention thanks to a well informed discussion in this thread.