E85 vs 91 vs 93 vs 100

[forzajuve]

Thank you very much for that detailed/concise response and explanation. Definitely helped gain a better perspective of whether or not it is worth going e85, flex fuel or staying with pump gas.

[FR-S Matt]

Originally Posted by Turkish

To date, the only e85 equipped station I have come across while driving in the central Texas region is Burnet, TX. I am sure there are more, I just don't see them in my areas that I drive in.

HEB off Parmer and i-35 is one place. There's another as well, but I'd have to look. Few and far between though still.

[Turkish]

Originally Posted by FR-S Matt

HEB off Parmer and i-35 is one place. There's another as well, but I'd have to look. Few and far between though still.

You're previously stated reasons plus availability are why I'm not interested in any sort of e85 build/tune.

Sent from my SCH-I535 using Tapatalk

[Fast_Freddy]

Originally Posted by s2d4

Correction:

Originally Posted by topazsparrow

Where are you getting this information from? I can't see a reason why OFT can't support e85. There may not be any tunes for it yet, but there shouldn't be a reason why it's not supported.

You answered your own question. No tune = no e85 support. I didn't want to speculate on what might be possible in the future.

Frankly I think OFT is going to be a lot like Unichip. There will be dozens of generic tunes available for various combinations of IHE, an e85 tune and a lot of amateur tune sharing but very few professional tuners willing to tune with it.

[forzajuve]

That seems like a bold claim. I am no expert but all of these tuning components can do the same thing whether it is OpenFlashTune or EcuTek. You just can't port one back and forth to each other. That said, I think OpenFlash has the potential to do just as good if not better given the time. As I think maybe Shiv stated in a previous post, EcuTek tunes for the FRS/BRZ have been out far longer than OFT, therefore, OFT has a lot more potential, progress and ground to cover. Making a judgement this prematurely of it not being able to "hang" seems misplaced at this time.

[forzajuve]

Also, if you ever get the chance, try out a Vishnu stg2 tune. I was fortunate enough to try my buddies FRS w/ the stg2 tune (i think it was stg 2, may have been stg 1) at the NorCal Fiesta FRS/BRZ meet as well as meet the Vishnu team. I definitely felt the difference and their claims are not bogus. They told us what results would occur and after driving my buddy's FRS, it was 100% noticeable.

(kiss ass time) Not only that, it took them 10 minutes to apply the tune to his car and he left the event with the tune ready to go, no problems. Seems like a great deal to me. Lastly, the responsiveness, articulateness and professionalism of the Vishnu team was and is appreciated both on the forums and in person. I think its an all around solid company and a very viable option - especially in the following year where I think the options for this car is going to double or triple i.e. FI options, exhaust options, tune options, cosmetic options, etc.

[nelsmar]

I don't think you fully understand what OFT is... You do realize all OFT is basically the equivalent of a tactrix cable or ecutek cable (however one that isn't locked with license like ecutek). OFT is not a tuning suite. Shiv has developed a method for updating the ecu. He isn't creating custom tuning suites for tuners to use.

The reason tuners are not as interested is that its very common for tuners to prefer to use paid software with corporate backing vs open source / free products on the market. Some features may be limited due to the software that can currently edit these ROM files.

A lot of tuners are using ECUTek because ECUTek has a corperate backed software suite for tuning vehicles, and editing ROM files. They also have bulit into their tuning suite a datalogger program that will tie into your specific vehicles proprietary communication protocol. They also provide hardware to flash the ecu (ECUTek cable). The downside is to use their software you have to abide by their licensing program.

Cobb, AEM, BRZEdit, etc all have their own setups as well. The simple fact is that not all tuners have a preference of using specific open software. They could care less about the cable brought to them. If you really want a tune what you should do is simply call shiv, or any other tuner that you know of and ask if they care to tune on a specific platform. If they do, awesome! I know multiple tuners locally that will use open source platforms but prefer to not do this as they like to stick with what they normally work in.

Recap:
OFT is a hardware setup used to flash the ecu. Shiv has been kind enough to provide some base maps, and has been working on a number of different types of maps for people to get started with for open/free (or paid if compatible!) software. I think Shiv him self is using TunerPro. So in your case it may be ideal to call a local tuner and ask if they are comfortable tuning on "TunerPro". You can then take one of the basemaps that Shiv has made and give it to your tuner and hand him your OFT as a hardware piece for simply flashing your ECU. There are other software programs available that can edit these files as well.

And you can likely also transfer a tune from say ecutek -> tunerpro. You simply need to have a tuner that created it to do the work of transferring his tables over (assuming all tables are available. I don't know if ECUTek creates any new tables etc).

[forzajuve]

Are you saying that I don't fully understand what OFT is or are you saying someone else doesn't? I thought I understood...lol...

[nelsmar]

Originally Posted by forzajuve

Are you saying that I don't fully understand what OFT is or are you saying someone else doesn't? I thought I understood...lol...

I just realized i posted this in a diff thread than i meant... lol but hey it is mostly on topic! I keep seeing this A LOT! people keep mistaking OFT as a tuning suite and its just a method of flashing =(

[forzajuve]

I think it is more than just that, but perhaps I am wrong. Try searching for Shiv@vishnu's responses to people. I will try to find some for you because I know I have read them. He has more than explained what their OFT can do now and what it will do in the future. Unless I have it totally wrong, it can do (and eventually will be able to do) everything EcuTek can do minus the licensing boundaries.

[nelsmar]

Originally Posted by forzajuve

I think it is more than just that, but perhaps I am wrong. Try searching for Shiv@vishnu's responses to people. I will try to find some for you because I know I have read them. He has more than explained what their OFT can do now and what it will do in the future. Unless I have it totally wrong, it can do (and eventually will be able to do) everything EcuTek can do minus the licensing boundaries.

He has clearly stated on this forum, the BMW forums, and his website that OFT with a statement such as this:

What tuning software do I use?
You can actually use any general map editor to tune your ROM file. Just as long as it can accept an unencrypted ROM file and save in the same format. However, we officially support Tuner Pro map editor. It can be downloaded, for free, here:...

And:

In a few words, what is the OpenFlash Tablet?
It is a portable hand held flashing device with high-resolution backlit color touchscreen with internal speaker. It comes with a USB cable, OBDII cable and downlown links for the OpenFlash software (map manager), map editor (Tuner Pro) and XML definition files.

He says in the post i just quoted that he supports Tuner Pro as software that works with his hardware and definition file.

[nelsmar]

I am actually working on developing a similar "Open" setup but just for data logging w/ a hardware display.

[forzajuve]

Don't they do that already... i don't get what the argument is.

[nelsmar]

Originally Posted by forzajuve

Don't they do that already... i don't get what the argument is.

There is no argument. And no OFT does not currently have any form of datalogging. They are working on it and said there will be something soon.