school me on Open Flash Tablet

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by megamarines

Well yeah, OFT is an affordable tuning solution that's great on the fly. It's not a dedicated system like EcuTek nor has the long amounts of research tossed into it.

Given a few years it could be better, but right now it's a good and affordable solution for the casual user wanting to get the most out of their bolt ons. No harm there.

But that's what I'm saying; you're NOT getting the most out of your bolt-ons. Not at all.

[DarkSunrise]

Originally Posted by CSG Mike

While you have had great results tweaking your own tune, what you're doing is far beyond what most members here will do with their car.

Even then, I think we can agree that while your tweaks show results, there is still quite a bit being left on the table that you will never be able to realize just casually tweaking the calibration based on logs and street pulls.

I've spent hundreds of hours tweaking my own tunes, and still defer to CSG's tuner when actual results are needed. Every time, he is able to get more power, with lower EGTs, lower in-cylinder pressures, and better fuel consumption, in a few hours on the dyno, than I was able to accomplish in 20 hours on my own.

Haha yeah definitely. I actually meant my post to be slightly negative about OFT, as I found the OTS map to have a bit of knock at the track, even when running 97 octane. I'm hoping to eliminate that completely with some fine-tuning, which folks may or may not have the time/desire to do.

Even then, I doubt I could create a tune as good as a custom one done by a professional. As you said, a custom-tuned map will almost always be better.

To me, OFT is like a learning experience. You learn about tuning, do a few custom tweaks (pedal dance option, reduced volume cold start, etc.), and can monitor your engine's health at the track.

A customized ECUTek map is like a one-and-done solution. With a good tuner, you realize the full potential of your setup right off the bat, and there's not really any need to worry about it after that.

[philooo]

I really enjoy the idea of the open flash where you can pick and try different flash.
with ecutek, you always have to go to your local tuner and I like to be able to do my own stuff.
Again if I knew a reputable shop, I may be more enclined. I think olympic motorsports is pretty good at it and near me, I may talk to them and see how I feel about it.

[Vroomin86]

guys so I have an OFT, noobie, I will eventually go FI and switch over to ECutek. In the mean time, anything I could use my OFT for other than a OTS map? I am running stage 1 93 octane since I bought the car but nothing else....




I keep reading pedal dance, reduced volume start, etcc... just wondering how those are done.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by philooo

I really enjoy the idea of the open flash where you can pick and try different flash.
with ecutek, you always have to go to your local tuner and I like to be able to do my own stuff.
Again if I knew a reputable shop, I may be more enclined. I think olympic motorsports is pretty good at it and near me, I may talk to them and see how I feel about it.

You can do all your own stuff as much as you want with EcuTek. A tuner is not REQUIRED.

[CSG Mike]

Originally Posted by Vroomin86

guys so I have an OFT, noobie, I will eventually go FI and switch over to ECutek. In the mean time, anything I could use my OFT for other than a OTS map? I am running stage 1 93 octane since I bought the car but nothing else....




I keep reading pedal dance, reduced volume start, etcc... just wondering how those are done.

You can get a custom tune, but as stated earlier, finding a tuner willing to tune for OFT may be a challenge.

[gramicci101]

Originally Posted by Vroomin86

guys so I have an OFT, noobie, I will eventually go FI and switch over to ECutek. In the mean time, anything I could use my OFT for other than a OTS map? I am running stage 1 93 octane since I bought the car but nothing else....

I keep reading pedal dance, reduced volume start, etcc... just wondering how those are done.

You absolutely can. If there isn't already a map created in OpenFlash's library of maps, and there are a lot to choose from, you can go into RomRaider and tweak it to your heart's content. I would run any potential changes past the people in the OFT threads before flashing them though, as you can potentially mess everything up. This still won't be as fine-tuned as a genuine dyno tune, because you can't monitor your changes and measure them properly.

OFT is great for people, like me, who want to take advantage of their bolt-on products and don't care about tweaking their car to get the absolute maximum out of it. But it's still a canned tune. Any canned tune, whether it's OFT, Delicious, or whoever else will necessarily be conservative in nature. A single tune has to work properly on one car at sea level in Florida in mid-90 degrees just as well as another car a mile up in Colorado at -10. A dyno tune can account specifically for your car at your location. I got an OFT because a) cheaper, 2) doesn't need dyno time and a reputable tuner, and iii) my car is never going to go beyond commonly used aftermarket mods. If I was turning my car into a track monster with all the bells and whistles and I wanted to get every last 1/10% out of it, I would have gotten an EcuTEK and developed a good relationship with a tuner. Different products for different applications.

[Vroomin86]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

You absolutely can. If there isn't already a map created in OpenFlash's library of maps, and there are a lot to choose from, you can go into RomRaider and tweak it to your heart's content. I would run any potential changes past the people in the OFT threads before flashing them though, as you can potentially mess everything up. This still won't be as fine-tuned as a genuine dyno tune, because you can't monitor your changes and measure them properly.

OFT is great for people, like me, who want to take advantage of their bolt-on products and don't care about tweaking their car to get the absolute maximum out of it. But it's still a canned tune. Any canned tune, whether it's OFT, Delicious, or whoever else will necessarily be conservative in nature. A single tune has to work properly on one car at sea level in Florida in mid-90 degrees just as well as another car a mile up in Colorado at -10. A dyno tune can account specifically for your car at your location. I got an OFT because a) cheaper, 2) doesn't need dyno time and a reputable tuner, and iii) my car is never going to go beyond commonly used aftermarket mods. If I was turning my car into a track monster with all the bells and whistles and I wanted to get every last 1/10% out of it, I would have gotten an EcuTEK and developed a good relationship with a tuner. Different products for different applications.

Same reason I got mine. Now just wish I knew how to do this pedal dance

[JonAvalon]

Originally Posted by Vroomin86

Same reason I got mine. Now just wish I knew how to do this pedal dance

It should be in the diagnostics menu, if it's not there then you'll need to update the OFT first.
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=85396

[gramicci101]

Even without that, you should still be able to physically do the pedal dance. CSG Mike has a thread on it.

[JonAvalon]

Originally Posted by gramicci101

Even without that, you should still be able to physically do the pedal dance. CSG Mike has a thread on it.

Or this too

[Blu-by-U]

In the old days, before computer controlled engines, the factory settings (timing, dwell, etc...) were exactly that. Factory settings that made the engines run, nothing more. Anyone could improve their engine performance by tweaking this or that. The same can be said today about the factory or any canned tune that is setup for specific mods. Every engine is different in some way, like people, not two are exactly the same. Yes, the factory tunes are better today than yesterday, but they are not perfect. Nor is any canned tune going to be perfect for your car. The tune might come close and for most people, that's good enough.


I don't know about EcuTek, but if you change your mods the OFT has free OTS maps that will get you close to where you want to be without spending anything to be upgraded. As far tuners willing to work the OFT, they should probably open their eyes to new technologies available to the general public, instead of taking the chance that a possible customer will simply walk away and go elsewhere. IMHO. At least now, I don't have to have a dwell meter, timing light, feeler gauge, half degree hammer, etc......

[SR5]

aren't we talking around the same price here?
ok, they're within a couple bucks of each other.

So you might as well get ecutek, if you're going to crave more in the long run (e.g. force induction, and tuning for track conditions, addictions etc.)

[gramicci101]

Not really. An OFT is $495, comes with 5 common tunes on it, and all the rest are free to download. An EcuTek license, cable, and Stg1 tune from FT-86SF is $825, and additional tunes are $90 each.

*all prices from FT-86 SpeedFactory.