How much power to gain/lose?

[xsnapshot]

Having had OFT and EcuTek, I agree with ichitaka05. Don't waste your time on OFT. It's slow, not supported well, and lacks features of EcuTek (all of this is my opinion). Plus logging is a breeze, and EcuTek has a really cool log viewing program.

Everything on EcuTek is just so damn easy to use and is almost fool proof.

Looking back now I should've just gone EcuTek from the get-go.

Good luck getting Shiv to respond to emails/calls/forum posts if you have a problem. I see more threads/posts than I can count by people who can't seem to get issues resolved, problems fixed, or questions answered.

The guy is just too busy. He's trying to support too many platforms at once and simply doesn't have the time IMO to properly take care of any one platform.

Romraider was great when I had my WRX (I actually did all my own tuning using that), but is still not as foolproof as EcuTek.

Again this is all my opinion based on using each of the three tuning methods mentioned.

[FirstWinter]

Front pipe will have an effect while catback is mostly noise. Any gain from it is minimal.

[FRS Justin]

Originally Posted by FirstWinter

Front pipe will have an effect while catback is mostly noise. Any gain from it is minimal.

While this is gospel when it comes to n/a going F/I exhaust restriction is a killer. I am willing to bet if I made no other changes other than taking my 3 inch off my car and bolting on a complete stock exhaust I would lose 30 to 50hp. Of course this would greatly depend on the power output of your setup. Example I make over 640 at the wheels I would lose 30 to 50hp but if I made 230hp the loss would be closer to 10 to 20 hp
Again that would also depend on how efficient the tune is also if someone just adjusted timing and AFR then the loss would not show as much. BUT a optimized tune using cylinder scavenge techniques would show a huge loss do to the efficiency of the exhaust not being able to support full cylinder scavenge.
A chain is only as strong as the weakest link

[steve99]

Originally Posted by xsnapshot

Having had OFT and EcuTek, I agree with ichitaka05. Don't waste your time on OFT. It's slow, not supported well, and lacks features of EcuTek (all of this is my opinion). Plus logging is a breeze, and EcuTek has a really cool log viewing program.

Everything on EcuTek is just so damn easy to use and is almost fool proof.

Looking back now I should've just gone EcuTek from the get-go.

Good luck getting Shiv to respond to emails/calls/forum posts if you have a problem. I see more threads/posts than I can count by people who can't seem to get issues resolved, problems fixed, or questions answered.

The guy is just too busy. He's trying to support too many platforms at once and simply doesn't have the time IMO to properly take care of any one platform.

Romraider was great when I had my WRX (I actually did all my own tuning using that), but is still not as foolproof as EcuTek.

Again this is all my opinion based on using each of the three tuning methods mentioned.

Tactrix OFT Ecutek got all three, they all have good and bad points.


Pick the one that suits your wants/needs and budget. Everyone's different.




you don't need to rubbish any of them, just be thankful you have choice and competition.


And be thankful that you could sell your OFT for very little loss, unlike ecutek where your tune and licence is locked and its not on sellable.


The introduction of oft and tactrix for these cars cut the price of a NA tune in Australia from $1800 (im not joking) to $275.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by xsnapshot

Good luck getting Shiv to respond to emails/calls/forum posts if you have a problem. I see more threads/posts than I can count by people who can't seem to get issues resolved, problems fixed, or questions answered.

The guy is just too busy. He's trying to support too many platforms at once and simply doesn't have the time IMO to properly take care of any one platform.

.

Can totally agree with this. My car still doesn't log properly, and after being in touch with Shiv/His team, they just kinda left me with radio silence after I told them what I was trying to log. I guess they also have no clue what the issue is, and instead of trying to resolve something, it's easier to just stop responding.

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Before escalade more, here's the thing. Exhaust setup isn't just simple gain or loose hp. Catted front pipe won't gain much hp to began with & Q300 catback won't loose hp anyways. Catback is mostly for driver's ear than anything else (maybe weight fact).

Tbh don't waste your money on front pipe or OFT & get EcuTek and get actual dyno tune. Current exhaust setup is good enough.

Well the OFT 300 package of old was a vortech tune and setup, so it's quite alright to get the vortech you just have to go through the trouble of contacting shiv to get a base tune and then datalog. The problem is shiv and the openflash team have a penchant for not responding to anything or anyone

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by FRSBRZGT86FAN

Well the OFT 300 package of old was a vortech tune and setup, so it's quite alright to get the vortech you just have to go through the trouble of contacting shiv

I've rewrote my main point on other post, but what I try to say is, custom map by doing dyno tune to fit your car, location, use for & goal is more important.

Every car is differently, resulting in tuner have to adjust the map. It may be small amount of adjustment, but it's where you make extra power. If OP wanna keep it in OFT, great! Wanna change to EcuTek, great!

[FRSBRZGT86FAN]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

I've rewrote my main point on other post, but what I try to say is, custom map by doing dyno tune to fit your car, location, use for & goal is more important.

Every car is differently, resulting in tuner have to adjust the map. It may be small amount of adjustment, but it's where you make extra power. If OP wanna keep it in OFT, great! Wanna change to EcuTek, great!

No issues just clarifying, it would probably be best to move onto ecutek

[xsnapshot]

Originally Posted by steve99

.....
you don't need to rubbish any of them, just be thankful you have choice and competition.

....

The introduction of oft and tactrix for these cars cut the price of a NA tune in Australia from $1800 (im not joking) to $275.

I'm not "rubbish"-ing anything. I'm calling it like I see it. Go ahead and take a look at this very tuning forum. There are plenty of threads and posts about the OFT and lack of communication, or problems with the product. How many do you see about issues with EcuTek?

I'm not dissing the abilities of the OFT. For NA guys it's perfectly reasonable. However, something to consider for the about-to-purchase-a-tuning-solution customer, is that communication for any problems you encounter MAY not be very quick, or frankly happen at all. (although this forum is certainly a big help).

Romraider has it's own issues. The chances of messing something up are simply higher. Again not dissing it, but it's something to be aware of as a potential user.

That's great that these options drove the price down. However here in the states, pretty much no well known/respected tuner/shop will use OFT or Romraider for customer cars, so I'm not sure how much influence on price there is here. (at least I couldn't find any shops when I was looking around last year when I was using OFT)

I'm sure Ecutek is no saint. I've heard rumors of shady things they've done in the past, but you can't deny that it's the most fully featured and reliable tuning platform of the three. (albeit the most expensive)

[mav1178]

Originally Posted by Timmy_Jones

Potential exhaust additions:
Nvidia catted front pipe - what will I gain?
Nvidia q300 - will I lose anything?

I think you can make more power with AMD Radeon exhaust components...

[COO86L]

I haven't used the OFT units but I have used a Powergate 3 unit which is essentially the same (slightly different program)
I also have Tactrix, and now EcuTek.

I got a base tune on N/A with a BRZedit tuner as I'd heard people diss EcuTek. That cost me $900 for a dyno tune.

Then when I wanted to go FI, I wanted flex fuel. Tuner couldn't do it, there were no easy "open source" options, so I'm forced to go EcuTek. I had to pay $150 to unlock my ECU by buying BRZedit though I did use it a bit to log.

Purchased EcuTek cable for $495 and License for $395, $700 for flex fuel sensor plug and play and then $550 for tune from Delicious (prices in AUD).

Total of $2140 for the F/I tune - or $1700 for Dyno tune with BRZedit and no flex fuel.

In conclusion, work out your goals/expectations 110% before choosing a tuning platform. I wish I had have gone EcuTek right from the very beginning. Not including the install, it is an extremely easy program to use and log with, the logs aren't as in depth as BRZedit, which can be good for the more novice, but they are more than adequate. There is a lot of support from many many tuners across the world.
I could have saved a lot of money and time if I had have gone EcuTek straight up.
Oh and switching maps on the fly is fun as f***

P.S. OFT is an awesome product, if it were cheaper to import into Aus I would have bought it in a heartbeat.

[Luftwaffel]

Originally Posted by ichitaka05

Before escalade more

Too late. D:

[ichitaka05]

Originally Posted by Luftwaffel

Too late. D:

Damn autocorrect! lol