Best place to buy Cobb AP

[Otto Man]

So...first and likely last mod (for awhile) will be a Cobb AP for my '07 STi. They've got a lean tune from the factory...will get a nice ~20whp gain and not have such a high risk of blowing the engine. I figure it'd be a useful investment as later on (When it's paid off and becomes a toy), it's an essential part to engine tuning. Who's got the best price? Seems like the best I can do is $600 with free shipping. Anyone know of a place that can beat that?

[Numbchux]

Don't. In my experience, with today's advances in open-source tuning, the AP is a giant waste of money.

[purecountry]

Originally Posted by Numbchux

Don't. In my experience, with today's advances in open-source tuning, the AP is a giant waste of money.

This. Go open source. You can buy a map from XPT tuning, flash it in with a tactrix cable, and log it all on your laptop. $52 for a base tune, and $160 for an infinitely useable cable.

[SMC]

Your FAR better off to find a local automotive performance shop that will do a custom ECU tune for your soobie. Then your only looking at $160ish with far better results that are custom set to your car and its ability to handle somthing more agressive. This a apposed to a general performance reflash by a cobb tuner thats not set to your altitude or your enignes full potential for $500 to $600.

I see that your in Afghanistan? Are you stationed there or a resident?

[purecountry]

Originally Posted by SMC

Your FAR better off to find a local automotive performance shop that will do a custom ECU tune for your soobie. Then your only looking at $160ish with far better results that are custom set to your car and its ability to handle somthing more agressive. This a apposed to a general performance reflash by a cobb tuner thats not set to your altitude or your enignes full potential for $500 to $600.

I see that your in Afghanistan? Are you stationed there or a resident?

Hes deployed over there. He will be returning to North Carolina.

[SMC]

Ahh. I was thinking, "Hell if I know a tuner shop location in that neck of the desert."

[Otto Man]

Kind of at a cross road now. PBB has usually never led me wrong...but it seems on NASIOC and IWSTI, everyone is a huge fan of the Cobb AP. Pirate says otherwise. I don't have full on power at the top of my list. The only reason I am wanting to get a tune or AP is because of the tendency's that the 2007+ STi's have of cracking ring lands due to the lean tune. I'm going to pay it off before I start getting serious with the car, but in the next 10 years or so, I wouldn't mind it being my little 500AWHP scooter. But, for the next 5+ years, it's going to be my DD. Reliability > power. Sad, honest truth for me. Fortunately, a bone stock STi will feel like driving a rocket compared to my 4 banger YJ with 200k on it.

The only downside with the open source is time. I'm coming home from Afghanistan soon, and will only be spending about a week or so at home. I don't feel like wasting the few days I have trying to track down a tuner, and getting it tuned for the elevation and specific fuel octane. I tend to drive a lot of different places...so if I get an aggresive open source tune, that kind of fucks me over if I go on a road trip and I can only source 91 octane fuel. The Cobb AP is going to be a 15minute install. Set it and forget it. I don't think it's going to be wasted money, as it's going to be pretty much essential later on down the road when I start getting serious with engine mods. I need to get in touch with my buddies back home, see if I can find someone competent enough to get a open source tune in my car. Otherwise, it looks like I'm going to be pretty much going with the AP.

[purecountry]

I would suggest going to romraider.com and reading a lot of info. Get a base map from XPT and flasdh it in yourself. No tuner needed, all you need is a small stage one tune

[Numbchux]

your worried about running lean, so you're going to solve it by using a generic off-the-shelf tune? There's an exceeding lack of logic there. No 2 cars are the same, and therefore no 2 tunes should be. Get it done right, and then you won't have to worry about it.

Ask on some reputable sources that don't just have a billion members who know everything. Special-stage, RS25, and probably any local club will tell you the same thing.


Where's "home"? You could probably find a local tuner and some background information about them on the internet before you get home. I know of a few very trust-worthy tuners here in MN.




Our main rally car has been running open-source the last 2 years ('04 STi + Wiseco 11:1 pistons. N/A for the first year, VF39 for much of last year, VF36 twin-scroll at the last race). Only reason we switched to a standalone is for Anti-lag and Launch control, and we'll be using the same guy tuning it as before.

the other car is an '02 WRX with a VF39, he'll be running open source for some time.

And one of my good friends and crew members has a '95 impreza, running a built 2.2 block, 2.0 heads, CP pistons, and some crazy twin-scroll turbo that I hadn't heard of. All on a open-source-tuned 2003 WRX ECU. He had a Cobb AP when it was just an EJ205.....he sold it pretty soon thereafter.

[SMC]

There is nothing wrong with the Cobb. It will give you fuzzy feelings in your man bits once you tune for more power. Im just saying that for a quarter of the price, you can get a better dyno tuned ECU by a local shop that you would be far happier with. Yeah, they will need to keep your car for a day, maybe two. But its worth it.

[Otto Man]

Originally Posted by SMC

There is nothing wrong with the Cobb. It will give you fuzzy feelings in your man bits once you tune for more power. Im just saying that for a quarter of the price, you can get a better dyno tuned ECU by a local shop that you would be far happier with. Yeah, they will need to keep your car for a day, maybe two. But its worth it.

True. Thought about it for a few days (I'm deployed...I got plenty of time to think) and think you're on track. I have to accept that I'm going to wind up focusing on paying it off before serious mods. So, that means it will remain stock engine wise for a long time. No sense in getting the AP if I'm not going to be using it often. The reason I was wanting to get the AP was that it was a fast, easy fix. I'll probably put 2-3,000 miles on it before I can get it pro-tuned. But, hell...it's at 21k miles now. It can hold out for a few more thousand.

Plus that means I can use the other ~$300 on an aftermarket HU.