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      01-03-2013, 07:57 AM   #1
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Cobb Pro Tune vs PTF E-tune

Hey guys, here is the situation. I have a 1m and am adding an FMIC and cobb tune to the car. I would like to get the car custom tuned using the accessport.

I live in Houston, and the closest pro tuner is cobb in plano.

My question is, cost aside, would i be better off going with an E-tune from PTF or getting pro tuned at cobb. I would imagine cobb since they would have the car in person and be able to really dial it in, but i wanted to get the opinions of some of the members who may have experience with both first.

Thank you.
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      01-03-2013, 08:01 AM   #2
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KennyPowers View Post
Hey guys, here is the situation. I have a 1m and am adding an FMIC and cobb tune to the car. I would like to get the car custom tuned using the accessport.

I live in Houston, and the closest pro tuner is cobb in plano.

My question is, cost aside, would i be better off going with an E-tune from PTF or getting pro tuned at cobb. I would imagine cobb since they would have the car in person and be able to really dial it in, but i wanted to get the opinions of some of the members who may have experience with both first.

Thank you.
If cost is an issue, i would go with the E-tune, since it would probably save you atleast $300. If cost is not a concern, getting protuned by Cobb would be my choice.
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      01-03-2013, 08:07 AM   #3
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Both are just looking at logs and making adjustments, the end product will be the same. You need to decide if it's worth paying extra to have the car tuned by someone in an hour or two vs. you taking logs, exchanging emails and flashing maps.
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      01-03-2013, 08:19 AM   #4
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Their not a significant costs difference between E-Tune vs. ProTuning. The quality of the E-Tune is completely dependent on your ability to read/take good logs & effectively communicate with the the tuner. The ProTune luckily will have the tuner in person taking the logs & if there's something you don't like (after some road testing), it can quickly be addressed.


I personally felt more comfortable getting a local tune -- I drove a little over 3 hrs to have Jake from ProTuning Freaks tune my car in person for 93 octane & E85 custom maps. I felt more comfortable with him in the car & communicating him what my concerns are, the specific adjustments he was making to the tune & what I liked/disliked with the way the tune felt.


Regardless of who you go with, I can promise you that a quality tuning experience can be just as important as a quality tune.
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      01-03-2013, 08:22 AM   #5
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I have nothing but good things to say about the PTF guys. I am local to Jake but work schedules make it hard to tune in person, so we basically e-tuned.
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      01-03-2013, 09:48 AM   #6
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thanks guys, still a tough call for me

i dont like the idea of having to do WOT 3rd gear runs on the street. thats the one negative for me as far as the E-tune goes. its really the only thing holding me back at this point.

i would really enjoy the process either way, and i am a bit intrigued by the potential higher level of involvement with the e-tune process so i can learn a little more.

ahhhhhh
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      01-03-2013, 09:53 AM   #7
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Hey -

Either are a great option. I can promise both will have great results. The 3rd gear on the streets isn't too bad if you have a highway close. For the most part you only have to get to about 6000 rpms. We can do above that in a brief session so you never have to speed to much. If you can find a nice 70-75mph speed limit on the highway you wont go more than like 10-12mph over teh speed limit most of the time (although we obviously expect everyone we etune to be doing this on a closed course).
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      01-03-2013, 10:30 AM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by KennyPowers View Post
thanks guys, still a tough call for me

i dont like the idea of having to do WOT 3rd gear runs on the street. thats the one negative for me as far as the E-tune goes. its really the only thing holding me back at this point.

i would really enjoy the process either way, and i am a bit intrigued by the potential higher level of involvement with the e-tune process so i can learn a little more.

ahhhhhh
I did the Pro E-Tune with Dzenno @ PTF. I would say the big disconnect was my knowledge to communicate to Dzenno. But like Dzenno said, he didn't stop till it was butter.. lol... We even spent many logs to fix the 2K surge issue. PTF is a loyal vendor.

the E-Tune will most likely take longer because it depends on when you can provide a log like you said. I had to do mine around 10 pm where traffic was light or non existing. And i had the perfect safe flat road. But always that fear of a CHP.

If you choose the E-Tune you won't be dissatisfied, PTF won't stop till you are satisfied and the logs are butter. They have done enough to know what this car can and can't do and know how the logs should read.

In the end, if i was within a couple hours driving, i would do the Pro Tune in hopes of taking care of it in 1 day. Just be sure you communicate to COBB what your expectations and objectives are, same goes to PTF..


Oh yeah,

i would recommend doing a second Pro MAP on 93 Octane (if you do a High Ethanol MAP). That way if you are out and about and don't have Ethanol pump stations near, you can switch to a Pro 93 MAP and still have great power.
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Last edited by VNeBLOB42; 01-03-2013 at 10:38 AM..
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      01-03-2013, 11:06 AM   #9
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Thanks guys. Leaning towards the pro tune I think due to safety and convinience.

Top of 3rd is I believe around 100mph...

And I would not run an ethanol mix map. I have no interest in using anything but 93 in the car. It's my dd and I hope to keep it for a long time as a second car.
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      01-03-2013, 11:16 AM   #10
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By the way...there's a Cobb location in Austin, which is probably a lot closer from Houston than Plano. Quick trip out 290, and they're in the NW part of town, off Burnet Road and south of 183 as I recall.

I used to live in The Woodlands and the Hardy Toll Road made a great "test run" area. Over where I am now, that last section of Toll 130 has an 85MPH speed limit!

Wonder if Cobb is going to come up with an Accessport for the F30 N55 engine in the new 335i? I've got an M-Sport sedan on order...
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      01-03-2013, 11:23 AM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roundel335 View Post
By the way...there's a Cobb location in Austin, which is probably a lot closer from Houston than Plano. Quick trip out 290, and they're in the NW part of town, off Burnet Road and south of 183 as I recall.

I used to live in The Woodlands and the Hardy Toll Road made a great "test run" area. Over where I am now, that last section of Toll 130 has an 85MPH speed limit!

Wonder if Cobb is going to come up with an Accessport for the F30 N55 engine in the new 335i? I've got an M-Sport sedan on order...
They already have 2011 N55 support available. 2012 and newer is a different DME so that is unavailable ATM, but it proably won't be long.
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      01-03-2013, 11:31 AM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ænema View Post
They already have 2011 N55 support available. 2012 and newer is a different DME so that is unavailable ATM, but it proably won't be long.
Yeah, I've been hanging out in the F30 forum and also did a little research on that new DME. Probably just as well that the Accesport for the F30 is not available yet, as I'm gonna need to put a few break-in miles on the car when it finally arrives in late Feb./early March.
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      01-03-2013, 12:35 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by roundel335 View Post
Yeah, I've been hanging out in the F30 forum and also did a little research on that new DME. Probably just as well that the Accesport for the F30 is not available yet, as I'm gonna need to put a few break-in miles on the car when it finally arrives in late Feb./early March.
Is there no Dinan N55 support or are just wanting to try something different?
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      01-03-2013, 01:01 PM   #14
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You cannot go wrong with PTF....E-Tuning seems to be a more realistic way to get the best out of your car.

Get up early in morning (lower temps and DA) on a Sunday or holiday and take ca for a spin
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      01-03-2013, 01:32 PM   #15
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I guess the other nice thing with a pro-tune is you should be able to get dyno logs/charts and get hp/tq numbers for before and after - so you can see what you really gained.
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      01-03-2013, 01:50 PM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Ænema View Post
Is there no Dinan N55 support or are just wanting to try something different?
Nothing for the F30 N55 so far - new DME and all. But it's been awhile since the first F30s arrived, and so far, nobody but Burger Tuning has anything for it. I'd prefer the Dinan, whenever they get around to it. Not going to go full-bore on this car...just want more than the stock 300~ HP.
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      01-03-2013, 05:27 PM   #17
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I had a chance to do both. As Dzenno is local to me I decided to do a local pro tune with him. Then after some time I got my meth kit installed and we did both a local retune as well as e-tuning. I really enjoyed the etune part of it as I also learned some of the basics on capturing and reading my datalogs and what my tune and car were actually doing. Either one gets you the gains and quality without doubt with etuning being an even bigger bargain with the same quality if not better than a local pro tune as you can work on it through different weather conditions and on the road. Other companies do pro tunes on dynos that simply can't reproduce real world conditions. Overall you can't go wrong either way
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      01-03-2013, 05:44 PM   #18
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There's a cobb in austin....
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      01-03-2013, 09:24 PM   #19
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Not to highjack - I know with my old srt and and predator tuner you could e-tune as well. But could not get logs with wideband o2 readings with out installing some sort of aftermarket sensor.

I know we have dual wideband o2 sensors, but am not clear if cobb data logging captures these readings?
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      01-03-2013, 09:40 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foghat
Not to highjack - I know with my old srt and and predator tuner you could e-tune as well. But could not get logs with wideband o2 readings with out installing some sort of aftermarket sensor.

I know we have dual wideband o2 sensors, but am not clear if cobb data logging captures these readings?
Yes, no issues.
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      01-03-2013, 10:12 PM   #21
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Quote:
Originally Posted by foghat View Post
Not to highjack - I know with my old srt and and predator tuner you could e-tune as well. But could not get logs with wideband o2 readings with out installing some sort of aftermarket sensor.

I know we have dual wideband o2 sensors, but am not clear if cobb data logging captures these readings?
+1, usually when you eTune the tuner will specifically ask you what to datalog (sometimes overlapping logs w/ IATs, AFRs, STFTs/LTFTs, Timing/Timing Corrections, Boost, etc etc etc -- The AP is limited to how many variables it can data log at once)
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      01-04-2013, 08:50 AM   #22
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Quote:
Originally Posted by Jake@PTF View Post
Hey -

Either are a great option. I can promise both will have great results. The 3rd gear on the streets isn't too bad if you have a highway close. For the most part you only have to get to about 6000 rpms. We can do above that in a brief session so you never have to speed to much. If you can find a nice 70-75mph speed limit on the highway you wont go more than like 10-12mph over teh speed limit most of the time (although we obviously expect everyone we etune to be doing this on a closed course).
So you only need 3rd gear pulls? Not 4th gear pulls?
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