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    GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impressions

    I just got back from the Detroit Auto Show (superb BTW) to find a magical box from UPS on my doorstep. Inside the box lay a mystery - a promise of excitement, a promise of fun that may or may not be realized.

    Now at 2200 miles, the hope of the passage of factory boost restriction being gone has passed. There was no boost unlimitation being unleashed at 2000 miles. Porsche lied. There is no boost and torque plateau starting at 1950 rpm. There is no 18psi boost to be found, ever! Boost never hit until 3k rpms, no matter what gear. Why would they promise us that and deliver nothing even close?

    I opened the box to find my ECU. Well packaged, and re-install was a snap. The weather outside was dreadful - 35F and freezing rain. I started up the car half expecting error messages. There were none. The startup idle was smooth, no burps, no hiccups, no surges. I let it run for 10 minutes at idle, blipping the throttle from time to time. No changes. No hint of any difference. Did I just waste $3500?

    Next day it is still cold, but dry. Time to check things out. Warm up the car and head for the highway. Car is as placid as usual. No change in driveability whatsoever. Did I get the correct box back?

    Started up the entrance ramp to the freeway. Let the motor rev up a little. Boost gauge showing activity way earlier than before - bar graph starts shooting up at about 2700 rpms. Boost stays pegged at 1 bar - not just a poke at 1 bar anymore, it just stays there.

    Open lane, hit the sport button, and accelerate up an overpass staying in 6th. Car pulls exceptionally hard. I'm at 135 coming close to turn in on a 50mph sweeper. Boost gauge is pegged at 18. I have never seen 18 before! Are my eyes lying?

    Exit the freeway and do a U-turn. Go thru the toll booth at about 10mph and firmly mash the pedal. Holy ^$%$!!! All 4 tires spin and the car fires off like a catapult. My neck has just lost 30% of its disc height from jerking. Tachmeter swings wildly like the VU meters of old tape decks. Redline hits much earlier than expected. Time to snap off shifts and stop trying to look at the boost gauge. Keep the nose straight.

    Slow down, breathe. Let the car saunter home. Pulse is still high. Brain is wild with activity. The promise has been realized. My 997TT is now like the Tin Man with a new heart-soul! Forget about the X50, the Turbo S, the GT2. This is all you need. For now at least....

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impressions

    great!!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impressions

    eclou,

    Awesome to hear about your, for now, satisfaction with the upgrade! I just got out of break in and am enjoying that surge... but that is, for now, as well.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impressions

    Post like this are going to make me trade my C2Scab for a new TT you should be ashamed

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impressions

    fantastic..could you possibly briefly explain the transplant process..is it a core exchange/deposit deal...how difficult is it to rr the ecu if ones mechanical skills are say 3 and yours are 10...thanks

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    The R&R process requires about a 1/10 in mechanical skills. If you can loosen and tighten a screw you can do this job in about 10-15 minutes. The Imagine Auto guys did a very nice pictoral writeup for the process here:

    write up

    And it is a process of sending them yours, they flash it and overnight it back to you.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Is the GIAC, the only mod that you have? What are thoughts on warranty issues? I know it all depends on dealer, can AWE flash back to factory if you had a major meltdown? I pick my car up this week!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    He's got the AWE exhaust too. I'm not sure about going that route yet. I'm going to wait until the tuners have cracked the OBD2 encryption then I'll be able to flash multiple programs including stock (for those dealer trips). I'm told that it's about 6-8 months out from now.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Glad to hear the ECU upgrade does the trick. By the way, youd make a great motoring journalist!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Quote:
    atomic80 said:
    He's got the AWE exhaust too. I'm not sure about going that route yet. I'm going to wait until the tuners have cracked the OBD2 encryption then I'll be able to flash multiple programs including stock (for those dealer trips). I'm told that it's about 6-8 months out from now.



    Atomic I'm with you!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    eclou, thanx for the pictorial ecu/rr...hoping for more top notch reporting of your tt adventures on steroids...i think its great that you have the cajones to just do this sort of thing

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    It's not cajones - more like a personality disorder!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Quote:
    eclou said:
    It's not cajones - more like a personality disorder!



    Eclou,

    I for one thank you for documenting the treatment of your disorder!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Eclou,

    Thanks for sharing your driving experiences with us. I'm surprised there aren't more owners that do so.

    I should be picking-up my Turbo towards the end of April and will be taking it to the track right after properly breaking it in.

    If the stock TT is already almost as fast as the old GT2, I can't imagine how quick yours must be? ENJOY - and keep the reports coming.


    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impressions

    Eclou, You swapped out the exhaust as well. Do you have any idea how many horsepower this combination is producing? It may have been posted before but what are the manufacturers claims for performance (ie. 0-100 etc) Great post BTW...thanks.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    A.W.E measured on the dyno:

    stock car, sport mode: 440rwhp, 432tq
    chip/exhaust, sport mode: 510rwhp, 500tq

    by using conservative factors for driveline losses, it suggests that the car is making now approx 580 hp. A car with this setup in Arizona was able to turn a 11.4 1/4 mile at 125mph and 0-100mph in 7.4 sec. The same car stock did a 1/4 mile in 12.2 at 117mph and 0-100mph in 9.8 seconds. Remember, these were measuring in high temps and at mild elevations above sea level.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Thats a remarkable difference. It's obvious there is huge performance gains to be had with little modification. You are right who needs a turbo S...

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Quote:
    eclou said:
    It's not cajones - more like a personality disorder!



    Not at all, Eclou, it's those folks who can't understand why we find this so much fun who are "disordered." (I am allowed to state this since I am a brain specialist ).

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Quote:
    Turbo Al said:

    Not at all, Eclou, it's those folks who can't understand why we find this so much fun who are "disordered." (I am allowed to state this since I am a brain specialist ).



    Well, the wife doesn't think so - she's used to finding all the aftermarket parts packages I would try to hide from her.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    eclou,
    is this the first time you work with AWE?

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Quote:
    eclou said:Well, the wife doesn't think so - she's used to finding all the aftermarket parts packages I would try to hide from her.



    Why not try hiding the boxes elsewhere then!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    These are the first products I have ever bought from them. I have alot of experience with aftermarket vendors for the 944 turbo and the M3, but never touched my last 911 (996 cab). I based my purchase on the quality of their video they produced for their exhaust. It seemed very professional and thorough, and demonstrated to me the level of attention they paid to their projects.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    They are the manufacturer that has stood out the most in my search for an aftermarket exhaust on my C2Scab. Their build quality seems top notch, and I've been told that their sound is the most authentic to Porsche.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impressions

    i have the same setup and the car is sick.
    for 8000,-$ chip and exhaust is a bargan.
    porsche will charge triple for much less power.
    perfect power in libertyville il. did my upgrade.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    I live in an area (Clearwater, Fl) where we have a "special" fuel that is mandated by law. We did away with emissions testing in favor of this special fuel which reduces emissions, but may cause carbon build up in HP engines (anyone know about this??). I think this is called oxygenated fuel. It's available in 93 octane.

    I drive very short distances to and from work (2 miles each way) and only get extended time in the turbo sometimes on weekends...maybe every other weekend.

    My question is how will out local fuel and my driving situation effect tuning?

    TIA,

    Mike

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Eclou,
    keep us posted on drivability, I'm very interested in your perspective.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    I have a couple of hundred miles on the car - almost all city and rush hour driving - since ECU install. Absolutely no issues whatsoever. It is as tractable as stock, if not better since the "lag" is cut in half once again. No crazy throttle modulation issues or jerky tip-in, no surging or stalling. Car has even passed the "wife test" - after a couple of errands as a driver she suspects nothing.

    Even better, I was able to repeatedly get FULL BOOST by 2400 rpm in 6th gear, and boost initiated at 1900-2000 rpm (sport mode). I always had felt cheated seeing the boost gauge finger spike up to 16# and then rapidly retract back to 12#. Now it stays jammed right to the edge!

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    perfect

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    That is awesome, thanks for the update.

    Re: GIAC/ A.W.E. tuned ECU installed - 1st impress

    Your install sounds impressive. What a transformation.

    Thanks for sharing the results.

    Do you have any suspension plans in mind?

     
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