Andyoz Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 (edited) Hi, I am seriously considering Softronic tune after the catless headers go onto the R next month. @Andrea gave me his experiences from a good few years ago (positive) Anyone had any recent experiences getting it directly from America. The exchange rate is decent at the moment. I think my main concern is how do they 'really' deal with the differences in fuel between the USA and UK. It's further complicated by the fact here in Nth Ireland we get max. 97 RON. I've dropped Softronic a line with a few queries. I am not chasing mega power gains. It needs a map to sort the oxygen error anyway. My car doesn't have Chrono and I was about to pay OPC £600 to get it fitted. I hear that softronic can mimic that function to some degree. I don't need it switchable as it's a weekender and would always be on even if OPC fitted it so saves me clicking the switch on start-up. Edited February 4, 2021 by Andyoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygo Posted February 4, 2021 Share Posted February 4, 2021 (edited) I was quoted just over £1k to have sports chrono retro fitted to my 987.2 with PDK. £600 sounds a bargain! Edited February 4, 2021 by andygo Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 30 minutes ago, andygo said: I was quoted just over £1k to have sports chrono retro fitted to my 987.2 with PDK. £600 sounds a bargain! Just looked back at email and it was £768 incl. VAT before the 10% PCGB discount so about £635. That was for a manual though. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 4, 2021 Author Share Posted February 4, 2021 (edited) After a few emails to Scott at Softronic I've just put the order through direct from the US. Shipping is $50 and the package only shows the OBD cable cost of $50 so customs should be insignificant. With the current FX rate, it's at least 10% cheaper to order now than in the summer so all in less than £800 landed hopefully. Edited February 4, 2021 by Andyoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
andygo Posted February 5, 2021 Share Posted February 5, 2021 10 hours ago, Andyoz said: Just looked back at email and it was £768 incl. VAT before the 10% PCGB discount so about £635. That was for a manual though. Thats cheap. The parts guy at Silverstone told me it was more than that just for the software from Porsche, plus the switches under the radio plus labour. Can't see the software is that much more expensive for a PDK, although who knows. I'll try another dealer. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 5, 2021 Author Share Posted February 5, 2021 I think you'll find the install for PDK is more expensive. There's two switches for a start (?) and it gives more benefit to PDK cars so Porsche will hit ya for it! Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted February 6, 2021 Share Posted February 6, 2021 I've had a Softronic map on my car for just under 4 years now - you have nothing to worry about. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 6, 2021 Author Share Posted February 6, 2021 16 hours ago, Aaron said: I've had a Softronic map on my car for just under 4 years now - you have nothing to worry about. Great, it's shipped already. Scott did mention I'll be getting two maps - one has 'pops & bangs'. I'm not normally into that but I'll load it for the laugh just to see Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted February 7, 2021 Share Posted February 7, 2021 The pops and bangs are caused by not cutting fuel during overrun (when the engine doesn't need combustion to maintain revolutions - the car rolling down a hill for example). If you're not bothered by the extra fuel usage then you can keep running it. 👍 Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 7, 2021 Author Share Posted February 7, 2021 (edited) ^^^ Yes, that makes sense. I'll run it at some stage but I'm not a big fan of that trend. The headers and map are more about making the flat 6's character even more intense/louder. BTW, do you have Chrono installed? I still don't know how that all integrates with a Softronics, etc map. From what Scott said, the map will give a more sensitive throttle but won't change the PSM sensitivity which is the other bonus of Chrono on a manual. If I had Chrono fitted, it would always be 'On' anyway. I don't know whether to get Chrono fitted before the Softronics map is done or to even get it fitted at all. If I ever sell the car the £600 Chrono cost me will be recouped anyway as it's the only option missing on mine. Edited February 7, 2021 by Andyoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted February 8, 2021 Share Posted February 8, 2021 Yes, I have factory Chrono. The difference pre and post map wasn't all that much. I only use the sport button when I fancy a solid drive. I much prefer the switching - the normal/eco mode works great for driving in traffic or pottering around. If I could only have one mode though, it would be sport without a shadow of doubt. It's certainly how the car is meant to be driven and experienced. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 8, 2021 Author Share Posted February 8, 2021 Ha...it's arrived already. That was fast. I'll try to get my file downloaded tonight and emailed off to them. I'm intrigued by the pops & bangs option. I'll be the envy of every Golf GTI owner in town Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 Loaded up the map on Thursday and had two good runs on dry roads since. Car definitely feels more eager overall. Hard to pinpoint but seems to be the sum of alot of things. It even sounds different. Headers go on in March so that will release a bit more poke...and alot more noise MOT is booked for early March and I'll have to load back the stock map before that so it'll be good to compare and make sure I'm not imagining things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted February 13, 2021 Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) You don't need the stock map to pass an MOT. Outside of high load, the ECU will run in closed loop - it takes on the various sensor inputs (CPS, AFM/MAF, TPS, O2 sensor) to dynamically adjust fuelling and ignition. Idle and low load always target 14.7 AFR as this is the best ratio for emissions results. A performance remap will rarely touch the closed loop portion of the map. Edited February 13, 2021 by Aaron Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 13, 2021 Author Share Posted February 13, 2021 (edited) The map has Lambda sensor bypass ready for decatted headers next month. Hows that affect MOT. Softronic said to install old map but things might be different in the US. Edited February 13, 2021 by Andyoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted February 14, 2021 Share Posted February 14, 2021 That will be the secondary O2 sensor and the CEL triggering. The ECU looks for a variance between the pre (primary) and post (secondary) O2 sensors to understand whether the cat is functioning. The secondary sensor will always give the same value as there would be no cat and will trigger a CEL for that. The bypass simply stops the CEL from illuminating but the ECU still logs the fault code, nonetheless. I have the same "fix" applied to my map - the car has had no issues passing an MOT; I never went through with decat manifolds. Unless Scott has drastically changed that functionality since I had mine, then the above should still apply. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted February 14, 2021 Author Share Posted February 14, 2021 Yes, I know how cats and O2 sensors work. Strange Scott advised that but it's no big deal. I'd actually like to put it back to normal for a week to compare though. Then it's game on after MOT and the headers go in. Did you notice a minor difference to the throttle map? I think the slight hesitation I felt on initial throttle input compared to my gen 1 is gone (I don't have Chrono) Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted March 5, 2021 Author Share Posted March 5, 2021 (edited) My MOT is tomorrow and I queried Scott at Softronic today as to why he said the old map should go on. Here's the reply: "If they check your emissions by the OBD2 port it will not pass with a Race file as Ive mentioned. Also if they check it by the port the ready status may not be set in time if you flash just prior as it takes time to set them and they get erase with every flash or fault delete." So as suspected, it appears that in some US states they actually do plug into the OBD port (sneaky). Not here obviously. Loving the map still - car even sounds different. Catless header go on next week... Edited March 5, 2021 by Andyoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Aaron Posted March 6, 2021 Share Posted March 6, 2021 The California smog test checks the fault codes logged. You would only have an issue if you had a fault code, which you won't with a functioning cat. Anyway, no such issues here - thus why I said you're fine to leave the map on. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Andyoz Posted March 7, 2021 Author Share Posted March 7, 2021 (edited) The MOT was here in Nth Ireland. You're not allowed into the test centre of course but four of the other MOT testers came out the front when car was brought out to me. I gave her the beans in car park when leaving for them...pops n bangs 😆. The whole lot of them seemed like total rev heads. Edited March 7, 2021 by Andyoz Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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