[DSI]

Hi All, I have a 2018 718 Boxster GTS PDK. I've decided to tune the car. I have been researching both the Cobb Accessport V3 and the APR Tune. I do not plan on changing the stock sport exhaust. Based on numbers it seems like the APR tune provides more power. Does anyone have real experiences with these tunes and chime in, would appreciate it.

 

[BB718]

If your not going to put the car on a dyno then APR, it's the better tune

If you want to go back and forth from stock to tune and tune to stock then Cobb because of the hand held unit

 

[HooosierDaddy]

This video is what did me in... I ended up with APR and have been very happy with the results.

 

[BB718]

I miss my little Boxster

She was a little monster with 410 rear wheels hp

But the 911 has me busy

 

[vosadrian]

Is there a matter of resale to consider? You can remove the Cobb (unmarry?) and then sell your car stock and get some money back for the Cobb? APR license is permanently attached to the car.

 

[BB718]

I didn't get a chance to remove my APR tune when I traded the car in, everything was closed at the time with virus shut down.

 

[HooosierDaddy]

Is there a matter of resale to consider? You can remove the Cobb (unmarry?) and then sell your car stock and get some money back for the Cobb? APR license is permanently attached to the car.

They can all be removed, but if you are selling the car what does it matter? You can offer the choice to the new owner. As far as I'm concerned, this is a Mod, just like adding carbon fiber interior bits or exhaust... no real value added and never to be recouped.

Handheld portion adds the ability to make changes yourself, and unless you get the same kind of car, same engine and same transmission, you'll still be springing for another tune to be loaded on the handheld unit.

I could be wrong on this, but this is how it was with my diesel truck. I could upload tunes from the bullydog unit, but if I sold the truck and wanted to keep the bullydog, I needed to un-marry it from one truck so I could take it to the other. The caveat being... the other truck had to be essentially the same vehicle for the preloaded tunes to work.

 

[[email protected]]

We're a COBB Pro-Tuner just to be upfront with our bias..

If you want the ability to custom tune your 718 COBB is the way to go. Both tunes can make the same power, the difference is; do you want a canned one size fits all tune or the ability to customize? With COBB you can add any modifications you want to your 718 and a Pro-Tuner can dial in your map for you. APR does good stuff so the one size fits all approach may be what you want.

We tune Porsche's all over the world. This link outlines how we do it: COBB AccessPort Tuning
Often we are tuning cars for local fuel grades or climate to ensure optimum and safe operation rather than max power. It's very common to not use a dyno, we're datalogging and working with customers at their pace from their location. They don't need to go to a workshop, we just ship them the COBB AccessPort and they generate logs and we send revised maps. Everything happens in the AccessPort, you don't need to take a PC or additional equipment with you.

The AP3-POR-010 AccessPort works on all 718s, you can install/uninstall it in 10 minutes at your home. Once uninstalled you can sell it or use it on another 718. Also, for a small fee COBB can change your firmware to enable use on any other Porsche. This does require paying the difference in price between the products of course.

Bottom line is there are lots of happy customers with both products so you really can't go wrong.

 

[HooosierDaddy]

We're a COBB Pro-Tuner just to be upfront with our bias..

If you want the ability to custom tune your 718 COBB is the way to go. Both tunes can make the same power, the difference is; do you want a canned one size fits all tune or the ability to customize? With COBB you can add any modifications you want to your 718 and a Pro-Tuner can dial in your map for you. APR does good stuff so the one size fits all approach may be what you want.

We tune Porsche's all over the world. This link outlines how we do it: COBB AccessPort Tuning
Often we are tuning cars for local fuel grades or climate to ensure optimum and safe operation rather than max power. It's very common to not use a dyno, we're datalogging and working with customers at their pace from their location. They don't need to go to a workshop, we just ship them the COBB AccessPort and they generate logs and we send revised maps. Everything happens in the AccessPort, you don't need to take a PC or additional equipment with you.

The AP3-POR-010 AccessPort works on all 718s, you can install/uninstall it in 10 minutes at your home. Once uninstalled you can sell it or use it on another 718. Also, for a small fee COBB can change your firmware to enable use on any other Porsche. This does require paying the difference in price between the products of course.

Bottom line is there are lots of happy customers with both products so you really can't go wrong.

Custom is the way to go and If we had a tuner around here worth a sh!t, TBH I wasn’t aware you could log data and modify the tune like you do, I would have look closer at it had I known. I think at the time the Cobb has not received the latest update that is so admired?

I’d do Cobb if I hadn’t already jumped on the apr Train. Credit me the cost of APR and I’ll do a back to back comparison 🤪

 

[[email protected]]

I think COBB really failed in their marketing for the Porsche products. Most folks have no idea what the potential advantages of the AccessPort over a canned tune are.

Even if you aren't custom tuning the logging is a great feature for gathering data at track days, etc..

I'll talk to COBB and see if they'll split the cost with us..

Josh

Custom is the way to go and If we had a tuner around here worth a sh!t, TBH I wasn’t aware you could log data and modify the tune like you do, I would have look closer at it had I known. I think at the time the Cobb has not received the latest update that is so admired?

I’d do Cobb if I hadn’t already jumped on the apr Train. Credit me the cost of APR and I’ll do a back to back comparison 🤪

 

[BB718]

That's why I told OP that APR is best if car isn't going to be dyno'd. They tune on dyno, street and track all with about 30 to 40 different sensors. That's why it takes them so long to make a tune, it's not done in 1 or 2 days. Is it perfect? NO. Is it better than the map that comes with the Cobb? Yes

Cobb is great for pro tuning and the hand held unit. Great for going back to stock when ever you want too. But no matter what dealer will see that the car was tuned even when taking the tune out and going back to stock

But lets be clear, there is a big price different between both of them. A flash is one price and a handle held unit to be used on a dyno is another.

I went with APR because I didn't want to dyno the car, I didn't want to put up with all the fake tuners out there

I also don't have good tuners around me but the ones I do all are the best and can't do no wrong. But they're real good in charging the big bucks. And let's not get into those that play with the numbers just to make you feel better until you turn around.

Someone in the past asked me "can you download the APR tune on to the Cobb unit" I don't know but I think not

All I say is do your homework and pick what is best for you

 

[BB718]

Custom is the way to go and If we had a tuner around here worth a sh!t, TBH I wasn’t aware you could log data and modify the tune like you do, I would have look closer at it had I known. I think at the time the Cobb has not received the latest update that is so admired?

I’d do Cobb if I hadn’t already jumped on the apr Train. Credit me the cost of APR and I’ll do a back to back comparison 🤪

I think APR gives you 30 days to return the tune if you're not happy, give them a call and see what they say

 

[HooosierDaddy]

I’m way past that time and besides, I’m perfectly happy with the APR tune. It’s amazing!

 

[chester7]

If you want the ability to custom tune your 718 COBB is the way to go. Both tunes can make the same power, the difference is; do you want a canned one size fits all tune or the ability to customize? With COBB you can add any modifications you want to your 718 and a Pro-Tuner can dial in your map for you. APR does good stuff so the one size fits all approach may be what you want.

I may just not understand, but allowing a user to custom tune his engine appears to be fraught with danger. Even a knowledgeable user would not know what the Cobb and APR engineers know (safety limits and other parameters). And I include dealers among those who don't know what Cobb and APR know.

 

[HooosierDaddy]

I may just not understand, but allowing a user to custom tune his engine appears to be fraught with danger. Even a knowledgeable user would not know what the Cobb and APR engineers know (safety limits and other parameters). And I include dealers among those who don't know what Cobb and APR know.

It’s not like that. For the lack of a better term... Cobb pre loads several tunes for your car that you can load/switch at will. Completely safe to do.

 

[johan]

How much diy tuning can you do with the cobb tune?
And is the v2 released for the GTS yet?

I was really close to get a Cobb but v2 was not released at that moment.

 

[[email protected]]

We watch a lot of sensors from the vehicle as well as instrumentation that we add when the vehicle is on our dyno at our facility. This helps us characterize the car and understand the accuracy, usefulness and limitations of the OE sensors for tuning. In the case of the 718 the factory instrumentation is quite good so no additional sensors are required.

The good part about us tuning your car here on our dyno, remotely at your location or us flying out to tune on site is you don't need to know anything about the data. For remote tuning you just press a button and everything is logged. You send us the logs and we send you maps. Typically 5 iterations will get you dialed in. We can do that in a day if you're motivated or we can spread out over weeks if you prefer. It's totally up to you what pace we tune at.

APR tune is $1199 no? COBB is only $1495, that is a difference, however COBB offers a lot more features.

You don't have to Pro-Tune with COBB or get on a dyno. COBB's base maps are a bit more conservative in their mapping when compared to APR I suspect. This leaves it up to the end user how aggressively tuned they want their car. Stay with the OTS maps or work with a Pro-Tuner to optimize your 718 for the most power possible. It's totally up to you. With APR you get what you get. If you have marginal fuel in your region your car is going to knock like crazy and there's nothing you can do about it.

Like I said, I'm sure APR does a good job with their tune. So does COBB. And if you want to take your COBB tune to the next level you can. For most people either companies OTS tune is going to work great so you really can't go wrong.

That's why I told OP that APR is best if car isn't going to be dyno'd. They tune on dyno, street and track all with about 30 to 40 different sensors. That's why it takes them so long to make a tune, it's not done in 1 or 2 days. Is it perfect? NO. Is it better than the map that comes with the Cobb? Yes

Cobb is great for pro tuning and the hand held unit. Great for going back to stock when ever you want too. But no matter what dealer will see that the car was tuned even when taking the tune out and going back to stock

But lets be clear, there is a big price different between both of them. A flash is one price and a handle held unit to be used on a dyno is another.

I went with APR because I didn't want to dyno the car, I didn't want to put up with all the fake tuners out there

I also don't have good tuners around me but the ones I do all are the best and can't do no wrong. But they're real good in charging the big bucks. And let's not get into those that play with the numbers just to make you feel better until you turn around.

Someone in the past asked me "can you download the APR tune on to the Cobb unit" I don't know but I think not

All I say is do your homework and pick what is best for you

COBB is NOT end user tune-able. You need a Pro-Tuner like ourselves to do the tuning. COBB has hundreds or trained Pro-Tuners around the world.
I am an engineer and I have been tuning ECUs for 25 years. Many COBB Pro-Tuners have similar credentials. So not to worry, you're in good hands when you have your 718 Pro-Tuned.

When you say car dealers I assume you mean Porsche dealerships? If so I totally agree.

I may just not understand, but allowing a user to custom tune his engine appears to be fraught with danger. Even a knowledgeable user would not know what the Cobb and APR engineers know (safety limits and other parameters). And I include dealers among those who don't know what Cobb and APR know.

 

[chester7]

Understood about COBB. Still prefer APR approach, particulary with Sport Chrono. If fuel quality is poor you can select base mode and drive gingerly until good fuel can be found.

 

[elcaimancito]

Also on the fence between COBB & APR, I believe both have their pros & cons hence the "difficulty" in choosing!
So because the COBB is less aggressive on HP; does it make it "safer"?
This is a very serious consideration especially for those of us with active warranty on our cars.
Also, I understand you can datalog with the COBB and fine tune for mods but I assume there's and additional cost for this which must also be taken into consideration in the debate.

 

[HooosierDaddy]

Also on the fence between COBB & APR, I believe both have their pros & cons hence the "difficulty" in choosing!
So because the COBB is less aggressive on HP; does it make it "safer"?
This is a very serious consideration especially for those of us with active warranty on our cars.
Also, I understand you can datalog with the COBB and fine tune for mods but I assume there's and additional cost for this which must also be taken into consideration in the debate.

Valid questions!

I don't have an answer for you on which is safer, I believe they both utilize existing sensors and system to protect the car. I keep hearing that APR will have a handheld unit as well... Rumor? Possibly, it's the internet and unless I get it straight from the horses a$$... err... Mouth, it's all hearsay.

APR is working on some PDK tuning to go with theirs, and that's got my attention!