[HoustonGTS]

I am looking at tunes for my 2018 CTGS PDK. It's great to have good options to choose from. Sounds like APR, COBB and Softronics are all solid options. I am leaning slightly towards COBB since they have the hand tuner and I can flash the ECU myself.

I see COBB also has a PDK flash. Anyone have firsthand feeback on this flash? Concerned that a PDK flash would increase the likely hood of something going wrong with the PDK. The software tunes all seem very safe. Curious as to what everyone's thoughts are on a PDK flash. thanks!

 

[solomel]

I am looking at tunes for my 2018 CTGS PDK. It's great to have good options to choose from. Sounds like APR, COBB and Softronics are all solid options. I am leaning slightly towards COBB since they have the hand tuner and I can flash the ECU myself.

I see COBB also has a PDK flash. Anyone have firsthand feeback on this flash? Concerned that a PDK flash would increase the likely hood of something going wrong with the PDK. The software tunes all seem very safe. Curious as to what everyone's thoughts are on a PDK flash. thanks!

I didn’t care about risk, otherwise it steals the fun. So I went with COBB PDK flash almost immediately after release.

Yesterday I flashed original PDK shift behavior to my 718S... and it is boring now It meant I felt something was lost backing from the Aggressive tune I drove for a month. After catching this, I came to the thought - PDK flash was really good step.

But it is more about perception of everyday moderate driving. Can’t prove it gives any significant improvement on full throttle acceleration.

 

[xhyphenx]

@HoustonGTS I spoke with the guys at APR, and they were a wealth of knowledge to talk to. I learned a lot from them. I think they have a solid tune. I wish they would allow you as the owner of the car to flash it versus going to an APR dealer and pay them to do it. That's my only gripe about APR, and it's really just convenience thing. When it comes to COBB.... No experience what so ever, but the appeal of having a device that is coded to my VIN, and allows me to flash their tunes or flash back to stock is UBBBER appealing to me. Plus, when you have guys like @[email protected] that can create custom tunes using the COBB tuner is also super appealing as well.

I'm stubborn, and went with a custom tune from Fabspeed using their ExperTune tuner device, which is just a rebranded handheld from DimSport, but they build their tunes using that software.

 

[Lou718cs]

I am looking at tunes for my 2018 CTGS PDK. It's great to have good options to choose from. Sounds like APR, COBB and Softronics are all solid options. I am leaning slightly towards COBB since they have the hand tuner and I can flash the ECU myself.

I see COBB also has a PDK flash. Anyone have firsthand feeback on this flash? Concerned that a PDK flash would increase the likely hood of something going wrong with the PDK. The software tunes all seem very safe. Curious as to what everyone's thoughts are on a PDK flash. thanks!

 

[Lou718cs]

I have 2019 cayman s and flashed both ecu and pdk last week. I wanted a conservative flash for several reasons and chose Cobb over the others. The ecu flash was good but when I took the car on the track the pdk seemed to aggressive and I will be removing the pdk flash and staying with the oem pdk. On the track, smooth is preferable and the Cobb pdk does not work for me on the track. Cobb is great because you can flash and remove flash yourself and it only takes a couple of minutes.

 

[Señor]

I have 2019 cayman s and flashed both ecu and pdk last week. I wanted a conservative flash for several reasons and chose Cobb over the others. The ecu flash was good but when I took the car on the track the pdk seemed to aggressive and I will be removing the pdk flash and staying with the oem pdk. On the track, smooth is preferable and the Cobb pdk does not work for me on the track. Cobb is great because you can flash and remove flash yourself and it only takes a couple of minutes.

Can you please define aggressive when it comes to the Cobb tuning? Harder shifts? Different shift points? etc.
I understand the need to be smooth on the track and yes also on the street.
Just trying to learn more about the PDK tune (research)
Thanks!

 

[Lou718cs]

Can you please define aggressive when it comes to the Cobb tuning? Harder shifts? Different shift points? etc.
I understand the need to be smooth on the track and yes also on the street.
Just trying to learn more about the PDK tune (research)
Thanks!

OK I will try and make this as understandable as possible. In reference to the Cobb tuner, it flashes the ecu easily and without issue. You get two maps to download, one for 91 octane and the other for 93 octane, both are stage 1. Now in reference to the PDK flash, you get 4 maps, Cobb oem+, Cobb Sport, Cobb Sport + and Cobb aggressive. All four will provide, full race launch mode, decreased shift time, kick down disabled, dual paddle neutral enabled, and shifting schedule enhancement. After speaking with a Cobb Tech, he told me to try and use all the modes before I make a decision on which mode to choose. I was using aggressive mode and it seemed to shift and down shift making the car and my body move, if you know what I mean. I am going to try Sport next time I am on a track to see if this is more in my comfort zone. At the time of my original post I did not realize I had 4 different maps to use for the PDK flash.

 

[Lou718cs]

OK I will try and make this as understandable as possible. In reference to the Cobb tuner, it flashes the ecu easily and without issue. You get two maps to download, one for 91 octane and the other for 93 octane, both are stage 1. Now in reference to the PDK flash, you get 4 maps, Cobb oem+, Cobb Sport, Cobb Sport + and Cobb aggressive. All four will provide, full race launch mode, decreased shift time, kick down disabled, dual paddle neutral enabled, and shifting schedule enhancement. After speaking with a Cobb Tech, he told me to try and use all the modes before I make a decision on which mode to choose. I was using aggressive mode and it seemed to shift and down shift making the car and my body move, if you know what I mean. I am going to try Sport next time I am on a track to see if this is more in my comfort zone. At the time of my original post I did not realize I had 4 different maps to use for the PDK flash.

Update to my informational post.......Two hours ago I just removed the aggressive PDK flash and flashed the PDK with the Sport + map and took it for a spin on the parkway. It felt very good and was more smooth than the aggressive map. I will keep it in Sport + mapping and give it a try on the track next month. Having the Cobb hand held tuner makes it very easy to remove and install the different maps. I will be able to uninstall when I take the car to the dealer and reinstall when they are done. I do not know if they will be able to detect this or not but Cobb is still the best game in town for that. Also, For sure without a doubt, if you get a Cobb tuner and plan on flashing you ecu and pdk, you will not, I repeat, will not need a battery charger or tender hooked up to the car. Just make sure your battery is in good condition with a good charge and shut every accessory off just in case. The flashing only takes approx ten minutes tops and your battery should be able to handle that without any issues.