For anyone waiting on Cobb in Oz

[mrrosie]

Hi all, just thought I'd share the following.

I have recently been in communication with Cobb tuning in regards to their AccessPORT products for Australian customers. The response was prompt (a credit to their customer service) however the end result wasn't too good.

Basically, after I got the second reply, I went straight to Burger and ordered the JB4...

COBB - 20.08.11:
Our maps are designed for 91 or 93 Octane which are equivalent to 95 and 97 RON. The BMW AccessPORT at this time will only work on United States Domestic Market (USDM) vehicles only. If you need any further assistance, please let me know. Thank you.

AND COBB - 23.08.11:
As of this time, we do not have any future plans to support other markets but we have started to look into it to see if we could sufficiently support the remainder of the world. Next year would probably be the earliest we would officially support other markets besides USDM vehicles. If I can assist you with anything else, please let me know. Thank you.

[Orlin]

There are a few places over the country that offer a reflash service, I am yet to find one that will give you the same gains as a piggyback such as the Procede or JB4 but COBB is suppose to be really good so when and if it does arrive it would be something to consider.

[JB4-335]

Rosie your gonna love the JB4.

[Zuzu]

Originally Posted by JB4135

Rosie your gonna love the JB4.

+1.

[qship]

What is the difference between the US and Oz ecu? The Cobb reply (which is directly off their websie word for word) is frustrating as I like the idea of being able to back up the std ecu.

[-satanic-]

If the COBB unit was available for AUDM models, it'd be my choice without a doubt - the whole concept of being able to flash / unflash your ECU at home is worth much more than what they're asking for

[MrBlonde]

COBB doesn't make as much power as the piggybacks at the moment.

Maybe one day if COB continues to develop their product for AUS cars and gets some more advanced control it will be the killer product. At the moment it is not.

[-satanic-]

Unfortunately that day may never come, the Australian market is just not big enough to warrant the investment and R&D into the new product-line.

[CrustyNoodle]

C'mon, the tune is not going to be any different for the Aussie DME - it's just that they aren't currently interested in dealing with people out side the US.

From what I've read about the Cobb, it's not really ready for the domestic US market so I'm not surprised they aren't interested in tackling other markets until they get their ducks in a row on home soil. Once they are better proven on the US cars, I reckon it would be worth the gamble to see if they work here. We could do a kind of group purchase for 1 unit to test the theory and if it works then we could open the flood gate.

[andrew@southernBM]

Originally Posted by -satanic-

If the COBB unit was available for AUDM models, it'd be my choice without a doubt - the whole concept of being able to flash / unflash your ECU at home is worth much more than what they're asking for

That is available now, it has been for ages. Buy the ESS Direct Flash. It can hold 10 tunes inside it, and you can flash anytime you like or flash back to stock if required. You can have Stage 1 (355Hp, 480Nm)or Stage 2, (400Hp or 550Nm) Custom tuning on top of that is available if you want it. Stage 2 would be competitive to the piggy backs, i think.

[qship]

Thanks for the info Andrew. Are you aware of any oz car using this tune? Theoretically it has the same "shortcomings" of the Cobb - ie it is a specific US tune.

[-satanic-]

Originally Posted by andrew@southernBM

That is available now, it has been for ages. Buy the ESS Direct Flash. It can hold 10 tunes inside it, and you can flash anytime you like or flash back to stock if required. You can have Stage 1 (355Hp, 480Nm)or Stage 2, (400Hp or 550Nm) Custom tuning on top of that is available if you want it. Stage 2 would be competitive to the piggy backs, i think.

Thanks for that Andrew!

Assume Stage 2 figures are 400hp at the engine as rwhp would be equivalent to about 310rwkw using a factor of 1.3

This solution is still nonetheless pitched at a US/EU market.

That said, 91 AKI is euivalent to 95 RON which would make me believe that the compatability be around 85%, the final 15% relating to other tuning factors. Also, by increasing the quality of the fuel used to say 98 RON, would it not improve performance and reduce risk of detonation?

[adrian@vishnu]

No chance of 310kW ATW. 400hp at the crank is around 300kW at the crank which is around 240kW ATW depending on the dyno. Not bad power, but certainly not ground breaking compared to piggy back options which can commonly do 30kW more with mild boltons (decat pipes).

[Orlin]

Originally Posted by adrian@vishnu

No chance of 310kW ATW. 400hp at the crank is around 300kW at the crank which is around 240kW ATW depending on the dyno. Not bad power, but certainly not ground breaking compared to piggy back options which can commonly do 30kW more with mild boltons (decat pipes).

+ 1

[-satanic-]

Originally Posted by adrian@vishnu

No chance of 310kW ATW. 400hp at the crank is around 300kW at the crank which is around 240kW ATW depending on the dyno. Not bad power, but certainly not ground breaking compared to piggy back options which can commonly do 30kW more with mild boltons (decat pipes).

Yeah just as I thought, given the outputs of cars like that of MrBlonde's that have lots of bolt-ons, I suspected it was at the engine.

That said, has anyone actually gone down the path of building a stronger N54 / N55 and changing the tune to max the setup out? I'm thinking the traditional things like increase displacement, forged items, camshafts etc.

[banglemangle]

Got mine from Anaconda a few years back. Brilliant.

Whenver we go bush, I always chuck it in the back of the playdo with a nice cut of cow and a lovely vin rouge :-)

http://www.cobb.com.au/

[-satanic-]

Originally Posted by banglemangle

Got mine from Anaconda a few years back. Brilliant.

Whenver we go bush, I always chuck it in the back of the playdo with a nice cut of cow and a lovely vin rouge :-)

http://www.cobb.com.au/

LOL! You made my Friday afternoon...

[adrian@vishnu]

Originally Posted by -satanic-

Yeah just as I thought, given the outputs of cars like that of MrBlonde's that have lots of bolt-ons, I suspected it was at the engine.

That said, has anyone actually gone down the path of building a stronger N54 / N55 and changing the tune to max the setup out? I'm thinking the traditional things like increase displacement, forged items, camshafts etc.

If you look at MrBlonds thread, you can see that he has detailed each mod with before and after dyno. His car was around 180kW ATW stock, and is over 290kW ATW now. Definately all power figures at the wheels.

Nobody has gone that far with an N54. The big issue with this platform is that the complex direct injection ECU is tightly integrated with the other systems in the car. It would be very challenging to do an extreme engine build whilst maintaining all the other systems in the car without 100 fault lights all over the place. So we are forced to try and work with the factory system as much as we can to achieve this, and mechanical fuel system components compatible with the factory DME are not readily available.

[andrew@southernBM]

Originally Posted by qship

Thanks for the info Andrew. Are you aware of any oz car using this tune? Theoretically it has the same "shortcomings" of the Cobb - ie it is a specific US tune.

No, ESS have specific files for US cars and Euro spec cars across all models. ESS is a european based company so have more euro spec files than anything. There are a few cars i have heard of running ESS tunes in Aus but i have no knowledge how many.

[B-Moose]

Resurrecting this thread, I looked into and compared various flash tunes, and ended up deciding the Cobb was the best due to it's convenience, ongoing continuous development and untraceability when uninstalled.

It arrived the other day, and although officially unsupported for Australia, it works fine! I did have a recent HPFP failure and recode in late September, so initially it popped up as unsupported ROM version, but after emailing it across within 24hrs I had a working update. It now recognises the ECU type as IJE0S, same as a known USA ECU type. The device is otherwise impressive with its ease of use, nice colour screen interface, and logging capabilities.

First impressions- a staggering power increase, particularly in mid range torque. It was a bit wet when I first tested it and it seriously scared me a little! Pretty glad I recently fitted some Michelin PSS for extra grip. At the same time though, it's extremely smooth and drivable. There are a variety of different throttle calibrations on their site for download, so will need to have a play and decide which best suits my driving style.

Bear in mind I've never driven or been in a Procede/JB car, but I'd expect this power output to be close going by USA comparisons of the devices.

[RaihaX]

thats cool that COBB works with our car - definitely gives us more options now!

[-satanic-]

Excellent news, thanks very much for sharing... did you order direct from COBB?

Now that it's confirmed that it works, COBB has definitely gone back up on my list of tuning options. All I need to do now is confirm one for the N55

Any chance of you putting it on a dyno? What other power mods do you have?