@FL Fozzy should be able to chime in, as well as a few others.

 

theres an entire thread literally based around using it, and results...for the 2014+ FXT. check further in this same section were in.

 

Which section would that be? Do you have a link? That would be great.

Just checked the bottom of the page. I guess this is the section you're referring to? http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f95/cobb-accessport-sj-fxt-tuning-results-thread-420658/

 

theres also a couple more threads directed towards results with individual pro tuners.

 

@0to60B4U loooooooooooootta info in there...some great, some terrible. but luckily its the main one from when the AP came out for your model...so youre starting with info from the beginning, and then the learning progression that goes on with time.

 

id rather not say/vote, to be honest with you. i have a totally different engine and transmission in my era then yours and have zero hands on experience with your model FXT and the tuning of it. ( i just really enjoy the idea of a new setup for subaru, and whats involved in tuning, so have tried to follow along and ask questions).

luckily theres an almost endless amount of info in there to help you make a choice for yourself and your goals and your overall situation with the car.

that being the important part. goals of the car, and how that aligns with what different people have been able to accomplish with the car. aka, how far do you wanna push the envelope.

can you make more power? hell yea...endless amounts really with the right additional part and proper fuel (and money). is it worth it?...to each his own. one guy will buy the AP and load one of cobbs maps and be overjoyed,"best $600 ive ever spent!!!"...while another dude with same car mumbles,"$600?.....doesnt feel like $600 bucks worth to me...sigh". much of what youre purchasing with the AP is the ability to look into the ECU, and monitor and change whats happening with your vehicle. DONT just think of it as a one and done thing, where you pop it in, get a little kick in the ***...and never look at it again. imo.

 

Thanks. That makes sense. I'll do my research.

 

I do have your generation and I spoke at great lengths with Cobb. Our car has a weakness... the CVT. Yes, you can go pro-tune and go nuts with intakes etc... or you can buy the AP (can find them online used... as long as uninstalled)... you start getting towards 300 hp... better be ready to pay 8k to replace that tranny... so no stage 2 is offered (you have to do it by hand... and get pro tuned as i mentioned)

I have 93 OTS stage 1... took it off to do some recall work and the car was noticeably lethargic... it's easy because it is removable and (despite the various claims) is not really detectable via your dealer if you uninstall it... but it's a potential warranty breaker, so buyer beware.

 

You mentioned you took it off and the car was noticeable lethargic, does that mean it behaved worse than before you had the AP installed, or that it behaved back to stock conditions?

 

How easy is it to install and remove the ECU mapping? Is it a matter of backing up the current ECU mapping, flashing the custom, then restoring the original backed up when needed? A matter of minutes plug and play and go?

 

it literally could not be easier. the AP does all the "work" for you, effortlessly. the only bit that will take minutes is the initial setup/installation. like where it does its first connection with the car and all. the switching of maps back and forth after that...only seconds really.
the AP stores the oem map for you. and by uninstalling the AP, itll reload that oem info back into ecu.

theres a little tutorial video by cobb if you literally wanted to watch what happens.

 

I can tell you that I lined up against Tyler at a light yesterday. I'm stock, and he's a stage 1 protune. No other mods. We were both in sport. He walked me pretty hard to 60.

I'd say it's worth it.

 

tunings a hell of a drug. to think, the powerz are just sitting there...waiting. 0

 

After flashing the ECU, can you physically remove the AP and retain the new map? It wouldn't make sense that you'd have to keep it physically in your car at all times.

 

Yes, you can remove it. No issues there. But you'll leave it. It shows you all sorts of good information about your car.

 

If you're on the fence about upgrading to the accessport, I HIGHLY recommend going over to Nasioc and reading up on the different threads about our still new engines and seamingly weak connecting rods. I spend a good amount of time reading different threads regarding our engines going pop being both tuned and completely stock.
I do think Cobb has a good product and that a good deal of us here have good reason to own an AP. The real time engine monitoring aspect of the AP make it an awesome product in itself, but the fact remains that if something goes sideways with your ecu under warranty and you've upgraded to an AP, you just might be on the hook for a new short block.
I for one have wrestled with the idea of investing in an AP along with a few other upgrades, but after reading through other owner's failures- I've decided to keep things stock at least till my warranty is toast.
It is difficult to resist the idea of taking our little turbo'd Subies to the next level with the help of an AP, but beyond the above mentioned weak connecting rods, you also have to worry about spinning the bearings and the $9000 cvt.
Just one owner's opinion, take it with a grain of salt. cheers-

 

im with @Jhoo to be completely honest with you. regarding the timing of when to do it, with the warranty and all. and why i chose not to answer your initial question about "should i buy it".

i do personally feel like there is a safety zone with using JUST the AP (with at most a catback or something that doesnt really "matter"). but you gotta have trust in your tuner. imo, this current FXT just seems a little more high strung outta the box, compared to previous versions. in a way, you already saved money....as you already got classic stage 1 #s included compliments of Subaru. lol.

 

My 2 cents, I'm Pro tuned stage 2 (well I was stage 2 until a week ago). My 2014 XT runs great. I've been fortunate that i haven't had any problems with my SJG. I know some guys have had issues with boost leaks (the Danoz fix), CVT issues, or even engine problems. The only problem, knock wood, that I had several months back was a bad steering vibration which turned out to be a worn lower inner control arm bushing that was fixed under warranty. Well, that and my ECU being bricked, twice(!) when I was up in Ravena NY getting my Mishimoto j-pipe installed and getting Pro tuned. My XT (with EyeSight) is kinda famous in that it was the reason Cobb @Cobbtuning immediately flew a team out to Ravena NY to meet with my tuner Ray @turbotekray to troubleshoot my ECU. After Cobb reprogrammed my ECU, Ray was able to give me a great tune. I love how fun my XT is to drive! Cobb then placed an urgent update on their site for anyone with a 2014+ XT with EyeSight. Some here felt my "numbers" were low compared to other tuners, but you know what, my Forester feels great and more importantly, Still runs great. Now, the reason I removed my Mishi, is because I'm selling it to my mom in law and getting a 2017 XT, and that's where my j-pipe is going, (along with all the other upgrades/suspension bits I installed - I wouldn't want her to be able to keep up with me on the Belt Pkwy lol).
Having said all this, my XT felt stronger after I installed the Cobb Accessport with the 93 map. It was, to me, a very nice improvement. It was faster off the line and had a stronger midrange. Well worth the money I spent and I wound up paying full price because it wasn't out yet for the SJG when I was at the 2014 Wicked Big Meet.
If you can wait, some authorized dealers have sales throughout the year, though the best prices are always at the WBM. My bro just got one at this year's WBM for his 2016 WRX and saved $100! As fxterrific said, the Cobb stage 1 map is a safe performance upgrade and I agree with him.
I'm not recommending you go stage 2 like me, maybe I'm one of the lucky ones, but I trusted my tuner and I take care of my ride. I'm very religious with my oil changes (3000k) and I add Techron to my gas every other fill up; and if you think I baby my XT, I don't. Here's a video of me in front of my bro's WRX at Englishtown a few weeks ago.
Whatever you decide to do, have fun and enjoy your XT!
https://youtu.be/z4zWaarRm0Y

 

93 oct stg 1 OTS: The driveability is much better. Not sure if it does anything with the cvt but seems to hold onto gears longer (up shift a little later), mid range torque better - no flat spots - pulls harder and more linear to redline. Keep an eye on boost, you can hit 21-22 PSI, not sure if a lot of that over time is healthy... maybe use LWG map. Mpg also ~ 2 mph better.


Sent from AutoGuide.com Free App

 

Good discussion. The main reason I was asking about how quick and easy it is to reflash was if anything were to pop up under warranty. If I needed to bring it in for anything whatsoever, I'd throw the original flash back on then when I got it back, throw the Cobb tune back in.

In Intelligent mode, throttle response on the low end is annoying for me, where I can get an inch or two of gas pedal travel before she decides to actually buck and go. Would this help at all with that?

 

In Intelligent mode, throttle response on the low end is annoying for me, where I can get an inch or two of gas pedal travel before she decides to actually buck and go. Would this help at all with that?

thats how its saving you mpg !! haha. the main "intelligent" thing about I mode is when your giving say 30% pedal...its treating it like youre giving it much lower, 10% or something for argument sake. its using different throttle tables (and iirc "gear/shift logic). so youre saving gas because when you push the pedal its comes in slower and less % then you pushed. lol.
not sure how the change is for the Cobb OTS map. but a protuner could certainly change it. some people flip flop the different values around from mode to mode so that they could all be the same, or whatever the default one is when you start the car is also youre most performance oriented one, etc.

 

Alright, so it looks like everyone is saying that it does improve performance. Thanks guys. I'm going to get one eventually.

 

a cool dude/forum member has a great deal on a used one right now!
http://www.subaruforester.org/vbulletin/f65/ct-sh-upgrade-parts-sale-601826/

 

ohhhhhhh, sorry. my bad. i forgot theres a newer one for your motor.

 

Super easy

Just plug in the AP and select Uninstall. Cobb can't make it any easier to install and uninstall.

 

All right fellas. I took the plunge and made an order for the accessport. I bought it from rallysportdirect because cobbtuning charged $90 tax. Hopefully I can trust that company. I'm looking forward to insane performance mods.

 

A couple of questions
1. Should I download the latest firmware before I use the accessport?
2. Will the stock tune automatically be stored when I update with the new map?
3. The manual recommends to connect the battery to a charger while programming the ECU, is this really necessary?
Thanks.

 

A couple of questions
1. Should I download the latest firmware before I use the accessport?
- yes download/update everything possible. they are always updating things, so you want the latest version of everything.
2. Will the stock tune automatically be stored when I update with the new map?
- yes.
3. The manual recommends to connect the battery to a charger while programming the ECU, is this really necessary?
- yes, if at all possible. iirc with the current XTs folks were mentioning it took a long time to run the course...and having the battery die would cause some real issues id imagine with the ecu/process in general.
Thanks.

:grin2:

 

I agree with FXTerrific on everything except the last point...respectfully I've never had any issues from when I first loaded the 93 Cobb map (2014 XT); this is the only time it'll take the longest amount of time to load because it first saves your OEM map, Then flashes whichever map you decide on, 91 or 93 depending on what gas is available to you. After that, if you go the Pro/E-tune route, it just has to load/flash the new map from your tuner. Also, I seem to remember awhile back, Cobb mentioned on their site that one of the updates for our Accessport made the flashing process quicker. Whatever you decide, enjoy your new AP.

 

Holy crap what a difference!!
Just installed stage1 91 octane (can't find any higher here in CA bay area). Boost went up to 21.31 and damn does it go. Totally happy with this so far. My only concern is the Accessport manager doesn't see my accessport when I plug it into a USB port.

 

I'm consistently getting 21.31 PSI. Is that what everyone else is getting? Before I rarely saw it go above 15 PSI.

 

seems(little) high...but id scroll through that thread shared earlier (like the "overall" SJ accessport thread)...and see what others said. i dont really remember to be honest with you.

 

seems high...but id scroll through that thread shared earlier (like the "overall" SJ accessport thread)...and see what others said. i dont really remember to be honest with you.

Hitting those peaks doesn't surprise me. I"m not sure where the system is measuring the boost too.... look for where it is holding... should hold in and around 18 psi on WOT.

 

How long does it typically take for Cobb to come out with maps for new model year (e.g., 2017)

 

They just released 2017 STI maps today, if that helps answer your question. It really depends. Usually they focus on the WRX/STi as it is what they are mostly known for. Probably a couple months for the new Forester I'd say.

 

this is great news. I just sold my stage 2 bugeye and really miss the benefits of the AP from Cobb.

Of course, I hope they come out with a stage 2 for the XT. My 17 is too damn quiet compared to my old wrx.

 

I'm sure I can get below that.