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I'm in the same boat as you right now so don't think you're alone. I was going to go AP, then I decided it's a waste of money compared to OS tuning. Now there are no good tuners in Utah and I'm leaning towards the AP and a surgeline e-tune. If we get some options in Utah I'll be back to straight OS tuning.

I had Accesport on my bugeye and open source tuning on my sti and I feel like the only difference is preferrence. I was a big fan of accessport because of the ease of use and the reliability of the OTS tunes that Cobb provides. To be 100% honest I still wish I had the AP, but it's not really a big deal either way.

Yeah, the lack of any dyno open source tuners here really sucks...

i just installed my ap on my car and honestly i think its worth every penny. i dont plan on tuning my own car and i like the convenience of being able to grab maps off cobbs website for free. i just did stage 1 and it does have a nice power gain. theres some used ones on nasioc right now

The maps are "free" after a $600 purchase...

Yes but you also get a logger and a scan tool and the ability to tinker with things such as idle speed and use it as a guage and have several maps handy at all times. In my opinion, it's worth the money. But I don't dabble in tuning, so it's an AP or paying someone to tune it.

^^^^ This

I'd suggest an AP, but of course not everyone will agree. Yes it is expensive and it doesn't bring out the FULL potential of the car. However, it is a safe tune also very convenient (ability to tweek things here and there, use as gauge). As of right now I am running a stage 1 map with a cobb shortram intake and I am happy with the power increase. It may not be that much but it is noticable and will suffice until I finish work on my jetta which will give me extra $ to buy a turboback. It's just a matter of opinion and if you want to dabble in tuning. If you can find a used one, I would highly suggest purchasing it.

I am all about opensource tuning, teaching yourself how your car works and more importantly how your car's ecu works is a huge step in understanding your car. Personally I think paying someone to give you an opensource map and or getting a tactrix cable and doing it yourself is a great way to go. You can look at cobb's maps for reference and tweak them to suite your needs if you desire. There is also romraider's forum which has a ton of info on open source tuning.

If you want something thats relatively plug and play and you don't want to learn about ecu's and how or why they work then get an AP. If your in it for the long haul I would recommend reading up and trying it yourself or going to an opensource tuner and have him take the time to talk you though everything he's doing. Really the ecu is a simply thing once you understand what it's doing and why it's doing it, it just takes time :).

Jesse

You can log and scan with open source.

My understanding it Street tuner allows live map changing, if so that is cool. So you log (guy I knew used RomRadier) then tweak something in the map, and pop it in the ECU. Pretty cool.

It is a preference. I don't think there is any proof that a COBB stage 2 map is any different than the reputable OS stage 2 maps.

Pluses of a AP:
Small and can stay in the car
Can be used as a guage
My understanding is it will unbrick an ECU if you tell it to go back to stock.
It is a dedicated device, so less oe no risk of crashing.

Pluses of OS:
Free software, $180 cable.
RR logger has a digital guage view and on a laptop you can see 16 or so easily.
Free LC patchs for 16 bit ecu's (02-05 WRX's)
Unlimited flashes and ECU's, 1 guy like me can flash 40 ECUs.


Both are viable options.

I think everyone summed up the highlights well. I went with the AP since I don't want to dabble in self-tuning.

My experience with the AP on stg 1 was disappointing, very little power gains, but better driveability. Worth the money? Not IMO. Now if you want to get a DP, I would do both at the same time. For now, save the $$ and put it towards the Impreza's weakness, suspension.

A good stage 1 should had about 3 pounds of boost and hold it a lot closer to red line.

With an AP I would only get an AP to do stage 1 if I knew I would go stage 2 down the road.

Stage one I free flash on to very few cars. It just isn't all that much more than stock.. :) And the few that have gone stage 1 are just in that much more of a hurry to go stage 2.. So I help COBB sell some Down pipes.. :)

Now that they left Utah maybe this board will lean a little more towards center, again not that AP's are bad by any means.

The AP is worth every penny.

There are plenty of guys that use opensource tuning, and have lots of luck with it.

There are also plenty of guys that grenade their motors.

The AP OTS maps are conservative, designed to use at any elevation, leave lots of headroom, and are exceptionally "safe".

An opnsource tune will likely squeeze out a few more HP... but will also max out your injectors. Plus, you cannot always trust maps that people have developed.

Long story short... there is more RISK associated with opensource tuning... Usually it pays off.... but trust me, there are horror stories.

Been using the AP since 6k miles on stage 1.
Flashed stage 2 at 12k miles.
Flashed stage 3 after the VF39 swap at about 22k miles

.... I'm now at almost 50k miles.

..... and I've never even thrown so much as a single check engine light..... ever. Nor have I ever boost spiked, with a fully catless 3-inch exhaust..... ever.

Yea.. it's expensive.... so you pay for the AP... but you also pay for "piece of mind", outstanding customer service and support, and some of the best research and development on the planet.

There are also a lot of blown motors on AP's......

^ exactly, it varies from car to car.