if only there was one for the R53...

 

Got my access port today. Loaded it up and took it out for a spin on roads that are much less than idea (in town during rush hour). I haven't been able to go above ~50mph in second gear before i had to shut down due to traffic. I already had a dimsport tune (not jans).

The power delivery is much smoother than the tune I had. As far as it giving a lot more get up and go than I had, I haven't been able to really test it yet and won't for a couple days (wife is with me most of the time).

One thing I did notice was that I gained two lbs of boost. Previously my boost gauge was reading 18.5 peak and now it reads 20.5 peak. The accessport had this to say though:





I'm not sure why my gauge is reading two lbs low unless the car is reading boost at a completely different place than the gauge.

Jeff already sent me new maps (before the port got here) but I haven't had a chance to load them on the accessport and try them yet.


edit: How'd I get one so fast? I jumped when I heard about it - I was also one of the first 5 to get the unichip also.

 

OK ready to order...last couple of questions...

I have a MCSa 2010, just a couple of weeks off the lot. I thought I saw that automatics will throw a bunch of CELs.
Is this still true?
If so, why? better yet what are they?
Can they be cleared from the AP unit?
If I reflash to stock mode and bring it in for service, has the reflash cleared any trace of the CELs?
If I buy a CAI in a few months do you recommend a new flash or will th ECU just account for the change?
I know there hasn't ton of time for long term testing but 20lbs of boost? Is that safe for a daily driver in regards to engine reliability?

sorry and thanks

 

That's what they don't realize.

I also love how they flat out disappeared around here for a lonnnnng time, and now every single post made is responded to by someone from Alta. It's deja vu of when the R56 first came out, and they made a bunch of parts for it, and went on a marketing rampage...and then slowly faded away. (along with parts issues...)

Unlike some other tuners that are out there, I do think the Alta guys are good guys. The marketing hub bub as you call it, is such a turn off though. Especially considering history of their products, it's hard to imagine why anyone listens.

The Masters of Marketing = Alta....they should write a book for business schools around the country.

 

Countryboyshane,

I've been testing the AP for four weeks now. I haven't taken it anywhere else to put it on a dyno as I haven't felt the need to do so. I'd be happy to share my testing experience with you. Send me a PM or email. I have an automatic and the tune isn't finalized yet but it is close.

Gary

 

Since it plugs into the OBD port, I'd assume its reading it from the MAP sensor, like a Scan Gauge would. Not sure how they have it set up to calculate boost from the total manifold pressure, but it needs to take into account atmospheric pressure (which is a variable) to accurately portray what the boost pressure is. When you turn the ignition on (but not motor) and select the boost gauge function, does it read 0.0?

 

That's something for me to check out but considering I was near the beach and only at about 10 feet above sea level I doubt it had a lot to do with it. Or else I could have no clue what I'm talking about and it could have everything to do with it. lol

 

I can answer that!



Also check here for more graphs
http://www.altaperformance.com/pages/show/158

There is also more auto development all the time. Also a bit more HP to be gained. When we release the official auto mapping, you will see some new graphs showing this also!

As more people buy them, more people will dyno them. For now, our graphs are all we have proving Horsepower. As for real road/dyno testing, this has been going on for months and months. Its only been in the hands of few customers for about a month or so. The customer side of things has been a short time, but as you may have noticed we have been keeping to ourselves on this whole thing. Other than that, we have plugged into tons of cars, flashed and reflashed, unistalled reinstalled. You name it we have done this over and over again to try and break the map or AccessPORT functions.

Other than that you make it sound like our dyno graphs are fakes or not legit. Our methods are solid, consistent and provide accurate results with out monster fans that blow more air than you may see on the road, all this to ensure that our results are if anything under rated.

Its easy to say "I want to see engineering data". But what are you looking for exactly? I would be happy to show you a few logs or give some basic info about what maps we have things like that. But in no way am i going to divulge the data that we have worked hard on over the last year.

The new maps should be even better! Glad you got it! Give me ring tomorrow and i will help you load the maps!

 

I tried to give you a ring a short while ago. Alta offices aren't open past 9pm? This dang time difference gets me every time.


Anyway, Thumper, I just tried what you said and it read -0.1 lbs with the ignition on but not running.

 

Alta- when we get a dyno pull and use the port to datalog the run, will you be able to use that data to tweak the tune as well as if you were there at the dyno?


note to others - I get MUCH more burble and pop (mostly pops) now. Also, install time is truly about 4 minutes total.

 

The auto tune is still in development. Yes, it currently cause a CEL when flashing the ECU on an automatic transmission MINI. The Dimsport tool causes the same CELs when flashing the ECU so it is not unique to the ALTA tune/tool. I get an increased emissions fault displayed on my NAV right after performing a flash. With the current configuration I have, the AP does not clear the codes caused by the flash. I need to use my ScanGaugeII to clear the codes. It (my ScanGaugeII) has read the codes as B2AAA and P0000. Jeff is still working on eliminating/clearing these codes. I've tested approximately 8-10 different map files in the past 4 weeks. Each map file I've received has been an improvement over the previous map file.

 

You don't need to put it on the dyno to collect a data log to improve the tune. Jeff has asked me to collect several different data logs and send them to him as he has sent me updated map files. So far, I think he has done a good job of tweaking the tune based on the data logs I've sent to him.

I get most of my burble in the 3-4k RPM range after I lift my foot from the accelerator and the MINI is slowing down.

 

Right now we are not releasing the ALTA AccessPORT to autos because of the CEL issues. The AccessPORT doesn't clear the tranny codes that pop up, and that is what is being worked on. We have released this to a few people that understand this and have a code reader that will clear them. The AccessPORT does clear normal codes, just not the tranny stuff.

If you buy our intake in a few months, i can say for 100% no tune is needed. The way the ECU works, makes it very forgiving for installing many parts, one being our intake.

Well we did have quite a bit of time running 20psi in general. With past tuning tools and this one we feel a Cooper S is perfectly happy at 20psi at lower RPM's. Don't let the fact its 20psi scare you, small engines, small pistons, means bigger boost is ok. We don't get knock, we don't run the engine 14.0 AFR like stock or other tuners, so we know its safe and works fine. Boost will vary with lower octane tunes and different stages. For instance, Stage 2 and 3 you will see about 20psi.

Also the ECU doesn't target boost, it targets load. So some variance in boost will happen, but your engines load will be where were want it. Load equals HP!

I have found variance in gauges, even expensive ones. The AccessPORT reads boost by taking MAP readings(manifold absolute pressure) then subtract Barometric pressure to give you that boost reading you see.

Because we are the only ones out there that actually provide customers with data means all we do is market. I know you are trying to be nice to us that we are good guys, but I am about data, not the marketing. That is what i can bring to the table for our company. We treat the aftermarket parts world seriously and its important to market things as well as provide data. That is how parts sell! I guess its a good thing that you say we are good at marketing! But i want you to say, ALTA is great at providing the hard facts. My goal in life is to get you to change your mind!

We did disappear (on the forums) for a long time because we had nothing new to talk about. The whole Mini world has been getting bored with all the same things for the last couple years. We came with parts, people loved them, some didn't. Other companies did the same parts, and it was the same story of love and hate relationship. We had CELs on our downpipes (because were the first to sell them), now plenty of other Vendors have CEL causing downpipes. Its just been a big cycle. Finally we have what customers want, a real ECU tuning solution.

I actually felt as though the Mini performance world was on hold purely from us. We saw the writing on the wall years ago when engine management consisted of piggy back hardware, or poorly made ECU flashing tool and crappy software. Or it was some canned tuned that you had to trust it would work on your car and parts installed, then and send in your ECU to a shop, and not be able to drive your car. These things were just not except able. We were used to actually tuning our own cars, not being limited by tools, and offering tunes to customers in a simple and efficient way. This is what drove us to make Cobb get the AccessPORT going for the MINI.

Call it marketing, call it hype, i call it smart to release this the way we did. With what happened with the Unichip and the amount of damage this cause our company, there is NO WAY were going down that road again. With 100 Unichips returned in that super short period of time, it showed us people were dying for an ECU tunig solution, and it showed us how quickly a poorly made product could ruin a company(Almost ruin ). Since we know the AccessPORT from years of using them on Subarus and Evos we knew that we would have no failures with the hardware. With our tuning knowledge and Cobb's ECU cracking know how, we knew this would be the ultimate combination and there is no way this would fail. Yes this is still new to customers, but i am 100% confident that this will change the Mini tuning world.

With us being gone from the forums for as long as we have, its been a huge gamble on our part to stay silent while developing the AccessPORT with Cobb. During this silence we have continued to bring new dyno results, new changes to parts that make them better, we have revamp parts of our website to explain parts better, and also we have a few things up our sleeve that EVERY R56 owner will be wanting. All i can say is we are back and you better be ready for some real MINI performance. We used to say its fast for a MINI, but now we are saying this is a fast MINI!

 

Man i can't keep up! Office close at 5pm, but i am never closed!

Absolutely!! That is what we do when dynoing cars. We do a couple runs collect data, change things, flash, and do it all over again. And this sounds like it can take a while, but its about 5-10 minutes between flashes while on the dyno. Most customers will not need this done though. Just plug and go!
i am excited to see how your car is running!

 

Jeff i have a european mini cooper s 2007 with a gt2560r turbo kit and all the ALTA parts do you believe that you can make a tune for this and how much whp you believe it can achieve??
Now it produces 300 bhp on a maha dyno..

 

I'll tell you soon how it is. I ordered one and will have it by this weekend. Before I install it, I'm going to a local dyno (don't care what brand, it's just for comparison sakes) and I will get a baseline from RMW's tune.

I know no one wants to turn this into a alta vs. rmw event but unfortunately, rmw is the most popular tune out there and people want to compare apples to apples.

I've been completely happy with my rmw except for the hiccup at about 3200rpm. I don't know if it's something to do with throttle transition or not but I do know that I'm tired of not being able to track down Jan long enough to meet at a dyno.

I drove from NC to KY for one tune and then to FL. for the next. There was suppose to be a tuning party an hour and a half from me and after waiting almost a year for it to happen, it did just as I was leaving on vacation.

I'm still waiting for the one in Atlanta (that wait is only about 4 months old)

I don't make enough engine mod changes that I need the ability to constantly have the car retuned but I sure would like it running completely normal when I do.

So, within a week, hopefully I'll make it to the dyno and give comparisons.

Mark

 

Thanks for the answers guys! I'll keep watching until the automatic maps are released and then I'll grab one.

 

I'm not asking for you to divulge proprietary data, I just hope we see more dyno graphs from outside parties. To me and many others, some of the best evidence is always from a third party dyno and not an in shop dyno. If you have a few logs to show to the public, then that would be interesting to see.

 

Hmm and I was just wondering why there are suddenly a bunch of flash tools showing up in the Marketplace Now I see lol

 

Since this is apparently going to happen anyway, I'll go ahead and post my comparison dyno chart between stock ECU tune, custom RMW tune, and custom ALTA tune. Stock is the bottom, RMW is the middle line, and ALTA is the top line. You will have to view the image full size to clearly see the lines.

 

I was thinking the same thing!

 

I'll be waiting on Mark (orangecrush). He is a research junkie and he seems totally willing to spend many $$$ on equipment.

 

Thanks SimpsonGI. I, too, will be awaiting Mark's results. He has always struck me as very fair and honest. I honestly believe that he too wants what's best for the MINI community in terms of a reliable, driveable, powerful tune! So....here I am waiting anxiously.

 

Ditto......

 

Same here...