Well, I'd love to, but good luck to me around here. I'd need to go to Houston or Atlanta, and buy a dummy ECU to swap out during dealer visits. What did your pro tune cost? And what software did they use? I understand that Cobb makes very good software this is used by many pro shops to tune G37s (and others)...

 

Okay so visited NLM - it appears they can, among other software/hardware combos, pro tune the Cobb Accessport on a dyno for $400.00. That's like an 1100.00 tune. 7 for the cobb and 400 for the service. Who's ballin like that? Not me, mr riskers...what kind of tune did you get? Which software and / or hardware combo was used?

 

I paid 550 for the cobb and special price for tune.for the tune.the good thing aboit the cobb is if you have any issues for warranty work.you can uninstall the map (it marked on the cobb as a reflash)then after you pick it up you just reinstall.I had mine tuned with the regular stock cobb map and adjust the af ratio.car is way better and the tune would be worth are 2x that.my mods are stillen stage 3 fi cat back and hfc with cobb.before tune 310whp (after tune 325whp)and the throttle lag is gone,just for that alone its worth it.

 

I did the Cobb because they were offering the AccessPort and the tune for $700. Overall, I am not completely impressed at this point, but I would like to see what they do with it. The nice thing about it is I know I can turn around and sell it for around $500, so in terms of mods it will hold its value better than most. I still think it is a decent deal given what is available; especially if you can get a good deal on a custom tune. As I have stated, I may also try out the UpRev if it is able to surpass what the Cobb can do (they are pretty close right now, and apples to apples the Cobb is cheaper--both are fairly local to me).

As far as the VVEL not affecting throttle, that is not accurate according to some experts out there. I know it sounds crazy, but here is a really good article by Mike Kojima (who I trust more than most when it comes to things like this). I would read up on his site if you want to learn more about our engines and VVEL (this site stinks for technical info.).

Link to good article on VVEL: Nissan?s 370Z VQ37VHR Cylinder Head and VVEL Continually Variable Cam Timing Technology, Technological Terror or Performance Breakthrough? > 370z.com > 370z.com - Magazine

Link to good VQ37VHR article: Nissan 370Z Review; Engine (VQ37VHR) > 370z.com > 370z.com - Magazine

 

I know this is a little of topic, but since there are some knowledgeable people here, I will ask. I have a custom tune with my accessport, but I changed my exhaust setup. Can I still run my custom tune? I switched back to the stock map, and noticed the car has lost some power and is not responsive and does not pull as it did with the custom map. I had it tuned with my greddy and y-pipe. I added HFCs and HKS. Is it cool to keep the map?

 

What a fantastic article! That really answered a lot of my VVEL questions. Also, how disappointing, and a little unnerving! The entire valve train is considered disposable by Nissan due to its complexity!?? Wow. And this statement:So that's means, to me, that I really should be asking for the ester oil in every change, if don't want the entire 'disposable' head assemply replaced every 50k miles. I had my car in for its first (free) oil change last week, and they gave me Mobile 1 synth on request, and I asked about the ester oil, and they smirked and said it's not nescassary. hmmm.

And that fact that the throttle bodies stay at 100% at all times, and all power is controlled by the valves by using a piggyback ecu on a LAN is crazy frustrating top read. And then:
So this is what we are waiting on - it's a combo package - carefully adjusting mechanics + decoding a whole new code architecture. Whew! Forget about putting it back to stock when returning to the dealer. I wonder what kinds of gains we'll see?

 

That is kinda wierd? when i got mine tuned i had stage 2+ running.it made less power than stock map. so we tunned using the stock map.

the other maps just dump more fuel, 15 more fuel & less power,they dont do anything to increase performance.

you may just have to let the ecu releran to your new mods.

drive it like you stole it for at least 50-500 miles.

hfc's will lose some on the bottom end, but give more of a gain up top.

I would unload the custom map & reload the stock map & let ecu relearn.

if that doesnt work, go back to where you got your tune done & see if it can be redone.

im telling you stock map is way more gains, (i gained 15 whp)if the place you got your car done at should take care of it without charging you an arm and a leg.

 

When you are running the pre-loaded maps, his is true. However, I went to a tuner and they made me a custom map, basically adjusting the stock style map. They leaned out the A/F and advanced the timing. Just wondering if it would make a difference to run my custom map with an adjusted exhaust. The only realy big change is the HFCs, other than that I just switched to HKS.

 

I think you covered the basics, and I think the point is there is still a ways to go on figuring out the VVEL. Someone will crack the code, but any mechanical adjustments will require some precision and most likely fixtures to properly make any changes. It really is a different type of technology in variable valve train that has not been used. I'm not saying it is rocket science, but it is new....

The jury is still out on the Ester oil, but there is a lot of information on that site about it (there is an entire article on it too). It really is a different type of oil. The real advantage of the Ester oil is not the Ester additives (a lot of oils have this), but the "nano-particles" that reduce friction and better lubricate the VVEL rocker assembly (the issue there is that it does not spin all the way around like most variable valve systems, so it does not get the lubrication/protection that is needed--this is where the "ticking" sound comes from that has been reported without the Ester oil). The nano-particles are the low hydrogen DLC (diamond like coating) that you refer to above. Think of these as nano sized ball bearing in the oil to reduce friction. I am using it for now, but my hope is we start to see some better and less expensive synthetics with both Ester additives and the nano technology. Nissan has patented the nano technology, so it will be interesting to see what happens.

 

that is what my tuner did. he used the stock map from cobb & he adjusted the a/f ratio.

if you added hfc's its going to throw off the tune you just got because the stock cat opening is 1.875 not sure what hfc you have (i have FI) that opening is 2 1/2 inches. it lets alot more exhaust out & now you also have HKS. the car is running totally different now since you changed the cats.

re do the tune, you will get some nice gains (totally worth a few extra $$)

 

I will redo the tune, but I am waiting till I get headers.

 

Why not run a stage 2 map until you can get a custom tune? It is made for HFC, exhaust with stock intakes (use stage 2+ if you have an aftermarket intake). I think that will be your best bet for now. I would not use the stock map or your custom tuned map if you have added HFC and a full exhaust. I guess the stock map would be the better of the two (that is not leaned out as much as the custom tune, but stage 2 or 2+ would be better than either at this point).

The other thing is you can monitor your A/F with the AccessPort. A good A/F at WOT and above 2000-3000 RPM's is in the 12.5 range. There is no timing adjustment with the AccessPort on our cars, so I would not worry about timing. If your tuner thought they adjusted it, which is possible, it did not take affect or make any difference.

 

I would pass on headers, and save yourself the money for now. Unless someone comes out with something much better than the Stillen, you are doing more harm than good, and wasting a lot of time and money in the process. Our stock headers are pretty decent. I won't rehash my argument for this, but here is the thread where I talk about this.

https://www.myg37.com/forums/2741524-post27.html

 

I had a catback setup before aftermarket y-pipe with the Greddy. Once I got the HFCs the car was pulling really well. It felt like I had another 20hp on tap. But I wasn't sure how the setup would affect the engine over long term operation, so I switched back to the stock style map. It just doesn't feel like it did with the custom tune. I would like to run the tune until I get another one, but just don't want to cause any damage. I tuner also adjusted the throttle opening to max setting, and I guess that is where I felt the response. I did not want to get a tune right away, one reason was the headers (questionable) and the other reason, was that I wanted to wait and see if they will come out with CAM adjustments.

 

Cobb doesn't even have a map for the 7AT yet