Tier1Terrier

LONG STORY SHORT:

I have a 991.2 C2S with manual transmission & sport chrono. I have no other performance upgrades at this time. No headers, no sport cats, or anything else. I purchased and just finished installing the @Softronic tune this morning. In a word, PHENOMENAL. I’m going to attempt to describe below the decision process and my experience, but I will summarize by saying the end result of installing this tune is breathtaking. Everything about the car’s performance feels natural and normal as before except there's a significant increase in power and acceleration. Boost pressure goes up to 17 (on the display which I know has a factory preset limit) when previously it was around 12/13. The car doesn't feel modified in any way, but rather UNLEASHED. It's like the car now runs the way it was always meant to be. I've only driven it about 30 or so miles so I haven't had too long to play around with it but I'm super impressed with it already. According to Scott, it takes about 30 miles for the tune to break in, so my guess is that things are only going to get better. I opted for the tune in all modes (N, S, S+) and deactivated auto-shutoff/start feature. No other special requests. Feel free to ask me any questions as I'm literally fresh out of the oven with this. Had I known I can achieve this degree of improvement in a manner so easily and safely, I would have done it on DAY 1.

DO NOT READ FURTHER UNLESS YOU LIKE LONG, BORING NOVELS.

SHORT STORY LONG:

I reached out to all 4 of the most commonly referenced tuning companies (APR, COBB, FVD, Softronic) by email and phone and the one company which provided the most satisfactory responses (to me) to all my questions was Softronic. What sold me on the Softronic were several things. Among those were the many endorsements on this and other forums from members who I’ve come to trust and respect based on their contributions to the forums over the years. I really appreciated Scott’s openness and willingness to patiently chat live about his tune. We easily spent over an hour talking over two separate calls. For me, the value of his communication could not be understated as I’m quite nervous about doing any type of modification like this to my car. Five minutes on the phone with him and you realize that you are talking to someone with tremendous experience tuning Porsches. With exception to FVD, none of the other companies seemed as dedicated to Porsche as Softronic. I won’t go into Scott’s decades of experience with Porsche, his credentials and accolades which can be read about on other threads, but I quickly realized that going with Softronic was the best choice for me. The Softronic tune would be custom made for my specific vehicle by Scott. Scott wasn’t going to tune my car in a way that was not optimal for my needs, nor would he give me performance beyond what me or my car could handle. Scott was accessible to answer any and every question, and give me the all the confidence and reassurance that I needed even before making the purchase.

One thing that I really liked is that this tune installation is completely DIY with a minimal amount of instruction. There’s no need to depend on a shop or pay someone else for their time. Scott is there if you need him before, during, and after the installation, and that’s part of the purchase. I also like that when you’re done with the install, you have BOTH your original file AND the tuned file on your handheld device. This way you can flash back and forth between the tuned and original file anytime you want.

The overall process was really simple. Scott sends you a handheld device which you receive in a couple of days following payment. You upload a file from your car to the device, email it to Scott, he emails you back a new file, you upload it to the device, and from the device to your car. 25 minutes later, I was up and running and everything about my car was business as usual except for the sizable increase in HP and torque which I could begin to feel even as I drove leisurely out of my neighborhood and away to where I can give it a few good runs.

I was blown away by how natural my car felt in delivering such increased performance. Nothing about my car felt different except how hard the acceleration planted my body into the seat. The delivery of all this power was smooth and consistent across the RPM range although I didn’t feel the need to take it to the limit. Overall, I can say that my needs were exceeded with this tune. I wasn’t out to reach a particular number in terms or HP or Torque although I’m sure a dyno would reveal impressive results. What I wanted was the feeling of raw power and increased acceleration and this tune delivered big time.

If you are on the fence about which tune you should go with, as so many people have said on this forum, just pick up the phone and give Softronic a call. Scott will walk you through everything, calmly and patiently. He will answer all your questions. You don’t have to take your car to a shop and pay someone to do what he’s made incredibly easy for any novice DIYer. You will immediately realize tremendous improvements in your car’s performance and you can do it all from the comfort of your own home and at your own pace.

I originally planned on doing some before / after dyno pulls with this tune and I still intend to do that one of these days soon. If you’re a numbers junkie and you need that information for your satisfaction, I’m sure me or someone else will post them one day soon. In the meantime, if you’re just looking for some easy, fast, and (relatively) cheap power increases from your stock 991.2 (enough to make your passengers pee in their pants a little) Softronic will deliver it.

NOW, THE (NOT SO) BAD:

I ran into a couple of small hiccups in the process. I mean really small. While the instructions are nearly idiot proof, some of the things did not happen as precisely as they were written. There were a couple of minor instances where what I was expecting to appear on either the computer screen or the MyGenius device was slightly different than on the instruction sheet. For someone like me who tries to follow things precisely, this could throw you for a loop. Nonetheless, I pressed on with my gut instinct and sure enough everything played out as it should. No intervention by Scott was needed. Ok, maybe just a couple of emails to which he quickly responded 😊.

The only other issue (if you can call it that) was that I thought that using my CTEK trickle charger / battery maintainer would suffice for keeping the car on properly stabilized charge. Well, I found out I was wrong not because I encountered any issues, but because Scott told me so 😊. I tend to trust someone with his experience so I wasn’t going to argue. While I may not have had any problems even if not connected to stable power, what he explained was that the amperage of those typically used battery maintainers is not adequate in case of a problem. So I ended up buying a more robust battery charger from Amazon with same day delivery for around $90 bucks. In my mind, tuning an ECU is not something that you want to go wrong partway through and this investment was far worth it. If you’re curious which charger I went with (and Scott OK’d) was the Schumacher SC1281. I am not endorsing it as I only used it for one purpose and had no issues, but as far as I’m concerned it’s good and I see no reason for not having it now especially if I ever want to go back and forth between the original and tune files.

polobai

Good stuff-happy that you are pleased with the results! The tune is the number 1 mod for the money on these platforms!

spdracerut

Yup! Tune is the most bang for the buck mod on these turbo cars. The full trio is tune, headers, and sport cats if one can tolerate the increased volume.

VektorPerformance

Great write-up, thanks you for posting your experience.

^ this right here 100%

Speed2k

Good stuff! What setting did you leave the charger on and how many amps is needed?

Tier1Terrier

Yep, I’ve come to the realization that headers will likely be my next performance mod.

Scott suggested 30 & STD. I would have thought AGM though.

Soul Performance

Scott is awesome and I like to say that Softronic sits in that sweet spot between an OTS (off the shelf) tune and Pro Tune. I recommend them to literally every customer I speak to and even for NA cars.

I had the chance to sample a before and after recently here at the shop on a 991.2, and all I can say is driving the car with the tune had me wanting to crash through a wall like the Kool Aid man screaming Ohhhhh yeaaaaah!

Check out the 991.2 numbers here! DM me with any questions.

Dave @ Soul

Tier1Terrier

I created this video going through the installation process as well as my very initial impressions. Please don't laugh about how little I pushed the car. I've done a few more harder runs since then. I was just wanting to ease into it.

Jack F

Terrier, sounds like the car is really a gem now. I’d love to do a side by side comparison of stock vs tuned just to experience the change. The S is not a slouch in stock form. A 4GTS owner commented on you vid that he is super pleased. I can’t imagine the acceleration improvement but do want to experience it.

Jack F

Vids are needed of the harder runs or they just didn’t happen. 🤪

Tier1Terrier

I’m on it. Will get some with the camera at a better angle too. I’ve put over 200 additional miles on my car since installation and it just keeps getting better & better.

B Russ

Where in South Florida are you

CAA

First words after hitting the skinny pedal….Oh my God. Lol

Appreciate you posting this as a fellow .2 S manual owner. 👍

Soul Performance

Love the red Vans, btw! Great and honest video! It's a like a new car.

Dave @ SOUL

skell911

Thanks for the write-up and the excellent you tube video Terrier. Ive got a 997.2 tt with SOUL exhaust (cat-delete) and Softronic seems to be the way to go. You've helped me make my decision, hope to have it installed in the next couple of weeks.