Malone tune - using Malone dealer vs. OBDII programmer

[OmniGLH]

Hi all,

So I found out there is a Malone Tuning dealer about 10 minutes from my house. I traded a few emails with them, inquiring about tuning a post-dieselgate Cayenne.

They sounded great, nice, convincing - but they said they needed my car for 2 days to do the tune?!

It's my daily driver, I can't really go without it for 2 entire days. So I guess if I opt for a Malone tune, I have to go with the OBD-II version.

Any disadvantage, tune-wise, to the OBD-II solution vs. having the local Malone dealer do it?

 

[Owain@malonetuning]

It's the same tune either way and can be done through the diagnostic port.

 

[Lightflyer1]

As far as the tune goes I would choose the diagnostic port doing it myself over having it done. Pretty simple to do from my experience and you can update or revert as you wish, whenever you want. No relying on someone else to get it done. Costs a little more but worth it to me. That is the way I have done it for several cars now. My first tune was done by Rocketchip but getting it updated or anything was a pain, as he wasn't around much.

 

[w123houston]

i'm thinking a dealer would charge you shop time or labor for bringing your vehicle to their shop. the flashzilla would pay for itself after a few uses.

 

[OmniGLH]

Cool.

I originally just figured I could make an appointment, roll in, hang out for 45 minutes while they flash it... and be on my way. That's how it's been for past VW and Audi's I've had flashed (admittedly all gassers... APR, Revo, etc.) Added bonus of supporting a local business. It was more about convenience than cost.

Leaving my Daily with them for 2 days just isn't gonna work though.

 

[Lightflyer1]

If they aren't busy and you can do that every time, that would work well. But with the tool you can do it whenever you want and it takes only the time to do it. No waiting ever. All just depends on your wallet and what you want to be able to do.

 

[OmniGLH]

Another question - hopefully somebody can answer.

The optional "Remove DPF, Adblue, EGR, and/or Intake Swirl Flap" - do those parts actually have to be **removed** or can it just be disabled via the software?

I'd imagine you could just NOT spray the AdBlue, and just keep the EGR valve shut... right?

 

[Lightflyer1]

You need to remove that stuff. There may be some you could just disable, but others have to be removed, such as the dpf. If you left it with no regens happening it would just clog in a short time and there would be problems. This kind of thing may or may not be true for the other items.

 

[740GLE]

Cool.
I originally just figured I could make an appointment, roll in, hang out for 45 minutes while they flash it... and be on my way. That's how it's been for past VW and Audi's I've had flashed (admittedly all gassers... APR, Revo, etc.) Added bonus of supporting a local business. It was more about convenience than cost.
Leaving my Daily with them for 2 days just isn't gonna work though.

Yeah they may have been cautious with timing as i believe emails need to be exchanged with stock files. It's probably better to under promise than under deliver.

If you're talking about disabling other systems it may take some added time as well.

 

[OmniGLH]

Yeah they may have been cautious with timing as i believe emails need to be exchanged with stock files. It's probably better to under promise than under deliver.
If you're talking about disabling other systems it may take some added time as well.

I didn't mention anything about deletes to the local dealer. That thought just came to me a few minutes ago as I was perusing the Malone website.

 

[joep1234]

Check with your dealer to see if he can read it so you can drive it. He will have to send the OEM tune to the software writer to get the tune you want for the car. Then return the next day to have the new tune uploaded. That would be the way you could keep your car during the wait time for the tune to be emailed back.

 

[Jetta_Pilot]

You need a Flashzilla tool to download your current OEM tune via the OBD II port and send it off to Malone. Time approximately 15 minutes to download. Then Malone will doctor it up and send it back to you, sometimes within 1-2 hours. Then you install the new tune using the Flashzilla tool. Total time elapsed can be under 4 hours.


You can rent the Flashzilla tool for this one time use or buy your own.


I bought it and I was glad I did because when I had the Phase 2 done they also made changes to the ECU. I downloaded that file and Malone then changed it so I could use the Stage 2 again.


You have to realize a shop will charge you a hefty shop charge since they have to buy a Flashzilla tool to work on unlimited number of cars and that costs about $ 1,000.00 plus.
The owners version for $ 200.00 buck can only be used for ONE car.

 

[Owain@malonetuning]

above would apply on 2006 and older cars, no rentals on commonrails. Distributors have kessv2 units typically, which are a bit over 2 grand.