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      03-05-2018, 09:57 PM   #1
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Hey guys!

I just wanted to start a thread on the AA flash tune. I know we at an exciting time where companies are releasing flash tunes that remap factory DME tables. Before the piggyback tune was really the only option. From my experience with the JB4, arguably the best and most popular piggyback tune, I was impressed. You definitely felt the power increase and the Bluetooth app was awesome. The ability to switch maps, monitor a whole slew of things and make changes on the fly was great. But it did lack somethings that I was personally missing when compared to other N55s. It seemed mine was a lot more tame. Now this is a very specific case that no one I've met has experienced. This is what made me start questioning the products I had on my car.

As I got to FBO I was just not happy with my performance and sound. I was hoping for a lot more, I think as gear heads we always are. Lol

After starting a thread about why my car was so quite and realizing that this was an issue very specific to me. Tons of people chimed in telling me how good their cars sounded, with less mods. Which I appreciated so much, thank you to everyone giving me good feedback!

This made me frustrated so I decided to head over to the east coast to visit AA. I originally went to get my exhaust custom fit to my car because it rides slightly lower than most, lol. So my tips were not lined up correctly. Talked to Rob and set everything up. I got there right when they opened and had a long talk with Andrew, who is extremely knowledgeable on the N55. He agreed something was off and it was super quiet. We went back and forth eliminated things it couldn't be. Long story short we decided to fix the exhaust which included a midpipe resonator delete and the AA flash tune. I also added the FMIC because it was the last mod to complete my FBO. Big shout out to Mike@x-ph.com for always getting me what I need.

The guys at AA worked on my car all day. Open till after close to make sure everything was right. This shop is immaculate. Super professional and the products are quality. I don't care what anyone says. Yes I know they are expensive but I've learned you get what you pay for and if I went with them from the beginning I would have saved money in the long run. More importantly I would have saved headaches!

I fully recommend AA for all your modification needs. I do not work for them and I am not sponsored by them, however I wish I was!

I am just a regular car enthusiast that appreciates good products. I'm super anal about my car and am often disappointed with work done but that was NOT my experience at AA.

The tune is smooth AF. Definitely better than the JB4 with my driving style and car. First off it feels faster. Second it sounds soooo much better. It's so fun to drive! Thirdly it's smoother all around. The car pulls so hard at higher RPMs. The JB4 may have a little more power on the low end but then kind of dies off. The AA tune pulls smooth throughout all the RPMs and doesn't die off on the higher end. It's a full hard pull all the way through the gear. Almost more power at the higher RPMs like I stated before. Which is so much fun! Obviously everyone has their own opinion of "quick" or "fast" but my car is a completely different animal after I switched to AA.

Again thanks to Rob and Andrew!

Guys contact them for any questions on products you are interested in. It's worth exploring at the very least.

Please also feel free to ask me any questions. I will be posting more videos once I get the chance. Below are a before and after video. FYI not the best videos.





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      03-06-2018, 01:44 AM   #2
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Wow your car is all set. Thanks for the post. I have been to the AA shop in Miami and it is quite an enormous state of the art setup. Back in 2006 Karl even gave me a personal tour. Very impressed especially the display room of all the stuff they personally engineer. When I was there they had just developed an integrated manifold supercharger for the E36M3 a piece of art. Karl is and has good people.


Great write up.Guess I will add a jb4 for monitoring and logging. Will be following you to hear how you like the tune as time goes.
Guess all that is left for you is a turbo upgrade if you chose. Right now the car must be a BEAST. Did you dyno your car with the tune? That is the thing I would love to see a before and after of your car if you have done that.
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      03-06-2018, 02:44 AM   #3
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Is the tune the same as the active autowerks flash tune you can buy at
x-ph.com?
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      03-06-2018, 03:54 AM   #4
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alex_j_5 View Post
Is the tune the same as the active autowerks flash tune you can buy at
x-ph.com?
Yes same tune got mines through Mike
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      03-06-2018, 10:34 AM   #5
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Quote:
Originally Posted by alex_j_5 View Post
Is the tune the same as the active autowerks flash tune you can buy at
x-ph.com?
Yeah Mike works with AA a lot.
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      03-06-2018, 10:35 AM   #6
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceedawg View Post
Wow your car is all set. Thanks for the post. I have been to the AA shop in Miami and it is quite an enormous state of the art setup. Back in 2006 Karl even gave me a personal tour. Very impressed especially the display room of all the stuff they personally engineer. When I was there they had just developed an integrated manifold supercharger for the E36M3 a piece of art. Karl is and has good people.


Great write up.Guess I will add a jb4 for monitoring and logging. Will be following you to hear how you like the tune as time goes.
Guess all that is left for you is a turbo upgrade if you chose. Right now the car must be a BEAST. Did you dyno your car with the tune? That is the thing I would love to see a before and after of your car if you have done that.
Thanks buddy. Yeah I'm loving my car! I never got the chance to dyno before but I will now. Hopefully this month sometime. I'll keep ya posted.
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      03-06-2018, 06:10 PM   #7
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TMac335i View Post
Thanks buddy. Yeah I'm loving my car! I never got the chance to dyno before but I will now. Hopefully this month sometime. I'll keep ya posted.
Yeah get that dyno would love to see what the gains are fbo. Im stock but going with the tune. Next mod will be FMIC only no CAI or DP,not interested. After FMIC Pure stg 2 or speedtech
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      03-06-2018, 06:26 PM   #8
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceedawg View Post
Yeah get that dyno would love to see what the gains are fbo. Im stock but going with the tune. Next mod will be FMIC only no CAI or DP,not interested. After FMIC Pure stg 2 or speedtech
Be sure to mention your FMIC to AA when you send them your downloaded file. Nic tweaked my tune for my mods, calling it a Stage 1+.
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      03-06-2018, 06:27 PM   #9
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceedawg View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMac335i View Post
Thanks buddy. Yeah I'm loving my car! I never got the chance to dyno before but I will now. Hopefully this month sometime. I'll keep ya posted.
Yeah get that dyno would love to see what the gains are fbo. Im stock but going with the tune. Next mod will be FMIC only no CAI or DP,not interested. After FMIC Pure stg 2 or speedtech
Not even plugging but go with AA for all that. You won't regret it. They developed this tune for years and it dumps 80hp and 80tq no lie. Smooth pulls man.

I wish I just went with them from the beginning.
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      03-06-2018, 07:13 PM   #10
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Nice write up OP

Thank you for giving me the opportunity to take a part in your build

+1 for Active Autowerke team
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      03-06-2018, 09:46 PM   #11
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Quote:
Originally Posted by GPM View Post
Be sure to mention your FMIC to AA when you send them your downloaded file. Nic tweaked my tune for my mods, calling it a Stage 1+.
I don’t have the FMIC yet but perhaps I should tell them to tune it like I have one now so I can just add it in a month or two.
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      03-06-2018, 09:49 PM   #12
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TMac335i View Post
Not even plugging but go with AA for all that. You won't regret it. They developed this tune for years and it dumps 80hp and 80tq no lie. Smooth pulls man.

I wish I just went with them from the beginning.
The nice thing about it is that I do not have to take the car to get a custom tune once the flash is installed. They do all that for Me!
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      03-06-2018, 10:09 PM   #13
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceedawg View Post
I don’t have the FMIC yet but perhaps I should tell them to tune it like I have one now so I can just add it in a month or two.
When I got my map sent to me, I inquired the same thing, if I'm planning on adding an upgraded FMIC in the near future, will I need a new map? Karl from AA's response:

FMIC is not a problem with the tune.

I'm assuming he means, with the tune as it is, upgrading the FMIC won't change the parameters of the map. Possibly because FMIC really is intended to lower IATs, and not necessarily increase air volume all that much? I'm just guessing, but although lower air temps increase the air density, the difference in air volume movement isn't as dramatic as it is with upgrading the DP?

With everything I've read about tunes (both piggyback and flash), the biggest difference seems to be whether you're running a stock DP or a c-less/hi flow one.
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      03-07-2018, 02:26 AM   #14
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Originally Posted by jh_f30 View Post
When I got my map sent to me, I inquired the same thing, if I'm planning on adding an upgraded FMIC in the near future, will I need a new map? Karl from AA's response:

FMIC is not a problem with the tune.

I'm assuming he means, with the tune as it is, upgrading the FMIC won't change the parameters of the map. Possibly because FMIC really is intended to lower IATs, and not necessarily increase air volume all that much? I'm just guessing, but although lower air temps increase the air density, the difference in air volume movement isn't as dramatic as it is with upgrading the DP?

With everything I've read about tunes (both piggyback and flash), the biggest difference seems to be whether you're running a stock DP or a c-less/hi flow one.
Makes total sense and great to know. Guess when I get the cable and have to call I should be all set for stage one till I get the turbo then.
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      03-08-2018, 04:49 AM   #15
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TMac335i View Post
Not even plugging but go with AA for all that. You won't regret it. They developed this tune for years and it dumps 80hp and 80tq no lie. Smooth pulls man.

I wish I just went with them from the beginning.
Is the jb4 still hooked up as well with your tune?
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      03-08-2018, 05:37 AM   #16
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceedawg View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMac335i View Post
Not even plugging but go with AA for all that. You won't regret it. They developed this tune for years and it dumps 80hp and 80tq no lie. Smooth pulls man.

I wish I just went with them from the beginning.
Is the jb4 still hooked up as well with your tune?
No, I wanted to sell it to off set some of my costs.
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      03-08-2018, 03:05 PM   #17
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No, I wanted to sell it to off set some of my costs.
Okay! If AA gets into the logging without a cable and stuff like that the market better watch out!
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      03-08-2018, 09:12 PM   #18
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Quote:
Originally Posted by ceedawg View Post
Quote:
Originally Posted by TMac335i View Post
No, I wanted to sell it to off set some of my costs.
Okay! If AA gets into the logging without a cable and stuff like that the market better watch out!
I get how logging is helpful but for me I don't really need it. AA is so smooth I just drive. I don't care about my stats because I know all the products on my car are quality and everything is working well together. Its not like I have an M3. The car can only be so fast with a stock turbo. I am also finding out it's more suspension and tires that make the biggest difference on running good times. That's just me though....
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      03-18-2018, 10:29 AM   #19
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Has anyone gotten around to getting some performance figures from this tune? My butt dyno says it's quick, but I'd be interested to see what numbers people are pulling. HP, torque, 0-60, 1/4 mi ET, etc.
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      03-18-2018, 09:38 PM   #20
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Quote:
Originally Posted by TMac335i View Post
I get how logging is helpful but for me I don't really need it. AA is so smooth I just drive. I don't care about my stats because I know all the products on my car are quality and everything is working well together. Its not like I have an M3. The car can only be so fast with a stock turbo. I am also finding out it's more suspension and tires that make the biggest difference on running good times. That's just me though....
I still just like to see and know what the car is doing while driving so that if anything weird goes on I can shut her down, tell AA what’s going on and they would be able to help. You never know! May save your engine!
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      03-19-2018, 07:12 AM   #21
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Nice write up bro, plenty of useful information.
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      03-20-2018, 12:30 PM   #22
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As I mentioned on the other big thread, but wanted to make sure folks saw it: AA has the ability in the tune to change your sport gauges to higher values either 400/400 (MPPK numbers) or even the 480/480 (from the M4).

So while yes, who knows how even good those gauges are for accuracy, its cool to be able to increase their ceiling. You can request that addition in your tune build.
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