By far, the most popular engine management solution for the STI is a reflash.  To understand what this means, you must understand that the actual computer program inside the ECM stores a set of tables and other information known as a “ROM” or “map” in its flash memory.  These maps will contain all the specific lookup references that allow the ECM to decide what amount of fuel, how much spark advance, and what other important functions it should be running.  A “reflash” is then simply the process of changing those tables of information to make them read the way we would like them to read.  There are two popular varieties of reflashing, Cobb Tuning’s own AccessECU program from the USA and ECUTek’s DeltaECU program from the UK.  For the most part, they are very similar and in fact, to the professional tuner, there is basically no difference in the limitations and abilities that each offers.  The real benefits and drawbacks come for the end user.

ECUTek currently offers a professionals-only tuning system which means only a pro tuner can buy the tuning software and use it to tune your car.  They have full access to all the maps in your ECM and generally a dyno-tuned reflash will run you about $850 to $1000, depending on the tuner.  If you don’t live near a tuner, you can send your ECM into one of the many ECUTek tuners in the country where they will put their reflash onto your ECM.  It is important to know that this will be a “best guess” reprogramming since they can’t actually tune your specific car.  As such, it will be likely be somewhat conservative, for the sake of not blowing up customer cars.  The cost of the ECUTek reflash is mostly in the licensing fees that ECUTek charges for each car it is performed on.  The best information I can find on this is that they are charging about $400-$500 per car for just licensing fees on the program.  The remaining $350 or so is what the tuner is actually charging for the service and for their intellectual property of the carefully crafted map.  The only real downsides to this method of tuning are downtime (unless you can get your car to a tuner) and lack of flexibility inasmuch as you can’t decide at any time that you want to run a different map.  You must rely on an ECUTek tuner to make any further changes you need done on your mapping.  If you get your car tuned, then add some other modification (an exhaust, for example), you will benefit greatly from getting it tuned again.  The good news is that you only pay the licensing cost once and future reflashes are just going to cost you the service portion, or about $350.

Cobb Tuning’s AccessECU system takes a slightly different approach to the reflash.  They actually change a little bit of the way the ECM works.  They have created not only the software and know-how required to get a new ROM/map onto the ECM, but they have also developed a nifty little device known as the AccessPort that allows the end-user to do it in the comfort of their garage or driveway.  This eliminates any need for downtime while you send in your ECU.  It also means you can put a new map onto your car whenever you feel the time is right, not when it is convenient/affordable for you to do so.  Furthermore, Instead of having just one map on your ECM that is used all the time, Access gives you the ability to have your main map (aka Base Map) and then also several more maps that could contain special sets of parameters to achieve a specific goal (aka Realtime Map).  The advantage of this is that you can create a valet map with no boost and a low rev limit for when you have to hand the keys over to somebody, or you can have an aggressive map for when you want to run race gas at the track.  These maps reside in the AccessPort and can be switched into action in a matter of seconds, with the press of a couple buttons.  Cobb has introduced a number of these pre-made maps already.  They have a very wide range of maps to suit the large majority of potential Access customers.  Because AccessPort allows the end-user to perform all the flashing duties himself, this means the AP can become a person’s first modification, and it won’t cost him more money (for an additional reflash) later when he adds more modifications later.  As mentioned above, the AP has many maps available, including one that works with the car in stock form with no other modifications.  This allows you to get a nice bump in power and drivability for a minimal investment and then move up to the next “stage” later when you have a free flowing exhaust.  Speaking of minimal investments, the AccessPort sells for $645.  This includes the AccessPort hardware, the software that allows the end-user to get maps off the internet and transfer them to the AP, support from Cobb, and full access to any and all AccessPort maps that have been made available for that year-model STi.  Another advantage of the AccessPort is that, should you decide to revert to stock (by removing the Cobb map from your ECM and replacing it with a stock map), you can then recoup most of your initial investment by reselling the AP.  Trying to resell an ECUTek reflash is very difficult, as I have discovered in my own personal experience.  You have to find somebody who is not only interested in buying it, but is willing to trade you his un-reflashed stock ECM and accept the downtime associated with this process.  To keep pounding home the advantages of AccessPort, it also functions as a live digital boost gauge so you can check to make sure the turbo is doing what it is supposed to with your chosen map.  Furthermore, it also maintains full OBD2 functionality (like ECUTek) but lets you read any and all trouble codes via the digital display on the AccessPort.