One thing that AccessPort offers that no other aftermarket engine management solution currently offers for the STI is end-user access to the stock ECM’s mapping parameters in the form of the $445 upgrade known as StreetTuner.  This little software package upgrades your AccessPort from merely a reflashing tool to a full blown user-tunable engine management system.  This gives you the ability to use pre-made maps or roll up the sleeves and tune it yourself with the ability to access the large majority of available ECM tables.  This is of most interest to those who have the time and patience to learn what is needed and have the tools required to do the job right.

StreetTuner also brings with it a host of important features that allow the end user to be very productive with their tuning efforts.  Namely, it makes Live Tuning possible.  Live Tuning is the ability to actually tune the ECM’s mapping data while the engine is running by simply hooking your StreetTuner enabled laptop to your STi’s OBD2 port.  You will notice some other things once you plug in with StreetTuner and commence live tuning.  Namely, the once empty “Knock Learning” table will be populated with data from the ECM that shows where it has detected knock and is now remembering to pull the mapped correction value from the overall ignition advance to prevent knock at that load/rpm in the future.  Additionally, you will notice some new items have appeared in the menu bar at the top of the software interface.  There are now options for enabling data logging and for selecting each parameter you want to log, as well as a nifty feature called “Live Trace” which makes your cursor follow the displayed map in the software along with what the car is actually doing.  This helps you make your adjustments quickly, saving the need for scrolling around on the screen to get to the desired load site.  Combine live tuning with full data logging capabilities, and StreetTuner starts to look like a real bargain upgrade for AccessPort.