Porsche 996 Turbo

The 996 Turbo is one of the most popular enthusiast and tuner vehicles of its time. With the ability to reach double its stock horsepower and over 200mph on the stock engine, speed junkies are all over the 996 Turbo. VRTuned is one of the original engine tuners of this beast. The K16 turbos offer alot more in gains then any other vehicle. It is the best horsepower per dollar to flash your 996 Turbo. The car comes factory making only .6 – .7bar of boost. Once flashed, the car will make a consistant 1.0bar of boost gaining you about 80HP and 90ft/lbs of torque.

Stock Power – 415HP and 413ft/lbs
Tuned Power – 495HP and 503ft/lbs

VRTuned flashes all the Porsche 996 cars through the OBDII port. With their Flasher Client software, they are reading a full 1mb of the file to completely tune the ECU. Other companies claim to be able to do this, but are only read 128kb and making global changes. The ECU flash will alter your boost, fuel, and timing maps to give you a very linear increase over stock. VRTuned tunes using the factory knock and oxygen sensors to ensure you get the best map the first time. Basic bolt on modifications like Diverter Valves, Exhaust, and Intake do not require the re-reflash of the ECU, they only bring out further performance of the vehicle. For those worried about check engine lights, there are none! For those running a high flow cat exhaust systems or straight pipes, VRTuned raises the O2 levels which will eliminate any CEL’s. Once the car is flashed, the turbos will come on much quicker and the car will pull harder to redline. The overall improvement of drivability makes the 996 Turbo even more fun then it was originally. Since warranty is always a concern, VRTuned also provides you with your original file. With this original file you can flash your car back to stock at any point. If you go to the dealer, there will be nothing visible through the Porsche PIWIS system. VRTuned can program your vehicle no matter what country you are from or what octane you use. We have different maps for those running 91 octane or 93 octane and higher.

As you can see by our test car’s dyno sheet, with the addition of Diverter Valves and a K&N flat panel filter, the car had a tremendous gain in horsepower and torque to the wheels with the basic VRTuned ECU flash. For those adding an exhaust system, expect to gain an additional 15-25 horsepower.

What are the benefits/functions of going with VRTuned compared to the competition?
  • VRTuned does not require the removal of your ECU from the car. There is no down time at all.
  • Your car can be flashed at your convenience from the comfort of your own garage.
  • VRTuned reflashing is done via a Client Cable that is connected to the OBDII port. The customer simply plugs the cable into the car and reads the file with a laptop per the instructions with the cable. Once the file is downloaded, it is emailed to the VRTuned secure server where the file is tuned and then emailed back to the client. The client simply uploads the file and they are done. Total process is about 1 hour.
  • Reflashing is done according to the vehicles octane level of pump gas and modifications are taken into account (Intake, Headers, Exhaust) to enhance power gains.

If you have any questions about the Porsche 996 Turbo ECU Flash, please contact us using our Support Page.

About The Author

Dan Mermelstein - Co-Owner, Blogger, Porsche Enthusiast, VRTuned Marketing and Technical Support. Available to make your car faster!

10 Responses

  1. Matt

    I used the VRTuned software to tune my 996 X-50 turbo and the results were great. My car now accelerates harder than before and can sustain 1.0 – 1.1 Bar boost on a consistant and reliable basis. The install was easy and the VRTuned technician was easy to work with.

  2. Daniel

    I have had the VRTuned software for about 18 months now with no problems. The difference in power is very noticeable. It is the easiest software to install and takes less that 5 minutes. I recommend it to all 996TT owners.

  3. Wayne

    I’ve had the VRTuned flash for a little over a year and it made quite a difference in my 60-130 time. With no other mods, it dropped my time from 11.95 to 9.6 seconds. I went to the 1/4 mile drag strip for the first time recently and was very happy with a time of 11.677 sec at 119.3 mph. The only other mod I have – related to straight line acceleration – is a Europipe exhaust. Thanks to Dan at Vivid and Scott at VRTuned for the most bang for the buck I can imagine.

  4. Mark Kile

    Just installed the VRTuned tune for a stock Porsche 996tt. The only word to describes the installation is EASY ! Total time required including waiting for the email response was 2 hours.

    The performance increase is amazing! Drivability is greatly improved and the car pulls like a freight train even at 135 in 4th gear.

    A bargain at twice the price.

  5. Dr.Steve Bhambra

    I just got the stage one set up ,for my 996 tt cabriolet, installing it was breeze. The difference in acceleration with the stage 1 is night and day vs stock.
    To put it in to perspective , it feels as different as a turbo 996 and non turbo 996. After driving it with VRTuneds tune ,the car is a monster,love it!!!! Would highly recommend it to anybody who wants a serious change in the acceleration of the car. Dan over at vivid was amazing and easy to talk to ,thanks again guys !!!!!!

  6. Greg Baumann

    Dan from Vivid Racing helped me flash my 996TT while I was at the Texas Mile. Unfortunately I do not have any great numbers while at “The Mile” to gush over…. Yet… I can tell you that on the first day of the event I made several passes all of which were pretty consistently around 165MPH. We flashed the car on Saturday and right afterwards I let a friend make a pass , his pass was at 167MPH however he had never driven the car before or even a Porsche for that matter. On Sunday I got to make one pass which again was at 165MPH however what transpired on that pass was just sad. Everything was going great until I shifted from 5th to 6th no wait I shifted to 4th instead, then back to 5th and finally to 6th – I am not proud of it just trying to be fair. So I matched my previous runs even with a pretty serious driver error. The car seems to deliver power much earlier in the RPM range than it did stock which makes drivability much better. I have also noticed an increase in Fuel economy – Pre Flash I was averaging about 16.5MPG Post flash I am averaging 22MPG that alone will pay for the flash over the life of the car. I plan to Dyno the car and then change out the stock exhaust to Cats and Straight pipes. I also have plans to lower the car 1inch, with the goal of 175MPH at the next “Mile” in march. Am I addicted to this type of event — you bet your ass I am .

  7. Keith

    Ok, I have a 2002 996TT with about 15,000 miles that I keep clean and it is not my every day driver due to the location that I work. I have had the car for three year ago and put a few goodies on it. Europipe 2 Loud, Forge Diverter Valves. I ordered the VRTuned ECU Flash from Dan yesterday. Dan at Vivid was easy to talk with and made sure everything was covered.

    The cable came today and I ran the software to send my original data to VRTuned. One thing about the software it does not prompt you to send your name, email address, year, model, transmission type, fuel octane value, and it only asks for the upgrade. It is spelled out on the website instructions. Within an hour my updated flash file and my original file were sent to me. I thought that at 5:30pm on the west coast that I would get the file the next day.

    I printed the check list and hooked up my battery charger. Place the laptop on a blanket on the top of the car with the charger connected to the laptop. I started down the check list. I disabled the virus protection and made sure it didn’t restart on its own. Stopped my windows auto update and ran the downloaded software.

    All it takes is un-zipping the folder that was sent, double clicking the file in the new folder and the software started and took over.

    I always felt that this 996TT had a lazy throttle compared to the previous normally aspirated Porsche’s. The car was not very peppy at low end and I thought that that was due to the weight etc.

    When I first started the car I could tell that with just a blip of the throttle that something was different. The throttle felt more like a normally aspirated cars that I have owned in the past.

    I decided to take it for a drive. Oh-My-God! The boost gage reads out higher numbers at lower rpm. It feels like the old Starwars Movie when the Millennium Falcon goes from the speed of sound to the speed of light. I made several lower speed runs to 110 mph and didn’t want to over do it… Just before I turned onto my residential street I turned the corner and dropped to 1st gear at about 10 mph. WOW! It now feels like the car lost a 1000 pounds. It see 1.0 bar sooner and at a lower level than ever before.

    I considered a half dozen other software vendors and this had more future options, more HP than most, and was half the price of most. And a discount to boot!

  8. Brett

    On Friday 11/20/09 Dan installed VRTuned software to my 2001 996TT thats was bone stock with only 12,500 miles on it and stock exhaust. The file was tuned for 91 octane. In addition to the ECU Flash, I also got the Agency Power diverter valves, silicone F-Hose, and K&N flat panel filter. The software Dan installed and only took him 30 min for the download. Then they set me lose for test drive and my first impression was WOW so much more responsive in every gear it put a BIG smile on my face by the time i got back to the shop. I’ve owned a few high horsepower cars and the Stage 1 Kit is the best value for a 996TT 80 hp in a couple hours work thats AWESOME! The boost easily gets to 1bar and on Saturday I got to 1.3 bar of boost in which Dan said is fine must of been a spike in the boost and the cool weather were having here in Phoenix. Vivid Racing has great customer service I sent an email at midnight Sunday bye 9am Monday I had a response from Dan. It’s been a pleasure doing business and look forward with working with Vivid Racing in the future as Exhaust is next purchase.

  9. Nick

    I just put the stage 2 kit on our 2001 996TT. I cannot believe the power of the car. Initially we put the headers exhaust and f-pipe/diverter valves on. The items themselves added a lot to the car. I cannot say enough good things about the Agency Power components. Then we flashed the ECU with the VRTuneds ECU. WoW!!! The car pulls much harder than I ever expected. 60-130 time cut in almost half. It is unbelievably easy to do the flash. took about 10 minutes to upload and less than 3 hours for the tuned file to be emailed back to me. Talk about service. 15 mins to flash the ECU. Very pleased customer to say the least . I highly recommend this.

  10. Rod Conde

    I installed the tuned Softtronic file this evening on my 996 turbo. Wow…..with a big smile on my face…..That was amazing. It only took about 3 minutes to upload and it was done. Then I took it out for some 0-60 and 60-120 runs. It feels like a beast even at 135, it keeps pulling hard! Thanks for all the feedback and suggestions. I may feel content with this for now, but I may want more power down the road. I now know who to go to from now on.

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