Mopar releases Viper PCM Code to Arrow and Arrington

[I Bin Therbefor]

This is old news, however it appears that some folks haven't caught up with it.

In the Jan/Feb issue of Viper Magazine, the SEMA show was covered. In the SEMA Show article, Page 13, Mr. Pietro Gorlier (CEO Mopar) is reported to have said that Mopar has released the PCM programming code to Arrow and Arrington and that these two companies will be offering reprogramming services.

 

[Boxer12]

Good find! No more 996TT envy!

 

[chorps]

Did the article state specifically that the Viper/Venom was part of the deal? All I read was this:

At the 2012 Specialty Equipment Market Association (SEMA) trade show in Las Vegas, Mopar made a batch of new product announcements.
“At Mopar, we’re empowering our customers to put even more power, capability and customization into their vehicles,” said Pietro Gorlier, President and CEO of Mopar, Chrysler Group LLC’s service, parts and customer-care brand. “We’ll continue to give our enthusiasts optimal performance and appearance packages on the street, at the track and on the trail.”
Engine performance calibration
For Chrysler, Jeep, Dodge, Ram, FIAT and SRT customers who want to further enhance the performance of their vehicles, Mopar has reviewed the facilities and capabilities of Arrow Racing Engines and Arrington Engines for performance calibrations. Both companies have the appropriate tooling and software to create performance calibrations for select 2011, 2012 and 2013 model-year Chrysler Group vehicles. Arrow Racing Engines is based in Auburn Hills, Mich. and Arrington Engines is based in Martinsville, Va. Additional companies will be announced at a later date.

It might mean only the Hemi based SRT products for all I can tell from this release.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

This is for the 6.4L and 5.7L cars in the lineup. They have been offering supercharged application tunes, but are pretty limited to parameters. On the other hand we have been working with ProCharger and they along with Diablo have been able to tune the 392 Challenger and Chargers for us with the ProCharger H.O. systems, and now have kits shipping. The Challenger we just finished (automatic tune that was the unknown as far as tuning because of the systems intergration) made 590RWHP!

 

[I Bin Therbefor]

Interesting.

The Viper Magazine article does not mention specific engines, just that "Mopar has released the code for the PCM calibrations to two tuning companies that will be offering the reprogramming service: Arrow Racing Engines and Arrington Engines." Later the article says, "Mopar having provided the codes for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 vehicles," No where does the article limit the releases to the 6.4L and 5.7L engines - it just says vehicles.

 

[mjorgensen Woodhouse]

Interesting.

The Viper Magazine article does not mention specific engines, just that "Mopar has released the code for the PCM calibrations to two tuning companies that will be offering the reprogramming service: Arrow Racing Engines and Arrington Engines." Later the article says, "Mopar having provided the codes for the 2011, 2012 and 2013 vehicles," No where does the article limit the releases to the 6.4L and 5.7L engines - it just says vehicles.

The giveaway is that there were no 11' or 12' Vipers and that the 6.4l is used in more vehicles.

 

[ACRucrazy]

Now if they can just get something goin for the Gen IV Vipers... that would be great....
(yes, I get they are not current models that make $$ for Chrysler, but it would be a great nod to the loyalist and maybe get some other brand loyalists on board..)

 

[Boxer12]

I GUESS they prefer to leave us in a perpetual state of 996TT ENVY!

 

[TrackAire]

Now if they can just get something goin for the Gen IV Vipers... that would be great....
(yes, I get they are not current models that make $$ for Chrysler, but it would be a great nod to the loyalist and maybe get some other brand loyalists on board..)

Honestly, I've given up and am spending my money with other makes. Just cost Chrysler an SRT Jeep sale, wife got upgraded to something nicer, supercharged and British

Not even considering a new Dodge Cummins when I update my 2007 Ford F350 this year.....no support, not loyalty.

The silence and lack of communication for the Gen 4 and Gen 5 platform is deafening....many of us are moving to other platforms for our new toys, not renewing memberships, etc. Look at the forum members, I'm not alone. Too bad, because I thought "Viper Nation" actually stood for something that I could continue to grow with and build a Viper/Chrysler collection for the future.

George

 

[chorps]

I hope someone at Chrysler is reading some of these disappointed posts.

 

[ringram]

+1

I got all excited thinking about a new Gen5 cam and tune.

Now Ill go back to looking at what GM's C7 Z06 will be like and whether their new C7 E92 ECU is tunable.

 

[viper GTS-R]

Maybe someone can explain it to me, but why doesn't Chrysler release them? Is it a court issue if they do? I remember when LXForums fought tooth and nail to get the parameters for the 5.7L and 6.1L and when the 2nd Gen of LX's came out not to many people seemed interested in them for this exact reason. Do they want us to just dig in to buying Mopar only parts instead of going aftermarket?

--RS

 

[Coloviper]

Not sure about the Hemi motor programming but for the Viper which is the ONLY cam-in-cam design OHV motor, I am sure it has everything to do with patents and protecting that cutting edge technology. Honestly, you can't blame them for protecting that from other pushrods motors. That is the way I see, which could be completely false to reality. Yep ***** for tuners though.

 

[Jack B]

Who here thinks GM gave tuners the codes to the Vette, if so please do your homework. HP Tuners and LS Edit broke the codes. The C7 is direct injection. That will take well over a year to resolve. GM is typical for most mfg.

 

[TrackAire]

Not sure about the Hemi motor programming but for the Viper which is the ONLY cam-in-cam design OHV motor, I am sure it has everything to do with patents and protecting that cutting edge technology. Honestly, you can't blame them for protecting that from other pushrods motors. That is the way I see, which could be completely false to reality. Yep ***** for tuners though.

For me this has to do with only one thing, communication. If Chrysler is not going to release codes, just say it and I'll stop my ********. But they keep us in limbo. SRT has to stay silent about future projects?....yet they throw little hints that stuff might improve with comments about the Gen 5 being forced induction friendly with better pistons, etc. I spend money and buy the Mopar PCM but there are no updates or product support with it.

If they are not going to release the codes, then at least offer us a product to purchase that would allow us to modify the cars further than what the anemic Mopar controller can do. And I don't want to hear about lack of budgets, etc. You want to keep your customer base loyal or do you want us to buy other brands? You'll spend millions on Super Bowl commercials that nobody remembers one year later, yet are losing sales as your customer base goes in other directions.

The reality is Chrysler is hurting the monetary value of our Gen 4's. The lack of tuning makes aftermarket support that much more scarce so it makes the cars much less desirable for those that want to modify....and lets face it, the Viper platform is an ideal start for mods. It is very robust, good looking and has great history. But everybody I hang around with has modified their cars. Whether it is a Viper, Ford GT, Corvette, Porsche, etc,....they are all modified. That's why we buy these cars, to drive them, to work on them and to see what can be done with them. I realize that not everybody is going to mod their Viper, but every Viper that is near me that has the ability to have a tune put in it does (Gen 2's and Gen 3's). For me a head, cam and valve train package would be a very cool upgrade on a Gen 4.

For the cost of a nicely equipped Gen 5, we have a lot of options. Why would I spend my money on a car that is going to drop in value because of no aftermarket support to keep the desirability factor up? One company we deal with in Dubai has a division that sells and modifies cars such as Challengers, Mustangs, Corvettes, etc....they specialize in USA muscle/sport cars for their client base. When we discussed if they have any demand for the Gen 5, his comment was everybody wants one, but everyone is disappointed at the lack of mods available. As he puts it, nobody wants to spend $200k plus on a Viper only to be embarrassed by a Mustang with a pulley and tune. I can see his point...and more importantly the customers.

It appears SRT will release the codes for the hemi line, but not to their customer base that spends the most money on any single car Chrysler sells,.....brilliant marketing

I'm not getting any younger. I will not waste my time due to lack of communication. I'm spending my money in elsewhere.

George

 

[challengerta]

Who here thinks GM gave tuners the codes to the Vette, if so please do your homework. HP Tuners and LS Edit broke the codes. The C7 is direct injection. That will take well over a year to resolve. GM is typical for most mfg.

Something I've always wondered. I assumed there were just more tuners looking for the answer/greater demand for the product driving this.

You'd think it would be another good reason for us to consider buying a gen 4or5!

 

[Steve M]

+1

I got all excited thinking about a new Gen5 cam and tune.

Now Ill go back to looking at what GM's C7 Z06 will be like and whether their new C7 E92 ECU is tunable.

Regarding the C7's PCM, from LS1Tech:

The PCM also does not appear to be encrypted...new seed/key routines for sure, but no new, fancy, encryption.

 

[chorps]

This is what the engineers have said, that other manufacturers haven't provided unlocked PCMs, the aftermarket has figured it out for Ford and GM engines. I argued that the Viper market was too small for anyone else to go after and it is evident that 5 years later it is still too small (if not even smaller because of the Viper's hiatus). If the Venom controller/engine was used in more products we'd probably have seen a third party tune by now... but that's something that has not happened.

I *know* they are hearing about this in bits and pieces from a few individuals, but there should be a coordinated effort to get them to hear what's been going on in the trenches.

I'm hoping the OP's announcement is a testbed to see if the Hemi tuning announcement can be a template for the Venom controller. The press release was always vague enough to include the Viper so it hasn't been discounted, otherwise the release could have just said Hemi or V8...

 

[Jack B]

Regarding the C7's PCM, from LS1Tech:

I can tell you this first hand, I bought a Pontiac Solstice that was turbocharged and direct injection. The ECU was not supposed to be far different than base GM products. I bought HP Tuners and was able to log and partially tune, however, GM had set a cannot-exceed value on the MAF sensor, at some point when an umbrella value of MAF was exceeed the car would set a code and go into a nanny mode not allowing you to go over 2500 rpm's. It took two years for for that specific parameter to be found and defeated. At that point I was able to get 320 rwhp from the little 2L engine, point in case, it took over two years for the ECU to be totally unlocked and this was a GM platform that was selling about 25,000 units a year.

 

[I Bin Therbefor]

It was never my intension to cause controversy. I thought I was resolving an issue of misunderstanding!

First, my credentials: Before retirement, I was a senior member of the IEEE and AIAA, in the computer branches. Second, I managed the central computer division of the world's largest ground simulation facility for aerospace. Third, in all the above, security of programing code was a very big issue.

So, the PCM code. There are two aspects. Breaking the code, which is the easiest of them. And then knowing how to properly use the new found ability to create the conditions which will result in the desired results - testing - not the code but the engine. Breaking the code usually envoles the right people and sufficient computing power. The most common way to break the code is spying of some sort - betrayal of trust by someone who knows the code. The second, is using the right people and sufficient computing power. Proper application of the ability to change the code requires knowledge of the engine's physical properties, knowledge of the desired end results and sufficient testing to insure the desired results have been achieved, undesirable side effects are not present, and the physical limits of the engine have not been exceeded. Usually increased power from code changes is at the expense of reduced operating safety margines or the compromise of some factor in the engines operating conditions.

I am perfectly willing to let someone blow up his/her engine by changing the code if he/she takes full resonsibility for the actions and harms no one else in the process. I suspect that when the manufacturer releases the code, the manufacturer assumes some liability for the actions of people using the code under the argument that the manufacturer should have known what the consumer was going to do with the code. I have heard of a liability case where the manufacturer of a screwdrive was held liable for the handle breaking when the screwdrive was being used as a hammer by the consumer under that argument. Please note, it is my understanding that Chrysler is releasing some code but only to two selected tuners. In effect, approving those tuners ability keep Chrysler out of liability problems as well as approving that tuner's ability to satisfy the consumer. And do not forget the EPA's rules about the manufactrure's liability to maintain the engine's polution standards. I suspect many of those tunner's efforts will result in off road use only engines.

I suspect the manufacturer is relatively clear if resonable effors are made to protect the code. Using cracked the code then becomes outside of the manufacturer's liability.

I don't think you'll see a general release of PCM code by any manufacturter.

 

[KB Viper]

i spoke with a SRT engineer and specially asked about releasing the codes for tuning the Viper for aftermarket cams and FI and he said that they are working with 2 companies to offer tuning. he said he expects a release by year end.

 

[ACRucrazy]

That would be awesome.

 

[ROCKET62]

Holding my breath

i spoke with a SRT engineer and specially asked about releasing the codes for tuning the Viper for aftermarket cams and FI and he said that they are working with 2 companies to offer tuning. he said he expects a release by year end.

 

[mnc2886]

i spoke with a SRT engineer and specially asked about releasing the codes for tuning the Viper for aftermarket cams and FI and he said that they are working with 2 companies to offer tuning. he said he expects a release by year end.

That's awesome!! Maybe it'll help out the Gen IV guys too.

 

[chorps]

i spoke with a SRT engineer and specially asked about releasing the codes for tuning the Viper for aftermarket cams and FI and he said that they are working with 2 companies to offer tuning. he said he expects a release by year end.

This is promising...

 

[KB Viper]

That's awesome!! Maybe it'll help out the Gen IV guys too.

it will help the gen IV guys too as the engineer told me aftermarket calibrations would be available for gen IV & V vipers.

 

[JAY]

Seeing as we like to Mod our Cars , this could be a win, win !

 

[ViperCrazed]

it will help the gen IV guys too as the engineer told me aftermarket calibrations would be available for gen IV & V vipers.

Please don't be pulling our chains...

 

[jsd512]

Jesus, GM, Ford don't have BS like this.

 

[chorps]

Jesus, GM, Ford don't have BS like this.

They don't have to, because they do enough volume on their engines that third parties disassemble their codes. The Viper just doesn't move enough engines to interest a third party's investment, so hopefully Chrysler themselves can 'lend a hand' to Arrow and Arrington.