FRSBRZGT86FAN
Well-Known Member
- Joined
- May 20, 2023
- Threads
- 2
- Messages
- 77
- Reaction score
- 49
- Location
- Philadelphia PA
- Car(s)
- 2023 GR Supra 3.0 BASE - Dinan catback and Bootmod3 Stage 1 93 octane tune
- Thread starter
- #1
Hey all,
I didn’t see many real reviews or experiences posted for the Kies Motorsports DME unlock paired with Bootmod3 Stage 1 on the Supra, so I figured I’d write up my full experience from start to finish.
I’m not paid by Kies, sponsored by them, or anything like that. I was honestly pretty nervous going into it because I couldn’t find much on the forums or Reddit specifically about their unlock process or what the Stage 1 tune felt like afterward. Hopefully this helps someone else who is on the fence.
Background
I bought my 2023 Supra brand new in May of 2023. At the time, I honestly never thought I’d want more power. I came from the 86 platform during the OpenFlash days, where tuning was a lot simpler and didn’t involve DME unlocks or anything complicated just to flash the car.
Performance-wise, the car is mostly stock. The only mods are a Dinan catback exhaust and Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 tires for better grip than the factory tires. For fuel, I only run Sunoco 94 octane.
A friend bought me a JB+ as a birthday gift, and while it definitely added some seat-of-the-pants power, the car felt unusual at times. The biggest thing I noticed was the transmission getting a little jumpy or jerky in certain situations.
My best guess is that the JB+ adds boost and makes the car feel stronger, but it does not fully recalibrate the ECU or transmission logic. So the engine may be making more torque than the factory control strategy is expecting, especially at partial throttle.
For me, the biggest complaint was drivability. Around 70% throttle in Sport mode, the car would sometimes feel confused and give a weird jerky shift. Full throttle felt fine because the car was in a more obvious high-load state. Normal mode also felt fine because the torque request and shift behavior are softer. But that partial-throttle Sport mode behavior was annoying enough that I started looking harder at a real flash tune.
Purchase Process
About a year ago, I saw posts about Kies Motorsports bringing domestic DME unlocks to the U.S. At the time, the pricing seemed pretty high, but I realized they were only about an hour and a half away from me. I gave it some time, and once their pricing came down, I decided it was worth doing.
The total came out to about $1,584 with taxes. I’ll include a redacted VIN invoice screenshot below.
This is the package I purchased:
https://www.kiesmotorsports.com/pro...ewer-g80-g82-g87-g20-and-most-b48-b58-and-s58
For our platform, the unlock service was $900. That includes the DME unlock, same-day service by appointment, and three dyno pulls to test the flash afterward.
The Bootmod3 license was $595.
All in, I was right around $1,600.
After Purchase Experience
After purchase, Kies has a CRM system that immediately emails you your Bootmod3 key and some instructions. Since I purchased the unlock too, I also received generic instructions about mailing the DME in.
That part confused me a little at first because for same-day service, you don’t need to worry about the mail-in instructions. Also, it does not really seem like you can fully register everything until the car is unlocked and the Bootmod3 OBD2 dongle is connected to the car.
I called them the following Monday, since I had ordered on a weekday, and they explained everything. For the same-day service, they walk you through the process in person. They help register the Bootmod3 license to your email, plug in the proper BM3 OBD2 dongle, and get the car linked to your account.
My recommendation is to create your Bootmod3 account ahead of time and sign into the app on your phone, but don’t go much further than that before the appointment. At the shop, they provide the dongle, you connect to it over Wi-Fi, register the car to your account, and paste in the registration code from the email.
I called the shop using the number listed online, (856) 888-3636, and set up my appointment. The first time, I ended up getting sick and had to move it to the following Wednesday that morning. They were easy to work with on that. I had to plan basically to wake up at 6am and drive over to get there before their imposed 9AM deadlines for same day in person service. THE LATEST THEY DO FOR THIS IS 10AM so plan accordingly. I got there at about 8:40AM and was out by 12:30PM.
Be aware that if you’re doing the dyno pulls, their shop seems very busy. I had about a two-week lead time. You should also plan for up to four hours total for the whole process.
They get a lot of walk-ins and drop-offs, and the waiting room is very small. That said, everyone there was courteous and respectful the entire time. They give you access to a bathroom if needed, but I highly recommend bringing headphones, a laptop, or something to keep yourself busy because you may be sitting there for a few hours.
Unlock, Flash, and Dyno Process
For the dyno process, they have you sign a waiver. Eventually, they call you back to the dyno room for the setup and tuning portion.
They walked me through Bootmod3, flashed the car, and put the car on a battery tender during the process. They also walked me through the available subconfig settings in the app before starting it up. I left everything OEM.
After the flash, they let the car warm up and then did three consecutive dyno pulls. They let me record and watch the whole process. This was my first time having any car on a dyno, so it was a really cool experience. I was honestly impressed with how smooth the whole thing was done. If I had one gripe it's that they don't use one of the runs to get a baseline on what the car made before the tune. It was just flashed and I guestimate my car made 382 like the others make.
Pics below:
Dyno Graph and short clip of my car on the dyno:
Driving Experience
The car immediately felt different. It pulls way harder than before feels like it wants to just rev and jump up to speed all over.
My best dyno run was 437.12 wheel horsepower and 446.76 wheel torque. Using an estimated 13% drivetrain loss, that would put the car around 502 crank horsepower.
437.12 / 0.87 = 502.4 crank horsepower
Obviously drivetrain loss is an estimate, so I’m not claiming that as an exact number, but it gives a good ballpark.
The powerband feels strong through the whole rev range. It pushes you back in the seat much harder than before, and the car feels like it wants to jump up to speed. It also triggers traction control a lot more often now, even with the ExtremeContact Sport 02 tires.
The one thing I did not love was the burble behavior. Even though I left the burble setting at OEM in the Bootmod3 app, it sounded extremely loud with the Dinan exhaust. It was almost gunshot-like at times and honestly harsh on the ears. When I got home I reflashed the car and shut the burbles off, but I kept the GTS startup roar.
After doing that, the car felt much more like what I wanted a significant almost OEM+ like experience.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really happy with the process and the result. The car feels much more complete on Bootmod3 Stage 1 than it did with the JB+. The biggest improvement is not just the extra power, but the fact that the drivability feels more properly sorted.
The JB+ gave the car a little more power, but it always felt like a workaround. Bootmod3 feels more like the car is actually calibrated for the extra power. I also never liked the idea of punching a hole in the firewall for a JB4 and keeping it plugged into obd2 all the time. The tune and unlock feels much more integrated.
Would I spend this much money if Kies wasn’t within driving distance? Maybe not. The convenience of being able to drive there (even though it was almost a 1.5 hour drive), have the DME unlocked, get the car flashed, and do dyno pulls the same day was a big part of why I was comfortable doing it. Also it essentially preps the car for if I do a downpipe later on without having to deal with other issues.
For anyone in the Northeast or within reasonable driving distance, I think it’s worth considering. From what I saw, they seem to have people coming from all over for these unlocks, and based on my experience, the process was professional and pretty straightforward. You basically have to devote a whole day to this process though and schedule a decent amount of time for it for this same day service.
Hope this helps anyone else who was searching for real-world feedback before pulling the trigger.
I didn’t see many real reviews or experiences posted for the Kies Motorsports DME unlock paired with Bootmod3 Stage 1 on the Supra, so I figured I’d write up my full experience from start to finish.
I’m not paid by Kies, sponsored by them, or anything like that. I was honestly pretty nervous going into it because I couldn’t find much on the forums or Reddit specifically about their unlock process or what the Stage 1 tune felt like afterward. Hopefully this helps someone else who is on the fence.
Background
I bought my 2023 Supra brand new in May of 2023. At the time, I honestly never thought I’d want more power. I came from the 86 platform during the OpenFlash days, where tuning was a lot simpler and didn’t involve DME unlocks or anything complicated just to flash the car.
Performance-wise, the car is mostly stock. The only mods are a Dinan catback exhaust and Continental ExtremeContact Sport 02 tires for better grip than the factory tires. For fuel, I only run Sunoco 94 octane.
A friend bought me a JB+ as a birthday gift, and while it definitely added some seat-of-the-pants power, the car felt unusual at times. The biggest thing I noticed was the transmission getting a little jumpy or jerky in certain situations.
My best guess is that the JB+ adds boost and makes the car feel stronger, but it does not fully recalibrate the ECU or transmission logic. So the engine may be making more torque than the factory control strategy is expecting, especially at partial throttle.
For me, the biggest complaint was drivability. Around 70% throttle in Sport mode, the car would sometimes feel confused and give a weird jerky shift. Full throttle felt fine because the car was in a more obvious high-load state. Normal mode also felt fine because the torque request and shift behavior are softer. But that partial-throttle Sport mode behavior was annoying enough that I started looking harder at a real flash tune.
Purchase Process
About a year ago, I saw posts about Kies Motorsports bringing domestic DME unlocks to the U.S. At the time, the pricing seemed pretty high, but I realized they were only about an hour and a half away from me. I gave it some time, and once their pricing came down, I decided it was worth doing.
The total came out to about $1,584 with taxes. I’ll include a redacted VIN invoice screenshot below.
This is the package I purchased:
https://www.kiesmotorsports.com/pro...ewer-g80-g82-g87-g20-and-most-b48-b58-and-s58
For our platform, the unlock service was $900. That includes the DME unlock, same-day service by appointment, and three dyno pulls to test the flash afterward.
The Bootmod3 license was $595.
All in, I was right around $1,600.
After Purchase Experience
After purchase, Kies has a CRM system that immediately emails you your Bootmod3 key and some instructions. Since I purchased the unlock too, I also received generic instructions about mailing the DME in.
That part confused me a little at first because for same-day service, you don’t need to worry about the mail-in instructions. Also, it does not really seem like you can fully register everything until the car is unlocked and the Bootmod3 OBD2 dongle is connected to the car.
I called them the following Monday, since I had ordered on a weekday, and they explained everything. For the same-day service, they walk you through the process in person. They help register the Bootmod3 license to your email, plug in the proper BM3 OBD2 dongle, and get the car linked to your account.
My recommendation is to create your Bootmod3 account ahead of time and sign into the app on your phone, but don’t go much further than that before the appointment. At the shop, they provide the dongle, you connect to it over Wi-Fi, register the car to your account, and paste in the registration code from the email.
I called the shop using the number listed online, (856) 888-3636, and set up my appointment. The first time, I ended up getting sick and had to move it to the following Wednesday that morning. They were easy to work with on that. I had to plan basically to wake up at 6am and drive over to get there before their imposed 9AM deadlines for same day in person service. THE LATEST THEY DO FOR THIS IS 10AM so plan accordingly. I got there at about 8:40AM and was out by 12:30PM.
Be aware that if you’re doing the dyno pulls, their shop seems very busy. I had about a two-week lead time. You should also plan for up to four hours total for the whole process.
They get a lot of walk-ins and drop-offs, and the waiting room is very small. That said, everyone there was courteous and respectful the entire time. They give you access to a bathroom if needed, but I highly recommend bringing headphones, a laptop, or something to keep yourself busy because you may be sitting there for a few hours.
Unlock, Flash, and Dyno Process
For the dyno process, they have you sign a waiver. Eventually, they call you back to the dyno room for the setup and tuning portion.
They walked me through Bootmod3, flashed the car, and put the car on a battery tender during the process. They also walked me through the available subconfig settings in the app before starting it up. I left everything OEM.
After the flash, they let the car warm up and then did three consecutive dyno pulls. They let me record and watch the whole process. This was my first time having any car on a dyno, so it was a really cool experience. I was honestly impressed with how smooth the whole thing was done. If I had one gripe it's that they don't use one of the runs to get a baseline on what the car made before the tune. It was just flashed and I guestimate my car made 382 like the others make.
Pics below:
Dyno Graph and short clip of my car on the dyno:
Driving Experience
The car immediately felt different. It pulls way harder than before feels like it wants to just rev and jump up to speed all over.
My best dyno run was 437.12 wheel horsepower and 446.76 wheel torque. Using an estimated 13% drivetrain loss, that would put the car around 502 crank horsepower.
437.12 / 0.87 = 502.4 crank horsepower
Obviously drivetrain loss is an estimate, so I’m not claiming that as an exact number, but it gives a good ballpark.
The powerband feels strong through the whole rev range. It pushes you back in the seat much harder than before, and the car feels like it wants to jump up to speed. It also triggers traction control a lot more often now, even with the ExtremeContact Sport 02 tires.
The one thing I did not love was the burble behavior. Even though I left the burble setting at OEM in the Bootmod3 app, it sounded extremely loud with the Dinan exhaust. It was almost gunshot-like at times and honestly harsh on the ears. When I got home I reflashed the car and shut the burbles off, but I kept the GTS startup roar.
After doing that, the car felt much more like what I wanted a significant almost OEM+ like experience.
Final Thoughts
Overall, I’m really happy with the process and the result. The car feels much more complete on Bootmod3 Stage 1 than it did with the JB+. The biggest improvement is not just the extra power, but the fact that the drivability feels more properly sorted.
The JB+ gave the car a little more power, but it always felt like a workaround. Bootmod3 feels more like the car is actually calibrated for the extra power. I also never liked the idea of punching a hole in the firewall for a JB4 and keeping it plugged into obd2 all the time. The tune and unlock feels much more integrated.
Would I spend this much money if Kies wasn’t within driving distance? Maybe not. The convenience of being able to drive there (even though it was almost a 1.5 hour drive), have the DME unlocked, get the car flashed, and do dyno pulls the same day was a big part of why I was comfortable doing it. Also it essentially preps the car for if I do a downpipe later on without having to deal with other issues.
For anyone in the Northeast or within reasonable driving distance, I think it’s worth considering. From what I saw, they seem to have people coming from all over for these unlocks, and based on my experience, the process was professional and pretty straightforward. You basically have to devote a whole day to this process though and schedule a decent amount of time for it for this same day service.
Hope this helps anyone else who was searching for real-world feedback before pulling the trigger.
Sponsored
