Buying used V1 or V2 AccessPorts, marrying questions

[Gro Harlem]

I've done some searching & reading & read some of the documentation on the Cobb Accessports. I know the differences between the V1 & V2 as far as hardware/cables & the fact the v2 is faster & has a few more options.

Doing some research, I have kind of had to read in between the lines about how this marrying/unmarrying thing works so I"ll post some questions that I"ve come up with reading various threads having to do with this topic:

1: A V1 married to a 02/03 2.0 WRX will still work on an unmarried 02/03 2.0 WRX. (true or false? i've had conflicting info on this one)

2: Once a V1 is married to a particular engine/year it is bound to that setup for life unless you ship it to cobb to be reset (& pay a fee). In other words, if I marry a V1 to a 05' drive-by-wire WRX 2.0, it can't be used on a 05' STI (since its a 2.5) or a 02 (since its drive-by-cable), unless its reset by Cobb themselves

3: Do version 1's even allow you to unmarry them yourself (without shipping them to cobb) I couldn't find anyone stating that you can do this yourself without having to pay cobb to do it.

4: Do version 2's let you unmarry them yourself? I hear you can, but I don't understand the process..is it simple? OR do you have to hack them (IE is it not an option in the cobb GUI on the accessport itself).

5: Other than buying a V2 that isn't for your particular engine/modelyear..is there anything else to look out for when buying an unmarried V2?


I'm still in the air which version to get. V1's are about half the price of a V2 used & i'm a cheap bastard somewhat & it looks to me like theres little benefit getting a V2 other than saving time w/uploading maps & having fewer cables & a couple more options available to me. I still might get a V2 but i'm still eyeballing used V1's b/c of their price. I have a 02' 2.0 Bugeye & want to use stage 2 & 3 maps & fuel economy maps & possibly get a professional tune later down the road when time & money permits.

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[wrxdrvr]

1; True, Yes it will work on both years if unmarried from the first car...
2; True, it's year and model specific.
3; No, you can't change a v1 yourself to work on a different year or model.
4; I think you can for different years but not different engines.
5; No v2 is more versatile within year or engine size.

[nme187]

Originally Posted by Gro Harlem

1: A V1 married to a 02/03 2.0 WRX will still work on an unmarried 02/03 2.0 WRX. (true or false? i've had conflicting info on this one)

2: Once a V1 is married to a particular engine/year it is bound to that setup for life unless you ship it to cobb to be reset (& pay a fee). In other words, if I marry a V1 to a 05' drive-by-wire WRX 2.0, it can't be used on a 05' STI (since its a 2.5) or a 02 (since its drive-by-cable), unless its reset by Cobb themselves

3: Do version 1's even allow you to unmarry them yourself (without shipping them to cobb) I couldn't find anyone stating that you can do this yourself without having to pay cobb to do it.

4: Do version 2's let you unmarry them yourself? I hear you can, but I don't understand the process..is it simple? OR do you have to hack them (IE is it not an option in the cobb GUI on the accessport itself).

5: Other than buying a V2 that isn't for your particular engine/modelyear..is there anything else to look out for when buying an unmarried V2?


I'm still in the air which version to get. V1's are about half the price of a V2 used & i'm a cheap bastard somewhat & it looks to me like theres little benefit getting a V2 other than saving time w/uploading maps & having fewer cables & a couple more options available to me. I still might get a V2 but i'm still eyeballing used V1's b/c of their price. I have a 02' 2.0 Bugeye & want to use stage 2 & 3 maps & fuel economy maps & possibly get a professional tune later down the road when time & money permits.

1. If ANY AP is married to a different car then no it will not work on your car. Doesn't matter if it's v1 or v2. The v1 AP's are year/make/model specific, and transmission on non impreza models.

2. The back of the AP has a part #, v1 says what car(s) it works for. v2 is more flexible being it can be married to any year that falls in it's part #. And no Cobb doesn't change part #'s for v1, they stopped supporting the v1's unless it's for repairs but then again they have a trade in program to upgrade to the v2.

3. What are you talking about? All Accessports have the ability to be unmarried from the vehicle once you install it, it's called "Revert to stock" function. That unmarrys it. You don't have to send anything to Cobb to unmarry it from your car.

4. Yes. "Uninstall" function on the v2.

5. Make sure it's the right part # for your car.

Maybe search Cobb's website you'll get the right answers. I know they're there. Quoted from the page on there site...
"The AccessPORT has the ability to remove its programming from the vehicle
on which it is installed and return the ECU back to a stock state. To remove
the AccessPORT from the vehicle and return it to a stock state, select
“Uninstall” from the main menu."

[Gro Harlem]

K thanks for the awesome replies. I had the V1 & v2 reversed as far as thinking the v2's were model/engine specific when in-fact the v1's were, I thought it had to do with the "marrying" process but thx for the clarification.

[nme187]

No problem. If you call Cobb they could give you more info if needed, friendly peeps =P

[mrdrd04rex]

damn and i just picked up a v1 for an 05 sti, i have a 04 wrx..... it was free.....

[mikeb01453]

does anyone happen to know if an unmarried v1 for an 04 wrx will work on an 05 wrx. i know they are for the most part year make model specific but i didnt know if it was 04/05 specific like the above that is 02/03 specific

[nme187]

The 05 WRX V1 AP can work on a 04WRX but I haven't heard of anyone doing it the other way around. I don't see any reason why it wouldn't.

[xxkunsxx]

Originally Posted by mrdrd04rex

damn and i just picked up a v1 for an 05 sti, i have a 04 wrx..... it was free.....

at least it was free...... turn it around and get one for your year/model. at least its all profit