Hello all, I browse here but mostly post on 9thgen under the same user name. I also post on 8thcivic and civicforums. I've had a 7th, 8th and now 9th gen. This is my first Si though. I got the Flashpro on release day and was also dissapointed that we had no base maps to start out with. The "stock equivalent" map btw is not the same as the reflash from Hondata, it doesn't really fix or improve anything, it just adds the addition of hondata's calibration tools into the software. So basically if you want anything out of the Flashpro at this point you are forced to get a tune. I had the OEM Honda ECU update and it got less rev-hang than the "stock equivalent."
That said, I got an e-tune from Vit since I wasn't going to just put this thing in the closet. It was a tedios process I will admit and requires a bit of time and patience. However, he worked with me 100% and responded to every email VERY fast, we even data logged and re-calibrated till 11pm one night and I was the one to call it quits not him. But this story isn't to just credit him as a good tuner, it's to tell you how much of a difference the tune made for me.
To say the difference was night and day would be pretty accurate. My only mods are an ART SRI and P2R TBS. With the etune, throttle response improved a crazy amount, however good you think it is now you just don't know. Gas mpg went up though I can't say exactly how much, I would put it around 2mpg for the same drive I have been doing and calculating daily by hand, not by just the iMid. Power is way up, the best way I can put it is that it felt like the car woke up, found its potential, came alive. On the same stretch of road I wen't from 181hp on the e-dyno to my highest 215hp. Thats not to say the number is completely accurate and I'm making 215hp, but does show the difference in power the tune made for me. Rev-hang is gone btw, not improved but gone. I get a little upward blip in rpm between shifts with zero hang. The wife commented how amazingly smooth it is now going between gears.
Basically, if your going to buy a Flashpro make sure you add the cost of a tune to it, because without one you are getting nothing. Even if there were base maps they aren't going to do much for you or come close to a quality tune. Also, at $150 Vit is giving you a steal. I had no idea how much work goes into making a tune and this man worked like a beast! I don't feel like I would have gotten anything better by spending $400 at a dyno shop except that it would have been faster and I could have just sat there without driving around datalogging. But you have to determin if that is worth the $250 or more difference. Not to mention if you add a mod, an etuner can give you a quick map update for it at a small fee vs having to go back to the dyno shop and spend way more.
Hope this helps you all out there.