I never stated that getting a reflash done first wouldn't yield good gains. Getting a reflash done, whenever you do it, should yield good gains. I simply believe that given the cost of a reflash, if you're planning to do a bunch of bolt-ons anyway, it makes more sense to do them all first, then do the reflash one time, vs. doing it before and then again after and therefore paying for it twice. If the added expense doesn't bother you, or you don't plan to do any bolt-ons for a while (or at all) then have at it. Either way it's your choice. But I personally don't feel like laying out the funds for a reflash twice, given the mod path I've taken.

In so far as the OP is obviously planning to do a bunch of bolt-ons, I believe that it would make more sense for him to do them prior to the reflash, strictly from a cost-control standpoint. In other words, whether or not he'd get good gains from a reflash is not something I'm disputing here.

I see your point, but somehow the the premise was confused. The original idea was what to do if you could only do one. That has apparently changed or I have misunderstood it from the beginning.

Even with the choice of one change, intake/exhaust/HFC or even a tune, I would still take a bolt on first. Just resetting the ECU with a bolt on yields plenty of gain and you are not out any money if you ever add more bolt ons or want a tune.

No worries. If you go back and read how the poll was worded, the question was "Which bolt-on should I do first?" So if we want to get all 'strict-interpretation' about it, he was strictly asking about the order of bolt-ons, so non-bolt-on mods (like ECU reflashes) aren't even within the boundaries of his question. But having said that, I am glad you brought up the ECU reflash thing, because regardless of which bolt-ons one does, or in which order, etc., one shouldn't neglect the ECU tune aspect of the 'big picture'. And let's face it, sometimes people forget about the ECU, so it was good for you to interject with a reminder.