twlai

hi, I am a newbie looking into engine tuning. After all the reading and research, I think
I can concluded that our stock car is tuned under its full potential, and getting a
simpe reflash or tuning will yield good extra power, and better gas mileage.

And that is what I plan to do, for a newbie, just a reflash with no mod.

After reading many posts here, I start to get confused. There are so many different
options, AEM, ECU+, Ecutek, etc... I know they do basically the same thing, but when
I read into some of the more technical post, I was totally lost.
After a while, I have no clue on which company/device to go with.

I like to start a thread to gether some basic info on these company/device.
It will be very helpful for newbie like me. And please correct me if I get something wrong.

Please help me to compile this list. It will go something like this:

Company Name/Device name, General Desciption, Cost, Requirement, Pro, Con.

[Cobbing Tuning/Access Port]
Not Available for IX yet. Pending Spring time.

[AEM EMS]
Not for newbie.
Powerful tuning tool. Gain more power than Stock ECU, especially for heavily modded car. [bwesley82]

[Apex-i/Power FC]
I have no clue

[Apex-i/ S-AFC, S-AFCII]
??

[Autronics]
??

[ECU+]
??

[EcuFlash]
Description: Software Program that allow usr to change setting in the stock ecu.
Cost: less than $100
Requirement: laptop, special cable form www.tactrix.com, software from www.openecu.org
Pro: Allow the user to flash and reflash on their own
Purchase map from vender via email
Con: Not a custom tune
Tuner selling EcuFlash mapping: Jestr, TTP and Dynoflash [thanks to gudmurder]
[EcuTek]
???

[ECU Reflash]
Description: ECU reflash support by many tuner
Cost: Works $499, Vishnu $750, dynoflash $199
Requriement: Remove ECU to send to tuner for reflash
Pro: easiest to do
Con: Map may be locked by tuner
downtime on your car waiting for the ECU to mail back

[MAFTPro]
??

[TurboXS UTEC/Vishbu XEDE]
Description: Piggyback device connect to the ECU
Not recommended until stock ECU cannot handle the Mod [jfitzpat]
Not enough support from TurboXS [geminibby]

[Custom tune by any tuner]
Description: Drive to one of the reputable tuner and have them tune your car on a dyno
Cost: $$$
Pro: Most power gain, especially good with individual mod
Con: it may be a long drive depending where you live

twlai

i guess no one care.
newbie don't have the knowledge to contribute....
and the experts here don't like to share....

*sigh* ppl in evo board.....

kinloch99

i'm kindof new to the whole thing but your best choice is to find a shop that tunes cars and talk to them, i think a simple flash is best and cheapest, if you dont want to keep tweekin the **** yourself, if you have 1200.00 to spend get a turbo back exuast(i have perrin) , a manual boost controller and a tune from a shop the evo ix are animals with just that. if your straped for cash right now have a shop dyno and tune your cars to get 30-40 engine horse.

twlai

I also think a reflash is the way to go, it is just that there are so many tool
that can do reflash.
I want to compare the differnt tools, and have a list of tuner behind the tools.
That's all.

I already see a new thread: UTEC vs. EcuFlash

kreionic

iTrader: (14)

Do you have a laptop? If so and your only doing a base flase and maybe a few reflashes if you get mods then get the $90 tactrix cable and then the base flash can be done via email for $50 from the tuner of your choice

twlai

yes, i am doing a search on the tuner that do email flash.
most of them, ttp, vishu, jestr all do mail in reflash.
who else do $50 email map other than jestr?
do they have dyno graph on b4 and after on stock IX like
the one vishu put up?

gudmundur

iTrader: (2)

Jestr, TTP and Dynoflash all do e-mail flash.

I am a newbie myself but I have been through this phase myself and I went with ECUFlash, MitsuLogger and Data Log Lab to begin with.

The only other ems system I have looked into is AEM EMS, and it seems that quite a few are able to get more performance out of that system, but from my perspective that is a mod I will do later in my tuning and modding process.

twlai

Thanks, I will do the same.
Which vendor did u go with?
Jestr require the removal of the restrictor pill,
and TTP doesn't mention it in their website.
Dynoflash does not mention they do email flash on their website,
I will email them to find out more.

Forevapmp

iTrader: (2)

this thread is very helpful for a newbie like myself.



Thanks

gudmundur

iTrader: (2)

I went with Jestr.
Heard good things about him on the forum and he seems to be a really responsive guy and that will make things alot easier.

I am going with the AEM TruBoost boostcontroller/gauge so I didnt think about the restrictor pill at all.

Plus I ended up buying a bit more modifications for my car which I will be installing gradually so I baought Jestr's subscription service.

What I am aiming for eventually is to learn as much as I can myself through my modding and tuning experience so I can hopefully do something myself in the future.

regards
Gudmundur

bwesley82

iTrader: (3)

The AEM is a powerful tuning tool and from what I gather people are able to get more power with it, although some would probably debate this. I would imagine that well tuned it will get more power on the Evo, especially if you are heavily modded. I have one on my civic and it is great. The main downside in my opinion is that you will not be able to pass OBDII emissions on any stand-alone, AEM being one of them. With a reflash you keep that stock ECU and can flash it back to stock for dealer visits or emissions.

gudmundur

iTrader: (2)

Yes I agree AEM EMS is powerful.
But since he has a stock EVO I think that he would benefit more from spending the 1200ish$ on other upgrades than AEM EMS to begin with.

But heavily modded EVO's are quite another story

geminibby

iTrader: (2)

if you are just starting out and going to be modding your car a few mods at a time. Get it reflashed. Living up in MA, turbotrix is down in NJ and they can do some installs as well I believe. IT comes down to what do you want for your car. I started out with a utec as did many of us did, however alot of those same people inlcuding myself have taken it off. Its not a bad unit, there just isnt any support from turboxs, and with the advances in ECUflashing its worth the money.

jfitzpat

Personally, I'd start with logging. Logging from your ECU and a wideband is a pretty small investment. Observing what your car is actually doing will both teach you a lot and give you a point of reference to evaluate changes you make in the future.

In other words, instead of gauging rather or not a reflash had a positive effect using impressions or feel, you can actually measure and quantify the changes.

Personally, I think that the Holy Grail is a custom tune, for your car, and your preferred performance tradeoffs ('I'd sacrifice x for more performance during y...') Even if you have no ambitions to become a tuner yourself, understanding some fundementals and being able to read and understand logs can be tremendously helpful when conveying your wishes to the tuner and understanding the options he presents to you.

Regarding piggy backs. With your car I'd start with reflashing. I wouldn't mess with a piggyback or replacment ECU until you hit a specific problem that can't be solved by tweaking the factory controller.

Good Luck,
-jjf

joshesh

iTrader: (2)

What is the need for the wideband senor? It is 200 bucks and I thought all you need is the cable for 90? Cant you log with just a cable and a laptop? What does the wideband sensor let you do that you cant do without it?