HELLO R53 NAM’ers!

You may have seen us pushing and promoting a lot of our R56 goodies lately, please be confident that we have NOT forgotten about the R53’ers.

We are working on some NEW tuning solutions to compliment the bolt on parts you have been purchasing for six years. Precise tuning will take your car to a whole new level of performance that has not been seen before. You thought the SC Pulley and ALTA CAI made power before...........................To Be Continued.


There will even be an extreme tune for use with our water/meth injection kit from our sister company for even bigger gains.

This thread will be used as a Q&A for the upcoming ALTA R53 PnP ECU So ask myself, Jeff or Adam any questions about this here.

Look into the ALTA PnP ECU for the R56 that we have going for a little bit of a teaser.

Stay Tuned!

 

Glad to see you guys making more parts and furthering your accomplishments.

 

Why so long to wait for an R53 PnP unit? Some technical issues?
Just want to get "edjucated"...

dan

 

From the somewhat cryptic posts I'm guessing the Hydra with its multiple sinuous connections proved to difficult to tame. So much for that journey to the Lake of Lerna

 

Not sure what your saying here but we are VERY familiar with the Hydra ECU. Our sister company has used them on most of our shop/show cars. Not only using but helped with development.

We are moving in the direction we are because it is a system that does what we need in a simpler more cost efective way. The ALTA PnP ECU's also have the possibility of carb aproval in the future, the Hydra has no chance of that.

 

Just having a bit of fun with Greek Mythology wordplay

 

so this is basically a uni-chip that you are re-branding and selling with basic maps?

 

Glad to see your still with the old R53 guys still.

 

ha hahhhh. ((((^_^

 

Well yes and no! If the connotation is that we are trying to hide something both from UniChip as well the public, that simply isn't the case. What we ARE doing is using the UniChip hardware to combine with our software (ECU mapping Flux screens and functions etc.)

So just like our R56 version we are doing similar for the R53. We will NOT be offering mapping previously available from other UniChip dealers or UniChip USA as an ALTA map. Instead we are offering ALTA specific mapping AND UniChip mapping if ours is unavailable. We are the ONLY dealer/mfr in the States that has the ability to resell and use the UniChip for JCW applications. (This is from UniChip not from me.) We are working WITH UniChip to further develop options for the R53 and the R56 as well as for other upcoming applications.

Again, if I misread the connotation to your post MY apologies. If I can answer any other questions until the product release, PLEASE let me know.

Thanks again!

 

Hey our R53 guys are JUST as important as the R56. You guys made us who we are today. How can we leave you out in the cold?

As always let us know how we can help!

 

I don't know what you mean, but if I can answer a question, don't hesitate to ask! Thanks for looking!

Hey how popular is the MINI in Japan? We haven't really reached out to that market yet and would love some feedback from a fellow NAM member that is living the life and absorbing the culture. Truly would love to hear your thoughts on the market there! Thanks in advance for any info you can provide!

Chat soon!

 

Will this piggyback have the same issues as the UseLessChip? IE will the ECU overlearn the data that the piggyback is trying to fool the ECU into believing is real? Also will you be servicing the unit or will we get to be treated like &^%$ by the mfg and spend huge amounts of money for that privilege ?

 

For every BMW MINI I see, there are 2 or 3 classic Minis. That is the ratio, I think. Today alone, I saw 6 classic Minis, and only 1 MINI. There are alot more of the 2nd gen MINIs though.

Here in Japan, it is acutally more expensive to keep cars longer. The older a car gets, the higher its registration is. After only a mere 3 or 4 years the cost of registration is higher. Im not sure on details, but I spoke with an American who has been living here for something like 16 years. In many cases, it is cheaper for a person to simply get a new car. The whole thing has to do with emission standards and safety. But regardless, people keep classic minis a while.

Using my growing knowledge base about international business (my major), I think introducing 2nd gen MINI products in Japan might be a better idea than 1st gen products. The number of 1st gen here will only decrease, and there are already MINI tuners here. But in a MINI catalog of tuner parts I saw at a dealer here, there was Alta stuff listed in it.

Anyway, I assume the 2nd gen MINI will have a run like the 1st gen, so you have some time to work out an entry plan. Just note, the Japanese market is known for being quirky. I must point out that I am just an American exchange student. I've only been here since mid Sept. and will be comming back to America in mid Dec.

That thing earlier, the ' ((((^_^ ' is from japanese cell phone culture, it's one of thier emoticons. It denotes an escape. In this case I was laughing at the comment about rebranding uni-chips, from which I made a hasty egress to avoid possible trouble.

 

+1

 

I wasn't looking to cause trouble or drama by posting this... but i've had some friends get bitten by the unichip. Not only was their car running dangerously, but now they are very cautious with any sort of ecu upgrade. (for good reason i guess)

I think the point of interest here is the hype of alta ecu tuning for the last few months. There was a brief note about hydra but then it disappeared and now this shows up. I think we all understand that plans change when moving along the development process.

I could see how it would be convenient for you guys especially if you were actually that close to unichip so you could work out some of the past issues with their products application first hand.

The thing that turns me off about this however is still the idea of the "canned tune". It's not alta's fault it's just an inherent danger in tuning ecu's by mail or bolt ons. Not all cars are the same even if they are equally modded. On top of that... bolt ons are typically only as smart as the end user that is bolting them on.

I just hope that people and alta, proceed with caution and play to the lowest possible link in the chain. I hope that alta can do enough r&d to find some settings that get end users performance while still keeping things in the green. Don't get me wrong... I have no beef with alta, especially since i have many alta parts on my car. I would like to see this succeed and i think that as of late alta has proven that they will provide data whenever they can, so I think that this may be the only way the unichip could get any sort of revival.

 

My thought is that I would hate to get ALTA's rep (good) mixed with UseLessChips (black hole) If it ain't broke, don't fix it. If it is broke to start with, leave it alone.

Good luck on this venture!

Forgot to add that I have several ALTA products on my car, and have had a couple of issues over time. Response and results from ALTA has been stellar. Think of 110% opposite and you see my concerns. Flashback to Rosalyn Carter / Larry Flint partnership! LOL

 

I agree, the Uselesschip has been a doorstop for me for years now, not even sure why I haven't just sold it or used it for a wheel block. I guess the blow of $$$ loss from selling it has been hard to swallow.

Good luck as well, I think it's just going to be a new saddle on an old donkey.

 

Release date? Price point? More info?

 

Patience is a good thing. I think we've all seen that when Alta has the data they need to show it is a viable product they will release the info. Their lack of pre-release hype without data to back claims should be a model to all vendors.

 

Well said Nate!