I've owned a Miata for 10 of the last 11 years. Miata supercharger and turbo kits come with ECU changes, as do Dinan superchargers for the M Roadster.

Why don't all the places that sell pulley upgrades for the MCS have matched ECUs?
Even if I do buy a smaller pulley kit, where can I go to get an ECU change that is optimised for the higher boost from the pulley?

I want to get to 200hp, but I want to do it right.

Thanks,
Kurtster

 

Kurtster,
Aloha and welcome to MCO-

>>I've owned a Miata for 10 of the last 11 years. Miata supercharger and turbo kits come with ECU changes, as do Dinan superchargers for the M Roadster.

Read this
http://dinancars.com/newsletter/news...6-10-2003.html
Dinan has just released a press release on two MCS upgrades. Shipping March 2004. Stage 1 upgrade with added 15 HP includes intake, software changes, throttlebody upgrade and exhaust for under $2000 and 6 hours labor. Stage 2 upgrade brings HP to 198 and is similar to the JCW kit but does not require cylinder head removal, it has all of the stage 1 upgrades plus upgraded pulley, software upgrade tuned for the pulley upgrade. Under $3000 cost, 10 hours labor and full new car warranty for both upgrade options up to the 4 year limit. Very nice.

Later on expect suspension upgrades:
Performance Springs
Matching Struts and Shocks
Larger/adjustable antiroll bars
Camber Plates
Strut and Shock Tower Braces
Lightweight Forged Performance Wheels
Non-runflat matched performance tires

Now of the other companies that make reduction pulley upgrades also make ECU upgrades- they all belong to different sources. Why they don't work together is a bit of a mystery so we do the mixing and matching to get the best fit so to speak. We do need some testing of all of the ECU players out there sometime soon. ECU prices vary from $399 to $720 each.

Pulleys are mostly the same 15% reduction pulley. Some people have tried 17% and 19% with some good results and some issues. Rough pulley part is $160 and the installed price is about $400

>>Why don't all the places that sell pulley upgrades for the MCS have matched ECUs?

There is no obvious effort to do so at this time by most companies. My best take is that most ECU developers think that their program is going to work the best no matter which pulley is installed so it doesn't really matter on the pulley.

>>Even if I do buy a smaller pulley kit, where can I go to get an ECU change that is optimised for the higher boost from the pulley?
Every ECU upgrade company will tell you that their program is optimized for the 15% reduction pulley. Some will allow you to tell them what your upgrades are and they will send you the version of the upgrade program that best fits your individual upgrade situation.

Although DINAN says that their ECU upgrade is "matched" for the pulley if you do the simple math their gain in HP is quite small and more along the order of the John Cooper works kit upgrade where the ECU is likely to give a gain of about 2 to 5 HP. The aftermarket ECU upgrades are boasting gains more like 10-12 HP so that is a bit of a difference.
Maybe DINAN is conservative in their estimate of the kit's actual added HP.

>>I want to get to 200hp, but I want to do it right.

Getting to 200 HP is easy to do. Intake, reduction pulley 15%, some sort of ECU, Header, Throttlebody upgrade, Cat-back exhaust. Add in some light wheels and suspension mods.

The harder part is to make the final product balanced with nimble responsive predictable handling and gobs of controlled power at your fingertips.

Talk to Randy Webb at Webbmotorsports or Eric Savage at Helix13 for more info.


_________________
ALOHA

 

Getting to 200 crank horsepower should be even easier with the newest and soon to hit the market ECUs. Intake, exhaust, pulley and ECU (without header and throttle body) should take you over 200 crank horses - to about 205-210!