Slow. I only open the hood to change the oil so I find myself still hanging out here..... that way i only talk about mods and i cant buy any.

--
Cheese

 

Eric,

You installed my 19 and Swaybar over the last few months. The car is running great, but do you think this chip will have as significant impact on a car with a 19% pulley? Thanks

James Felix

 

The current GIAC chip is not designed for the 19% pulley: initial testing has shown that the car is running out of enough injector to make power at the top with a 19%. It's a long story, if you'd like to hear it give me a call.

On these cars, software alone does not make a huge impact (like a pulley), but significant perhaps. If you consider that a the GIAC makes as much power as any exhaust on the market, and for half the price, I'd call it good. The name of the game for most folks is sensible, usable increases, taking the hype with a grain of salt. If you want to go bannanas (aka JCW money) ask me about twin setups.

 

Eric, thanks for the info. What about if you upgrade the injectors? Maybe you could get more power from an ecu and a 19 by doing that? I am not interested in installing a turbo. Just want to get my 0-60 down below 6.0 Right now it is 6.4.

 

I think Randy has been saying for quite some that there is very little to gain ECU-wise for those who have a 19% pulley. For a car with a stock pulley, an ECU can make a notable improvement, and less so with a 15%, but still worthwile to many. And we seem to be getting some validation on the 19% now...Bang for the buck, Eric puts things in perspective very nicely. The GIAC is tough to beat in that regard.

 

As Eric stated above, there is more to this story. There will be a GIAC version for the 19%. What is available now, however, is the 15%. More to come...

 

Hey, they never taught us about those naughty and nasty "Scions".
Are they closer to bunions or hemorrhoids?

Nevermind. I don't want to know.

A big thanks to Helix13 and GIAC for producing a quality ECU upgrade at a reasonable price. The torque gains are proof of the pudding for me and a great upgrade for those that have just started to mod their MCS. I really like the broad band of increased torque- very usable.

15% pulley (pretty safe and conservative) and GIAC would be quite good.

Also I'm very interested in further development for GIAC for other pulley sizes in the future.

 

Eric,


If you think the injectors are maxing out, which is the same feedback that we have received from jlm and M7, then it may be interesting to offer an injector/ecu upgrade combo. M7 sells the injectors for about $400, and with the ECU at $325, it is still cheaper than the Unichip. This would be a much more usable setup than the 15% with the Unichip. I think a lot of people may be interested in something like this.

 

Right on. If you could do a package for $700 flat for ECU upgrade + injectors, you'd see me go from my 15% to a 19% and spend $700 for the GIAC/injector combo. That is, of course, if there's anything to be gained from an ECU tune to a 19% pullied car with bigger fuel squirters.

Marty

 

The worry about running lean at 5500-7000 RPM would be a non issue at that point, so the ECU could be tunned for a 19. I would imagine that if the ECU has that much more fuel to manage with a 19% you could get more power out of the setup.

 

I got 15 or so more hp from the 440 injectors and suitable mapping, and a very flat A/F.

 

As the owner of the MINI used for tuning the new GIAC ECU, I couldn't be more pleased with the end result.

The tuning process was fascinating. It involved several days and countless hours of dyno runs with the works ECU, the the stock MCS ECU, the GIAC ECU and a number of combinations of each with & without larger 400 injectors.

The one thing they struggled with was the injectors, so they ended up tuning it for the stock injectors since the larger 400 wouldn't allow the car to idle properly.

Regardless, the car is running better and has noticeable power gains accross the entire band. The rev limiters are still there but are set just a tad higher so you have slight gains there as well.

I can't wait to see what develops for the 19%. Meanwhile, if you're thinking of doing an ECU upgrade, this is one upgrade I highly recommend for the 15% pulley.

AMPR

 

No kidding. The torque gain alone, if somewhat reproducible from car to car, is worth it. Some people pay more than twice what the GIAC runs for an exhaust that *might* make half the torque that the GIAC makes.

Will the GIAC programming allow you to store the stock program so you can restore stock settings in the event that you might need to do so?

Marty

 

MartyR, read Eric's original post about the GIAC in vendor announcements. i believe the cable that will be available in a "couple weeks" will allow the user to go from stock to valet to chip at will. i personally will be waiting for that version.

 

BOOYA-KASHAAAAA!

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=29738

 

Why did the 400 injectors cause the car to idle roughly? I have not heard that comment. I could see one step further an offer the RDR Intercooler as well. For the expected $500-$600 range of the RDR, we are looking at only a $1300-$1400 solution which ensures the system doesn't run lean and still runs cool.

 

disco-d,

thanks. I muffed it! bah!

I think I'd better start saving for my next toy.

M

 

Eric,

One more question, if you don't mind. Earlier in the development you mentioned that Garrett was going to re-write more aspects of the stock ECU than other offerings. (Sorry I can't recall the exact details.)

Did he--in his estimation--hit this mark? The reason I'm asking is I'm wondering what improvements in drivability one might expect.

The torque gains look good. Particularly the low- to mid-range results.

Thanks much,

Jeff

 

how hard is it to install larger injectors?

 

Hey guys - check out this graph again. Although the MAX torque for both stock and GIAC ECUs occur at 4500RPMs and the GIAC is 7.4lbs higher there, if you look at the graph, the GIAC really accels from 2000 to 3800 RPMs. In this range, the torque difference looks more like 10lbs! Other interesting observations: at 2k RPMs, it appears the GIAC has almost as much torque as the stock ECU has at 3k RPMs. By 3200k RPMs, the GIAC reaches the stock ECUs max torque. WOW! Now that is impressive!

 

I will definitley out my ecu, I have to test the GIAC program out. b/c I definitley like the torque numbers on it.

 

This is IMHO the current sweet spot. If you could do it with a fuel pressure mod you could be in the $500's and probably take home more dollars!

 

The software for the 19% will include injectors. With proper tuning, anything from 380 to 440 works well: no poor idling. Maxmini has installed 400s with no software and reports that his car idles smoothly. The only issue is that the fuel trim will run at something like -10% which is okay if the car is running well, but can cause problems if the car is out of tune like bad plugs or wires. That's why it's best to tune the software to the injectors.

BTW, the 19 isn't maxing out the injectors to the point of lean running conditions, rather MINIs seem to like lots of fuel to make power up top.

Marty, we are looking at several injectors, with an eye tward affordability. The final product for the 19 will be very competetively priced.

Duck, the original GIACs were complete re-writes, but Garrett found that it wasn't necessary. With the help of a beta copy of a secret scan tool soon to hit the market, we learned that simplicity is the key to success with these cars.

 

I couldn't find any info on a GIAC Cooper (non-S) in this thread. Is that still in the works?

 

Eric,

I would check with jlm and M7 on the injectors. I think M7 makes some that are basically rebuilt stock units and they fit in real nicely. I think that jlm bought some other types and he had problems getting them to work correctly. I don't know what the differences are.

Can you explain what some of the negatives might be? I know one is that the mpg computer on the mini no longer functions correctly, reporting very high mpg numbers.

I really think this could add another 5 or so hp on top of the gains seen with the 15%. I am excited about this one.