I've been on the fence for months on which ECU upgrade to purchase and after reading tons of posts here on NAM, my son and I went to a GIAC Distributor and got the ECU reflashed with the 15% pulley file.

It has "pulled together" all of our mod efforts and we are delighted . The car is smoootherrrrrr throughout the entire RPM band. Revs feel more lively too. Just pulling out from a stop is different, no initial hesiation. Up top pulls strong all the way up to our new readline .

DELIGHTED!!!!

$325.00 installed and it took just 20 minutes .

 

So is there any advantage of getting tuned on a dyno when installing GIAC? BahamaBart, did I meet you and your son at MOTD 2005?

 

it gets even better after a while . love the torque.

 

Since I do not know what MOTD is - I will assume we have not met - lol

GIAC really only offers 2 files -
1) 15%
2) 17% / 19% w/ larger injectors

So for those who are going MOD "Maxamus", GIAC is not the way to go. From an engine mod perspective I am now DONE . My son (16) will be taking over this car more and more. OUR objective was to create a spirited daily driver and I think we have been highly successful .

I considered MTH, GIAC and Unichip - all good and each have pros and cons. After speaking with Eric (Helix13) who worked with GIAC to develop these files, I decided to go this route.

Here is a GTECH pre / post comparison. BEAR IN MIND its GTECH runs - not even a DYNO to argue over . I did 3 runs (before and after) and dropped the high and low.

It implies HP went up about 8 hp and incremental 13 lbs of TQ.

The car runs and pulls STRONG and SMOOTH at the same time. As I said originally, the GIAC pulled everything together. Note the new redline of 7,200

 

Glad to hear that you finally made a decision and are happy with it. It will definately get even better after a little while.

 

I can't imagine "better" but I am open to the notion.

I had read all the GIAC posts and saw your contributions (thanks) and others. The one thing I picked up on was that no one expressed disappointments, disatisfaction, problems nor negatives ect.......... said a lot !

 

that is a comparison of the Pre & Post GAIC only, right?

Looks good! I just got my 15% from Helix, need to get that installed and I think I will be headed down the same path. Spirited Daily driver here as well...

thanks!

 

gotta love the GIAC, not an amazing power adder, but definitely something you can feel if anything just for the smoothness up top... and i love the 7200 rpm redline, it just keeps going, and the shriek from the supercharger goes from an angry wail to a screaming banshee!

 

Helix (Eric) was unbelievable - after talking for well over 20 minutes, he recommend that I find a local GIAC dealer rather than send him my ECU and money AND he said if the dealer had not done a MCS before that I should have the dealer call him and he would walk them thru it .

This is the kind of person/company you want to do business with !

THANK ERIC

 

Oh yeah

 

Nice to see some independent numbers.
Looks like money well spent.

 

JUST BEAR IN MIND that these are from a GTECH RR - I choose to discarded high/low runs on before/after GIAC. IF I compare best runs before and after as well as worse run comparison before and after the graphs are similarly shaped.

I only posted this graph because the delta was in the realm of vendor claims of 4-6hp (I forgot who told me or where i read that 9hp was max.possible) and 5-10lbs of TQ.

ALL the GTECH does is a) confirm that the software did add HP and TQ - how much of each - not clear. b) confirms SOP driving as example how the GIAC TQ comes on early and strong - exactly how the car feels compared to before GIAC.

YES - worth the 325 dollars and tweenty minutes to install. 30 day return policy so ........ nothing to lose.

 

Here's an update - wife took the car this morning to run some errands.

Comes in from the garage

WIFE says - "what did you two do to the car ."

"what do you mean, dear ".

WIFE says - "Well it runs totally different "

"how so "

WIFE - well its got more punch and seems smoother - did you get a tune up "

"Yes, dear we got the car tuned ."

Wife - "well it needed it ".

There ya go WIFE SOP review

 

my wife hadn't driven mine since it was stock but the other day she drove it . when she came back she just shook her head at me .

 

That settles it. This upgrade is for real.
Wives have the most sensitive butt dynos you know.

 

That's funny and "true".
Not sure if that is a butt dyno or a "brain dyno".

Hey I added an aftermarket exhaust to our family sedan without consulting the "upgrade police".

She didn't like the upgrade. Too loud she said. Nevermind better performance. (That's why the GIAC is sooooo good- not louder, just faster and smoother).

Later I asked the muffler specialist if there were any want to add an exhaust silencer for my GReddy SP system. He said "are you kidding, that exhaust is the quietest I have?"

Long ago I added a Quicksilver exhaust for my MCS and the big box arrived at our doorstep. My wife said "what's in the big box?" I told her it's a muffler.

I have to smile when she asked if you got a "tune up". Right.
Time for me to get a "tune up". Wait I already have GIAC with 19% pulley and JCW injectors! Nevermind.

 

haha

 

I too went the spirited daily driver route and am happy with the results. (I'm in the Philly burbs, so of course Eric at Helix was my go to guy.)

I just put in the Detroit Tuned bypass valve and I think I'm done now. Everything is playing nicely together (see list of mods in my sig line and sub DT for VGS) and the car is a joy to drive.

Thanks Eric!

 

Has anyone done both the GIAC and MTH on the same car?

I'm just curious as to the differences felt between the two???

 

I have. No dramatic difference in power, seat of the pants. I liked the MTH changes to the e-throttle, reducing the tendancy for rpms to "hang" between shifts. I suspect that he also tweaks it to be more responsive to throttle input at part throttle (ie what used to be "25%" is now "35%" so the engine feels more powerful). Please note that I just made those numbers up to help communicate!

The reason for switching from MTH to GIAC was having the ECM lock up while trying to reload an MTH flash. Eric at Helix was able to get the ECM to accept the GIAC flash, which has worked just as seemlessly and smoothly as a factory cal. Absolutely zero issues, so until I make some significant changes to the engine I also have absolutely no reason to change from GIAC.

Scott
90SM

 

I was very happy with my GAIC tune, I occasionally got a lean code going up hills and still had a noticable flat spot. I switched to the MTH because I wanted to try a 19% without going to bigger ingectors and I wanted to switch back to the 15% for track days.

I would say I don't think there was any noticable difference in power but the 15% tuner file from MTH was noticably smoother, the flat spot although still there is bearly perceptable, if I didn't know it was there I doubt I would notice it and I haven't had a code since.

I do think that with these non car specific tune it is kind of a crap shoot as to which one is going to work the best with your car but I thought that both provided improvements worth the money over stock.

 

We can only dream about an ECU shoot out which will never happen. Many here use MTH and there is a GIAC group as well. After a year of reading all of the ECU posts this what I mentally put together.

MTH

Pro - most customizable software non-piggy back system. The tuner option is designed to take you from no mods to all of your mods in a 12 month period. Greatly, improves the vehicle.

Con - Service. There is a history of poor and slow service however there is a new US player for MTH (Don of Presion Mini) and since his involvement have only heard positive things .

Neutral - Install, its do it yourself. MTH provides the file and Cartune software. You need to have a PC and purchase the necessary interface cable. I say this is neutral because for some this is positive and others this is a negative. Another neutral is their file library while vast, it has taken some more than one file to get the "right one" on their car. Again this is neutral because it is the price one might pay for true customization.

Another semi-con is that I do not get the sense that if they advance a particular file (i.e. for a set of specific mods) that MTH users of the old file are automatically updated / advised. Only via the board do people hear about a new version and the user must request it. If I am wrong here someone please correct me.

GIAC

Pro - Install - easy, done by local distributor. 30 day money back policy. After reading many, many post; I did not find one person who expressed any disatisfaction (MTH cannot say the same). Greatly improves the vehicle.

Con or Neutral - limited file options 1) 15 pulley (which I understand was developed for a car w/ 15/cai/catback) and 2) 17/19 pulley (which I understand was developed for a car w/ 17 or 19/cai/catback) but requires larger injectors. If you plan on doing more its is a CON.

The decision on which one is right for you is based on the degree of mods you intend to do and the install process which is more appealing (i.e. GIAC is more simplistic than MTH). For me it was easy - In my case BOTH had files to adress my MODS and I would have been equally happy but I found the GIAC install process more appealing.

Bottom line - both greatly enhance your vehicle, as a MOD it comes in second right after the pulley and is a must in my opinion.

 

Does anyone know if the GIAC files are year specific? Do they have different files for 2005 vs 2004 or 2003. I know from past experience with ECU tuning the VWs, there were files specific to the ECU numbers that changed every year.

 

On the website (www.giacusa.com) it indicates 2003-2006 but when you click on that to see files options it indicates 2003-2005. I will assume that the website was poorly updated.

 

I'm ready to get a tune.. I am going with GIAC and I concur with your assesment from all the reading and research I have done.