I know it's a hard question to answer.

I'm wondering when it is that you have the right combination of mods on your car that you are perhaps losing power without doing an ECU (software) upgrade.

So far, I have a Milltek exhaust (no header), 15% supercharger reduction pulley (with cooler plugs installed), JCW intake (no injectors) and because it fit in my budget an Alta intercooler air diverter cover. I was going to put on a 2% crank pulley and I was talking to someone who suggested that without an ECU upgrade, I would likely start losing power because the boost with the 2% pulley installed would be too great for the current software. He went on further to suggest that a new intercooler would also be beneficial because with the added boost, you needed improved cooling. While that sounds logical, I just wanted to put on a crank pulley - I didn't want to spend $2000.

So, let's hear it - what do you think? When is an ECU upgrade essential?

 

More Boost = More Air = More Power, your ECU has nothing to do with the amount of boost your SC puts out, it only further optimizes the burn by providing more fuel/timing, and thus, additional power. you won't "Lose" power. There may be additional power to gain by upgrading your intercooler/software though. Contact Don at Precision Mini for the MTH Software, it's fairly economical, and it all does basically the same thing.

 

IMO, I would do an ECU upgrade with a big throttle body, big injectors, Head work or Header.

On a different note does Don offer 12 months of MTH updates with the initial purchace of MTH Tuner file, like MTH-USA used to do?

 

An ECU Upgrade is worth it whenever you feel the need to smooth things out with software tailored to your individual mods. You don't need headwork to see gains with software. A pulley and intake will benefit just as much from software and you will see 90% of the gains from the software that you would if you had a built out motor. 8-10 wHP is pretty much the standard for software.

 

I would say it is ESSENTIAL when you do a cylinder head. It is not a bad idea to do it when you have an intake, pulley, exhaust, header, throttle body... but if you just have a pulley intake and exhaust... you will get fairly minimal gains for the money spent. (some software is 700-800 bucks) Also, YOU might want it to smoothen things out... some of the factory computers do a remarkable job of adapting to the mods... other factory computers don't cope so well...

 

While I felt that each mod added to the cars general performance, it was with the ecu upgrade that i felt that they were maximized/harmonized.

The maximization comes in the form of smoothness, faster revs and a SOP feeling of a few more HP/TQ.

I think the ECU upgrade should be the engine 4th or 5th mod. I am delighted with the results and your car will benefit from the upgrade. There are various ecu upgrade providers and it requires a little research to determine which is for you. I am running the GIAC and I did a post "ecu giac upgrade".

 

Stock engine will not see much gain from an ECU upgrade. But it would still worth it.

With your mods, it will definitely be a good thing! The stcok ECU will work but an aftermarket one will put everything together. As far as I am concerned, I'd choose MTH Tuner or GIAC. Both have made their proofs!

 

You guys are out of your mind if you think that tunning the factory ecu won't add horsepower to a stock car. Using just a generic map for similair mods is ok... But if you get a custom tune on the dyno you will make horsepower.

 

 

I'm of the same mind here. The factory ECU is playing it conservatively. Much like how your computer's CPU is rated for a certain speed, but that rated speed is what the CPU is guaranteed to do - there's at least some (however little) potential for overclocking, and manufacturers tend to rate CPU speeds as slower than they actually are, partly to prevent field returns and defects.

 

im with you... but the thing that pays the most bennefit is tunning your car on a dyno... not downloading software.

 

I had the exact (almost) same mods( 15% pulley, colder plugs, Milltek Catback, Alta Intake) when I got a Unichip. In my case I got a packaged program, no custom tune, and my impression was that the Unichip definitely rounded and balanced everything out with "some" but dyno improvement. Afterwards I got the Alta diverter/sprayer and got no noticeable improvements, though I'm sure it doesn't hurt me any (and my butt is not really that calibrated ).

The only difference between you and me is that I'm still on the fence about changing the crank pulley. My car is a daily driver and I'm not sure I want to remove the harmonic balancer just yet. If you plan to do the 2% crank, I would either wait to install it and get a tune afterwards, or get a tune to your liking that you can easily get re-tuned to account for the 2% crank.

If you don't plan on doing any non "bolt-on" mods (porting, heads, turbo, etc.) it is definitely the time to be thinking about the tune to get the most out of your mods. If available to you, get a custom tune. That is the one thing I would love to do if I had it available.

Sorry for the long post, Good Luck!

 

i would recomend that you do not do the crank pulley! you only have to see the carnage of a crank pulley gone wrong once to never want to do one. Also, to see the carnage done to the wallet afterwords is not worth the couple extra horsepower. But i don't want to hijack the thread so if you would like to hear about it either pm or start another thread

 

d

 

I think you should get one when the price is right, when you have enough invested in mods so that it woun't seem like a big expense, and make sure you get one that can be remapped in the future,like a UniChip...

https://www.northamericanmotoring.co...ad.php?t=82788

 

You are now at the point that an ecu upgrade will not only compliment your mods, smooth things out but you will gain ponies. Its time to research ecu upgrade options - there are numerous ones. available GIAC, MTH, Unichip are proabably the best known or used here.

By the way - there is no best one. We all have our favorites. Find the one that best suits you.

 

BEWARE - TEMPORARY THREAD HIJACK
It's just logical for me that the crank pulley mod is a riskier one that some other bolt ons, but most people that have had it done sing praises of it. Since the MCS's stock throttle response from idle is "lacking", the crank pulley mod always creeps up in my mind, since it is pretty economical at this point compared to any other mods I can do. If you look at my mods you can see that I have gone the conservative route on everything, that's why I have leaned against doing the crank up to know.

Before writing this response I did a search on the crank pulley mod. Holy Cow what a bunch of beauties (threads, that is)! Unless someone likes self mutilation, I would NEVER suggest opening another crank pulley thread.

THREAD HIJACK OVER