OK,

A lil irritated but I wont re-hash. Im looking into getting some ECU tunning and was hoping to get some awnsers as my first choice didnt quite pan out.

First off I have:
- Ultrik Cam
- Alta Intake
- Miltek Exhaust (Full exhaust Header,cat,catback)
- 15% pulley 2% crank (Alta)
- colder NGK's
- Injectors (JCW I believe)
car runs and pulls great. before id like to take it further (IE: head) I want to get a tune for what I have. Last time I posted I was having major issues due to compression loss through loose plugs and a slipping belt. This is now fixed and im around 190whp no tune.

- Leaning twords UNI-Chip Q as my tuner can get deals on them and is familliar with the programming

- Not much info on MTH Ive yet to recieve a responce to a website inquiry i sent mabye its down

- LDG I cant seem to extract the info I need so I gave up
- DINAN Seems canned but an option Ive only heard good from them

So far from what I have read up on and have talked to via PM's and other posts from users not vendors Im leaning on the Unichip-Q. Only thing I dislike is that it is piggyback and I wonder if the ECU will learn around it. Id setup a switch in my car that disconects the battery if I had to to reset every now and then but would rather not. Id like there to be a tunning software that I my self can flash and/or my tuner can flash directly to the ECU. this would be my ideal situation.

Lastly lets keep this on topic if we could (as i could care less what a specific ecu flash/chip can do with only a flux capacitor installed) <-- Prior bitterness snuck up on me at the end there. Other than that my few posts on here have been pretty damn helpful and I appreciate that NAM.

 

 

We use the stock ecu with an apexi safc and have produced 220whp on our dyno before we went racing and fine tuned at the track. I believe we have a little bit more now.

We do have a wideband and a data logger as well to monitor the afr.

 

Stay "tuned" for upcoming info concerning the Hydra. We (Jeff Perrin with Alta) hope to put a wideband on the car and tune the Nemesis this week. I'll post info as it becomes available.

 

Actually my tuner did try to steer me twords the Apexi the only reason I did not mention was he said the unichiop costs more but fuel and timming are a separated vice with the apexi if you change one you change the other. So basicly he was saying that he could fine tune with the Unichip a little better.

Also with the Apexi unit does the ECU learn around it? THis has been one of the foggiest journeys I have come across trying to choose a ECU. Some say it will... some say it wont.

 

Sweet, I have a couple of alta stuff on my car as all my mods were installed before I bought it used. Oh and the kicker is I got the preowned cert BMW dealer to warranty the work that was done . This ECU just has too much control like ECU: "Oh its monday and foggy ill pull timming cause i like ham" In all seriousness though I noticed that my car felt really crisp the other day it was like 72-71 deg by the computer, rainy, but the odd thing was my temp guage never sits centered on the middle notch but for that time of the day it did and the car was really responsive felt just right.

 

I had the Apexi SAFC2 Neo on my car before the Hydra. It worked great and posted signifigant gains. We used it to tune my water injection and saw 212 whp. It's in brand new condition (used a couple of months) if you are interested in it, let me know.

 

212whp with a stock head , please say it isn't so

 

???

 

I may not know the MINI all that well yet and even more so of its ECU but i would be hard pressed to believe there are not fairly significant gains to be had with my setup.

OH and before I post again Im suposed to be hitting the Dyno up today in the after noon/late afternoon this time getting boost readings as well. Where should the tuner tap into for boost? I assume by the fuel pressure regulator i printed a diagram it was for gauge install but if theres an easier way for DYNO only not gauges let me know.

What should i be at with boost considering above items in my 1st post?

With that said ill be sure to post the dyno probably in my original post today. You guys can tell me what you think and ill be verry grateful. Not really Dyno racing but more or less want to see where I am at from a tuning standpoint.

 

I'll bet you dyno at about 180 whp

 

What year blower?? What octane fuel??

 

Giac offers a 30 day guarantee - find local dealer, confirm guarantee, install and you got 30 days.

LDG - did you call and speak w/ John? I'm shipping him my ecu on Monday to complete/fine tune my Dragon Tune (my car wasn't 100% and it is now). A partial tune got me 8 hp over the GIAC.

Unichip - a lot of people call it the "useless chip" and will never reach the levels of a direct ecu tune BUT if you want to go this route - pick up a used one at the marketplace they pop up there regularly.

PS - my last dyno was 188.5 - see my sig - no cam, stock injectors. & no 2% crank pulley. - of course different day and dyno.

 

well I ment what do you think of my AFR and boost im making but your close I made 187hp and almost 15psi the graph with AFR and PSI wasnt the best boost pull i think under higher load I showed more PSI closer to 15. Youi can also see how fixing some issues like plugs and belt slipping cleaned up my AFR a bit and this is where I gained. I got a fitting for a boost gauge now weeeee. Ok let me post them pics...

NOTE: The car computer registered 95 deg in that bay also this is not a dynojet (Large G-tech) i think the plugs made the diffrence as I really didnt notice the belt slipping but saw the tensioner was failing.

Oh and FUel was 93 octane Shell V-P0w@h!!! 03 MCS.

OK this shows before and after the plug issue/slipping belt HP &TQ


This one shows before and after AFR notice that RPM range and AFR at the end looks like the same spot I get 10 or so HP also the boost line is for todays run does it look right for a 15% and 2%? I had a run where it was more like 14.8 under more load. these were 4th gear pulls.

 

Just wondering what boost are you seeing still searching for the PSI i should be seeing if im not already.

 

i have innovative AFR reading the air fuel ratio, and i'm using stock ecu reading. i notice that stock ecu gives you very rich fuel maps, even you have CAI CAT-BACK 15% pulley. i'm not too sure about the ignition map, but i have heard that BMW ECU advance the timing when you use better octane fuel. dont know if is ture? now what does reflash change? does only pull timing out and stay with stock fuel map?

 

Like I said before in another post I felt that its the ECU holding us back Just look at what that small step twords a correct AFR did for my HP/TQ by 5500 RPM im below 10 the AFR plot dosent even read that far. Im told all minis are like this stock. AFR should be around 12.1 or so from what I hear so if adjusting that AFR curve to reflect that would be a huge diffrence compared to that slight move that was made giving me 10 hp TQ if i could afford to dyno often id try to see if running 100 octane with a batter reset for half a tank then dyno helps out that AFR at the end. Another thing Ive noticed is on dynos with not to many parts making a bunch of HP the AFR does not dive but levels off. Also to credit LDG It suggest mabye the approch he is taking keeps the engine temps w/in optimal peramiters keeping the knock ninjas at bay the same knock ninjas dumping fuel and/or pulling timming.

Mabye the plugs caused the ECU not to pull as much timming/dump fuel at the end of the RPM band. *** Eliminate knock preignition to eliminte the timming retard/fuel dump? anyone else picking up on this or am I de- railing

So mabye instead of going against the ECU's life saving technique we should prevent it from having to use it in the first place???

 

There good numbers for an early car, I would personally put a good IC on next, we usually see another 10 with that.

Using 100 is okay and you will gain timing/hp but are you goingto use it all the time?? If not then you're cheating yourself.

Have you compression checked or leaked the engine down??

We personally saw 197whp with a cam header 15% and one ball but with a late supercharger stock ecu. unfortunatley it never went back on with the IC.

Good luck and keep us posted.

 

Thanks for sharing your dyno charts!

I use the MTH Tuner software and I've been very pleased with it. I've heard many different opinions on MTH though...and in my opinion, its simply hit or miss as to whether or not it fits your car and its mods well. (Even though its "custom" to your mods, it doesn't always seem to be that way...)

Here is my dyno chart showing the before and after of the MTH:
*Before mods = 15% pulley, OBX header/no cat, one-ball exhaust, ultrik CAI, stock IC/stock plugs/stock injectors
*After = Same as above but with MTH
**Also, notice how smooth the graph is compared to yours, and it was done on the same kind of dyno as yours.


Also, I have the A-F chart in the car...if you want to see that I can scan it as well.

 

wolud to see your A/F graph.

 

Again my cars onboard computer after we pulled it out of the dyno bay was reading 95 deg so im sure this may have skewed results and possible pulled a little timming because of how hot it was.

what do you think of that boost line it takes a wierd shape id think unless its sumthin to do with the BPV or is it the ECU putting me in check then releasing me some more? I can not find a good awnser on what PSI i should be at with 15% 2%. Anyone Know? Oh if its no biggie id like to see AFR that is what is making me think either..

A.) if its rich the ECU is preserving the engine robbing power
b.) its inherent of the Mini w/o tune
c.) all of the above

One thing i would not want to do force it to get leaner if there is inaudible but damaging goin on and by design its protecting me.

overall the car runs great.

Oh lastly Where can I get a leakdown/compression test done? How much does it generally cost and what do I make of the results? I heard of this before never looked into it.

Oh side note my AFR looks jerky too I wonder if its that I dunno. When you say custom to your mods do you mean tuned on the dyno or canned but for a car with the same type of parts installed?

 

I have heard many great things about the GIAC software and Emil with Dimsport. These are the two that I am looking into right now as well.

 

Here ya go...

 

Thats wierd at the end how it ramps up. Not the RPM cuttoff but before that the AFR rises from 11.1 to like 12.6. You are running a much better fuel curve than I for sure.

My half educated guess is this:
The MTH tune is leaning out the closed loop thus climbing back up to where it should be.

I wish J&S Knock gaurd had a product for our cars if anything just to monitor what cylinder is knocking and how much the ECU is pulling.

 

On a prayer i went to auto zone and lone behold they had the autometer boost gauge i wanted (lite series) it matches the mini gauge cluster but now im getting an idea of my boost now. Ill be getting the gauge pods for the tach soon mbye the 3 pod cause i saw a really cool tire press gauge for all 4 tires. and mabye a wide band or something else worth having. Doubt ill need oil temp/press id rather keep it clean. right now its using semi-hidden zip ties lol.

heres what i saw after it was hooked up:
- Vac at idle was around 10-15
- engine braking produced about 24 vac didnt mess with vac testing much
- 2nd and 3rd gear loads maxed boost around 14.5psi
- 4th seemed to reach 15psi this was also verified on the Dyno where I was making 14.8 in 4th

im wondering if with my cam this is the PSI i should read cause i think a cam could lower psi. also I have 15%pulley and 2% crank. I was under the imression with a 15% and 2% id be over 15psi for sure.

Oh and I now know what needle bounce is cause i got it near 13-15psi but wasnt alot of occilation I could still see where the middle of the bouncing was. What causes that needle bounce?