First of All let me start by saying that I am a newbie, LOL!!! I;ve had my 04 MCS for 2 years untouched but after having my beloved 2000 turbocharged civic SI stolen i've decided to start modding the MCS and see what it can really do.

Last friday I had a Alta 15% and 2% pulley along with an Alta intake and i've ordered a magnaflow exhaust. While having the pulleys installed the mechanic suggested that I upgrade my ECU with a plug and play one that would cost around $650 installed. That leads me to my question. The mechanic told me that with my installed mods and the ECu I could expect 20HP from the ECU alone, could this be true? What time of ECU are NAM's finest running in their cars?

Eventually I'll like to install a set of RMW sticks ( having a really tough time finding them) so would an ECU upgrade be worth it? Any assistance will be appreciated. Thank you

 

If you plan to mod more, wait until a header or cam or head is/are installed before doing an ECU tune. Dyno tuning or real time data logging is the way to go. I myself had Shark 93 before RMW tune and the difference was really felt. Other canned tunes like GIAC, MTH also gained more after dimsport dyno tuning. Reading from the threads lately, it looks like Mynes Tuning is another alternative to Dimsport Tuning (RMW, LDG). Mynes looks like that they have cracked the MINI ECU programming more than anybody else. It's your choice.

 

20 HP from any canned tune only is veeeeery optimistic... If ya want the best find when Jan (RMW) will be doing a dyno tune near you and sign up.

 

Which Plug-and-Play is your mechanic referring to? For $650, that's an awesome price. I'd like to check it out too Let me know what u find out.

cheers.
mike

 

its probably the unichip...those canned ones are alright but honestly talk to jan...i say if u going to do it...do it right once and be done with it

 

Back away from the canned tune ! !

They are not worth the money. Too many folks have had very serious problems after installing some of these products.