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Hi Guys,

Wanting some food for thought! just upgraded wheels and tyres on the SP and now running rpf1's 15X8 and 225's rs3's and can i say the grip is sensational compared to the re001's (205's). They look great and the car feels so much more planted, the only issue I have is that its kind of lost its playful nature and the ease of adjusting the angle of the car car mid corner like it used to isn't there anymore. The way it behaves in acceleration/deceleration is different too with the extra grip and rotating mass.

I'm now thinking of a power upgrade to match its handling capabilities, nothing crazy of course maybe an extra 1-2 psi of boost and also wondering what other people have done to their SP's or turbo 5's. Power train is all standard as it came. Is 1-2 psi extra safe to run on standard internals?

Also wondering if anyone has had experience with either two of these companies and the tune they provide

- Chiptorque
claim 10kw in mid range at the wheels and 15kw extra in peak power. cost approx $700

- Powerchip
in their info sheet they boast a 23kw and 43nm increase in delivery (am a bit skeptical) but dont mention an increase in boost so i assume this is also at standard boost levels. cost $1290
http://www.powerchipgroup.com/datasheets/1/MAZ0061.pdf

Thoughts!? as im only looking for a slight bump in power i dont really want to go the route of a full standalone.

isnt there an $3 upograde which adds 20-30 kw?

relocating some vacuum hose?

Considering the re001s would be old and hard.
I'd be more concerned regards bent rods with any simple upgrade.

270rwhp with an ecu and a couple of things to go with it.

Get yourself some nice smooth delivery and consistant behaviour too, even get a little economy back.

Dann

Would love to go full tune plus more but its not really within my budget after i spent out on the coils, wheels and tyres. Not really after huge gains either which is why i was thinking about the chiptorque tune and a slight boost increase. No one had experience with them?

bmchi wrote:Would love to go full tune plus more but its not really within my budget after i spent out on the coils, wheels and tyres. Not really after huge gains either which is why i was thinking about the chiptorque tune and a slight boost increase. No one had experience with them?

Chiptorque did the original tuning for SPs.
The "chiptorque tune" involves replacing an existing chip on your ECU with another one that contains a tune specific to your car's configuration - it will cost around $800 so it's not a cheap mod (if you want to make further modz you need to replace the chip again with one specific to your new configuration and fork out another $800 so it's best to make all modz at once and pay for the chip tune ONCE).
For best results, leaving the car with them to tailor the chip tune specific to your configuration will yield the best results, otherwise they'll just create a tuned chip based on what you tell them you have and you hope it's OK (most likely it will be "good enough").

Powerchip have somewhat of a reputation.

Especially the guy who used to (still does?) Run it, Wayne Besanko.
A few mins on Google bring up a few stories about his method of running a business.

So yeah, I'd personally avoid them.



As far as power, my understanding is that the SP was a product of the technology, budget, and laws of the time it was made, and that because of this the ecu tune was far from ideal.

I would be looking at local tuners and discussing what ecu they recommend and use, as well as talking it over with chiptorque.

Go with whoever you are most confident with, and who is most willing to provide follow up help/tunes of needed.

Just a small correction to Lokiel's comment, the new chips supplied by Chiptorque are re-programmable (about $300 from memory) but obviously the ecu would have to be sent off again.

Unless you can give them your car the tune will be a "best guess" based on your supplied information and their experience and data base.

I can't say about SP's, but I have had the Chiptorque tune in my SE for a year now and am very happy. I was also budget limited but liked the idea that nothing else except the tune changes from factory reliability. I also had it tuned allowing for a couple of known "future intended" upgrades to save having to send it off again. I discussed everything (and more) with Lachlan and he gave me heaps of advice. He was very helpful through the whole process.

No problems whatsoever with the chip and tune so far.

I know billybunter had his SE chipped for several years on a similar tune to mine, and now has a full on 300rwhp tune with an aftermarket ecu, so he's got experience with both sides. I'd shoot him a pm and see what he reckons.

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Thanks for the update KevGoat from an actual customer.
Crapweasals' first SE had a Chiporque upgrade and timk had one too in one of his cars so there's plenty of happy customers vs the PowerChip alternative.

So does it only cost $300 if you send them the ECU and you get an upgrade based on their database and your specifications?

A custom tune with an actual vehicle will be more expensive since it requires dyno time.

Yeah Lokiel, you're not having to pay for another chip plus I'd assume less programming (not savvy on the tech requirements of tuning).

billybunter's chip was also not re-programmable. Turns out I just missed out on their brand new chip that's even better again apparently.

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I have the CHIPTORQUE upgrade on my SE, very please with it.
Cheers
Steven

Hello bmchi

Send a message to MX5-SP ( Snow white ) about your plans as he has done exactly what your wanting to do...

Andrew should be able to point you in the right direction...

cheers
tez

Chiptorque v Powerchip - no contest - the former!
$2 mod sounds like what you need if only after a small gain, but also recall that this has been mentioned in an earlier thread, so be cautious, or go balls to the wall as Dann suggests, which is probably safer!
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Thanks guys! awesome info I'll give mx5 SP (snow white) a pm too and will let you all know how i go

Well you did say your on a budget so that's either a low budget for the Chip-torque chip -say $700 or a high budget of many thousand of $$$$ for a big HP jump

Given the choice -i'd go for the Chip-torque chip for a few hundred bucks and here's the main reason. I don't think you can use that big power that much anyway so it's a bit useless to me. that chip will give you all the power you will ever need and you will surely notice the difference immediately. I ran the first chip for years

Best of all you will only do a mere $700 max on the chip and not a 10 fold plus $$$ drop on a -wait for it -MEGA POWER BUILD- remember too I still have the option to go E85 so how could you lose if you start throwing the big $$$ into these builds motor wise -you have to be there for the long haul or it could be a very expensive loss or you might enjoy the loss