aftermarket ECU on a non turbo car

[Astroboysoup]

does it make much of a difference....

id like to smooth out my power curve rather than the crazy graph i got now...

can i do it?

[Inf3ct0R]

yes and yes?

[Babalouie]

Best thing to do, is to get your car on a dyno. Measure the air to fuel (AFR) ratio to rpm. Ideally, max power is made at about 12.6:1.

The size of the power gain will be determined by how far off 12.6 you are. When I tuned my car, it was in the mid 11's, and correcting that netted 4rwkw. If you are in the 10's as I expect most modded 1.6s might be, then your gain will be greater.

But if for some unknown reason your AFR is in the 12s anyway then you won't see much gain above what you already got.

[Adam_NAclubman]

I've seen claims on the site for the AdapTronic ecu that seemed to show there are gains to be had

http://www.adaptronic.com.au/reports/Ma ... Report.php

[trader]

This is an interesting topic - one that I've been looking at too as I want a bit more power but keep the car NA. I have inquired about the adaptronic, unichip and autronic - all claim around 10% increase (I have modified exhaust and CAI and advanced the timing). Unichip was the cheapest (a piggy back device) allows fuel mapping but not sure if it does timing.

Babalouie has an interesting comment as my car dynoed only 62Kwk with the mods - a figure achieved with a stocky on the same day! Sounds like I should get a full dyno tuneup before I go any further.

[Astroboysoup]

yes i will have to do another rn with a look at my air/fuel ratio...

I suspect that the ratio varies all over the power band since there are a few flat spots in power.

I think i'll go the emanage ultimate cos it has a air/fuel ratio guide in its software. Almost auto tuning your car for you. Also good cos if I go turbo I can still use the emanage with the turbo.

I hope cooling won't be too much of an issue. Sometimes on my drives to work the temp gauge doesn't even make it to the middle where it normally sits. I drive 20ks and its just off cold.

cool... i'll save up some money after i get the hardtop and start tuning up....

[Juffa]

I hope cooling won't be too much of an issue. Sometimes on my drives to work the temp gauge doesn't even make it to the middle where it normally sits. I drive 20ks and its just off cold.

Maybe your thermostat is stuck open?? My water temp is up to 80 degrees C within about 5-10Km, and sits between 88 and 90 once fully warmed up.

J

[Astroboysoup]

I hope cooling won't be too much of an issue. Sometimes on my drives to work the temp gauge doesn't even make it to the middle where it normally sits. I drive 20ks and its just off cold.

Maybe your thermostat is stuck open?? My water temp is up to 80 degrees C within about 5-10Km, and sits between 88 and 90 once fully warmed up.

J

nah its not stuck open cos when im stuck in peak hour traffic it reaches the mid mark around 90 degrees... but once i get moving again it drops

[greenMachine]

but once i get moving again it drops

Sounds just like a stuck thermostat to me

[93_Clubman]

A properly tuned aftermarket ECU will always give you a gain in power and torque from the factory ECU. Fuelling is important but the ability to modify the ignition table is what will really give you the improved torque and power.

I know of a guy in the US who managed to get 50 whp out of a 65 Mustang on a dyno just from adjusting the ignition and not even touching the fuel ratios. So don't get too excited about the ability of an ECU to only adjust the fuel.

hey steve, when i had a unichip fitted just under 18 months ago i was told, for a standard early na8 at least, there was little if any room to optimise ignition, at least using unichip, however fuel was another matter. appreciate the limitations of the unichip as a low/ lower end piggyback ecu allowing optimisation of fuel & ignition, but would you agree with the advice i received? or is it the case that a high/ higher end piggyback/ standalone would be capable of modifying the ignition table in an early na8?

[93_Clubman]

many thanks steve - when the unichip was fitted & dyno tunned vehicle was running 98 octane but timing was left @ 10 dbtdc due to the previously mentioned opinion. i've been happy enough with unichip for what it is, but had been thinking about replacing it early next year which i'll now definitely do.

[Sean]

An example of the benefits of spark optimisation for a MX (a 1.6 at least) are that 20% more torque can be found at low rpm with an ignition advance of 18 DBTDC (you will need to run premium unleaded so you don't get knock). However maximum power is reached at the higher rpm with an ignition advance of 14 DBTDC.

Those figures have been floating around for years. I've heard them from day one of being an MX5 driver with net access. Remember those figures are based on standard ECU and standard fuelling. I've never seen the same car run back to back on any dyno in Australia to prove the results in our conditions, certainly I advanced my timing to 14 degrees and thought i had an improvement, but it could have easily been a placebo effect.

Last improvement I made to my car gained 24h (dyno proven) and I thought it felt less powerful! Smooth delivery of power will likely make you think you have less, but if it picks up some at the top end and looses some at the bottom you may think you MUCH more power, when effectively the car will be slower to top speed.

For this reason I'd take the above figures with a grain of salt over here in Australia cause ther's no real concrete evidence to support them.

[Sean]

Ah OK, missed you point dude.

Certainly there are gains to be found with a tuneable ECU

My 24hp was not a direct result of ECU, teh car already had teh ECU and other mods, we changed cams and picked up considerable power across teh rev range.

I guess that's another advantage of aftermarket ECU, leave your options open for further mods in the future.

[Astroboysoup]

definately

fuel price here in adelaide are just baout to hit the $1.50 mark as supplies become scarce.

I can't wait to get my emanage.