Can somebody guide me to buy a good performance chip for my tc? I have some advises, but I want to know your opinion...

 

Don't waste your time.

 

Exactly...
This is a 2.4 ltr, inline 4, with 160 HP...

The ECU alone is helping the engine produce that...and that's a very well made ECU...

Change it, and expect MAYBE 5 HP...

 

A piggy back ECU, tuned properly, can do far more than 5hp. It could give a 5whp minimum increase across the entire power band, with a greater increase at peak, as well as smooth out rough areas or steep drops in the stock power curve. The ECU from the factory, as well designed as it is, is not programmed solely with performance in mind. Fuel economy and emissions played a huge factor. Take a look at Hondata, and what their pre-tuned ECUs can do for B and K series engines. To answer your question Revilo, currently there is only 1 pre-tuned ECU out for the tC that I know of, and its from Unichip. I was pretty excited when I first heard about it, but after some research, it seems sketchy at best. There are 2 others, I believe, in the works, but I can't think of the companies developing them. If done properly, a pre-tuned piggy-back, especially a plug-n-play one, is far from a waste of money. The fact that its a 2.4l doesnt make a difference, it can still benefit from a more aggressively tuned ECU, even when stock. There just aren't any available right now that appear trustworthy. If you're looking for a standalone, then I hear good things about AEM's system. Although you'll have to tune and program everything from scratch (unless they have some base maps available), which can get incredibly expensive ($100+ an hour on a dyno for tuning). And on a stock motor, the cost will likely far out weight the benefits. I'm not sure if that can control VVT-i, either. Power Enterprise’s CamCon can reportedly make VVT-i and A/F ratio adjustments at preset RPM intervals and is much cheaper, but requires a little splicing (2 wires spliced, 3 tapped) and you might again be on your own in terms of tuning (I dont know if they have adjustment maps available for the 2AZ).

 

Yeha what Thrawn said. Basically at this point there isn't a realible company out there making a plug and play setup. This isn't an IROC, you don't just swap a chip to get increased power. There are some tuners out there that can reflash your ecu to work better with your setup even if it is stock.

It wouldn't be unreasonable to gain 10whp over the stock ECU settings given that the factory has to dumb most tuning down to meet the fuel mileage and smog emissions they are targeting. If you're tuning for power though, theres alot to be gained. Just be forewarned that a decent stand alone ECU and the tuning of a car will set you back around $2500 give or take $500. There are going to be a few small parts that the person tuning your car will find that are weak, and may need to be upgraded.

Add something like the power enterprises cam-con and you may see as much as 20whp gains. Not bad for a very driveable car with a completely factory look. Problem is most people would rather spend $3000 on a turbo setup and a piggyback ECU to run fuel management and gain 80-100whp. So currently it's not a popular option to tune an aftermarket ECU for the tC.

You may find in the near future some tuner stepping to the plate and offering a reprogrammed factory ECU for around $500 and that would be well worth it. Look to companies like Vishnutuning.com He is mostly known for his upgrades on EVO's and WRX's, but he'd be someone that might respond if theres enough attention thrown his way.

 

thanks a lot... these messages saved me money... which i will spend in some other mods... thanks

 

ya wat thrawn said

it increase the potential hp gains

CAI w/o ECU = 7 hp
CAI w/ ECU = 10hp

etc etc

 

for the horsepower gains it will give, voiding of the warranty, & the price for ECUs... it's really not worth it.

 

I was going to have a MAFci intake prototyped for my tC, but wasn't able to meet the requirements of the sponsorship.. check out these guys site, www.cp-e.com they are doing just that.. using the piggy-back ECU with a custom intake to achieve sick dyno results on alot of cars, including STi's, Mazda 6 & 3, 350Z's, etc... FYI, I dont know if they have gotten their hands on a tC yet.

 

power enterprise cam con unit is a piggy back . 400 MSRP should add a few horses

 

warranty = overrated.

love warranty all you want, its not the answer to all your cars problems

 

yeaaaaaa............no.

 

Magnuson-Moss Warranty Act. Get to know it, it is your friend.

 

I actually have it downloaded on my computer. But if you have had any past experience with dealers, you'd know that they can make up any BS if they want to to void your warranty. Yes you could take them to court to fight it, but in the end with court fee's and such it isn't worth it.

 

ECU alone won't accomplish a damn thing... (properly tuned) ECU + other mods.. now we're talking..

 

If you can't afford to pay, don't play.

The moss act protects you. If your local dealer won't help you or try and charge you FIND ANOTHER DEALER. If you live in the boonies instead of the city, not my fault. If you have to drive 100 miles out of you way to get warranty work done, then that's what ifs worth.

If not LEAVE YOUR CAR ALONE and be slow like the other 95% of people that buy cars as "appilances".

 

a chip will not get the results that you are going to want and will cost more than it is worth in the end

 

so is there any piggyback systems made for the tC that allows a/f tuning?

from experience, u will need a/f tuning to make the most of your mods, even bolt-on mods. with my rsx, i dyno tuned it via SAFC-2 and gained 10whp/12tq from just tuning with I/RH/E. as u add mods and free up airflow, the stock ECU will do one of 2 things to compensate for increased air:

1)Dump lots of fuel (running rich) into the a/f mix and u'll get horrible gas mpg and loss in performance. this is what happened to my rsx, now with tuning, it runs soo much better.

2) Run lean, too much and and not enough fuel to ignite and use the air. ECU might send the car into a limp mode and car wont go past 4-5k rpms.

Cost efficiency? it all depends on how much the piggyback is. a/f dyno tuning at a local shop usually starts at around $120. the shop guy does it for u and u constantly run on the dyno until u get a nice a/f mix with some added HP. with the gas prices these days, i want a way to tune a/f .