Unbiased Unichip Review
 

this helps me alot i was thinknig about getting one of these but its a little expensive and by its description on therer website they made it seem like it wil give you more hp then people are desribing.....honeslty chips..intakes and exhasut i wouldnt expect a big gain.....but you would notcied the difference....is this chip worth the $500 no in my opion unless it gives you more then 20 WHP or something like that...i have mixed feeling about buying one..i might get one used like you cause i dont want to spend big bucks and it doesnt do much so this is a great review

i've thought about the unichip and this review doesn't really help me. you're still using the butt dyno as your primary measuring tool. feels like this, feels like that doesn't do anything for me.

we need hard numbers bro. that means dynos and track times both before and after with all other conditions being equal. there is no such thing as unbiased review that isn't based on quantitative characteristics.

i'll keep an eye on this thread to see what numbers you come up with.

The review is unbiased in the sense that I am not affiliated with Unichip or one of it’s competitors thus I have nothing to gain by promoting or critiquing this product.

I don’t plan to spend money on dyno runs. If the butt dyno doesn’t register much I doubt the real thing will show large gains, but if you are willing to fund some runs I would be glad to take my car down to the shop. :icon_biggrin:

get it tuned on your car.

Yeah put that header on and another resonator in your midpipe and get it tuned!

Unforunately, this review is incomplete. I mean, the Unichip wasn't even tuned properly and you are saying it does not do much. Have you sent it to Unichip and gotten it back with the proper set-up (header/exhaust)? Did the performance change at all? I believe the Unichip is worth the money. I mean, I am going to spend $600+ for an exhaust and intake but less on the chip for possibly the same gains. A good deal to me. The only reason why people are hesitant is because they cannot see it or hear it like the I/H/E.

i actually jus recieved my unichip today. baught for $200 from SL member. had it reprogrammed for my weapon r header/trd intake setup by unichip. same happened to me wen i started it. didnt start 1st try. had to do it again.(only wen i first installed it) i was hyped about it, but when i drive i dont feel much of a difference. it does add hp but theres no BANG for your buck. its throwing money away. ima jus get a nos setup lol.

well as other people stated before? the unichip isn't tuned for your setup. Plus when you send it back, is Unichip going to maximize the map for you so you get the most out of your "piggyback." Im sure the stock map even for the unichip is probably conservative and nothing too wild. If you really are gonna get gains but don't feel them, dyno it then, proof is on the paper.

I plan on getting a Unichip for my car hopefully with a S/C tune or find a tuner that supports it. if not, i might find some other piggyback.

-your review is helpful, but your unbiased anwser will give people a biased judgment towards the unichip. but its all good man.

Look for an upcoming thread from me.......Sometime in the beginning of next year I wil be getting a UniChip through a dyno/tuning shop and get it tuned while I'm there. I have the 3 NST pullies, FULL exhaust w/ aero resonator, and fujita CAI. I will dyno before and after and post everything for review. We can finally put an end to the UniChip hype once and for all!!

Watching.....looking forward to another review. I am still looking into getting one of these but no one seems to like them just yet. Please update us as soon as possible if all goes to plan!

Will do.....kinda in the middle of gettin a sponsorship hopefully from UniChip

That's cool. Good luck with that!

How much would they charge to upload a map for a SC tC? thanks....

I have a Unichip that's tuned for a turbo setup 7-9 psi with 630cc injectors. I put down 275whp with it. If anyone's interested in it, PM me. As others have said, it's good if you have a tuner who can tune it.

I've since gone with a standalone.

Talk about thread jacking, WTF?

this thread is worthless without dynos.

I am interested in the fuel savings... did it really help 2 miles per gallon or something?

but HP and torque wise the unichip unisucked... i know its for a jeep but it should have had more of an impact on more cylinders and more power, just my 2 cents
http://www.jeepfan.com/tech/OKDynoTest-2.php

X2

hooray for 4 month bumps!

horray for an unbiased real hp/torque numbers for the unichip SEE LINK ABOVE. There have been dyno sheets on here where the unichip with an s/c fought the ecu. dropped hp and torque suddenly at 4000 rpm.

I just wanted to add some zip to my daily driver tc with intake but now I'm rethinking the Unichip thing.

Maybe I'll just find a quiet catback.

Your postulation is meaningless; your data is from a different vehicle entirely. P!ss off.

lol... i just found it interesting. so how do you know it works for the tc? 1-2 hp gain for $500 hmm...

lulz @ necro bump and lulz @ unichip.

I know it works because I used it. Unichip wouldn't be in biz still if their product didn't work nor would turbonetics be using their system for their FI kit. Both are reputable companies, this is not a tornado or ground wire kit..lol. I've modded four cars with basic bolt ons and this was one few bolt ons where I felt a distinct difference...not huge but still noticeable; more so than the Cobb AP on my RX-8 which cost $800. To put it this way, if we were at the strip with identical tC's (with I,H,& E) one had the unichip and one didn't I'd put my money on the one that did pulling a better time.

AP for RX-8 has been dyno proven to gain 5-6% HP. Are you trying to say that your butt dyno says the unichip will provide more than 10HP? Lulz.

Oh, and you got ripped off if you paid $800 for an AP.

What I'm saying is that the unichip is probably worth about 10hp which on a low output motor like the tC's would equate to a noticable difference.

$800 included a custom tune.:wink:

$80 for 1HP...
:doh:

Buying an AP is not all about the maps, but everything else the unit does. Besides, there really aren't any good power mods for the RX-8 other than FI, the Renesis is pretty maxed out in NA form. At least the AP offers a gas mileage map for the RX-8, which is nice when you usually get a whopping 17mpg in mixed driving. Anyway, way off topic.

Yes, the AP does a lot more than just add power (valet mode > all), but when it doesn't add a decent amount of power, it's basically useless.

Also, without dyno numbers, this thread is useless. I've heard people say they felt gains after installing a TRD exhaust or they had handling improvements after installing S-techs and strut bars.

:rolling:lol @ original post now its been edited

Ahhhh, the good ol' Unichip discussion.....never seems to change. I say get it if you want it and if not, then no worries. I do wish someone show us a dyno with mods b/f unichip and then one with unichip...I guess one can dream. Forget about the Jeep dyno. Whatever....i say this thing works but how well, i have no idea. Still looking into getting one.

how much do dyno runs cost?

^about 300 for a tune

lol picked one up as well, had it re-mapped by unichip for N/A no plans anytime soon to get dyno'd but we'll see.

I don't see why Unichip doesn't fund their own dyno tests and display them publicly. It only makes sense that they prove their product's worth. The sales would drastically increase if there was more observability of the product. It is a key concept of marketing. On the other hand, it is quite possible that the Unichip is only significantly effective on forced induction setups and there aren't numbers to back up naturally aspirated performance because it is not significant enough to be a selling point.

One thing i just thought i would mention about the unichip, if you are doing the mapping yourself or tuning there is a huge bonus to make this all 100% Easier.

Since we all know our scions have brains and retain learn values a way to start off on a fresh map is to start everything at 0's. Take the negative off the battery for 10 minutes, and re-attach. You should only have to do this one and i recommend the battery instead of ecu fuse. Then go under map settings on fuel and adjust injectors size until short fuel trim is at 0. Drive the 10 miles half ac on half ac off at 2300rpm to retain learn values again. Once that is done, you will not be needing to adjust all ranges just the top ranges and throttle positions where boost is. It is 1 millions times easier to tune this way. By changing the injector size in the map setting allows you to tune the system at 0 to your car. I have +1 to 5 in the higher rpm and throttle ranges and thats all i needed to change for my turbo setup. It will also cause your long fuel trim not to be stuck at -35 or whatever it finds as the middle point. Mine is -2 and your long fuel trim should be as close to 0 as possible so it has range for adjustment for the short fuel trim.

I highly recommend you do this as the fuel injector size accounts for dead time (how long they are off) it sees my 550's in my 2008 xb as 21% bigger. That put the short fuel trim and -1 +1.

thats the hard part man, I had a 8hp increase with the unichip over my stock with my intake header and exhaust. However no one and i mean no one wants to run 8+ psi on stock computer =/ so its hard to compare with and without it, definatly if someone is boosted. I know one thing for a fact they would not have been around as long as they have and have customer service that is willing to help you tune your car remotely with one of their road tuner kits. How many can say that =/