My Unichip Experience

[davidchoi]

My honest experience and review so far. I bought my Unichip off a member on this forum and it arrived in perfect condition.

Installation
After hovering over all the Unichip threads and posts, I had an idea that it would be fairly easy. It was a little harder to install than expected but I just happen to have thick/large hands which really didn't help.
After installing the Unichip, I tried starting my car up and it was stuck cranking. I found out the problem was the software. After re-updating the firmware, I loaded up the maps and my car started up. I got a CEL, but I read on a thread that disconnecting/reconnecting the battery got rid of it and it worked. No CEL anymore. Also, it came with a harness. Didn't know how to mount it since there's no screw points, so I velcroed the Unichip + the harness where it's supposed to go.

Software
I was sort of dreading this part from reading people having errors and other issues. I have Windows 8 running on my Macbook Air in BootCamp and UnichipJack confirmed it worked with Windows 8.
First time opening the program, I got a lot of errors. Errors saying that I should run the program as an Admin, while I already was, and an error code 0.

I hooked up the Unichip and got a red disconnect message on the bottom. The only option I had was to update the firmware so I did. It failed many, many, many times. Crashing, restarting the program, flipping the Unichip on/off, etc.
(Protip: When the prompt says to make sure the unichip is turned on and press ok, turn off the unichip for a few seconds and turn it back on, or else the program hangs and tells you to to turn it on/off anyways.)

It finally successfully updated the software, I loaded up the maps successfully, and I thought it was fine. But, I guess the firmware didn't correctly update, which was causing my engine crank hang. I tried one more time and it worked, so all is well.



Experience: Day 1
I have an Injen CAI and a Berk dual exit muffler delete. UnichipJack recommended I use the Injen + All Catback (Fuel Standard, Timing Standard) to start off. Using that map, I was really disappointed. I felt like I had a lot less low end torque and my car seemed audibly quieter.
I also loaded up the Fuel Out, Timing In map, which is supposedly more aggressive and it was a lot better, but not quite there. The biggest difference is the smooth low end torque. I don't have any jerkiness when going from neutral to first anymore. Going from 2nd -> 3rd -> 4th, the experience was incredibly foreign to me. My body was used to rolling with the car between the gears, but since the ride was so smooth I didn't move at all. Also, I can hear my CAI a lot louder, which makes sense.

I have a feeling I'm going to have to try all the different variations before I choose a map that I like. My car seems to accelerate slower still.
Next map I'm trying out tomorrow is Fuel Standard, Timing In. I'll update how that goes. I'm kind of weary to change the maps though because I don't want to mess with the program anymore lol. I love the support UnichipJack provides to Unichip users. I just hope I can find a map that I'll fall in love with.

Experience: Day 2
Once I was done at the mall, I turned my car on and it idled for a few seconds, but it ended up stalling. It happened a few times. I revved it in neutral and it seemed to fix it... but its a little discerning that it happened at all. I'd hate to be stuck on a big incline and have it die on me like that.
Also, I noticed a lot of bogging today. Going to 2k it bogged a lot and there was almost no power. Although I seem to have lost that power, my car pulled incredibly in the 2-4k range, a lot better than yesterday. Instant throttle response and great CAI woosh sounds. I have an understanding that my ECU needs some time to adjust so I'm curious how my car will react once everything stabilizes. Also the first time on the freeway with it. No problems. Noticeably more pull.

Experience: Day 3
Uh oh. I got a CEL that showed the traction logo while I was riding around. The Fuel Out, Timing Standard map is incredible. A nice pull, minimal bogging, and loud sound. The CEL hasn't gone away. I think I'll just have to reconnect my battery to get rid of it though. :/
My friend who has a stock limited BRZ tried driving my car today and he said the torque dip at 4k is gone with the Unichip. That was coming from a guy who's pretty weary of mods and their actual effectiveness.

Experience: Day 4
I disconnected/reconnected my battery in hopes that the CEL would go away. It didn't. I flipped the map switch to my first map, disconnected/reconnected my battery, and started my car up again. No CEL. I guess the Fuel Out, Timing Standard map was causing the CEL. I've been enjoying the Fuel Standard, Timing In map though. So far no bog, no dip, nice/smooth acceleration.

Experience: Day 5
Bleh. Another CEL. I get a CEL anytime I push my car. Not redline but 6-7k. Fix was same as above, unplug battery, flip map switch back and forth, reconnect battery.

Experience: Day 7
No CEL for a whole day. But going from 0-10mph, I had some wheel hop and the CEL triggered again. I believe my CEL is triggered anytime I lose traction. Bought an OBD II Scanner. Here's the CEL codes I'm getting:

DTC
Fault 01
Pend 01

P0172
01/02

P0172 P
02/02

Experience: Day 10
After I cleared the CEL, ALL the pull was gone. Red lining from 1st-3rd only got me around 45 mph. It was odd. I flipped the switch on the map switcher and wow. Amazing. No bogging, instant throttle response, amazing pull, amazingly smooth, no CEL's since I cleared it (I've lost traction many many times since), and I couldn't be happier. I really want to know why the CEL came on in the first place. My ECU has been learning over the past few days and it's only getting better. I'm incredibly happy with the results of the Unichip right now. I PM'd UnichipJack with my CEL codes in hopes of finding why the CEL came on. Just waiting on his response. Will update this as soon as he messages me back or if something else comes up. It's been really reliable in the past three days though. There hasn't been the instability I felt the first week.
Oh also, I'm running the "Fuel Out, Timing Standard" map. So far my favorite. I don't really want to mess with anymore maps since everything is perfect right now. If my BRZ can stay at this state I'll be really happy.

UnichipJack got back to me. He said to start looking for a vacuum leak, which normally causes that CEL and the dash lights (which come from the original fault). He said to get some starter fluid and spray it around the joints in the intake tubing while the engine is idling. When the engine accelerates, I'll find the leak. I'm going to have to wait until a free weekend, maybe Thanksgiving weekend, to do this. I'm pretty happy with my results now, but I'll come around to trying to find the leak, fixing it, resetting my battery, and seeing if the CEL comes up again.

Experience: Day 15
For the past few days, my car has been idle dipping then stalling. It happened every other red light/stop sign. I also kept getting the same CEL from earlier. I finally found time to check out my Injen CAI and since UnichipJack said it was most likely from a leak, I unclamped my CAI, tried making everything flush and tight, and reclaimed it as tight as possible. I cleared the CEL, flipped the Unichip map switch back and forth, and let my car idle for 15 minutes. It's been two day since I've done that and it's been running great. Throttle response tightened up after I readjusted my CAI and NO idle dip anymore. No more CEL. No more bogging. It's perfect. What I found odd was that pre-Unichip, I never had any issues with bogging, idle dipping, or stalling with my CAI alone. I know other users have had those exact issues with the Injen CAI, but I didn't before my Unichip. Maybe the symptoms came up because my car was using the CAI more efficiently due to my Unichip map. Who knows.
All in all, I'm very happy with my Unichip and I would recommend it. It's been a roller coaster, but it's worth it for the smooth pull, punchier throttle response, and better lower end feel. The next upgrade is going to be a Perrin crank pulley and I'll update this thread with any differences in feel.

Experience: Day 17
AGH! CEL. Same code. Bogging only comes back after my CEL comes on. More info on it later.

Update: Day 24
Okay. Here are some new revelations haha. So I realized that my Injen CAI is a big issue in provoking CEL's but its not entirely the issue. I clamped everything down, worked well for awhile, but CEL's kept creeping up on me a few times a day. After scavenging through other Unichip pages on FT86Club and even other cars that use the Unichip, I learned that I've overlooked an option I haven't tried, Octane! I switched to 89 octane and decided it would be more stable using an aggressive timing/fuel configuration on a lower octane map. Using an aggressive map meeting the bare minimum 91 octane with an already dodgy CAI seems unstable as hell thinking about it.
I am currently testing 89 octane maps one at a time. I'm on my first test, the "most aggressive" fuel/timing map (Timing In, Fuel Out).
!!! Right off the bat, and I mean IMMEDIATELY, the feeling of the car changed immensely. It's a completely different feel all together. My favorite config is 91 octane - fuel out timing standard because of the instant throttle response, more pull, and nice top end so I'm comparing the 89 octane config with my experience with that favorite feeling map. Back to the 89 map... the low end torque jumped up A LOT. The first few red lights, the throttle response was a roller coaster, being responsive one second but lagging horribly. After a little bit, the throttle response sharpened up and the lower end smoothed out. The pull on the 89 map is heightened, but there's a noticeable decrease in top end. It's incredibly fun going around the city from stop light to stop light because of the instant pull from a stop, but kind of disappointing after 5K.


Maps
Injen CAI + All Catback - 92
Fuel Standard, Timing Standard: A lot of bogging, really smooth acceleration, but made my car feel really slow.
Fuel Out, Timing In: Bogging, lag every time going into 1st gear, acceleration just as smooth as above but felt faster.
Fuel Standard, Timing In: Less bogging, less lag, acceleration noticeably faster than above.
Fuel Out, Timing Standard: Same bogging/lag, acceleration felt faster than above.

I feel like a lot of the changes are mental to be honest. But who knows. I don't have anything to actually test the changes of these settings, so this is all from what I feel. :P I'm still trying to find a map with no lag. That's the initial reason I wanted the Unichip, hoping my start acceleration/throttle response would be faster. My biggest fear was that I'd hook up the Unichip and I'd feel absolutely nothing. But I can confirm there is a noticeable difference. Enough of a difference to warrant the purchase. Now fine tuning the map configurations is my final hurdle.



Pictures

The Unichip


Engine bay: Unichip + Injen CAI


CEL


[ame="http://www.amazon.com/gp/product/B001LHVOVK/ref=oh_details_o00_s00_i00?ie=UTF8&psc=1"]CEL scanner/clearer[/ame] I purchased.

[im2fr-s]

Good stuff, looking forward to hearing how it goes from here.

Sent from my SPH-L720 using Tapatalk

[cdemaar]

Originally Posted by davidchoi

My honest experience and review so far. I bought my Unichip off a member on this forum and it arrived in perfect condition.

Installation
After hovering over all the Unichip threads and posts, I had an idea that it would be fairly easy. It was a little harder to install than expected but I just happen to have thick/large hands which really didn't help.
After installing the Unichip, I tried starting my car up and it was stuck cranking. I found out the problem was the software. After re-updating the firmware, I loaded up the maps and my car started up. I got a CEL, but I read on a thread that disconnecting/reconnecting the battery got rid of it and it worked. No CEL anymore.

Software
I was sort of dreading this part from reading people having errors and other issues. I have Windows 8 running on my Macbook Air in BootCamp and UnichipJack confirmed it worked with Windows 8.
First time opening the program, I got a lot of errors. Errors saying that I should run the program as an Admin, while I already was, and an error code 0.

I hooked up the Unichip and got a red disconnect message on the bottom. The only option I had was to update the firmware so I did. It failed many, many, many times. Crashing, restarting the program, flipping the Unichip on/off, etc.
(Protip: When the prompt says to make sure the unichip is turned on and press ok, turn off the unichip for a few seconds and turn it back on, or else the program hangs and tells you to to turn it on/off anyways.)

It finally successfully updated the software, I loaded up the maps successfully, and I thought it was fine. But, I guess the firmware didn't correctly update, which was causing my engine crank hang. I tried one more time and it worked, so all is well.


Experience (so far)
I have an Injen CAI and a Berk dual exit muffler delete. UnichipJack recommended I use the Injen + All Catback (Fuel Standard, Timing Standard) to start off. Using that map, I was really disappointed. I felt like I had a lot less low end torque and my car seemed audibly quieter.
I also loaded up the Fuel Out, Timing In map, which is supposedly more aggressive and it was a lot better, but not quite there. The biggest difference is the smooth low end torque. I don't have any jerkiness when going from neutral to first anymore. Going from 2nd -> 3rd -> 4th, the experience was incredibly foreign to me. My body was used to rolling with the car between the gears, but since the ride was so smooth I didn't move at all. Also, I can hear my CAI a lot louder, which makes sense.

I have a feeling I'm going to have to try all the different variations before I choose a map that I like. My car seems to accelerate slower still.
Next map I'm trying out tomorrow is Fuel Standard, Timing In. I'll update how that goes. I'm kind of weary to change the maps though because I don't want to mess with the program anymore lol.


I love the support UnichipJack provides to Unichip users. I just hope I can find a map that I'll fall in love with.

Very interested in unichip right now. Please keep me updated on your progress.

I also saw the YouTube vide for the install and remembered telling myself "it can't be the easy". What sort of problems did you have with the install portion?

[davidchoi]

Originally Posted by cdemaar

Very interested in unichip right now. Please keep me updated on your progress.

I also saw the YouTube vide for the install and remembered telling myself "it can't be the easy". What sort of problems did you have with the install portion?

Throttle body was easy. MAF censor super easy. The sensor behind the engine was terrible. I could either only squeeze the clip in and not have leverage to pull the sensor out or I could pull but couldn't squeeze the clip. Ended up just forcing myself to squeeze and pull really fast (lol).

[Anthonytpt]

This, otherwise it's really simple.

Originally Posted by davidchoi

Throttle body was easy. MAF censor super easy. The sensor behind the engine was terrible. I could either only squeeze the clip in and not have leverage to pull the sensor out or I could pull but couldn't squeeze the clip. Ended up just forcing myself to squeeze and pull really fast (lol).

[phrosty]

Same experience wrt crank sensor plug. That thing was not designed for adult hands.

Regarding perf, though, I noticed a pretty decent improvement right away, but I've only got a Perrin CAI. Haven't got any CELs.

[Lonewolf]

So what's the good word?

[davidchoi]

Originally Posted by Lonewolf

So what's the good word?

hm?

[enthennd]

which one did you prefer the most? I'm on all drop in/all catback that I bought from the previous owner, not sure which map exactly...but made the car feel much better, pulls hard up top. only thing I didn't like is it idles at 600-650 now, so I had to change how I did my takeoffs while driving.

[davidchoi]

Originally Posted by enthennd

which one did you prefer the most? I'm on all drop in/all catback that I bought from the previous owner, not sure which map exactly...but made the car feel much better, pulls hard up top. only thing I didn't like is it idles at 600-650 now, so I had to change how I did my takeoffs while driving.

Yeah my idle was around 600-650 already because of my CAI so I was used to that. So far I'm enjoying Fuel Out, Timing Standard the most. The least violent bogging/shaking at takeoff.

Edit:
May be my CAI but I haven't found any map that doesn't idle at that range. I actually get really nervous when it goes down below 600 because I feel like it'll stall. :/

[enthennd]

Ahh, been slightly worried about the idle, seems pretty normal I guess. I don't even want to change my current one because the low end trq increased dramatically...mid dip, not so noticeable. top end has that vtec sensation right at 5k rpms.

The car really kicks the rear end loose easier than before.

[FT-86 SpeedFactory]

Great write up. It's a simple solution for those not wanting an ECU footprint.

[abutterman]

my car always idles at 600-650 with or without the unichip. i've had no problem with any of the maps. i usually run fuel standard, timing +, stock parts. i'll be adding a drop in today so i'll switch it up but shouldn't make much of a difference

[davidchoi]

Originally Posted by abutterman

my car always idles at 600-650 with or without the unichip. i've had no problem with any of the maps. i usually run fuel standard, timing +, stock parts. i'll be adding a drop in today so i'll switch it up but shouldn't make much of a difference

Have you gotten any CELs?