[Unichip Jack]

Some thoughts on today’s posts… again, thanks to all for the questions . To break things up a bit, I’ll group things and make a couple of smaller posts because a few of the answers get a bit technical.

Just a word of “caution,” however, first. Tuning can get very esoteric and some of the questions are starting to heading towards the deep end. Be careful about getting quick answers to questions that are more complicated than you know.

Let’s start some “results” thoughts…

This is good read. I curious in comparison with Ecutek tunes if it's comparable as far as the gains. I love my Ecutek, but this is a better deal if gains are comparable.
Any dyno yet?

The gains will be very similar because both systems can do what they need to do to work. Remember, at the core of the discussion, for a given engine design, there are three variables to making power… compression, fueling, and timing.

On a normally aspirated engine, compression is fixed so there are really only two things you have to control. If you can set the AFR and change ignition timing as needed, you can make power. Don’t get lost in the minutia of how each system works because it’s not what you care about… they either work or they don’t.

Before anybody jumps in with all of the other things happening in engine control, yes I know there’s more happening for engine control and just talking “big picture” to help guys who don’t want a PHD in engine management wrap their arms around things.

We posted a dyno sheet sent by a Unichip FR-S owner who took his car to his local shop… while “we” posted, it’s a 3rd party sheet and was done in a different state and a different type dyno. You can see the post here… http://www.unichip.us/259-project-frs, and here’s a screen shot of it...

I will reserve judgement until i see third party dynos but i've stated in another thread that ive owned one before i didnt feel a difference in power. I also have a friend with a tC thats running a unichip and lost 2-3 hp on a dyno with it on. Once he got it tuned by his shop they were able to get some hp out of it. 495+250=$745. The shop was nice enough to tweak it for free once he got a mod here and there but they noticed that everytime they would put it on the dyno after 4-5 months that it would lose all the power gained until the ecu was reset. so now he resets his ecu like every month. maybe he had a faulty unit who knows but it wud be nice to see this on a members car with an independent dyno. Stock graph vs unichip..Looking at some graphs online with turbos and sc i see the unichip does make some power just wondering what it does for N/A. So many things to talk about here...

I’m wary whenever anything starts with “I have a friend…” too many important facts lost in the translation.

"Feeling” isn’t data… one guy will feel nothing’s happening while another guy will swear the thing feels like it’s now a turbo…

In either case was the map in the Unichip actually for the specific parts on the car? So many guys that think they can just pop on a calibration and it’s all good. It doesn’t matter if it’s a Unichip or a reflash, if it’s not the correct map for the parts on the car it won’t make power.

For the dyno stuff, is there any supporting data available? What was the IAT during the pulls? What was the coolant temperature during the pulls? What octane fuel was being used? What were the Long Term Fuel Trims? There is so much more to a dyno session than a results sheet and a number.

Guys, and this is REALLY important, as conditions in and around your car change, your OE ECU’s solution changes whether realize it or not. Those changes alter the fueling and timing (remember, the two variables in making power?) which changes the power being put down. Some of the changes are driven by physics and others by OE control inputs. If you're not comparing apples to apples then the comparison is invalid… regardless of what it says… gain or loss. If you don't know the data behind the dyno, you have no idea if it's a valid comparison or not.

OBTW, the reason the "friend" has to reset his ECU every month is because the shop that charged him $250 for a tune didn’t know what they were doing and either failed to tune Closed Loop Fuel System operations or tuned it incorrectly. If the Unichip is correctly tuned, the OE ECU never needs to be reset and the Unichip works hand in hand with the OE ECU. The made power but the tune was wrong... don't blame the hardware.

Regardless of what sort of engine addition you’re looking – intakes, headers, tuning – seeing a dyno sheet with no additional data tells you pretty much nothing.

Any vehicle can show a “false” gain or a “false” loss on the dyno and without the data you have nothing. That’s not what guys want to hear and not what dyno shops want to say, but it’s the truth. Sorry.

Me too. I had a Unichip on my 350Z & didn't notice any power. It actually felt better with a more linear powerband after I took the Unichip off & sold it. So on a Porsche 996TT, we make about 90 bhp… but then a 996TT isn’t a FR-S. Neither is a 350z.

APS made one of the nicest 350z turbo kits ever produced... it used Unichip its engine management. Vortech’s 350z Supercharger kit uses Unichip for it’s engine management? The normally aspired 350z had very little tuning room because of factory maps… limited results doesn’t mean the tool didn’t work, just that there wasn’t much to be gained.

More later...

Cheers