Unichip map downloads and tuning

[ScionFrsFan]

Looking at other forums, people seem to really like the unichip. Main complaint that I see is that people didn't like cutting and slicing... lucky for us ours doesn't require that!

[bakerr6]

Originally Posted by ScionFrsFan

Looking at other forums, people seem to really like the unichip. Main complaint that I see is that people didn't like cutting and slicing... lucky for us ours doesn't require that!

E85 is easy to run.

I will be splicing mine in the future but Im not worried about it

[ScionFrsFan]

I don't understand why would you slice your wires? You should only run e85 in the summer right...I'm so scared on trying that for the first time, what if my car didn't start lol

[Mike86]

i found a review from perrin about the unichip its an evo x but it gives a good idea and perrin does know what hes talking about so! http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-x-e...ip-review.html

[ScionFrsFan]

Originally Posted by Mike86

i found a review from perrin about the unichip its an evo x but it gives a good idea and perrin does know what hes talking about so! http://forums.evolutionm.net/evo-x-e...ip-review.html

Yep I saw that one, made me excited!

[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

[ScionFrsFan]

Thank you for all of that!!! Would you say there was more tune room on the frs than the 350z?

[brichard0625]

Originally Posted by 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 verry esoteric and some of the questions are starting to headitowards 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 (remmber, 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 comparion 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” loos 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

Exactly why i said i will reserve judgement until third party dynos pop up. Was'nt trying to discredit the product just speaking from my experience as well as a friend. Ill try and get the dynos if can, but i know for sure he was on 91 octane for his tC, and he had his unichip installed 4 months prior to putting it on a dyno with no mods at all. They did 3 pulls stock and 3 pulls with the unichip i believe he did it on low octane map and he lost 2-3 horsepower. but once the dyno shop did some tuning i believe he gained 9 or 10 hp on his tc. then about few months after is when he started doing coldair, headers etc. Maybe ur right about the shop not knowing what they are doing, but like i said ill reserve judgement until i see some third party dynos. I agree that feeling is not data, but if my"butt dyno" doesnt feel the difference then it just leaves me disappointed

edit: said he tuned on 91 not 87..he has to find the graphs.

So question that i ask about unichip.. U guys claim 13hp/12tq on 93 right out of the box with your premaps. So that means if i put this on my car, drive around a few 100 miles, and throw it on a dyno(no custom tuning just using your included maps) my car should show about the same gain? I know there are variables that can alter the final result but it should still be in the same ballpark right?

[Unichip Jack]

It’s great to keep an open mind and be skeptical… just using your post as a starting point for a more “generic” discussion… I’ll pm you with additional thoughts about your friend’s car… if he wants to talk directly, please have him either call or shoot me an email.

There are still good basic points for the general forum in my original comments but running to ground the specifics of a particular tC on a some dyno somewhere with a bunch of unknown information gets off the thread off track pretty quickly. We’re happy to help anybody with questions, but let’s do it where it will get the best results.

For your question, assuming you have the correct maps for your bolt-ons and do an Apples-to-Apples test, yes your gains will be in that ball park. You might see a couple more or a couple less but if runs with “a lot” more or “a lot” less, I’d be looking at the additional data for something out of whack like an elevated temperature on one low run, etc…

[Unichip Jack]

… what tables are editable in your software… Please give me a call and I’ll be happy to go over specific tuning questions, but those questions are beyond the scope of this thread… same offer holds for any members or shops interested in specific tuning questions.

For shops, remember this software is applicable to basically any vehicle that comes into the shop, not just the FR-S. Same module, same software, gas or diesel, NA or FI, etc…

For anybody just noodling around questions, it’s important to understand the concept of editing tables has no meaning in a piggyback system… it’s critical for a reflash program but irrelevant for a piggyback. Piggyback’s don’t access the OE ECU and don’t edit tables in the ECU… it’s not how they work.

It’s like asking (in a “reverse vein”) can a reflash digitally change the OE crank sensor signal into an editable form, add or subtract precise values to it, convert the signal back to the wave form the OE ECU expects to see, and then send the OE ECU a signal it doesn't realize has been altered? That’s a critical capability for a piggyback, but for a reflash it’s a meaningless question.

Piggybacks alter signals – if you want to think of it as tables, with the Unichip, you’re adding an editable table to whatever signal you’ve tied into. You tie into the input signal the OE ECU uses to make control decisions on whatever it is you want to change. All of the editing, however, happens in the Unichip not in the OE ECU.

[SpeedLab_Ph]

Newly signed up member & UniChip distributor/dealer/installer/tuner from a different time zone.
I happened to come across this forum earlier and after reading thru, thought I would share some of our dyno charts on UniChip installs we've done over the past few years.

Hopefully, it doesn't raise more questions than it or what Jack's already answered.

https://www.facebook.com/media/set/?...type=1&__req=7

Hey Jack, it's Ferman.

[ScionFrsFan]

Bakker do you plan on having video tom? :-)

[Mike86]

Yeah id really like to see a video also!!

[bakerr6]

Originally Posted by ScionFrsFan

Bakker do you plan on having video tom? :-)

yea I was working on the footage, but there is no sound