Unichip Install and Review :) Dyno to come

[BC-Boy]

Got my Unichip today, I bought it during the Labor day weekend sale very good price with free upload cable (which hasn't arrived yet but is on its way(sent separately)) Happy with the fast service !! Jack answers his Emails quickly. I will start by saying I am no noob to performance, ive tuned many cars, snowmobiles (2&4 stroke), race quads, and dirtbikes. I have seen products yield no gain and some strong gains. I went with Unichip because I like to have a warranty , not caring about warranty I would have bought a used car and put it balls to the wall as I have done in the past , but this car I want to keep drivable but fun and above all, faster than my friends s2000 which is not a problem anymore. Mods are K&N drop-in , Invidia resonated front pipe, Greddy sp rear section , H&R sport drop springs, and 18x8 (19lb) 40+offset w/Ventus v12 tires.

Drivability: Drivability is the single most important factor as this is a new car and adding performance without factory drivability is useless- I have seen no issues or glitches with the ecu. Idle is 100rpm higher and upon engine decompressing (engine braking) the deceleration is less pronounced and is smoother.

Performance- There is a boost in performance across the range , mostly on high cam but is felt in lower rpm as well. I test going up mild grades +- 3% in higher gears at low rpm , there is a slight difference in low to mid range. High rpm 4000+ I test going up steeper hills in low gears , I also test on flat and shifting 2ed in corners that I previously had to give a nasty clutch kick to get the tail out, now a solid 6000rpm 1st to 2ed does the trick and its easier to keep the tail out by putting power down. Good boost in performance in the High range.

Racing- As stated my friend has a s2000 , 2004 model with nothing but a K&N filter that he keeps very clean and well oiled. Car has 49 000km and is top notch. Before the Unichip he would get the advantage if he could launch at high rpm and keep it in v-tec , pulling two thirds to a full car length in front every gear change.Now he does not pull away anymore I can even gain some if he slightly misses a shift, If not in high rpm and starting in 2ed or 3ed and around 4k I would stay neck and neck to him for 2-3 gears, now I pull in front until and stay in front until high speed, in a 2-3-4 race I pull a length on him.

Conclusion- Im happy with the Unichip, ive used piggybacks in the past and this is exactly what I expected from it, note that I just got it and have not dyno tuned a map yet, with my mods I am running the dropin+catback map which could be further optimized to extract a few more hp. Install took 20minuites and was very easy, just make sure to keep in mind the bending of wires at the connectors as you don't want to stress a wire and have it break. Use zip ties (which included more than enough) and keep it clean.

I will be posting a dyno as soon as I have time which will take a few weeks , I will also do a dyno test of the TRD intake that I ordered , with a optimized map and without the chip at all. Stay posted

[Anthony]

Good writeup so far.

I'm aware of the advantages of Unichip over EcuTek, but I'm just wondering if you looked into the Open Flash tablet solution? If so, what made you go the Unichip route?

[BC-Boy]

Open flash tablet , Brz Edit ? yes I did consider. Flashing would leave traces in the ecu which I was trying to avoid and the unichip was on sale for 365 with the upload cable. Thats is pretty hard to beat. For the level of mods I have not much was needed to compensate ecu wise. In the future products for the FA20 will develop and I will probably go F-I . At that point I will want full control over the ecu and will go with flash editing software. How about yourself ? what do you use to tune your rides?

[Anthony]

I've never tuned a car. This will be my first one to heavily modify. Right now I'm definitely leaning towards the Open Flash, but still waiting to see how the respectable tuners feel about it.

[Chimpo]

Thanks for the review. I finally bit the bullet and ordered a Unichip set up for my FR-S.

[mad_sb]

Originally Posted by BC-Boy

Open flash tablet , Brz Edit ? yes I did consider. Flashing would leave traces in the ecu which I was trying to avoid and the unichip was on sale for 365 with the upload cable. Thats is pretty hard to beat. For the level of mods I have not much was needed to compensate ecu wise. In the future products for the FA20 will develop and I will probably go F-I . At that point I will want full control over the ecu and will go with flash editing software. How about yourself ? what do you use to tune your rides?

Your missing out on the ability to adjust cam timing and that is a big miss on this platform. Also, openflash won't modify the stock rom in any way so you can always flash back to 100% stock. Works a lot like a cobb AP.

[Boofneenee]

I am preparing myself for the purchase of a tune as well. I too have spoken with Jack at Unichip and he was super helpful with my questions. May I ask,.. did you get the unicip Q or unichip Q+?

What about the $250~ Flux device (digital display) that allows you to preset 5 different tunings in your car to switch between? The flux offers other options as well.

Lastly, did you find the loaded maps for your car optimal or did you have to try and tweak them yourself for gains? I don't have the knowledge on how to do that and I am hoping that loading the maps Unichip has to offer will provide me with optimal power. Maybe tweaking them is simple.. I just dont know and I am scared I will blow up my engine!! or something dramatic.

I will NOT being going the route of FI on my FRS therefore, I dont believe the Q+ is worth it.. but I could be wrong. My plan is to get intake, unchip and headers back.

thanks,

[Boofneenee]

BC-Boy, question. I noticed you put 18" wheels on your car. I was under the impression that 18" instead of 17" (OEM size) will actually slow your car? am I misguided here?

thanks

[BC-Boy]

Any sort of alteration via flash will leave a trace in the ECU, you will use a data logging tool from Subaru or even a snap on scanner and see example FlashTab 7:46pm 06/08/2013, then the flash back to stock a month later FlashTab 5:42pm 07/09/2013. It is readable and impossible to erase unless the dealer resets the ecu to a virgin state which I belive the keys need to be reprogramed etc.. yes the flux can hold maps but once you have found the right map there is no need to try others but the base map which has mild ignition timing and reduces engine load for less aggressive fuel curve.(more like stock for traveling) I did see a good difference in fuel consumption, im burning a lot more gas now. But that comes with added performance so I don't mind.Yes the map supplied is pretty good I will be going on a dyno because I have good prices and get a custom map done for it also ill compare it to the Unichip map.
It does not adjust cam timing for earlier engagement. That is exactly why I was so hesitant to go with a unichip I wanted to engage cam timing earlier to get rid of the torque dip ! So I called pretty much all the tuners that make Ecutek tunes and they don't like to talk much about how they optimize their tunes. But in one call I had the tuner say there was no way to engage earlier it just messes everything up .. he too thought it would get rid of the torque dip. Seems the dip is a characteristic of these engines I belive its due to the square factor (equal bore and stroke) and also the intake runners are long. I keep thinking of a custom intake that has 2 throttle bodies one on each bank of the engine. 8 runners , 4 in a X manner (long) and the other ones short and direct , both could be controlled using a common surge take for example with butterfly valves that would engage short runners at my guess..3650 rpm . im sure that would allow for advancing cam timing (duration) to let more air flow tru . mate that with a good header and im sure it would kill the torque dip.

[BC-Boy]

the 18in wheels I put are the "sti" imitations , they are close to factory weight with 19lbs + 23lb for the tire,the factory wheel has a offset of +48 these are +40 which is perfect due to the fact the rim is 1in wider. a continental dw tire was what I wanted they are 21lbs but went with the ventus as they were in town. Stock overall diameter was retained 24.67in aprox . the difference is now the tire has a section width of 225 instead of 215, which gives more contact but the rim width is 8in instead of 7in (stock) which gave a very slight stretch to the tire and makes it a little firmer , a 235 section width would have been ideal for that rim but would be 4% taller on overall diameter 25.4 I belive. I felt no difference in performance other than the fact the tires are much stickier than stock.

[BC-Boy]

Note the hub bore on the wheels I put were 56.1 (stock) so no rings were needed, I really like that they are designed for the car