Unichip Dead?

[lxsedan]

Just from the past it was all the hype which has in turn turned to OFT now it seems. Is Unichip something of the past and not worth it any longer?

The reason I ask is there is someone selling one in my area at a pretty low cost. Around $200. That is the only reason I was debating it. At this point in time OFT is not in the gameplan or budget.

Thoughts?

[jeffchap]

I have one I'll sell for $200 USD, if you're willing to pay shipping from Edmond, OK 73003. I have all the original packaging, cables, etc. Just has the 2 position selector switch. Will provide pics if you're interested.

[lxsedan]

My main concern is addressed. Is Unichip still worth spending money on.

May I ask why you're selling as well.

[zc06_kisstherain]

It's totally your call judging whether it's worth it or not.
obviously lower price of unchip is very tempting but it's very limited on tuning comparing to OFT, ECUTEK or other tuning flat form.

you should ask yourself what your goal for your car.
if you eventually upgrade your car to F/I? or tune? then obviously Unchip is not worth it because you need to spend money again.

if you just mild setup and stop there, then go for it

[jeffchap]

Sure, I'll be totally upfront. I kept getting a CEL code P0172 every few weeks with the Unichip installed. It only started doing this after I had the Unichip on for almost a year, so at first I suspected something else. P0172 indicates the fuel mixture is too rich. I replaced my K&N drop in with the stock filter, but it still kept happening. Jack @ Unichip suggested a leak between the intake and manifold, so I tested for that. No leak found. I cleaned the MAF sensor, but the code always returned.



So finally I disconnected the Unichip, and haven't gotten a CEL since. It's been 3 or 4 months now. It's entirely possible that a new Unichip map would help, since it worked quite a while before this all started. So I PMed Jack to see if he had any suggestions for me. He maintained that the Unichip couldn't be at fault and that I must have a leak. But I think I've pretty much ruled that out. So I just got tired of fooling with it and left it disconnected.



If you're willing to play around with different maps, it may work fine for you. You may not even have a problem in the first place. I know many people use them with no such difficulties.

[DAEMANO]

Unichip seems to be going strong on other platforms. I've seen a lot of Activity for Fiat Abarths. For the 86, I haven't seen many tunes and was very little responsiveness to requests for maps/features from Unichip Jack. Seems like there's almost nothing Unichip does that OFT doesn't do better (the next step up in cost). This includes the ability to be invisible for service visits by simply flashing the stock tune back. From there you can look into ECUTek if you want to spend quite a bit more. IMO Unichip isn't the direction to go in for tuning the 86.

[jeffchap]

I initially went with a Unichip because the 86 was a new platform at the time, and I didn't want to take any chance at voiding my warranty. There was still some discussion as to whether reflashing back to stock with OFT would be detectable by the dealership or not. I still haven't seen a definitive answer, but to be honest, I haven't been paying too much attention to that lately.

[wparsons]

Unichip just tricks the stock ECU, so if whatever you're trying to achieve falls outside what the ECU thinks is normal it'll trigger a CEL. There's no way around that with unichip.

I would rather drive on a totally stock tune than with a unichip.

[Sportsguy83]

Instead of spending 200 on Unichip, spend $170 on a brand new tactrix cable and flash any of the OFT Roms with that.

Way better way to spend money, and way better results from a ECU reflash, not tricked by a sensor.

Unichip goes strong in other platforms that have not much choice.

We are blessed with several re-flash choices way better than ECU trickery. No disrespect to Unichip, they do work for its intended purpose, it's just better to do a reflash than a piggyback any and everyday.

[Cole]

Originally Posted by Sportsguy83

Instead of spending 200 on Unichip, spend $170 on a brand new tactrix cable and flash any of the OFT Roms with that.

Way better way to spend money, and way better results from a ECU reflash, not tricked by a sensor.

Unichip goes strong in other platforms that have not much choice.

We are blessed with several re-flash choices way better than ECU trickery. No disrespect to Unichip, they do work for its intended purpose, it's just better to do a reflash than a piggyback any and everyday.

How does that tactrix cable work? Is it connected to your computer and then you run a program to flash the rom?

[Sportsguy83]

Originally Posted by Cole

How does that tactrix cable work? Is it connected to your computer and then you run a program to flash the rom?

That's the summary of it.

Thankfully @steve99 made this thread

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=62332

[Cross]

I had the Unichip, went to the OFT, great device I really like it. THen when I went FI I went ECUTek also great setup little more of a learning curve but I came from other platforms.

In all I think the Tactrix is your best option as @Sportsguy83 said.

That said the reason I went away from the Unichip was that they promised E85 for some time and never delivered. OFT did.

[lxsedan]

Originally Posted by Sportsguy83

Instead of spending 200 on Unichip, spend $170 on a brand new tactrix cable and flash any of the OFT Roms with that.

Way better way to spend money, and way better results from a ECU reflash, not tricked by a sensor.

Unichip goes strong in other platforms that have not much choice.

We are blessed with several re-flash choices way better than ECU trickery. No disrespect to Unichip, they do work for its intended purpose, it's just better to do a reflash than a piggyback any and everyday.

Interesting i'll try and do some more reading on this. Thanks!

[phrosty]

Tactrix is still a bit of a dark art at the moment, I'd avoid it (especially flashing) if you're not very technical.