09-17-2013, 09:47 AM | #1 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Drives: 2013 Scion FR-S
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 201
Thanks: 77
Thanked 24 Times in 19 Posts
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
The unichip?
Thinking about getting a unichip but have been reading a bit of reviews. A lot of it seems like a hit or miss. Some people have issues getting the car to turn over after installation or even to get it turn. Is it a reliable piece? Would like some feedback on those who have it
|
09-17-2013, 09:51 AM | #2 | |
Driving Coach
Join Date: Jun 2012
Drives: BRZ
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 3,666
Thanks: 3,723
Thanked 4,137 Times in 1,707 Posts
Mentioned: 90 Post(s)
Tagged: 6 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=29018 http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=42840 http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46442 http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=41536 http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=46176 http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=30109 If your car sees sustained high-rpm usage, I'd recommend against a Unichip and instead getting an EcuTek tune flashed to protect your DI seals. Unichip is only a piggyback and cannot change or fill in the empty values in the stock transient retard tables that allow transient detonation which may cause issues with your DI seals burning up over time and eventually failing and allowing much bigger issues to arise. Most if not all EcuTek tuners include the newest A01 revision with the DI seal fix as a base ROM for their tunes. There is currently no other way to get the revision from a dealership anywhere in the world besides South Africa AFAIK. An EcuTek tune allows more engine parameters to be adjusted than just timing and fuel and will likely net you more power gains than Unichip (nobody has proven otherwise yet). EcuTek also allows E85 or a flex fuel kit (DON'T BUY VISCONTI's) to be used for even more power without forced induction. Unichip reps have recently stated here that they will not be releasing E85 tunes after teasing it for a while. Last edited by ATL BRZ; 09-17-2013 at 10:19 AM. |
|
The Following User Says Thank You to ATL BRZ For This Useful Post: | JPxM0Dz (09-17-2013) |
09-17-2013, 10:59 AM | #3 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Aug 2013
Drives: 2013 Scion FR-S
Location: North Carolina
Posts: 201
Thanks: 77
Thanked 24 Times in 19 Posts
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Thanks
Thanks for input and mentioning Visconti.. They were my next option but w that incident in mind I will be looking elsewhere for a tune. Looks like piggybacks out the door. Would hate for it to ruin the DI
|
09-17-2013, 11:04 AM | #4 | |
Driving Coach
Join Date: Jun 2012
Drives: BRZ
Location: Atlanta
Posts: 3,666
Thanks: 3,723
Thanked 4,137 Times in 1,707 Posts
Mentioned: 90 Post(s)
Tagged: 6 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
He does great work and keeps engine safety paramount. I've been running his E85 tune for a little while now and it has been fantastic. |
|
09-17-2013, 01:14 PM | #5 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Drives: Mazdarati
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,238
Thanks: 608
Thanked 1,369 Times in 675 Posts
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
To the OP, I run a UniChip and its great.........best part, it has zero foot print on the ECU.......remove it and there is no way my warranty can be denied by Toyobaru. And I have a local tuner that can make a custom tune for me to optimize my FR-S and its mods. The UniChip also has expandability to control a forced induction system or other power adding mods if I want to later on. Not to mention the five separate tunes it has on board that I can switch to without having to re flash my ECU....hit a button and new tune is there.............. A ECU Flash tune on the other hand may leave traces of being there.......if the manufacture can prove that caused the issue you are screwed.
__________________
It's only impossible if you stop to think about it.
|
|
The Following User Says Thank You to IceFyre13th For This Useful Post: | FT-86 SpeedFactory (09-19-2013) |
09-17-2013, 05:30 PM | #6 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Drives: 2013 Asphalt FR-S
Location: Orange County
Posts: 1,639
Thanks: 632
Thanked 981 Times in 537 Posts
Mentioned: 100 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
Unichip cannot control cam timing without an addon box.
__________________
~Namaste~ |
|
The Following User Says Thank You to mad_sb For This Useful Post: | Pooverdam (09-19-2013) |
09-17-2013, 05:52 PM | #7 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Drives: Mazdarati
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,238
Thanks: 608
Thanked 1,369 Times in 675 Posts
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
The Direct Injection Seals are mechanical parts, they fail due to poor design. Sure any tune will postpone the failure, but they will fail with or without any tune.
ITS A MECHANICAL FAILURE........no way a tune is going to "fix" a part that is being blown part from the firing of air fuel in a cylinder. The injector and seal will need to be redesigned to eliminate the point of failure. Yep, UniChip would need an add-on box to do cam timing, but that just proves my point that the UniChip can make every bit of gains the flash tunes can........ You still missed the point though, when removed the UniChip leaves nothing behind that may cause the manufacture to deny your warranty.......your flash tune has. And judging from the shear amount of complaining about knocking on some of the flash tunes.........well you should get my point. If I need a new tune I can have it in a matter of seconds if it is one of the five in my UniChip, I can get one custom done at my local tuner in about an hour........ Open Flash Tablet, while I think it is a good idea its too new for the BRZ / FR-S........might want to wait and see if it is as good as they claim from others who do it. But then again, your leaving evidence that you screwed around with the ECU and you may get the dreaded "WARRANTY DENIED"
__________________
It's only impossible if you stop to think about it.
|
09-17-2013, 06:45 PM | #8 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jan 2013
Drives: 2013 Asphalt FR-S
Location: Orange County
Posts: 1,639
Thanks: 632
Thanked 981 Times in 537 Posts
Mentioned: 100 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
I didn't miss anything. OFT does not modify your stock rom in any way. All you have to do to go back to stock is plug it in and click a button, you can do it on the side of the road about 10x faster than removing your unichip. The seal failure issue has been attributed to shift knock by toyota and they have modified the image to address it. Detonation breaks down the boundary layer that keeps the high combustion temperatures from reaching the walls and head of the cylinder.... the seals deteriorate due to the boundary layer breakdown that occurs during detonation. How much does the add on box cost that control cam timing? How does unichip adress the factory ecu's maf output limit of 200 g/s? (you will almost hit that with a low boost innovate supercharger, you absolutely will with a high boost innovate or a vortech or a turbo). How does unichip deal with swapping the map sensor out for one designed to work with boost? Unichip was a viable solution before re flashing was available, and now that the price point for re flashing has come down and you can go back to a 100% stock rom in minutes without the help of a tuner... well, not much else needs to be said. If all you want to do is adjust fuel and timing on an na application and you don't mind spending $445 to do so.. then unichip is a great solution.
__________________
~Namaste~ |
|
09-17-2013, 07:09 PM | #9 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Drives: Scion FR-S
Location: minnesota
Posts: 240
Thanks: 61
Thanked 84 Times in 49 Posts
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Unichip is not as good as you want it to be. Its is powerful but you have to get tunes sent to you every change. Go with something else.
|
09-17-2013, 07:14 PM | #10 |
Thumper
Join Date: Dec 2012
Drives: 2013 FRS
Location: Huntsville, AL
Posts: 250
Thanks: 97
Thanked 59 Times in 42 Posts
Mentioned: 1 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
I love my Unichip. Combine that with a header and it's a blast!
__________________
Car is gone - parts for sale
|
09-17-2013, 07:29 PM | #11 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Drives: Mazdarati
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,238
Thanks: 608
Thanked 1,369 Times in 675 Posts
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Here, I will answer your questions with how I found out the answers to them myself.....
I see no reason to hold a conversation about this with you as you have already closed your mind and want to keep trying to say how UniChip cant do.......when it can If I was building a race car that would not be used on the street, and I did not have a factory warranty that I would like to keep (even though the manufacture has to prove the aftermarket part caused the failure) then I would not even bother with a reflash of the factory ECU or use the UniChip......I would use a complete new ECU to tune the vehicle (MegaSquirt or similar) and a heck of a lot of other things that are not street legal.............. But we are talking real world, street use, factory warranty......A flash will leave evidence in the ECU that it was messed with (there is a flash counter that the factory can access, I don't care how many tuners claim otherwise). If the manufacture really wanted to they will find out you flashed the ECU, even if you put the stock ROM back in, and if they wanted to be real $hittY about it.....well your on your own. Everyone says they absolutely need the last 0.00025% horsepower out of the mods done, get real.....99.9% of us do not compete and 99.9% of us see a cop on the road and either slow down or get a ticket. The OP asked for an opinion from someone who has one, I do....you don't.....the UniChip worth every penny and can do more than my daily driver will ever need. Best Part, I am not worried about the manufacture being an a$$..................
__________________
It's only impossible if you stop to think about it.
|
09-17-2013, 07:33 PM | #12 | |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Drives: Mazdarati
Location: Arizona
Posts: 1,238
Thanks: 608
Thanked 1,369 Times in 675 Posts
Mentioned: 8 Post(s)
Tagged: 1 Thread(s)
|
Quote:
Flash tuners need to have a new tune made every time, or sent to them from a vendor........
__________________
It's only impossible if you stop to think about it.
|
|
09-17-2013, 07:48 PM | #13 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2013
Drives: Scion FR-S
Location: minnesota
Posts: 240
Thanks: 61
Thanked 84 Times in 49 Posts
Mentioned: 0 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
You still need to get the new tune. I can tell you they don't have every part ever made fro the frs/brz. I have seen so many people use Unichip and end up getting something else 90% of the time. Im not saying its not good for what it is, However it is still a piggy back system and with all piggy back systems its playing catchup constantly. Your just paying for limitations, why would you want to tune your car based on information from a different car with different variable like the environment. Im not saying it wont work, just saying every item produced has its differences even if it looks the same.
|
09-17-2013, 08:26 PM | #14 |
Senior Member
Join Date: Jun 2012
Drives: 2013 raven black fr-s
Location: cincinnati, oh
Posts: 1,447
Thanks: 503
Thanked 443 Times in 305 Posts
Mentioned: 3 Post(s)
Tagged: 0 Thread(s)
|
Coming from someone that switched from a unichip to the OFT, I would say both are great products. If you are looking for basic, install and go with no footprint, I think the unichip is a great product. I loved it on my car.
I switched because I plan on going FI, and no one local would tune it. That's the only reason. I would not touch ECUtek witha ten foot pole after how they bricked one of my previous ECUs |
|
|
|
|
Similar Threads | ||||
Thread | Thread Starter | Forum | Replies | Last Post |
WTB: Unichip | alderaan34 | Want-To-Buy Requests | 1 | 08-08-2013 02:35 AM |
Best Unichip Map for Me? | husker741 | Software Tuning | 11 | 07-31-2013 08:06 PM |
WTB Unichip | wawro569 | Engine, Exhaust, Bolt-Ons | 0 | 07-29-2013 02:00 AM |
FS: Unichip | subiestar | Engine, Exhaust, Bolt-Ons | 3 | 04-09-2013 07:00 PM |
unichip | 13 FR-S Veteran | CANADA | 0 | 12-03-2012 05:31 PM |