ECU issues...

[Talon]

So a friend of mine and I were hanging out and he had just bought this Switchable ECU thing. I'm not sure of the brand or anything like that, but I guess you could switch between Economy, Performance and something else, but I was wondering if anyone knew where I could get one I have a 1997 Mitsubishi Galant, I haven't done any upgrades to it yet but I'd like to in the future I'm just trying to get everything I want together so I can pick them in order of cost and such. Thank you for your help.

 

[pgarner]

Not sure in the us but a few companies do them over here for around £400

 

[HDi fun]

What's the point? Just get the ECU remapped (or re-chipped if required in the case of a '97 car) and control the torque delivery with your right foot.

 

[old-git]

I am probably missing something here, but why not ask your friend where he got his from and start there?

 

[Talon]

I didn't want my car to get rechipped because for one it costs a bit and I wanted to be able to keep the economy, if I knew enough about cars I'd just get a tuner ECU chip so I can just change everything while I'm driving but I don't know how to do that, my friend also lives across the state so I don't get to talk to him very often he was just over visiting his family, anyway I think BullyDog has the chip but I'm not sure if it has the switchable ECU on it... If someone could give me some information on Rechipping or tuning it myself from the driver seat that would be really helpful. Thanks

 

[bigbadjoe]

Are you really sure this swichable ECU chip works, and its not a $5 bargin price buy off Ebay?

The ECU is a complicated thing. A lot of the time during a remap, they alter the fuel to air mixture, pressure, turbo pressure, exhaust gasses and everything. If there was a Mad Max switch available, do you not think everyone would have one.

If I was you, I would set the car up to how YOU want it. I cant see the switch doing much other than restict what BHP your engine is producing. And for this, any driver will tell you, to alter that in your car, you use standard issue right foot controll.

 

[Talon]

Well I don't have a turbo or anything, I just bought the car and I don't know a whole lot about performance modifications, I'm a weekend mechanic I know my way around the engine a bit but I've never done any major performance modifications, I don't know much about the ECU except it controls everything in the car, could someone give me some info on remapping costs and what a remap would do overall for my car?

 

[bigbadjoe]

Well I don't have a turbo or anything, I just bought the car and I don't know a whole lot about performance modifications, I'm a weekend mechanic I know my way around the engine a bit but I've never done any major performance modifications, I don't know much about the ECU except it controls everything in the car, could someone give me some info on remapping costs and what a remap would do overall for my car?

Cost - First time usually around £500 or $800 ish. After than it is the price of labour per hour. The first time cost its expensive because they put there licence onto it.

What a Map does - It will set up the car in symple terms. It will get the best out of what you have on the car at the time. It will reset injection speeds, fuel to air mixture. If you have the usual stage one mods (air filter, exhaust, cams, turbo, dump falve, boost controller, ect) it will set all of them up on the ECU and get the best preformance out of each item, and make them work together.

To get a good remap, you will need to D Cat the exhaust. Otherwise there is a chance they will run the car too rich, and your fuel consumtion will plumit. As will your top speed and accelleration.

I only know what I know from past experiance, these guys here will know a bit more, as I am no expert on cars. Speek to HDI Fun or TurboNutter as I think both have had remaps done in the past and they are boffins at this sort of thing.

 

[Talon]

Alright thanks very much for the info, as I haven't done any kind of mods to the car yet, before getting a remap done what kind of mods should I look into getting? I'm on a pretty tight budget and I'm not trying to turn the car into a race car so a turbo is out of the question for right now, Nitrous Oxide is in as long as I can get some REAL information on it and what upgrades I need to do with it so I don't blow up my engine. Thanks you guys are a really big help.

 

[WLBjork]

A turbo and remap will be the most efficient use of your cash.

Other mods have little effect individually, so you'd be looking at doing 4-5 other mods, plus exhaust and induction for a remap to be meaningful.

 

[Talon]

What do you guys think of the Plug and Play chips from like Venom and Jet? I was looking on this performance shop website and they sell these plug N play chips that aren't cheap but what do you guys think about doing one of those instead of a full remap?

 

[Talon]

My other question is how far can I go in terms of mods before I start to lose fuel economy. That's one of my major concerns I mean I don't want a stock car but I don't want a drag racer either, I kinda want to get just the right mix so it performs but isn't a nascar.

 

[pgarner]

re plug at play - if it the ones you connect to the current ecu or is it the ones you were on about in another thread where the map is uploaded through the diagnostic port

fuel economy - generally as soon as you start to make more power you will start losing some. however the increases in torque and power can mean that you may gain economy while cruising at steady speed