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ECUTEK TUNE??????

Fuji Heavy Industry tech talk - STi, WRX, Forester etc.

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STIHJ
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ECUTEK TUNE??????

Postby STIHJ » April 18th, 2009, 7:32 pm

I am thinking about having the ECU of my 07 STI flashed and tuned by the local ECUTEK dealer can anyone who had theirs done give me their opinion .

Specifically is there a noticable improvement in acceleration ,what is the effect on gas mileage etc

I will appreciate some feedback Thanks

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b18b_turbo
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Postby b18b_turbo » April 18th, 2009, 7:35 pm

check Flex030

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Postby BlackXT » April 18th, 2009, 8:06 pm

My Forester has been Ecutek tuned for 2 years now and I am very happy with the performance. The gas mileage will depend on your driving style and how much boost you decide to run. It's a good option. I have no regrets.

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Postby 15devils » April 18th, 2009, 9:23 pm

if you do that ecutek tune....you have joined the darkside :twisted:
no regrets...loving it...you'll never look back

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Postby monk_t » April 18th, 2009, 10:04 pm

check sleepoy he has done it on his STI.

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Postby Ryan_103 » April 18th, 2009, 11:51 pm

its a great uprade in terms of ecu performance.

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b18b_turbo
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Re: ECUTEK TUNE??????

Postby b18b_turbo » April 19th, 2009, 9:55 am

STIHJ wrote:I


frameone?

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Flex030
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Postby Flex030 » April 19th, 2009, 10:14 am

15devils wrote:if you do that ecutek tune....you have joined the darkside :twisted:
no regrets...loving it...you'll never look back



X2 for real :twisted: :twisted: :twisted:

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Postby Civic 2nr » April 19th, 2009, 11:29 am

i wanna do it but the only thing is that any mods even how small it is u have to re tune . aside from that i hear that Jason is a reall competent tuner.

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Postby Flex030 » April 19th, 2009, 1:06 pm

^^^ You are right, I did some new stuff to mine and I'm due for a retune.

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Postby b18b_turbo » April 19th, 2009, 1:10 pm

STIHJ the first step before retuning is to send down that girl nipples..... :shock:

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Postby kai » April 19th, 2009, 6:29 pm

do it! do it!!!Its not frameone

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STIHJ
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Postby STIHJ » April 19th, 2009, 8:49 pm

Thanks everyone for the comments ,well so far i have installed a Greedy exhaust system and added an AEM cold air intake because I have read that on this latest model STI the intake is a bit restrictive
I do not intend to do any more modifications so i should be good with the initial tune,i guess i am ready for my ECU upgrade.

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Postby players » April 19th, 2009, 8:57 pm

The only reservation I have with this tuning is ensuring that the tuner save your oringinal mapping..............personally I would go with piggy back or fully management, just my opinion no way intented negative on ECUTEK tuning

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Postby b18b_turbo » April 19th, 2009, 9:01 pm

a subaru ecu is VERY powerful as compared to the ECU of other vehicles. It allows you to personalize infinite configorations. Even more than some piggy back ECUs.

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Postby hmph » April 19th, 2009, 10:04 pm

b18b_turbo, true, go with opensource tuning.

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Postby Alpha_2nr » April 20th, 2009, 6:00 am

Thanks everyone for the comments ,well so far i have installed a Greedy exhaust system and added an AEM cold air intake because I have read that on this latest model STI the intake is a bit restrictive
I do not intend to do any more modifications so i should be good with the initial tune,i guess i am ready for my ECU upgrade.


Well with an intake, you DEFINITELY need to retune, in order to rescale your MAF readings (incase the diameter of the intake is bigger than stock etc etc).....you don't want to risk leaning out.

Other than that, either Opensource, Ecutek, or full EM (not piggyback) can yield the same benefits, in that order of increasing cost (with Opensource and Ecutek being almost identical in the TUNING sense).

It all comes down to tuner competence, and the tuner being able to meet YOUR needs (in terms of time, and how you want your car to work) as a customer.

The system can be HOW could, if the owner isn't happy with the car at the end of the day, it's all pointless.

Your options, thus, would be:

1) Opensource DIY (download ROMRaider and DIY tuning) - FREE.

2) Opensource and have a tuner work on it (I've heard of folks doing that down here.....not sure who the tuners are though)....maybe about 2K

3) Ecutek tune by Jason (one of the best local tuners IMHO) - 5.5K, 1K per retune.

4) Remote Ecutek tune by Crawford Performance (yep they do that....the same guys who built the Ken Block and Tanner Foust machines) - cost about the same as 4. -

5) Full EM...like an AEM, Autronic. - 12-15K etc.

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Postby Flex030 » April 20th, 2009, 12:57 pm

^^^We can always depend on you for some great write ups :D

Thanks.

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Postby cincuanta » April 21st, 2009, 8:55 am

Send chanders(tuner name) a PM..he has a good concept on Ecutek tuning for these recession hit times :mrgreen:

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Re: ECUTEK TUNE??????

Postby chanders » April 23rd, 2009, 7:47 am

b18b_turbo wrote:
STIHJ wrote:I


frameone?


Dude, its not Frameone...

N ways, Having a retune by Ecutek is a must for speed demons, the difference in performance is highly noticeable. Yeah, you can go open source but remember that you must have the knowledge to tune and even though the software is free, that doesn't make you a tuner.

You can seriously damage your engine if you don't know what you're doing.

Basically, If you want to tune your own car, be sure to spend lots and lots of time doing your research. But if you want to have a HAPPY tune Jason from Ecutek will be sure to "wake up your car" and do it safely.

Once you tune, you'll never go back :twisted: :twisted:

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Re: ECUTEK TUNE??????

Postby BlackXT » April 23rd, 2009, 9:54 am

chanders wrote:
b18b_turbo wrote:
STIHJ wrote:I


frameone?


Dude, its not Frameone...

N ways, Having a retune by Ecutek is a must for speed demons, the difference in performance is highly noticeable. Yeah, you can go open source but remember that you must have the knowledge to tune and even though the software is free, that doesn't make you a tuner.

You can seriously damage your engine if you don't know what you're doing.

Basically, If you want to tune your own car, be sure to spend lots and lots of time doing your research. But if you want to have a HAPPY tune Jason from Ecutek will be sure to "wake up your car" and do it safely.

Once you tune, you'll never go back :twisted: :twisted:



Well said. You'll have no regrets.

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STIHJ
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Postby STIHJ » April 30th, 2009, 9:33 pm

So i did the reflash and tune on Wednesday night with Jason,it was done on the Dyno and we picked up on average about 35whp .The power curve really changed and boost was held for a much longer period without dropping off .On the road it was really a new driving experience the car felt noticeably quicker in every gear .I must say so far i am happy with this upgrade. Thanks to everyone for the advice and information

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Postby marcus8860 » April 30th, 2009, 11:12 pm

im thinking about doing a flash on my legacy and im curious to know how the gas consumption will be =] ........ is it just like being stock ?

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Postby STIHJ » May 1st, 2009, 5:43 am

Marcus my feeling is that if you don't step on the gas more the gas consumption should be the same if not better beacuse the tune also optimises the car's engine management ie timing,air fuel ratios etc for our crappy octane rating.

Subaru's in tnt do not perform to their full potential with factory settings becuse of the lower octane rating of our gas. Obviously with the added power boost etc you get with the reflash and tune the temptation to hit the gas more often will be strong so you may end up using more gas becuase of a change in your driving habits.

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Postby marcus8860 » May 1st, 2009, 6:52 am

=] .. the temptation will always be there to share out licks on the roads ...... everytime i say i taking it easy , i would see some young fella in a IS200 taking advantage of the weaker cars , and i would have to put it on him !!! :evil: ..... these days he eh sayin nuttin :mrgreen: ..... so i understand if i change the fuel pump and do that retune , i'll be dwelling in the "darkside" and i will never ever go back :twisted:

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Postby Alpha_2nr » May 1st, 2009, 7:05 am

im thinking about doing a flash on my legacy and im curious to know how the gas consumption will be =] ........ is it just like being stock ?


Marcus my feeling is that if you don't step on the gas more the gas consumption should be the same if not better beacuse the tune also optimises the car's engine management ie timing,air fuel ratios etc for our crappy octane rating.


Not totally true.

The nature again, it depends on the application, may require additional fuelling at different points in your rev range to compensate for knock (Cutting back ignition timing alone will result in power loss). So it lends itself to slightly lower fuel economy. How much economy loss depends on what kida tune you do.

You can look at it in three "stages" (I've actually personally stepped through each of these...firstly with opensource, then Ecutek for #2 and #3 :D )

1) if you do a base reflash at stock boost, just to compensate for knock, then you won't see much difference in fuel economy...but probably not much power gains either.

2) If you reflash on a relatively stock car (like the OP?) but tune for a little more power, then yes, you'll get the power, but should lose some fuel economy. You'll only really see the hit in economy if you keep high in your boost range (chances are that's where the biggest changes were made). Might not be as obvious in day to day driving.

3) If you reflash (with a plethora of parts that help boost and such) to get more power from your car, then expect your mileage to drop a bit as well!

Of course, I don't think it makes much sense to do a base reflash at stock boost.....only if you're raising the boost, or you have mods in your car that will necessitate a retune (like a bigger diameter intake for example).

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Postby marcus8860 » May 1st, 2009, 12:18 pm

gawwsh , so many things a person can do with subaru =] ....... but tell me knight , if i leave my car the way it is , stock as it came , will it give me the years of service as its supposed to ?

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Postby 15devils » May 1st, 2009, 6:58 pm

why not marcus...i've seen so many people who buy foresters and legacies from the firm and they drive it everyday all over the place...stock....I think its how you treat your car...tune ups on time etc

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Postby marcus8860 » May 1st, 2009, 7:05 pm

^^^ i like the sound of that =]

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Postby Alpha_2nr » May 1st, 2009, 7:31 pm

gawwsh , so many things a person can do with subaru =] ....... but tell me knight , if i leave my car the way it is , stock as it came , will it give me the years of service as its supposed to ?


A friend of mine runs his WRX.......stock. Just a catback exhaust.....and he's done that for years now. Car runs great as it should.

gawwsh , so many things a person can do with subaru =] ....... but tell me knight , if i leave my car the way it is , stock as it came , will it give me the years of service as its supposed to ?


So yes, if you treat your car well like 15d said, and you use the right parts, maintain, and obviously, don't run bad gas/low octane (super???) then you should be okay.

The fact that the your car *may* be cutting back on ign timing to prevent knock means that the ECU is doing what it's supposed to.

So, in short, your decision tree should go like this:

1) Is my car knocking? - do a log. If YES, go to 3). If NO go to 2)

2) I can either leave my car stock, or mod and tune if I'm power hungry

3) Is there a problem in the engine causing knock? Faulty knock sensor? Leaks/lean A/F ratio?

4) If no to #3, then you SHOULD tune....but don't have to (it depends on how bad it is. My car originally was barely even knocking, stock...for comparison). But if you're going to tune, and then going to modify later, you may have to tune again....which leads to.....

5) Do your mods and then tune to bring it all together (and I don't mean modding the car and running it like that w/o a tune first....that's bad). Or, if you don't think it's practical $$$ wise, return to option 2).

N.B. by mods, I don't mean dinky crap like spark plugs and led lights. I mean real manly stuff, like injectors, turbos, headers... :lol: :lol:

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