http://www.acura-cl.com/forums/showt...threadid=52130

 

You tech guys out there...is this legit?

 

it's 100% legit...
that's about the only thing left to mod on these cars without pulling the motor...

 

are there any risks in changing the ECU?

 

I read about some chip that would be available but I heard rumored prices of $1-2K.

 

!!! Hope Snook will sell it and give us a discount on it!

 

Damn another reason to spend more $$$.

But I can't wait!

 

OMG! I think I need to get a Type S soon..so I can mod it up..

 

Well, hotshots, just make sure there is a "no place like home" mode to revert to OEM specs. Dorkin' around with some of those settings can get you a momentary thrill fix followed by hours of woe. If you lean out the mixture, you can get more power, and also fry a valve. Too much enrichment can fatten the torque curve but also melt down your catalytic converter. Too much spark advance will raise cylinder temps dramatically...etc. etc.

The last chip test I saw showed tiny gains, some losses, and a general "not much there, there" conclusion.

Be careful...

 

You can be pretty certain that Acura spent plenty of time and money tweaking the software to get the most out of the existing engine hardware. You think you are going to get major improvements using your laptop?

True, a professional tuner may be able to eke out a few ponies but you are going to pay for it somewhere: fuel consumption, driveability, damaged parts. Nothing is free...

Just my two cents.

 

yea that's true...be very careful playing god with your car

 

While it's definitely true that you can really screw things up if you go wild, and it'll take some decent skills to get real gains, remember that Honda/Acura did all their work and adjustments on the stock engine. For some of the heavily modded engines you see here, especially the intake/header, or God forbid, nitrous people, there is a high probability of being able to find better settings.

I know that most reputable BMW shops will include a reprogramming of the ECU in a CAI install, for example.

This mod has a chance of doing really nice things for a modded Honda, but it's not going to be one that the casual person is going to stick in their car and see gains with. This is one that tuner shops and the show/race people will go for. For the Integra/Civic people out there, this will be a godsend. For us TL'ers, it's not likely to be a big deal until a lot of experience is gathered by the tuner shops.

 

I think you might be off-base a bit here. On the contrary, the factory settings are likely quite forgiving for things like differences in gas, altitudes, temps, humidity etc, etc so that the cars run well in all climates etc. Once you get your car all modded up something like this could probably show some decent results considering the multiple variables that can supposedly be adjusted.

Problem here is that it's probably gonna take some money and a bunch of expertise to get one of these things tuned properly.

 

I will defintely stay away. I want to mod my car, but at the same time, I don't want to shorten its lifespan.

 

I have to disagree with a lot of ppl here:

"I think you might be off-base a bit here. On the contrary, the factory settings are likely quite forgiving for things like differences in gas, altitudes, temps, humidity etc, etc so that the cars run well in all climates etc. Once you get your car all modded up something like this could probably show some decent results considering the multiple variables that can supposedly be adjusted."

That is exactly true. Acura sets up their ECU to account for the worst conditions, so that they don't get complaints. They're thinking soccer mom who puts in the cheap gas, never changes anything out, and is the worst kind of stop and go driver imaginable. Plus they don't have it ready for header, exhaust, CAI, SC mods etc. I talked to some very nice guys over at Unichip and they told me that you usually see 10-15 HP gains flatline...and of course this varies with the person and the car...but they had one guy there with I believe he said a first gen TL that had modded everything and saw a gain of 27 HP. I think that's pretty friggin good. All you're doing is going from having the ECU set from worst-case-scenario mode to your-case-scenario mode. Come on guys, you all should know more than that.

Crzy Acura:
Yeah there are risks. Risk being? From what I heard from Acura, fooling with the ECU voids your entire warranty...on EVERYTHING....they justify this saying the ECU messes with everything on the car pretty much.

bdimc2001:
hahahahahaha playing god with your car...I guess in this case "be careful when playing Acura Dev Team with your car..."

Also what I noted on the CL site:
"1) Writable
2) Easily tunable with PC - RS232
3) Intelligence built in will include mappings for Honda/Acura cars with a new trim correction algorithym
4) Timing advance and retard in manual and intelligent operation
5) Vtec engament managment "

6) Optimized controls for transmission shift points "

Well...the Unichip's been out for awhile and can do all that and then some...sounds like the AEM one is just a Unichip clone...eck! If any of you want to know about the Unichip go search I had a whole thread on it...or go contact theracersgroup.

Austin519

 

that's why you can bolt on headers and get 30 hp cause they fine tuned this thing to be max out...from the sounds of this device a broad 25-35 hp may..MAY be achievable with similar torque gains...and dont forget the biggest best of all the ability to control shift FIRMNESS>>>YEA