ECU Questions

[Mikeyspud]

Hello all,

Few questions regarding ECU's. I do not know enough about the after-market ECU technicalities to make an educated guess myself.

What ECU should I get? Looking to tune the car.
Is it safe to buy second hand? ECU's appear to be really expensive brand new, so I do not see why I could not just buy a second hand one - as it is just glorified circuit board?
Do I need any supporting mods, things like upgraded/extra sensors and compatible wiring looms?

Thanks,
Michael

 

[Torque GT]

Honestly the BEST advice I can give you is to spend some time researching who you want to map the car and speak to them directly about all of this. Ask them what they recommend ECU-wise. There are lots of options with a variety of pro's and con's.

As for supporting mods, a good intake, exhaust manifold and cat back will net some nice gains over stock. A 70mm RBC inlet and throttle body will net even more.

 

[Crazylegs]

Kpro is what most people use as it's designed for the K20 engine. I imagine other aftermarket ECU's such as Emerald and Omex would also work but probably don't have as many features linked to the K20 engine as Hondata Kpro does.

You'd need supporting mods of some kind. Inlet manifold, decat exhaust manifold, uprated exhaust etc to make the most of the ECU, otherwise your only real gain will be slightly better fuel consumption.

Re tuning. I use Chris at EFI Parts, Runcorn as he's excellent and is brilliant with Hondata Kpro and pretty much every ECU you can get as he maps all sorts of cars, road cars, track, race, rally you name it. He's brilliant but his dyno is harsh so don't be expecting massive figures. I got 237 brake off a Fujitsubo RM01A, Tegiwa Decat manifold, Tegiwa intake and Kpro.

Romain is supposed to be good too and I imagine there are others out there but if it were me I'd use Chris personally.

 

[carl hammond]

As all have said above look into things and decide on changes you‘d like and benefit from before spending £££‘

I use Romain at RaceCal Ltd as I‘m down in the South East, he is superb and on the heart breaker dyno (as it‘s known for being accurate and harsh on results) the following mods with a K100 ecu on my car got me 249bhp which is 214whp.

Mods are
DC Sport Racing Manifold (built in decat)
AEM CAI - long arm V2 (in the bumper)
Fujitsibu RM01A (Catback system)
K100 Ecu
I run the OEM pbc manifold and throttle body still as don‘t see the minimal gains of an RBC or RRC worth the money (unless you can get the cheap), they are a lot of £££‘s for very minimal gains imo

I‘d say workout the goals of the car before buying anything and then based on the goals and your needs spec out what you want from it before dropping the money into it as a lot of the changes will be minimally noticed in the real world

Ps I forgot to add you‘ll get much more out of decent rotors, pads, brake fluid and braided lines with decent tyres and seat time than you will any engine modifications

 

[Crazylegs]

I echo what Carl has said. After going out on track recently it's made me realise these cars have more than enough power, it's the braking and handling you want to concentrate on.

If you're going to spend on an ECU and bolt ons I wouldn't bother. Get some decent pads (£250-500), some good tyres such as AD08R, Michelin Pilot Super Sport 4 or Michelin Cup 2 and upgrade your brake lines for the ones from TGM and you'll notice a massive difference to how the car feels and brakes and you'll enjoy driving it more. Also look at a big brake kit if you can afford it although Carl and I disagree on BBK's lol

 

[carl hammond]

Also look at a big brake kit if you can afford it although Carl and I disagree on BBK's lol

I can‘t be going hard or fast enough to justify or feel the need for a BBK (running project mu hc800+ pads (they are nasty on the road lol) but if I ever changed my callipers I‘d not get a BBk as such (as in a setup from a megane etc) is more than likely get one of the below

AP Racing, Spoon, Endless or Project Mu calipers

Only issue with Endless and project mu are that you have to run their discs with them, spoon can run any inc oem and weigh half an oem caliper (maybe less) from memory

 

[Mikeyspud]

Plenty of advice here, thank you.

Currently rocking an RCB intake manifold, Spoon B pipe exhaust and silencer, Tegiwa Airbox w/ scuttle panel but no decat exhaust manifold.

How do you guys manage MOT's with a decat exhaust manifold?

Cheers!

 

[Crazylegs]

You'll defintely need it mapping then.

MOT's is a tricky one as most garages are quite strict. I have an OEM Manifold as spare so I get the garage to put it on, run it through it's MOT - whip it off and stick the decat back on hahaha!!

If you know of somewhere slightly dodgy that can pass it without having to mess about then happy days but most garages won't do that now. It will defintely fail with a decat as mine did lol.

 

[Mikeyspud]

Ok cheers, I will take a look into getting a decat! Kinda want to tune it a little for exhaust bangs and pops hehe, so I imagine a decat will be important for that anyway.

Thanks everyone

 

[carl hammond]

for exhaust bangs and pops

NOOOOOOOOO, why :-( makes everyone think it's another Focus ST chav mobile :-(

Silent and sleek sleeper FTW, like a sniper, you don't know til it's too late lol

 

[Crazylegs]

Ok cheers, I will take a look into getting a decat! Kinda want to tune it a little for exhaust bangs and pops hehe, so I imagine a decat will be important for that anyway.

Thanks everyone

Yes I agree with Carl, don't have it popping and banging as you'll look like a chav. Besides, I don't think you can do that with VTEC's on Kpro plus I don't think popping and banging is good for an engine.

 

[Mikeyspud]

NOOOOOOOOO, why :-( makes everyone think it's another Focus ST chav mobile :-(

Silent and sleek sleeper FTW, like a sniper, you don't know til it's too late lol

But what noise does a sniper make?

...............BANG

:xhaha:

 

[Johngreen537]

Pops and bangs were cool old old rally cars. Now that every fiesta has a popnbang button it's just irritating.

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