Dan Balassi

I have an 88 turbo with RB Exhaust, FCD, and Bonex intake kit. Looking for a upgraded ECU.

Where can I get the best chip?

Dan Balassi

Does anybody have an upgraded ECU on a 2nd gen out there?

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

No one that I know of makes an upgraded ECU for the FC. And even if they did, I wouldnt buy it. It probably just changes the timing, which you can do at home for much less money.

jpd3253

Try these places

http://www.elprototypes.com/home.htm

http://www.jetchip.com/

http://www.corksport.com/

JDP

J-Rat

iTrader: (2)

I stand corrected. But I still wouldnt get one.

Dan H

Do you want just a chip? Or could you settle for a piggyback fuel controller if it fits your budget? If you really want to get serious and have a bigger wallet, step up with the big boys and run standalone.

Mike Dodson

I have an ECU that has a Knightsport Thunder Chip in it. It didn’t do anything for my N/A. A friend tried it in his Turbo and best we could tell was that it eliminated the rev limit and changed the timing. He went back to his stock ECU if that’s any indication of how well it worked.

jreynish

iTrader: (2)

Here is the deal if you want to upgrade you ECU... if you have a turbo car... the best thing you can do is get a new stand alone ECU... take my word for it... i have had a large turbo and fuel mods with a piggy back and stock ECU and blew an engine... Now i have a microtech and am very please with the result in TOTAL controlability... here are you options as best i can give:
Microtech LT(X)-8
Haltech E6K/E11
Stock with:
Apexi SAFC
Greddy E-Manage
Blitz FMCS
These are you best options. In my personal opinion for the money you will spend on the fuel mods the turbo and related mods the extra 800 is well spend on a microtech LT-8. Most will agree that stand alone is better... infact it is proven that with stand alone and stock setup you can gain upwards of 20hp just from tunning! so this is a "smart" first step for modding!

Dan Balassi

Tell me more about adjusting the timing?

I do agree that a fuel controller is a better idea, and a new stand alone ECU is the best if you can afford it.

RETed

Don't worry about timing - I doubt you'd get significant gains by adjusting timing.&nbsp You can easily get into a lot of trouble though if you don't know what you're doing.&nbsp My experience shows that adjusting timing does not give you that gains seen with piston engines.&nbsp You'd might get maybe 10hp (by advancing the timing), but you narrow your safety buffer by a lot - you still need to protect yourself from bad gas and other lean conditions out of your control.&nsbp The factory ECU runs rich for a reason - to save your engine in case of those unforseen problems listed above.

As for a stand-alone, if you can get support for them, it's a worthwhile effort.&nbsp Most people don't want to mess with such adjustment, and they can easily get themselves "in over their heads" going with such a route.&nbsp I can't even count on how many blown engines I've seen by owners who have tried to go with a Haltech (just ONE brand) who did not have the adequate support to prevent such disasters.&nbsp I would suggest contacting someone locally who you can trust and talk to them about such extreme mods!



-Ted

Turbonut

iTrader: (1)

I called and spoke with the owner of EL a while ago. Sorry, don't recall his name, great information. Bottom line was that the more mods you have, the greater the changes in the ecu. Better info from EL than when I spoke with Jet, and Corksport never answered back. These are not chips you install though. You're ecu needs to be sent to them.
Give 'em a call and you be the judge.

Evil Aviator

I was going to post basically the same thing as RETed, but he beat me to it. All I have to add is that contrary to what you may read on the internet, engine control units are not like video games where you can just click on an icon and it is magically installed to give you X-amount of horsepower, and there is no magic timing or air-fuel ratio number that you can plug in for maximum power, maximimum reliability, maximum mojo, or whatever. If you want to step up to the plate with an ECU or fuel controller, then also plan on about $500 for professional tuning. Otherwise, you will probably be better off just sticking with what you have, which is pretty decent. I don't think a chip or re-programmed stock ECU is worth the money.