I was having a discussion with a very good friend of mine on FI engine management options for our cars.Without getting into details(too many and not enough typing time,LOL),he DOUBLED the horsepower of his car.I thought I would post the parameters of our discussion and see what you "GURU's" thought?
Here are some questions about all the custom SC systems and say a custom turbo kit for our cars…(or any cars that DON’T come with a forced induction system from the factory.)

What is the general consensus as to which is favored ECU wise?
Please explain why or why not.

1) a “Chipped” factory ECU like a GIAC or Softronic
2) A piggyback unit like an AEM FI/C.

We have come up with some “pros and cons” to each….

Style 1(chipped ecu)

PRO- You don’t HAVE to have it tuned on a dyno after install, (but we probably would ALL hop on a dyno ASAP anyway to see what it does).
PRO- easy installation…it’s going in and out with almost ZERO headaches.
PRO- you know almost exactly what you will have as there is a commonality of parts/methods.

CON-cost,probably one of the most expensive parts of the system.
CON- you don’t KNOW what the tuner changed from factory…they could have changed all kinds of things…sampling rates, temp settings, 02 thresholds….who knows if that really matters….but I like to know what I have, if I’m changing it from factory settings.
CON- there is not, at least without a GIAC tuner which are rare, any real adjustments or fine tuning. Since the country has a large spread in temperature and gas quality this *could* be huge. Someone in Canada or New York with mild temps and 93 pump gas could and should make a lot more power than someone in Arizona or So Cal with the heat and 91 craptane @ the pump.
CON-people like myself with no GIAC tuner locally would have to ship my ECU to a tuner(more down time).

Style 2(A piggyback unit like an AEM FI/C)

PRO-cost, these are pretty simple units that really only need to control a few functions.
PRO- Tuning ability, you can find an AEM tuner in any city in the country, you can download the software and tweak yourself if needed/wanted. This is where the different tuning ability really outshines the *chipped* style. A car in the milder climates could make 50-60 more horsepower…..a car that is having problems in a hot climate can be retuned, easily and cheaply to run properly….and the original file can be saved and reloaded….. You could drive from Chicago to Texas…throw in the “hot dry tune” race around the track feeling a little a safer…and throw the Chicago tune back in when you get home.
PRO- except in CA, you could get the car to pass emissions super easy…if you have to worry about that.
PRO- you are still running the car on the factory ECU, which Porsche spent 1000’s of hours and hundreds of 1000’s of dollars to perfect, The car will still run butter smooth, and the ECU will still look/sample everything millions of times a second to make sure its all good…the piggy back only takes over under boost, and only adds fuel, cuts timing.
Pro-don't need to ship ECU out(less down time)
CON- installation…lets face it, it’s not a plug in system, but it’s not hard…3-12 wires. And if there was a demand, I would think someone would build a harness like there is for every other car on the road.
CON-your local service tech is going to see it. But he would also see the *chipped* ecu and he would see the supercharger and or the turbo so I am not sure if this should count.
CON- you really should dyno tune it as all cars and areas are different, but there is no reason a base tune could not be provided which would get you at least as good as a chipped system,at which point you could "fine" tune it a little better.


I am sure there are more, both for and against… I know that in the past a “piggyback ecu” had a negative feedback.We sort of agreed that this may be from lack of knowledge/understanding than function.

Thanks for reading,ANY info you guys could give would be greatly appreciated.

Stacy

 

Stacy,

Sorry off subject, but tried to pm you but cant. I noticed in threads you installed some of tech art equipment. Did you find kit was a direct bolt in? If so, does it use existing holes so can be removed without detection. I like the looks but when I sell I would like to remove. Does this kit only look good on a lowered car with mod rims. I am stock height with 19 classic carrera.

Thank you
Jim