UNIChip

[brecker]

Anyone around here interested in this??

http://www.unichip.us/Mazda-Speed-3.asp

Some local Unichip tuning companies.....
CGS Tuning
Autovation
Cartuning Performance
Ultimate Racing Inc.

[brecker]

Update:

I have been communicating back and forth with a reputable person at Unichip. Would there be anyone interested in this?? From what I gather the initial results on our cars look very good and the company is huge...


Quote from Email:

"We don’t have a firm date for the PnP at this point… we’re working on it but still need to source some parts. We’re also looking at doing some road-show tuning trips… do you think there are some guys in your local area that might be interested in a tuning day… meet at a suitable facility and get an installation and tune?

Cheers,

Jack"

[brecker]

Update:

"Mark,

No, we don’t need a dyno although obviously we can’t have dyno charts without a dyno. The difference in the car is, however, pretty striking and I think the acceleration times will be all guys will really need. We’re changing boost, timing, and fueling and believe me there’s nobody more interested in safe power than we are. It’s what we do every day and there’s nobody that does it better. We’ve done 8 Speed3’s or Speed6’s in our shop in the last two weeks and I think you may have seen the customer’s comments on some of the Speed forums… everybody’s very happy with both the product and our service. The only difference here is that we’re talking about providing the service we offer in the shop to some select guys who can’t get to our shop.

We’re also talking about two different options which depend upon the car and the customer’s desires. We can either “tweak” an existing calibration or do true “tuning.” Tweaking is taking an existing map and verifying it’s working without issues in a specific car; it’s really the post installation road test we do anytime we work on a car… takes just a few minutes. Tuning is a more fundamental exercise; if for example, somebody shows up with a set of modifications we don’t have a calibration for and we need to build a map, and that can take anywhere from an hour to several hours depending upon what the modifications are. Tweaking comes at no additional charge while there would be an additional charge for tuning."

[Fobio]

thanks for the updates brecker...

any luck finding a Cobb tuner as well?

[brecker]

thanks for the updates brecker...

any luck finding a Cobb tuner as well?

Nope - They need to release the software first.


I'm thinking this a a good alternative to COBB and others. People are seeing better gains than COBB with glowing reviews so far... They are working hard on the PnP connections, but as of now I think this is wired in... ?

I don't know if I'm ready to abandon the AP yet, I'll wait to see how this unfolds as well as CP-E's flash etc.. Good times though!!

If there are folks interested in this now, let me know and I'll see where this goes.. :)

[brecker]

This is getting more interesting by the minute... :)

"In order for this to be (1) cost effective for us and (2) at a discounted rate for the guys buying the kits, it needs to be someplace without "overhead," but at this point what we need to focus on, I think, is getting 5-6 guys together that are willing to commit to it... then we can figure out the location. Getting a dyno facility in the end isn't all that important for doing what we're talking about.
For the current installation, we use quick fit connectors that t-into the wiring at the ECU. If the customer wants to convert to a PnP in the future at some point, they just need to remove the quick fit connectors. Only one of the quick fits actually cuts a wire but it all happens inside the unit when you screw the part together... clean, reliable, and quick.
The full PnP kit will be ~ $799 when it comes out (exact price obvioulsy can't be established until we have all the parts to build a kit). The road trip complete price is $599.00 if we're doing an installation and a "tweak" and a full tune is $200 on top of that. Again, the only guys that would need the full tune are guys that have completely different parts to what we've already seen. Additionally, anyone who participates will be entitled to a PnP harness when it's released at a discounted price if they want to go that route."


So for $599 + optional tune and a cheap path for PnP... It sounds pretty good..

Have I sparked anyone's interest yet? :pop

[brecker]

Would it change anyone's interest IF it was completely Plug n Play? (When available)

[Fobio]

hey brecker...+1 for the update again...

my 2 cents: with Cobb's determined participation in time trials, which is directly geared towards the direction I want to take the MS3, it'll be difficult to consider other solutions that are more HP/Peak Power/1/4 mile focused...having said that, if another player comes on the scene that focus more on the car's handling rather than power, then I'm all ears...

[Unoriginalusername]

Every who had a MBC was making it sound like a complete beast until someone actually dynoed it... 7whp. All that noise about 7whp (http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=99838.0)

Then the AP beta tester reviews were glowing making the car sound like a beast... and the V100 maps actually weren't all that spectacular. The V101 are an improvement but it still isn't a DP type mod where you gain 20-30whp peak and throughout the powerband.

The Unichip beta testers then start writting crap that sounds a whole lot like what previous testers have written, and then they show us a corrected dyno to guestimate crank HP just like cobb did which isn't as accurate/realistic especially since it includes the manufactures assumptions and edits.

Don't forget CP-E, they even put out a special PDF just for the fanboys promising a whole lot but delivering nothing.

At the end of the day cobb is one of the most sucessful tuners of FI cars because they don't blow your stuff up, their price is good (better then CP-E, and Unichip) with more features.

I am not convinced there is 30+whp to be had from tuning on our car... i think there is some peak gain, large powerband gains, and some nice features that are nice to have but i highly doubt anyone will find any more then what cobb has in which case why pay more for something that does less and isn't even out yet?

[ovillems3]

Check out darksuns dynos, they are with a boost controller.
http://www.mazdaspeedforums.org/forum/mazdaspeed-3-dyno-sheets-discussions/6435-dyno-comparison-lets-get-ready-rumble.html

[Notorious MS3]

I found a dyno video of a MS3 with a UNI chip. They say 25% torque and 20% horse power gain.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ab3pq_0OQv8

[brecker]

I found a dyno video of a MS3 with a UNI chip. They say 25% torque and 20% horse power gain.

http://ca.youtube.com/watch?v=ab3pq_0OQv8

Carefull - That's not a percent, it was 25tq and 20 hp!! If it was a % it would have been like 70tq :chuckle

[cwp_sedan]

Carefull - That's not a percent, it was 25tq and 20 hp!! If it was a % it would have been like 70tq :chuckle

What's bad is they put % in the video. :loco

[CanadaGTO]

It now seems that the MS3 is just a real pain in the ass to dyno. I think it's a mix of nanny like ECU and TMIC heatsoak issues. Trying to do a before and after dyno just does not seem to work properly. This is one reason I'm getting the Cobb FMIC, to have a car that will hopefully be a lot more consistent.

The AP StageII+ I'm currently running seems to have more HP/TQ gain than what dynos seem to suggest, but you then get those that say they think anything is BS unless they see a before/after dyno sheet.

I'm glad Unichip is setting something up, though I really think they need to get a PnP. I'm not convinced it'll be better than the AP in the long run, since Standbacks just can't control all the parameters a programmer can, which is why I think that CP-E is now doing a mix of the two.

The overwhelming plus they have is a broad and deep tuner shop base......

Of course since I sell both Unichip and Cobb either is fine with me :)

[brecker]

I'm not selling my AP and running to Unichip anytime soon.. Although the latest news from CP-E has "sparked" my interest and should open up a new can of worms in the tuning dept.

[CanadaGTO]

I'm not selling my AP and running to Unichip anytime soon.. Although the latest news from CP-E has "sparked" my interest and should open up a new can of worms in the tuning dept.

The way I see it is that as long as you believe that Cobb has fully cracked the ECU, which I tend to believe, then there is nothing they cannot do that either Unichip or CP-e can. I'm leaning towards thinking that Cobb is just more conservative than the other brands simply because they know people will run their maps without having 100% compliance on the mods side. Even if people are not compliant, if they blow up their car they will blame it on the tuning.

Time will tell of course.

[brecker]

The way I see it is that as long as you believe that Cobb has fully cracked the ECU, which I tend to believe, then there is nothing they cannot do that either Unichip or CP-e can. I'm leaning towards thinking that Cobb is just more conservative than the other brands simply because they know people will run their maps without having 100% compliance on the mods side. Even if people are not compliant, if they blow up their car they will blame it on the tuning.

Time will tell of course.

I agree..

Question: Does anyone recall if their car was stock when COBB was comparing the throttle positions?? If it was their fully bolted beast - I smell something foul in the air.. Or did they only opened the throttle after 5000RPM's??? Cause CP-E did prove nice gains...

:pop

[Unoriginalusername]

I agree..

Question: Does anyone recall if their car was stock when COBB was comparing the throttle positions?? If it was their fully bolted beast - I smell something foul in the air.. Or did they only opened the throttle after 5000RPM's??? Cause CP-E did prove nice gains...

:pop


posted this in another thread about the full throttle thing... i heard through the grape vine from vendor that even though they can do it and saw gains they expect someone will pop their engine if they actually do this for a long time... so i am all for the conservative approach. i am only interested in healthy gains, not an i told you so map

[MajesticBlueNTO]

The way I see it is that as long as you believe that Cobb has fully cracked the ECU, which I tend to believe, then there is nothing they cannot do that either Unichip or CP-e can. I'm leaning towards thinking that Cobb is just more conservative than the other brands simply because they know people will run their maps without having 100% compliance on the mods side. Even if people are not compliant, if they blow up their car they will blame it on the tuning.

Time will tell of course.

cobb put this pdf together explaining that they do have full control of the throttle (http://www.accessecu.com/accessport/Technical%20Documents/A%20Brief%20Study%20Analyzing%20the%20Effects%20of %20Throttle%20Mapping%20and%20Engine%20Output%20on %20the%20MS3%20v1.01.pdf)

it's been out for a while now...and, yeah, cobb is conservative and claims that the maps they've put out have not popped an engine yet (from what i've read on the subie forums back before they started working on the speed3)

[Unoriginalusername]

http://www.mazda3forums.com/index.php?topic=108376.270

look at the unichip knock graphs, not good

[brecker]

There is that possibility it's his car too. But ya, that particular example is looking rough:)