Silvia Club of NSW

Hi All,

On Monday i had my PowerChip Gold98 ECU removed and installed a 2nd hand UniChip ECU.

Powerchip cost: $990 Installed
UniChip Cost: $500 2nd hand + $550 for Install and Dyno Tune

I also got a Hyperflow FMIC Installed at the same time with the UniChip.

The Results:
========
I'm most unhappy. Even though the UniChip Tuning gave me more power down low it feels like i'm driving a V6 Magna! It's Very Smooth and you can't feel much boost at all. They set the boost to 13Psi when i had it previously at 11.5Psi i believe with the powerchip.

I'm pretty unhappy with the results. There is basically very little power reserves in the car when you are driving, say 70Km/hr and you floor it to overtake somebody...it used to pull hard and surge ahead without any hassels...now it just drives like a V6. Nowhere near the pull factor or rush the powerchip used to give the driver.

I told the place that tuned it that i would drive it for 1 week and see how things go, if i'm not happy still i plan to take it back to them to retune it (hopefully if i complain enough they won't charge me!).

Also, I must say a few good things - there is more power down low and the car launches faster from start but it's like i'm not driving a Turbo at all. Another thing, The Dyno Results claim i'm getting an extra 20-30Hp @ the rear wheels after the Unichip tuning. They claim i had about 170Hp @ rear and now i have 200Hp @ Rear wheels.
Maybe i had my expecations too high as everybody here on the forums was bagging me out about the PowerChip ECU and claiming the UniChip was Superior. So far, i would have to say if you want a cheap power boost get a PowerChip!

P.S The Car is an Auto.

Does anybody else have any comments on their UniChip?
Any experiences, stories..etc? I would love to hear what you think of the UniChip.

Thanks,
Payam

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Blue 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R.
See: www.payam.com.au/200SX.html

Mate if you making more power then before I would say its just that the boost is coming on more smoothly and you dont feel it as much.
Go drive a WRX and see what they feel like when boost kicks in, it feels much faster then the S15 but they are pretty much the same if not slower, I am refering to the MY01 WRX. And thats due to the smooth power delivery of the S15 turbz.
You would also be up for a fuel pump, because on y car with the same mods my pump died after only a few weeks.
I think the stock pump runs out of juice at about 185rwkw.

Thanks,

But i mean, i got eaten by an Merc C200 on Epping Road, i was barely able to keep up from start to 90km/hr and we both had an Auto.

I timed it, the 0-100 time is about 1 second slower than the Powerchip delivery. The power chip just had a bleed valve (think it's called at T bar?) and the boost would just surge me ahead once i hit about 4000rpms (at about 30Km/hr..i would take off to about 80 very quick!)

The tuner said the power comes on smooth and sure it feels slower but it's really not as satifying, even around corners, i floored it today and nothing...no power...it was running dry!...a second later is powered up a little but it was like back in the day of driving my Mirage and flooring it in 2nd gear up a hill and you just hear a hum (lack of power)...how embarasing...this is a 200. A Laser could have overtaken me i think.

Maybe it's all in my head, i've driven the car about 300kms since i got the chip in, i've tested it pretty well so far and will keep testing it for a few more days. I must say though, so far it's still thumbs up for the powerchip. I hoped they would set the boost higher, they set it to 13, i payed $1720 for a FMIC and $330 for the install of the FMIC. I had hoped it could handle moore boost. I only went up about 1.5PSI from before.

...sorry, i'm just having a whinge.

Fuel Pump eh? How much will that set me back supply and installed?

Payam

_________________
Blue 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R.
See: www.payam.com.au/200SX.html

How much boost were you running with the bleeder & power chip ? Maybe its just a real conservative tune on the Unichip ?? With a FMIC you should be able to run 1 Bar

I was running 11.5Psi now it's 13Psi.

I think i'll ask for a more agressive retune soon. Do u have a Unichip?

_________________
Blue 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R.
See: www.payam.com.au/200SX.html

I am more than a little confused.

You say that the car produces more torque low down. You say that the car produces more peak power. If you can't pass a car with that improvement, you weren't going to pass it pre-modification, logically. I fail to see how that's the fault of the ECU when its doing a better job at it than your last unit.

Complaining when your engine actually produces more power and torque with a modification, but doesn't "feel" as fast because it delivers the power more smoothly, has the be the ultimate ricer comment.

If your old rig had more turbo rush, all that would have happened is that you would have fallen away more when you first tried to give it some, and then slowly lowered the rate at which the guy got away.


Trying to get a turbo with smooth power delivery is the aim of nearly every factory turbo maker. Given that most people want road cars to be able to pull from all across the rev range (especially in an auto where you don't get to choose the gears with the same control) that's what they've tuned it for.

If you want the car to drive like an old school turbo, which earnt its bad reputation back in the 80's, they should be able to tune it that way. It won't go as fast, but you'll get that nice turbo rush. Personally, I'd rather my car be fast in road conditions (where, even when you're giving it some, you can't always hold the car in a small rev band) rather than just feel fast because the engine pulls like a dog (relatively speaking) and then comes on the power.

(I was going to add more, but I can't be bothered)

_________________
Tips for being fooli sik:

Go chrome or go home
Sneezin's Pleasin'
Da flutta is bred and butta
NOS is boss
Try to be different, just like everyone else
No boost? Ya just loost

Sorry if i was not too clear.

I'm not being a ricer i swear!

Basically this is how it goes.

0-30Km/Hr - Faster than previously
30-60Km/Hr - Slower than before
60-100Km/hr - Slowe than before.

The Exhaust is making much less noise compared to before when it would SCREAM as the turbo thust me ahead 'old school style' as you put it.

Last week with the powerchip once i hit say 30-40Km/hr it would fly ahead and hit 80 real quick (not just mental or based on sound it felt quick).

As mentioned the 0-100 time has dropped about 1 second. The power delivery is very smooth i must admit. It's like driving a Commadore or Magna as mentioned but what is not clear to me is the apparent lack of power when needed, e.g like when i tried to overtake a person i was going 70 and floored it, normally the car would have pulled ahead screaming to about 90 real fast withing a 5 seconds but now it would slowly climb to 80 then surge slightly to 90 within about 7 seconds.

At 1st i thought the sound of the engine was playing mind games making it sound slower. I took the car for a lil spin down the freeways near my area 2night and it's really different. I will admit the down low power is good but it's hard to adjust to the apparent decrease in 'power in reserve' when needed.

I'm still testing but thanks for your comments.

P.S Just cos i have blue Neons inside my ride and i eat rice with Dinner 5 nights a week does not make me a ricer.


P.S I think i saw your car the other day. What's your licence plate?

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Blue 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R.
See: www.payam.com.au/200SX.html

Also, just to be clear with the powerchip they claim to get 176Kw from the car ..think this is refering to the Engine from stock with no mods.

It would work like this.

From start, floor the gas...1 second, 2 seconds..rolling to about 20-30 then TAKEOFF! The Exhaust would scream and the car would pull ahead real hard and take off to about 80 within 3.5 seconds and push to 100 soon after still surging ahead. If then you floored it, It seemed drained and would take a few seconds to surge ahead again.

I suspect maybe my boost may be too low. They had problems when setting it up in the 1st place. Kept being reset to 6PSI for some reason. They worked on it for 2 days to get it working and updated something called an xdriver?
*shrug*

I don't have a boost gauge yet, but they told me the got it set and the car is running @13Psi. I had hoped to get my gauge soon but the Blitlz BLM i'm waiting for it sold out WORLDWIDE and no stock for 2 weeks minimum ANYWHERE in the world.

That's the only thing i can think of, if my boost is dropping back to 6psi it would explain the lack of the thrillriding experience. I do prefer the 'old school' experience..being an Auto there is not much more thrilling than powering ahead while in boost!
....yeeeeha....

*Payam makes 200 signs with his fingers*

Thanks for your tips.

_________________
Blue 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R.
See: www.payam.com.au/200SX.html

This site is a classic!

http://www.despair.com/2004calendar.html

Cheers!

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Life is an amusement park, enjoy the ride!

What does that have to do with the ECU comparison though?

Or were you just so excited about it you had to throw it in

Hey Payam, I think your car "feels" slow cause it's an auto. Do a manual conversion and we'll see what it does then

But seriously, when you are overtaking, it automatically downshifts so depending where in the rev range you end up it's going to feel different.
If you want more control over when the boost hits, get a eletronic boost controller. On most you can set start, threshold, gain...
Although, having usable torque throughout the rev range is usually the goal. One thing that the V8s have over us. Hell, I sure wouldn't mind a V8 in my car if it didn't add so much weight and use archaic technology.

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ass, grass or gas, no one rides for free

He does have an EBC.
When it was in my car the boost came on very quickly and did not spike and held to what ever it was programmed to nicely.
If you say it was running 6psi that mean the EBC was notdoing anything at all as 6 psi is the wastgate standard boost.
Take it to Croydon or C&V as they know the Unichip very well.
With the mods you have and on 14psi you should be seeing at the very least 175kw at the wheels, crank it up to 16psi and you should have 185rwkw.

The auto might not be handling the power.

A friend of mine had an auto S15 with had 180kwatw and the auto would seriously baulk at full throttle excursions.
He then decided to put a 6speeder in and the car now is running how it should be.

Just a thought.

C.

_________________
I like my rice with some dish....

-- Chris --
www.chrislow.com

Thanks fellas.

The car is not slow cos it's an auto, it can keep up pretty close (sometimes it has outrun easily granny shifting s15 owners) the manual s15.

The 0-100 time at present is around 6.5 seconds, when it was around 5.9 with the powerchip.

I think i have to get it retuned to the way i want it.

P.S I'm not getting a conversion, i like having an Auto. I've driven a Manual for my last 3 cars and i do enjoy the benifits of the Auto even with it's limitations. I don't want to have the worlds fastest S15, just spent over $2000 this week and the car seems slower. Not something any of us would be happy about.

Thanks for the help, i will continue my testing.

Payam

_________________
Blue 2001 Nissan Silvia S15 Spec R.
See: www.payam.com.au/200SX.html

take it to another dyno for comparison. i think the skylineaustralia.com people have one this month. might be worth throwing it on just to verify you havent been ripped off

Payam, no i don't have a unichip but a new chip is coming soon.

You should throw a boost gauge in and see for you self what boost you are actually running.