Thought I throw this out there with all the official threads. Tuning is key for NA power . If you have an aftermarket ECU or like your reflash, let's hear a review. I'll post my review of the Mugen N1 ECU in a few days. I had the AEM EMS, but I think others could do a better review of it than I can.

 

Theres really only 2 good options. K-Pro and AEM EMS. The Motec ECU is way too expensive for most of us and the Mugen/Spoon/J's ECUs are specific to their builds.

You'll probably have better results with the AEM EMS than the Mugen N1 ECU, unless you have the Mugen build part-for-part.

 

This is Doctor Mugen we're talking about here.

 

This would be a hard topic to make a thread on. I'm guessing your refering to the ecus as in the mugen, j's, etc, and not things like an ems, k-pro, greddy e-manage...right?

Mugen/J's ECU is hard to review. They are sent out with a specific tune dependent on your mofications. Aside from that it has to be sent back to retune if you ever add a new mod and decide you want to tune for it.

 

I'm loving my reflashed 07. It is mated with a fujita CAI, T1R header and 70mm sparrow. VTEC at 4000 (or is it 4200) is awesome. Redlining at 8500 isn't a big deal for me b/c I don't spend a lot of time up there. You can hit 60 in 2nd gear now (thanks to the 8500 rev limit) if that is important to you.

I've also noticed a 3-4mpg improvement in city.

 

More importantly, when is Hondata releasing K-pro for the 06+ crowd?

 

The greddy emanage ultimate is a great piggy back. Im sure if you post a link to the giles tuning thread that would help this post.

 

How much is the K-pro for an 04,


Miki

 

Review everything, non-programmable ECUs, programmable ECUs, reflash, etc...

True, it's a bit harder to review based on what mods you have on your car. If you are going to review it, probably need to mention your list of pertinent mods that work with the ECU. But I think you could make the same case for headers, exhausts, etc... For instance, a local tuner told me he believes that even though the Spoon and Toda headers don't put out good numbers when used alone, he bets that if the headers were mated with their intended programmed ECUs, those weak headers could produce a lot more power than just throwing a bolt-on alone. I remember seeing a comparo of headers from Japan (TracySports, Mugen, Toda) on the JDM forums a few months ago and smirked when the author considered Mugen and Toda as the gold standard to beat.

I don't think the Mugen/J's/Amuse/Spoon ECUs are hard to review. Each company releases 2 ECUs. One is a non-programmable plug'n'play ECU specifically designed for their respective parts and these can be bought by any of the many sponsors/distributors of s2ki. The other is a programmable ECU that they tune, but usually only offered for privateer race teams. Mugen has their N1 ECU for the public market and has their NZ programmable ECU for race teams. M&M Honda had one for their DC5R racecar which worked perfectly for their Mugen Multivision Meter. J's Racing offers to tune a programmable ECU from the factory for their 300-hp race motor, but it wouldn't be optimized since our fuels are different. Obviously the latter would be hard to review since most people don't have that option. The former is do-able.

Here's my review of the Mugen N1 ECU (for AP1 only) since I had received a few PMs about the ECU itself. For the ECU to work optimally, it will require the Mugen cooling mods (thermostat, fan switch) and the Mugen header per King Motorsports. VTEC engagement is lowered to 5800-5900 rpms and redline is extended to 9100 rpms. Per Road&Track article, crank HP will be increased to 15-hp (255hp), but implied that the intake + exhaust would be required in addition to header/ECU/cooling mods. The immobilizer will be disabled. There is a noticeable increase of power in the mid-range. If I'm not mistaken, the ECU runs more lean. This is a great modification if you live in hot and humid climates as it eradicates heat bog common in AP1 cars and makes it more daily-driver-friendly. You cannot run it unless you have a minimum of 92 octane though. The Mugen N1 ECU is my 2nd favorite modification I have done to my AP1 S2000 (favorite would be the Mugen NZ coilovers).

 

I was contemplating on picking up an EMU, but something worries me. I know that the VAFC/ Apexi Neo are Piggyback Systems and they can be reset by the cars ECU.

Wouldn't the same thing happen to the EMU?