Been researching VAFC for a while now and still pretty freakin confused. I have a few questions for you all:

1) Can the Apex-i VAFC be tuned to mimmick the Mugen ECU?
2) Is a VAFC worth the $$ for hp/torque gains if you are just running bolt on mods (ie. exhaust, header, intake).
3) What are some of the problems users have encountered with the VAFC and what mods are you running.
4) If installed with a harness, is there any chance in hell a dealer will know that you had a VAFC installed.

 

from other posts, minimal mods with an '02 + VAFC are not gaining as much as same mods on a '00/'01 + VAFC.

with I/H/E and some dyno time, you will get more power tuning with the VAFC than just bolting them on, but keep in mind that you will be spending ca$h for the dyno time.

speculation has been that the '02 ECU is more aggressive with fuel map, spark, or ??, but no one seems to know for sure what Honda actually changed.

keith

 

500-700$ (incl dyno) for about 8-15 hp seems worth it to me

 

A VAFC is not the same as an ECU. The VAFC can only adjust air-fuel ratio and VTEC engagement point. Still, it's reasonably cheap and effective, when tuned properly. Yes, it can be used in conjunction with other mods to ensure they are as effective as possible.

With the harness, there's no need for a dealer to ever know you had it. Just unplug it before you take it in!

There have been no VAFC-induced engine issues reported on the board. Obviously there's the potential to do harm, but only if you are reckless with the tuning.

 

The only gains I got from mine was by lowering the VTEC engagement point from 5900 to 5700, and by leaning out the fuel above 8400 RPMs. My peak power only increased by a negligable amount, but my power band is smoother and longer.

It only allows adjusting the Air / Fuel ratio, while the Mugen ECU has a fixed (but optimized) fuel map. The Mugen ECU also changes the ignition timing curve, while the V-AFC does nothing for timing. The Mugen ECU does not change the VTEC engagement point. Basically, they are 2 entirely different approaches. I would go for the V-AFC long before I would shell out the $$$ for the ECU. I think the V-AFC is the biggest bang for the buck out there (asside from maybe forced induction).

If you have the harness, there is no way for the dealer to know (if it's removed).

 

im also very interested in a v-afc to kind of tie up the loose ends of my tuning, and make everything work together better. after my gears are installed im done with my car (well 99% done i guess )

 

I have a VAFCII in my 2002. The Honda dealer did the install and only charged me one service hour. The install took about two and a half hours. I had it tuned on a dyno that was about $90.00 it did help improve the performance of the car. The best part is the large print/display of the RPM's I can see them very well and they are more accurate than the factory tach.

At the dyno getting tuned

 

i must know about that shifter/boot!!!!!!!!!!

 

I have a vafc on my 01... I have mine flush with my center console behind the cup holder. It looks really clean there. I got some great gains with my vafc (mostly because 01 run so rich). At peak power (8,300 rpm) I picked up about 9 rwhp. But at 8,900 rpm where the car runs way too rich i picked up about 22 horsepower AT THE WHEELS which was great. It also fattened up the mid range by about 12 rwhp. I dropped vtec down to 5700 rpm and that smoothed out the transition and the entire power curve smoothed out also. All in all I was very happy. At the time of dyno I had my intake and test pipe on. Now I have my t1r single on the car and really want to see how much power I'm putting down now.

 

i'll been tuning my new vfac next month! any tips kayvan?