i agree. All 3 of my previous cars (turbo and NA) that have had to be tuned have been set in the range of 12.8-13.2 and have made decent power. I think this is the range for making power and reliability still being there.

Knowing that the S doesnt have a air flow mon. I went ahead and got a VAFC for a tune.

 

i think if you don't want to dump too much money into a tune the HONDATA Reflash for the MY06 is a good option, when i get my J's header's i'm planning to have that reflash done. ATM i have the PW:JDM Intake and my J's 70rs is finally almost here.

I've talked to a number of people about the greddy e-manage and it always seems like a lot more hassle than its worth... i've heard great things about the new AEM EMS for the s2ks though. with the kpro the MY06+ have to use the dual ecu system i've heard? those are hella expensive...

either way HONDATA or AEM seems the way to go imo. can't wait to get my j's headers and do a reflash! vtec at 6k kind of sucks

 

y don't you just get the toda hondata reflash?

 

I've thought about it, but it's not the cheapest and the car is gonna have to be down for a bit.

 

nice info on this thread !!

 

actually there's a lot of mis-information in this thread.

only thing you should be listening to his Giles opinion Freek posted and those that agree with it. these are people that have spent or witnessed considerably time on the dyno tuning.

if you add these bolt ons, your car will begin to lean out. no question about that. now the combination effects to what extent, but let's not look past the fact of what's happening.

now obviously a car w/a full headerback 70mm system will run leaner than a full headerback 60mm system right? you are pushing through a greater volume of air through the system = lean.

are you going to install a 70mm header and then blow your engine the next day driving to the store because you didn't tune it? no, not at all. however, after some time and depending on how hard you drive, you will cause pre-mature and detrimental damage to your engine. how long till you see that? too many factors to really decide, but the point is you are harming your engine and not optimizing your power.

that's a lose lose situation.

with a header and test pipe, you can bet you're car is running pretty lean. an exhaust or intake i would say the stock ecu can somewhat compensate for that.

just think of it this way...the more air your bolt ons are pushing through the system, the greater the need is to tune with a capable tuner and device.

i think the vafc is garbage, BUT it is better than nothing. if you can only afford a couple hundred bucks, get it. if you can afford the EM-U, get that instead.

personally i would (and did) make sure i have enough for the em-u over the vafc. so much more capabilities. the hondata and kpro are also other great choices.

if you're thinking about getting one of those expensive jdm headers...i would consider scaling back to finding one used and getting a legit tuning device if money is a concern.

honestly, if you had to choose between one last mod, the header or tuning device, the tuning device would give you better gains and reliability...for much less brand new than any of those headers. just something to consider.

my experience: 3 separate tuning sessions, with 3 separate setups. as well as lots of experience with friends cars being tuned as well.

I want my afr in the range of 12.9 - 13.1; something close to this is a great compromise of power and reliability.

 

Oh and plus the EMU can remove the speed limiter. Mwhahahahahaha. Not that I go past 100 much at all. But with the EMU, I can definitely say that throttle response is instant. And it may just be my head, but it pulls much better in every gear. Before it used to bog in 6th when I'm trying to pass. Now it just goes. Not snap your head back goes, but it goes and it's enough to be noticable.

 

yes it'll pull better in all gears. you are beefing up the tq as well as the horsepower...and if you're tuner was any good he should have lowered vtec a bit as well.

less on a stock header, more so on an aftermarket header depending on the design.

 

+1 on Hero's advice, didn't want to quote it.

I had Giles tune my NA setup as well my turbo setup later on.

 

I'm happy for this information but the prospect of running lean made my heart sink. I have a intake/header and was planning on installing my 70mm Greddy single & TP tomorrow. I've been holding off engine management until I ordered a SC. Suffice to say that I'm concerned now.

I have read that 00-01 models run rich in comparison to the 02-03 models, thus the reason for swapping to the later-model ap1 ecu. Should I be worried about running lean as well or is this mainly an issue for DBW guys?

Thanks & /threadjack.