so im in the progress of doing basic bolt ons (knowing minimal hp/tq can be gained). rite now i have a arc intake which does nothing lol invidia n1 sinle exit and invidia tp soon to be picking up a header , after that im am going to be looking towards getting it tuned, my question is what set up should i run and about how much mulah will i spend, and for hp/tq numbers what can i expect from the systems that are available....

 

get a used vafc1 or vafc2, maybe get it as low as a hundred bucks, add in a boomslang harness and your total is maybe $250. a couple hundred dollars for a wideband and then you self-tune (lower vtec and trim fuel) rather then paying a couple hundred for a dynotune and not having the tools to monitor your setup.

 

A used E-Manage Ultimate,for $400.00-$500.00...

 

Vafc and emanage are both good int eh respects they will make u power.. but u will constantly need to retune as the ecu will fight off your tune.. if you want it done right go with the aem ems standalone.. more tuning options .. completly plug and play and everytime u add a part u can adjust it.. works for FI and NA and Nitrous setups.. spend the money right.. why do u think u see everyone has there vafc for sale for 100 bucks.. they dont work very long hope that helped

 

with the vafc you tune for WOT only and not partial-throttle, if you're on part-throttle then horsepower isn't all that important or you'd have the pedal fully depressed. the vafc is just for lowering vtec and trimming excess fuel added by the oem ecu.

now if you want to mess around with timing, decrease/increase fuel, and have full command of all tuning parameters go with the standalone. that's great if you plan on upgrading later with ITBs, nitrous, or FI but for just basic bolt-ons might be a bit of an overkill. yes you'll get the max gains but $100 for 10 whp versus $1000 for 15 whp is an awfully big difference for such a minimal gain difference (NA is expensive).

but, it comes down to either the most cost effective tuning method (vafc) or the most expensive but highest gain unit (standalone). the emanage piggyback is also a nice middle ground between both in cost and in performance.

 

thanks for all the helpful input its all new info to me and im gonna look towards a vafc set up being that it is so cost affective for my wallet and since itb's or FI are not in my near future it should hold me over.......ill post updates if anybody is interested with my progress.

 

Mine's VX-ROM is only around 2Gs. haha. get it just to be the guy with a Mine's S2K.. No one's rockin that.

 

I've been researching the same thing for the last 2 weeks. The Greddy eManage Ultimate appears to be the way to go on an NA AP1. I've seen dynos with incredible midrange gains (10-15hp) on a stock setup. Top end gains are negligible but imo that isn't a weak spot in the engine anyway.

My sources told me that you will NOT need to reset your ecu with the eManage (as you would with both vafc models) AND you can carry it forward if/when you feel the need to go FI. Basically a robust tuning system w/ the functionality of the stock ecu.

 

You don't need to reset the ecu with a vafc if you tune wot and not partial throttle.
For those mods a vafc is the way to go. I got my vafc 1 with a plug and play harness for $125 shipped. Tuning was like $200 so $325 got it all done.
Emanate will get you a fee more hp but really not a $400 difference imo.

 

like i was saying vafc and emanage are effective, in the respect u will make power.. but like you guys say u have to tune to WOT only and theres the risk of the ecu resetting and theres still more hp's to be tweaked.. if your going to do it... do it right.. spend the extra money for it to be done right.. this is an s2k.. not a civic .. accord .. prelude .. del sol.. AEM EMS .. if you cant spend a grand on a GREAT TUNE and want to cheap out a few hundred bucks the s2k isnt for you.. you gotta pay to play with this car .. its only 2.0 and were keeping up with v8's if not beating them