I did the search and didn't really come up with anything concrete. Just one guys opinion against anothers.
https://www.s2ki.com/forums/index.php?showt...45&hl=02-03+ecu

I bought a MY03 ECU (pretty reasonable) thinking it may give some gains due to a previous thread I read........then searched again and it was said that it didn't do much if any and to save the $$$$$$$

I found a pretty good deal do I went ahead and bought it, I can always re sell and get the $$$ back

So any real gains? Worth it since I have it, or should I not go to the trouble and resell it?

 

IMO, not worth it.

 

I swaped the ecm because I got a killer deal on it, and I have noticed a slight difference in lower rpm driving. It's a bit more torquey down low, or it was noticeable before I tuned the vafc. Apparently the only real reasons to do it are better fuel/timing maps, there's no harm in doing it in my opinion.

 

Ok not to change the subject, but why do people say that the VAFC II is useless for the S? I have seen that several times since I have been here.
I got the 03 ECU for well under 200 to my door

 

IMO........its worth it, I did it and I am VERY happy with it. If you have it in your hands already do it......and even do the VAFC2 if youd like. We did another test on this whole 00-01 ECU vs. 02-03 ECU between myself and another board member on here and he is now convinced also and is looking for an ECU from an 02/03 model.

It was also helping on the gas mileage. We drove to houston this past saturday and we both drove the same mileage and got on it ALOT.....doing 140-150mph pulls then kept a 80-90mph steady drive. We had both filled up at the same gas station before we left Dallas area, and we both filled up again at the same time before we got into houston and he had to fill up 10.7 gallons while I only filled up 9.1 gallons. You can read all of these posts of "its just your head, or it really does help" but I guess you really wont find out till you drive your car with the new ECU.......which I guarantee you WILL feel the difference. I plan on doing the VAFC2 later when I actually add bolt ons. I might even move on to the AEM EMS after that when I get into more modding......but we shall see.

 

so 02/03 is faster than 00/01? im confused..

 

I'll chime in since I was the 1st to do it (then Hyper X had to go and copy me )
Anyway, here's the deal: I bought a VAFC and had it "tuned". I gained 14rwhp, but soon developed knock. VAFCs are great BUT you have to have a good tuner, which is hard to find in my area. I notcied, on drives and such, the average 02 and up had bit more down low and when I drove one I found the throttle response and mid-range was better than my 01. Also, they tend to dyno between 5 and 10 hp higher than 01s...so I bought an ECU from hardtop guy and had him install it. I think was very worthwhile given the cost, ease of installation and no tuning. Throttle response and mid-range was improved and I gained 7rwhp.
Honda tuned the 02 and up more aggressively than 00 and 01.

 

ok so since I have the 03 I should go ahead and install it accourding to you......what about a VAFC2, are you using that on top of the 02-03 or did you replace the VAFC2 with the updated ECU

 

I only have the ECU. HyperX ran a VAFC on top of the ECU, but its not worth the dyno and tune time, IMO. The biggest gains with the VAFC were with MY00 and MY01 b/c they could be leaned out more. The 02 and up are already pretty aggressive.

 

good to know. thanks for the info