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Apexi Safc's - Are They More Trouble Then There Worth?

LatinR33

By LatinR33,
in Engines & Forced Induction

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LatinR33 Experienced

LatinR33

Posted
Posted

Hey all just a curiosity question, I was speaking to a very experienced and knowledgeable mechanic and has told me to not use a SAFC of any kind because they are known to cause problems and headaches, I assume because it tricks the factory ecu. what do you guys think??

mesmerized Mentor

mesmerized

Posted
Posted

i'm also keen to hear responses from this question, as I'm thinking bout getting one too. I've heard mixed opinions about them. has anyone found they got better fuel consumption with one?? i'm currently getting a ridiculous 250km per tank (and no i'm not running super rich a/f ratio's)

smurf80 Experienced

smurf80

Posted
Posted

They do the job for there intended purpose. I had one and never had any problems with it. Although it depends on what your doing to your car. For light mods and I had no intention of changing the turbo a SAFC was fine. But if your wanting to go further down the mod path then that a replacement ECU is essential.

Guilt-Toy Grand Master

Guilt-Toy

Posted
Posted

a SAFC can help your fuel economy a little but it will get no where near as good as a Power FC.

They can be worth the hassle if you only have minor mods. any upgrade of the injectors or turbo and its Power FC time.

R31Nismoid Grand Master

R31Nismoid

Posted
Posted
Hey all just a curiosity question, I was speaking to a very experienced and knowledgeable mechanic and has told me to not use a SAFC of any kind because they are known to cause problems and headaches, I assume because it tricks the factory ecu. what do you guys think??

What problems and what headaches?

I bet you he gets stuck trying to list them all, because there are none.

As already stated, they do what they are made for quite well

siddr20 Grand Master

siddr20

Posted
Posted

I dont know about causing headaches and what not.

But the tune will never be perfect and you wont be able to fix your flat spot problems or whatnot.

I mean, if you cant afford a proper ecu, then safc would be worth it for what it is.

Uni-group (if you live in sydney), actually told me you will find good gains with it on an r33. Other cars not worth it.

I might purchase the apexi neo sometime soon, and get it tuned and see what it can do.

Fair few actually have the safc in there cars.

50/50 i guess.. some ppl say not worth it.. some ppl will say get it

mesmerized Mentor

mesmerized

Posted
Posted
a SAFC can help your fuel economy a little but it will get no where near as good as a Power FC.

They can be worth the hassle if you only have minor mods. any upgrade of the injectors or turbo and its Power FC time.

i'm in the process of getting my car engineered. i saw ur thread about u getting ur car to pass emission laws with a power fc.

do u think its possible with an safc??

and did the emissions test cost u anything?

how long did it take?

LatinR33 Experienced

LatinR33

Posted
  • Author
Posted
i'm in the process of getting my car engineered. i saw ur thread about u getting ur car to pass emission laws with a power fc.

do u think its possible with an safc??

and did the emissions test cost u anything?

how long did it take?

I think we should get back on topic

Gazee Grand Master

Gazee

Posted
Posted

i had an safc 2 in my r33 with absolutly no problem at all... it does help considering when you put a little boost into an r33 it seems to run rich, this just corrects the air fuel ratios and leans it out a little giving you better economy etc. etc.

as for headaches i don't think there actually are any... nothing i've heard of anyways.

I only got rid of mine because i got a power fc otherwise i would have kept it... done me well

WogsRus Veteran

WogsRus

Posted
Posted

I love mine, never going back, there are so many things you cn do if you have the know how. You can actaully play a bit with timming in these if you now how. An adjustable fuel pressure reg helps to iron out some issues too.

I originaly got a 40rwKw increasy from stock boost and setup to safcII and 10psi and now an maped computer and safc ii for trimmings as needed and i managed 217 rwKws at 14.9 psi on a stock turbo.

LatinR33 Experienced

LatinR33

Posted
  • Author
Posted (edited)
I love mine, never going back, there are so many things you cn do if you have the know how. You can actaully play a bit with timming in these if you now how. An adjustable fuel pressure reg helps to iron out some issues too.

I originaly got a 40rwKw increasy from stock boost and setup to safcII and 10psi and now an maped computer and safc ii for trimmings as needed and i managed 217 rwKws at 14.9 psi on a stock turbo.

Thats cool but i was reading before you had starting issues could it have been related to the safc??? 40kw increase?? thats pretty amazing a lil too amazing.

Edited by LatinR33
Gazee Grand Master

Gazee

Posted
Posted

don't be looking at rwkw gains in regards to upgrades etc.

i got 214.9rwkw at the chasers dyno when i only had a bleed valve @ 12psi, exhuast from turbo back, fmic and the safc2

as R31nismoid said, does you tuner know what problems and headaches you will get with a safc?

Birnie Veteran

Birnie

Posted
Posted
Hey all just a curiosity question, I was speaking to a very experienced and knowledgeable mechanic and has told me to not use a SAFC of any kind because they are known to cause problems and headaches, I assume because it tricks the factory ecu. what do you guys think??

Another vote for "they do what they are intended to do"

I've had one and the only problem was a bit of gravel rash on the knees from installing the bugger.

..but considering I've owned/installed/removed and Power FC installed, i'd skip it even for minor mods and go straight to the FC.

The mid range, even untuned, is amazing compared to standard

pixel8r Mentor

pixel8r

Posted
Posted

Sounds like your mechanic maybe didn't know how to tune them (although they are quite easy to do...on their own at least).??

Had no trouble at all with my SAFC - it works GREAT, and for the money they are excellent value for money. Cost me $400 including a good dyno tune (got mine 2nd hand) and saves me 2L/100km now, which equates to about $5-12 every time I fuel up (every week for me). So it will pay itself off in less than a year, and give me more performance potential at the same time. :D

Its your only option for an auto unless you want to shell out big $$ for a E-Manage + tune...

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