To Pfc Or Remap

[rad100]

hey,

atm i currently have a power fc for my rb20det...

now i know these are great units etc.

i have tossed up selling this and getting a remap of my std ecu..

will this have the same effect? is having the pfc better?

will i loose anything getting a remap?

i dont know if I am gonna get the most out of my $1000+ pfc as i only street the car!

standard rb20

Apexi AX53B70 P-25 (380hp)

gtr injectors and pump

z32 afm

ap engineering power fc

600*300*100

3" dump, no cat and 90mm cat back

E boost controller

standard bov

this is wat i have to tune!!

i found my car feels better with the std ECU! am i just strange or ???

cheers

adrian

[paulr33]

the powerfc is only as good as the tuner or the owner who tunes it

if you just plug it in its no different to the standard ECU

its just maps and numbers, theres no "magic add power" function in the powerfc

that being said, if you have some time to read and a good mind set you can do a lot of the tuning

and adjustments yourself, saving time, $ and getting some gains from your investment

youll also learn quite a bit which is good - and you can brag to your mates that you did some self tuning

the powerfc faq in my sig covers everything you need to know with the powerfc

it covers common topics such as fuel economy tuning

adding more ignition timing for response and power

common upgrades and changes such as airflow meters, injectors etc

also covers debugging knocking and detonation and how to check for them

the stock ecu is fine and once remapped will give you more power and resposne etc

but all of the tune and information is locked away and you have no access to it

so you dont know if things are good or bad, as you cant tell

you also cant make adjustments (even minor) if you want to make changes

or use different fuel (say 100ron) or change airflow meter etc

[paulr33]

as a quick test has the PFC been tuned properly? if it hasn't then no wonder you believe the stock ecu feels better

well if it hasn't been tuned properly throw in some more ignition timing

get the car warm

use the temp IGN adjust on the hand controller

add in +5 IGN timing and drive around

watch knocking on the hand controller and load the car up

keep it under 3 grand on full load and see how it goes (dont go past 3 grand, youll likely kill the engine, get a real tuner to do this on a dyno)

if you get low levels of detonation (under say 20 ish)

then this level is fine and you can deal with more timing

basically just keep doing this until you get consistent levels of knocking around 20ish under load

i did this on my std turbo GTST 33 and got massive response gains

i was able to dial in about +12deg ign timing over the std maps

this gives the car a massive boost in throttle response and makes the car nice and crisp

as you can see with the stock ECU you have no hope of doing this

also if you try out 100ron fuel such as Vpower Racing you can do the same procedure

and add in even more timing ,again giving more power, response and throttle crispness

[rob82]

hey,

atm i currently have a power fc for my rb20det...

now i know these are great units etc.

i have tossed up selling this and getting a remap of my std ecu..

will this have the same effect? is having the pfc better?

will i loose anything getting a remap?

i dont know if I am gonna get the most out of my $1000+ pfc as i only street the car!

standard rb20

Apexi AX53B70 P-25 (380hp)

gtr injectors and pump

z32 afm

ap engineering power fc

600*300*100

3" dump, no cat and 90mm cat back

E boost controller

standard bov

this is wat i have to tune!!

i found my car feels better with the std ECU! am i just strange or ???

cheers

adrian

Well the gear you have fitted will make both Re-map or PFC nice and easy to tune - congrats on not installing 1000cc injectors for your 380hp turbo as I often have seen. As Paul has said either or can be tuned - just make sure you get a good tuner. The Knock light feature on the PFC is nice even if it doesn't retard the timing as the factory ECU "WILL/SHOULD" - but it often doesn't.

[paulr33]

for more info check out;

http://paulr33.skylinesaustralia.com/docs/...erfc-faq.htm#37

[rob82]

as a quick test has the PFC been tuned properly? if it hasn't then no wonder you believe the stock ecu feels better

well if it hasn't been tuned properly throw in some more ignition timing

get the car warm

use the temp IGN adjust on the hand controller

add in +5 IGN timing and drive around

watch knocking on the hand controller and load the car up

keep it under 3 grand on full load and see how it goes (dont go past 3 grand, youll likely kill the engine, get a real tuner to do this on a dyno)

if you get low levels of detonation (under say 20 ish)

then this level is fine and you can deal with more timing

basically just keep doing this until you get consistent levels of knocking around 20ish under load

i did this on my std turbo GTST 33 and got massive response gains

i was able to dial in about +12deg ign timing over the std maps

this gives the car a massive boost in throttle response and makes the car nice and crisp

as you can see with the stock ECU you have no hope of doing this

also if you try out 100ron fuel such as Vpower Racing you can do the same procedure

and add in even more timing ,again giving more power, response and throttle crispness

What happens if the wiring to the knock sensor is faulty??? No fault codes, No knock numbers no flashy eninge light.

[paulr33]

well that would also yield a knock display of 0

and it would never change or increase

this would be the same with a remap, the stock ecu would never see a knocking signal

so it would never drop to the low octane map

[rob82]

well that would also yield a knock display of 0

and it would never change or increase

this would be the same with a remap, the stock ecu would never see a knocking signal

so it would never drop to the low octane map

On the std ECU it would automatically drop to a default timing number and display an engine light if the sensor was open or short circuit.

[paulr33]

i was unaware the stock ecu operated like this - can anyone confirm engine check light comes on with knock sensor unplugged on stock ecu ?

[cosmokram3r]

with that kinda setup, if u have the cash for a PFC and tune... the way i figure it is re-map's are better for mininmal mod's like what im doing for my car, but then again it depends on the re-mapper really.. If they have exp with high HP cars and are good then go for it, but to be honest if i had the mods u had id spend the extra cash and go a PFC and tune

[BLK33T]

remap = legal

pfc tune = illegal

road car = remap

track car = aftermarket ecu

having said that the haltech has a lockout function that can technically make it legal

[limpus]

with that kinda setup, if u have the cash for a PFC and tune... the way i figure it is re-map's are better for mininmal mod's like what im doing for my car, but then again it depends on the re-mapper really.. If they have exp with high HP cars and are good then go for it, but to be honest if i had the mods u had id spend the extra cash and go a PFC and tune

A remap will be fine for his setup...which is similar to mine...but since he has a power FC then he should just stick with it...makes no sense to change it....

[SimonR32]

hey,

atm i currently have a power fc for my rb20det...

now i know these are great units etc.

i have tossed up selling this and getting a remap of my std ecu..

will this have the same effect? is having the pfc better?

will i loose anything getting a remap?

i dont know if I am gonna get the most out of my $1000+ pfc as i only street the car!

standard rb20

Apexi AX53B70 P-25 (380hp)

gtr injectors and pump

z32 afm

ap engineering power fc

600*300*100

3" dump, no cat and 90mm cat back

E boost controller

standard bov

this is wat i have to tune!!

i found my car feels better with the std ECU! am i just strange or ???

cheers

adrian

considering i had exactly the same setup as this, except a gtr bov and a bleed tap (which is better than a e-boost anyways haha) and had both a remap and power fc in my car....

i would go the remap and with the money you save get yourself a set a spiltfire coils as you will need them

[rad100]

thanks for the input guys! prob sell the pfc and get a remap! i just cant justify the $$$ i spent on the pfc when i drive it on the street!

[rad100]

ps... will i gain fuel econ with a remap?

[limpus]

^^^ Not any more than a properly tuned PFC...i'm all for remaps mate but since you have a PFC just stick with it...

[abu]

Hold onto the Power FC and make use of it

To tune the Power FC it will be pretty much the same as what you would pay for the REMAP

The way I see it, the Power FC can only go up in value from here on so you won't lose out when you sell it later down the track

[SimonR32]

but on the other hand if u sell the power fc and use the cash to buy some splitfires, you wont get super agro when trying to tune power fc only to have your spark blown out because of shitty stock coil packs

plus u will have some cash left over to replace the gtr fuel pump with a bosch one when it shits itself

[abu]

I don't believe he will need splitfires, the most power he would be looking at would be what:? maybe 240rwkw?

Standard coils will hold that provided they are still in good condition

cerbera: Did you once own a black HCR32 with an Apexi AX53B70 turbo?

[SimonR32]

they will be fine for that power, i have standard coils running 430rwkw and they are fine...

but they are very old and starting to degrade, its not the performance of the coils, its the wear and tear

yes i did own a black 32 back in the day, why is this?!?