boyvang

Hello fellow members, I just joined the forum not to long ago and am straight from the Mitsubishi family of the DSM clan. I'm very knowledgeable with DSM's but am new to the EVO's family. I'm guessing it's sort of the same but may be different in some otherwise.


I've just recently purchase my brand new 2014 Evo GSR and my plan is just to get it out there for looks and maybe punch it here and there for fun. I've so far had H&R Springs+20mm spacers and looking to get and axle back exhaust, Intake system, and BOV just for sounds and looks. Maybe in the near future, FMIC w/upper and lower pipes. Wheels+tires, full aero lip kit is going on the car next year.


I've been searching here and there, that I should get a tune for it's full potential. But like I say, I rather go for looks rather than performance, that's why I'm looking for axle back only otherwise stated TBE. Is a tune necessary?


If I need a tune for just those mods and nothing more, what should I be looking into? Cobb AC v3, ECU Flash? I know wide band and boost gauge are a must.


Thanks in advance.

akride907

IF you ever want to FULLY utilize your car you should get a re-tune. Even if you dont have any bolt-on parts. Get a tune. Youll see the most gains out of that. Period. End of discussion.

Sure you can make your car look cool, but having that extra power from a tune+bolt-ons makes the ride so much more fun. "You get what you pay for" is a huge mantra as well as "you gotta pay to play."

Some of those aero kits can get expensive, I've seen ones for 4K. Do you know what you could buy performance wise with that kind of money? Some pretty good ****. That being said, what you do with your car is your business. You CAN get a cat-back exhaust from whoever, and more often than not, get away with NOT getting a tune (some will disagree). I just wouldnt go wide open on the car to often for to long.

As far as an intake and BOV goes, if you get an aftermarket short ram intake, like those made by ETS/K&N or AMS or whomever, you'll find that you wont even want to replace the BOV because you can hear a very distinct "woosh" sound from your new intake. Personally, I havent replaced the BOV because I like that sound. You can also get away with not having to re-tune with this part as well. But again, cant really go wide open to often for to long.

As soon as you touch ANYTHING major that changes the dynamics of the flow of air/exhaust within the car, then you should seriously consider a re-tune (unless you want to buy a new engine...) Anything more than a catback? Re-tune. New IC? Re-tune. Want to put in a new boost controller because you want more stable and consistent boost in your higher rpm range? Re-tune.

Go get a tune my man. You will be impressed and you will enjoy it. Your passengers will enjoy it and the people you see on the streets will be envious.

Now as far as tunes go? You have some options: The Cobb AccessPort is a pretty good platform, they have lots of support, and they put out lots of maps. Its relatively easy, you plug the AP into your car, select the tune you want to apply, it does its thing, and away you go. You have some good freedom with this because this lets you install common bolt-ons, whenever you get them, and not have to worry too much about breaking anything. Now if you run EXCLUSIVELY Cobb parts in your car, there is a pretty good chance that you will do very well with the AP (because thats what they recommend). But, everyone has their preference for parts, be it AMS, ETS, Injen, Greddy etc. Youll get close to the same gains no matter who you go with (+/- 10-15% I would say, but its all relative).

Personally, when I got my evo, I went the AP route first because I didnt know what I wanted to install first. I got my AP, then I put in an ETS intake and AMS UICP. Flashed a new tune with AP. Then I got a new DW65C fuel pump and the ETS V2 catback. Flashed the next stage up with AP. I got the AMS intercooler, AMS LICP, ETS race pipe, O2 dump down pipe, and Cobb 3port EBCS. Flashed the stage 3 on AP.

I ended up installing three gauges over all this as well. AEM air/fuel gauge, AEM boost gauge and an AEM oil pressure gauge. You really dont need any of these if you have an AP because AP will read all these real-time directly from your car's ECU if you leave it plugged in while you are operating it.

It was more of an aesthetics for me, because really they dont do jack squat besides giving you some relevant backup information while you are tunning and testing. Granted, if you notice that you're boost gauge consistently wont go beyond say 5 psi, it would be a nice way to know that you have a boost leak somewhere, apart from the obvious lack of punch from your turbo.

Either way, the gauges look cool and they are nice to have but you do not need them. You car doesnt utilize them, YOU do.

As far as ECUflash goes, unless you are willing to learn, and learn WELL, youre better off taking your car to a protuner and letting them tune your car for you. ECUFlash deals directly with the inputs that your car's ECU receives and you are essentially changing the dynamics of everything directly. Unless you have specific knowledge/experience you could end up changing something that you didnt need to change. Do you think you really need to adjust your injector timings just because you installed a new exhaust? (rhetorical question, answer is, you dont or at least conventionally you shouldnt need to).

I ended up doing a whole lot of research, and then did a ride along tune with my tuner, he ended up teaching me a whole lot more than what I learned just from reading/watching videos. I can honestly say that I may have made some mistakes if I had started the tunning process myself. However, with that experience in my pocket, I do small adjustments to my tune occasionally now and dont have any issues.


Recap:

-Catback + intake? No re-tune really required. You can get away with it.
-New IC, piping, and turbo back exhaust? Definitely re-tune.
-Cobb AP? Its great, get it. It costs $$ but you can store multiple tunes, and change your cars tune ***** nilly. Can even save your pro-tunes on it.
-ECUFlash? Just as great, but you have to put the work in to get the proper know how.

boyvang

Thanks a lot for the information. Its very use full to me as a newbie.

Volkey

Please do more research before you mis-guide people with your "opinion" rather than facts.

akride907

Could say the same about you. A lot of it IS fact.

People drop new high-flow filters, which is essentially a new intake. You dont need a retune for that. ETS and K&N you dont need to re-tune either. SO many intake manufacturers claim that you dont need to re-tune. Should you? Ya you probably should if you want to get the most out of it. OP seems like hes more concerned with NOT tunning.

Why doesnt he need an AFR gauge? Well maybe because he doesnt seem like he's interested in tunning. You dont need one if youre just cruising around. A person who just wants to DRIVE around wants to know whether or not hes burning at around 11.7? Please, most people take their cars to a pro-tuner and have them do it, and then never worry about their **** again until it dont work. That may not be the case with OP, but most TYPICAL people, wont even give a crap. Theyll get a gauge for the look not for the function. And AGAIN OP doesnt seem all that interested in the tuning aspect of all this, he seems more concerned with aesthetics.

Catback and intake? Ill say it again, No you dont need a re-tune. Yes its dependent on the specific intake or catback, but if you get the appropriate parts then you wont need one. OP's post made it seem like he was more concerned with NOT tuning. I was helping him to entertain the option. Do your research.

Im wrong on a re-tune for new IC, piping and Turbo back exhaust? Maybe you should go do some of your own modding on your own car dip****. See what happens when you go change all of these things WITHOUT getting a tune. Let me know about the results!

You want to save tunes on your ECU? Fine. Thats all cool. Great. Party time. Want the convenience at the race track from switching between your 91 octane map to your race gas map and back all within 2 minutes without having to bust out your laptop and cables and ****? Get an AP. It's all about convenience. And then its also personal preference.

Volkey

Please re-read my original comments, you seem to not understand them based on your reply.

chriswolf81

iTrader: (3)

Pretty simple, you can replace the filter in the stock air box, add a cat back and install an inter cooler pipe without the need of a retune.
Intake, down pipe, manifold, turbo or fuel system part requires a retune.
You can switch between up to 9 different maps with your cruise control buttons on the steering wheel (tephra mod v2). It takes seconds to switch maps.
The only benefit I can see to the ap is the diagnostic code pulling, but that can be had for $50 or buy a tactrix cable and use evoscan.
From my experience the vast majority of Evo x tuners use ecu flash and not the AP. why are you pushing the AP? I have a zchip for sale lol

chriswolf81

iTrader: (3)

How would you ever know your fuel relay failed or your fuel pump is giving out or an injector is failing or any other fuel delivery issue, IF YOU DONT HAVE AN AFR GAUGE?
Mind boggling. Too me if the car is tuned it needs to have boost and AFR gauges. Stuff happens and things change. You have to monitor things. Even some turbo cars come with a boost gauge from the factory.

Volkey

He clearly doesnt understand basic logic. Just keep an eye out for his "What's this wierd knocking sound coming from my motor?" thread

MIGSRR

So, not the poke the flame bear... But I'm a new owner of a Evo X. Finally got my dream car. From what I've read everywhere, and a little here. You ARE fine without a tune on the catback right? I want to eventually get a full Turbo back exhaust, but build it slowly. So wanted to get the ETS V2 Extreme cat back first, no tune. Then get a lot of other pieces such as the down pipe and high flow cat etc. etc. And install them all at once to save on just getting one tune.

Thoughts?
Thanks, Miguel. (newb)

Volkey

Hey Miguel, you're good to go dude, and have good plans on how to approach your future mods. Your cat back is fine, be aware you will need to trim the heat sheild that is around the OEM cat flange to be able to mate up the ETS catback to it. No tune needed at all for the cat back. Highly advise against installing a tests/highflow cat without getting a tune, and same goes for the aftermarket downpipe. Have fun man

MIGSRR

Trimming metal shouldn't be a problem! I'm a sheet metal worker by trade haha. Yeah I'm going to collect all the items that need tunes and just do them in one big install!

nickvee05

I feel like this is the place to ask bolt on/ tune questions. From the looks of this thread, It seems like I would need a tune if I plan to install an ETS intake? The thing is, I am already tuned for a test pipe+ catback, ETS intercooler, 3 port solenoid, and air filter. What Im looking for is to hear my turbo spool and recirc from the BPV, I mean I already spent close to 40k on the car, I dont understand why there is such a stigma to this "noise."
I can rarely get a hold of my tuner, and Im now in the NORcal area, so I figured I would give this a shot.

db1

so what I'm reading is that catback won't blow up your car and intake should be fine if your using the poem MAF?