I'm playing a bit of catch-up here, trying to figure out what's going to be best for my daily driven 05 VIII. I have lots of experience modding rotaries and that's my "play" car. I have no desire to have the ECU reflashed due to the downtime required and expense of doing so continuously over the life of the car. Here are my requirements:

a)I want something I can simply swap in and out, no cutting, no additional modifications. This point is steering me away from the XEDE. I know it's not a huge deal with the pin removal on the XEDE but remove it several times and you can likely damage the plug. The stock ECU needs to be sent in for rev and boost manipulation, not exactly a selling point in my book.

b)I want something that'll give a bit more power and driveability than stock and better mpg too boot on 93 octane. I plan on a near-stock noise level cat back exhaust being added to the mix, most likely a Fujitsubo or Espilier.

c)Looking for the basic tune to be included in the ECU from whoever I purchase it from. I honestly don't want to spend hours and hours on a dyno (there's no AWD dyno within four hours of me anyway)

d)I want to be able to control boost levels and keep the power from falling off past 5500 rpm with a nice safe tune and flat boost curve. Did I mention a bit better gas mileage?

I know the AEM would be overkill and expensive vs. other options. I'm not concerned about that. I am concerned about being able to start and drive the car as I normally would with a nice bump in hp/torque and being able to swap the ECU back when it goes in for service with no trace of tampering. I'm not looking to extract every last ounce of hp but I would like to get rid of the excessively rich stock map which seems to plague these cars. I'm actually "shocked" and surprised at how rich everyone seems to be running the 4G's. I'm used to rotaries running rich and I see talk about a/f ratios in the low 11's on the Evo's and I'm a bit surprised. Is this a pump gas only issue?

I'm located in Southwest Florida and I would most definitely be willing to purchase the ECU from a shop within four hours of me that could tune the ECU on the street or dyno. I'm capable of tuning a rotary but I'm not up to snuff on the Mitsu. I have no experience with this motor and it's requirements so I'll let the experts do the keyboard tapping. If it's possible to purchase an ECU from say Buscher, have a tune for a stock 05 with exhaust that'll have no driveability issues but may need the a/f dialed in a bit (to their target points), I can do that as well. Not interested in converting to speed density (MAP).

Am I really just looking in the wrong place here or will the AEM meet my requirements?

 

Given your critera, I would say AEM would not be appropriate for you. Best bet would probably be to flash the stock ECU to remove the boost cut, raise your revlimit, and then get some form of piggy back tuning system and install it using a harness so you can remove it easily. Dealer will never know, you can tune it yourself, and wouldn't spend as much money. One of the major benefits of the AEM, which is converting to speed density, you are not interested in, you don't really want 'max' power...given all your requriements, its seems the AEM system is not right for you. You could save money, and spend it elsewhere..suspension, brakes, tires, what not.

 

I thought the dealer would be able to tell if an ECU has been reflashed? I just did a bit of searching and there are a few places in central Florida near Orlando that do reflashes specifically on Evo's...but again, if I have to drive four hours to have it unflashed, drive back four hours, service the car, drive another four hours back for reflash...well you get the picture, it'd get pretty old!

 

What is best is to talk to whomever will be tuning it and ask them what they are most familiar with. An EMS is only as good as the tuner. Good power can be made with pretty much any system out there.

 

I suggest a UTEC over a SAFC or a flash in a heartbeat. You can put it in yourself in less than 30 mins. Datalog the car stock and make changes gradually. I had one before the AEM and was very happy with it and learned to tune it on my own. You can pick one up cheap on here used. you can also remove it pretty fast. If you have any questions on it pm me or Malibujack as he is the Utec Guru .

 

you can always just do a mail in flash... they can flash you from stock to tuned, then back to stock. All you gotta pay for is shipping.

 

Mail-order reflashes are also out of the question. It's a daily driven vehicle and I don't want to have to explain to the wife why the car isn't working It'd also be hard to bike 100+ miles a day with a backpack full of camera gear, LOL.

Does anyone know for CERTAIN whether a reflash on a 2005 can be seen by the dealer?

 

Even though you computer maybe flashed the dealer has to look for it. It is not like they plug it in and bam they can tell your ECU is flashed. Also you most dealers are not just going to check your ECU for flashes unless you make things look obivious that your car is modded.

 

True true...I'd rather not take any chances though. The only other mod I may make is a cat-back and a set of wheels. I'm pretty happy with everything else on the car and it makes a fun daily driver. Just needs about 30 more hp to keep me happy and a bit better gas mileage, especially when on the throttle.

 

Mr. Stock, your best bet is to probably throw and Alcohol injection kit on it, with some simple tuning tool (even an AFC, or UTEC like Luis suggested) and you can have your +30hp with minimal cost, and the piggyback is easily removed for dealer trips. Don't get me wrong, I would run nothing else but a standalone EMS on my car but I do firmly believe in choosing the right tool for the job...and in your case it just doesn't seem like the cost is justified, since you aren't interested in the MAF delete, and other advanced options it has to offer. You are not going to reap the benefits of the incurred cost.

The best analogy I can think of is the guys who buy Z06 Vettes, and drive them like they are Civics. What the point in spending all that money?

 

Honda Civic Type Z06, lol

Anyway, I got my '05 RS reflashed in Orlando. It's been at two regularly scheduled Dealer services and they've never said or done anything. All I do is remove my MBC every 5k miles and they cant/dont say anything and warranty still valid .

BTW, flash + MBC = 13.5 @ 102 with a 1.99 60' slipping clutch

Good enough for me for a daily driver.

 

Bought a UTEC off of another forum member. I think I'll end up purchasing a Megan downpipe and threading the new o2 bung in that for the Tuner Lite box. That way I can put the stock downpipe back on and remove the UTEC. I'll do a mild cat-back later. Does the downpipe by itself really produce any gains? The stock unit doesn't seem all that bad.

 

AEM is only for those willing to learn/get involved with the system themselves. Too much tweaking involved when you run into cold days and such. I personally have fun learning this thing and tuning it. I am already back where I was performance wise on my stock ecu (11.50s). That is with one day of tuning. My friend did the initial tuning, but I have read up on the system and know a bit about it already. If you can't adjust it yourself and don't want to learn how don't get an AEM. You will be stuck when your tuner isn't there to bail you out.

You made the rigth choice with the UTEC.