i curent drive a built 500whp integra but i'm really intrested in geting something that actually has traction. i been doing a lot of reading here and i have a few questions.

what the hell is a flash??? how does it work? can you tune with a flash and can u controle fuel, timing and rev limit witha flash?
how do you guys tune you cars? with what??

in the honda world most ppl like myself use some kind of stand alone. (crome, hondata, uberdata. i use hondata. its highly in honda's sugested that i know of to stay away from afc's such as the apex ones because they can controle timing and can eaisly blow up high power motors. but i see so many evo useing afc's. is it safe?? whats this talk about a male in flash. how can u run a random map thats not exactely tune for your car? is that not dangerious?

all the cam installs i have seen no one up grades valve springs and retainers? is that safe? i see ppl rev over stock redline with out after market springs and retainers? is that ok? no body does this kinf of stuff with hondas' so i'm just asking.

i plan on buying a used 03 evo. how much whp can i expect with the basic bolt on's (3"tbe, o2 housing, megan manifold, hard ic pipes, mbc) what other bolt ons can i get. i plan to get as far with bolt on's before i get a gt35 or gt30? when would these turbos spool at? now i have a t3'60-1 .82ar with a stage 5 wheel on my built 2.0 lsvtec and i hit full boost by only 4k. How would this turbo be in an evo?

any info would be aprecated? i'm trying to learn as much as i can before i decided to pick up an used evo and start moding it.
remember i'm a nebe to mitsu's and evos but not to cars. i built my integra from the ground up and and built several b seris motors.

 

Im still a little hazy myself on flashes, but from what i understand a flash is just a preset tune that someone has already done that you can upload to your ecu based on what mods you have and it changes fuel, timing, spark, removes rev limiter, speed limiter etc. Its a one time thing that you need to have done everytime you get a new mod installed. There are plenty of stand alones available such as the AEM EMS (seems to be the most widely used). Best and cheapest way to mod an Evo is to get all the parts you want to do and then install them and get them custom tuned on a dyno by a reputable shop (vishnu, turbotrix, etc. whatever is near to where you live). As far as the cams and valve train is concerned i believe its based on what cams you have. Thats the info ive gathered and hope it helps.

 

well to answer some of these questions. the computer on the evo can be reprogramed "flashed"

basic flash or mail in flash only changes certain things, its not really a mod specific flash. For a car to be tuned around the mods you have on your car you would get it custom flashed

as far as valves and all that goes, it depends on the cams your gonna run and what not

but you could have also used the search button on the top and found answers to most of these questions

 

people do seem to upgrade headstuds when they upgrade cams for the evos.

 

You can look under Engine management/tuning forums and look under ECUflash. Basically what you do is send your ECU to a trusted vendor (Dynoflash, TT, AMS, Buschur, etc) and send in a list of mods you have. The "flash" your mods that you have to give you a nice safe tune. One thing you have to know is that tuning on evo's is VERY important because they are so sensitive to mods and they are very mod friendly cars. If you do get the evo, check out some websites from some of the compaines listed above and look at their "Stages". Basically it's stages to help build your evo, and do it the right way for a fair price. As for the turbo upgrade, you'll want to make sure you have ALL supporting mods before you slap on a big turbo because it's less expensive to build it, then to replace broken parts. The stock bottom ends on evo's have been known to hold 500+ hp and some people trust that, some dont. I'm glad i took the method that i did. I built my bottom end, got all my supporting mods for my turbo upgrade and then almost 1 year later i got my 35r turbo from AMS. I'm glad i waited and took my time with it. You'll find as much information on this site as you will need and it will help you out majorly when it comes to learning about the evo. Just search

 

thanks for all the help and info.
i have a few more questions

if i do get an 03 evo are the 6 speed trannies swapable?? also cam you swap a 06 mivic head on an 03 block like doing an lsvtec in a honda??

about the cams

i never see ppl running aftermarket valve springs or reainers with 264/272/or 280 cams.
also what the hell do thouse number mean on the cams? (262 cam 272 cam 280 cams??)
also when looking for can do you guys look for higher lift cams with less duration to lessen over lap so no boost gets blown out??

on the tunning
so a flash is when you upload a custom program into the stock ecu? so the stock eco is reprogramable?? so... your telling me that you can change fuel timing , rev limit on the stock eco just by reprograming it?? then whats the point in geting aem. infact what the differance from a a flash and a stand alone when you can do a custom flash and change fuel and timming. so basically you can tune on your stock ecu??

thanks again for help this evo newb out

 

There are many people running aftermarket valve springs and retainers. It all depends on which cams you get. The HKS 264's and 272's dont need an upgrade as the stock ones would be just fine. If you're going to get 280's then you should probably go with upgraded valve springs and retainers. As for the ecu you're right about it being a program you upload into the stock ecu. Alot of people go with the AEM EMS because you can fine tune these much more and tweak power out alot more than you can with a stock ecu. The stock ECU is limited to so much tuning. As example you can't really tune the stock ECU to 1000 injectors and a 35r as it would be extrememly difficult. Not to mention you can switch through different maps on the EMS unlike you can on the stock ecu. Getting a standalone also eliminates the MAF. If you're looking to get a bigger turbo and build your engine i would highly recommend a standalone. I have the autronics standalone myself and i think it was an extremely good investment. But they are very expensive.

 

If you get an 03 keep the five speed and just have it serviced by Shep and TRE to handle more power. The 6 speed has had some problems with some of the members here and seems to be pretty weak. Do a search and you should find more answers. Thats just briefly what i remember reading. As far as putting the MIVEC head on i imagine it'd be more trouble than its worth. You'd probably have to go with a standalone to control the mivec as it seems to be very well controlled by the ECU. You cant just put a IX ecu in a VIII. The ecus are made for each car, so if you tried to even put another VIII ecu in your car it wouldnt run at all. That also has me wondering how the VTEC heads are put on non-vtec blocks (LSVTEC) with hondas. Im just assuming the VTEC is controlled by the ECU? Do you have to use a standalone to do that on hondas also (sorry im a nissan guy not really big into hondas)?