Why should I pay $320 for XFlash?
Originally Posted by Warrtalon
Um, a flash is a personalized tune by a professional, or at least in my case it is and in the case of thousands of other Evos. Referring to a "flash" does not mean it's only a base flash. Many of us have custom FLASHES. Referring to a "flash" is just referring to the tuning method. It does not mean the tune is a base or custom tune - it's just a flash, meaning the ECU is reflashed. You can't name one tuning device for the Evo better than a flash that isn't a standalone. Any piggyback is only using the stock ECU indirectly and is limited by the ECU itself as well as whatever was put into the piggyback's code. A flash directly modifies the ECU and has direct access to every single parameter within the ECU. There's really no reason to dislike flashes...you can dislike individual tuners, and you can dislike non-custom base flashes, but flashing itself is the best solution.
my buddy just has serious issues with his flash and he has sent it in 4 times for a reflash. he still stalls like crazy when coming to a stop and he cannot hold boost for the life of him...even worse than most cases and that is with a MBC.
but i see what you are saying about the flash term. thanks for the feedback
Oh, well no. It's not that "some companies" will custom tune you with a flash. ALL of them do custom tunes with their flashes. Only a few do mail-in flashes, because not all have a large database of files from which they can choose to match a given combination of mods and octane. The vast majority of us go for custom tunes, but they are not always available. In that case, a mail-in flash is usually very good. As for your friend, boost is not affected by the ECU (or the flash) when there is an MBC, so that's a clear indication that he has a big boost leak, a crappy bov (e.g. venting to atmosphere) or a poor installation somewhere. You'll see that a lot of people like to point to their tune or flash as the root of their problems, but 99 times out of 100, it's the car itself. Flashes are easy once you know what you're doing, but it is very rare that I have someone come over for a boost leak test and don't find SEVERAL leaks that the person never knew he had...
dang, schooled again.
well im not going to try to one up you cause i know you know more than i. instead i have a question. if i get 272's do i really need a piggyback such as an AFC. or can i just get a flash. i have always been under the impression that i needed an AFC. so if i dont need one then hey that is a few hundred dollars saved for a future 35.
well im not going to try to one up you cause i know you know more than i. instead i have a question. if i get 272's do i really need a piggyback such as an AFC. or can i just get a flash. i have always been under the impression that i needed an AFC. so if i dont need one then hey that is a few hundred dollars saved for a future 35.
I do not like flashes unless I have no alternative. I like to keep my ECU untouched. That is why I went with a piggyback like the Xede. Yeah it is more expensive than a flash, but I can take it out whenever I want and my ECU will still be untouched. On my car flashes are detected by the dealer should he search for them. You can flash your car back to stock, but I read that the dealer will still know that the ECU was flashed. Given Mitsu's history of voiding warranties, that is not a risk I am willing to take.
The big thing right now is the ECUflash since it is a cheap $90 cable and an Evoscan logger for $35, provided you know what you are doing. A lot of people do not and are experimenting making the ECUflash forum one of the most active. But I guess that is the way you learn.
I read that you can flash your ECU at least 100 times w/o problems, but I can modify my Xede maps w/o any limits. I can keep changing and uploading these maps for as long as I want and my ECU will stay untouched. Also Shiv has maps on his web site that are ready to upload. For me it is like an almost ready map that I can modify to my liking. I recently started mixing my own gas and running 93 octane only. I downloaded Shiv's 93 octane map that fits my mods and I am changing it to my liking.
If I ugrade to cam gears, no problem; he has another map that I can modify to my liking. Cams, you say; he has a map for those.
I can even run two maps for different occasions. Since not all gas stations sell 100 octane, my custom 91 octane map is a flip of a switch away.
And the Xede is so easy to use. Want to richen your AFR by a factor of 1. No problem, just add 4% fuel. Want to back off your timing by 1*. No problem type in -1 in the offset command after you highlight the column/cells you desire.
Finally, the customer service that I got from Vishnu when I needed them was top notch. I had an over temp protection problem in the Xede. I shipped the Xede to them on Thursday and got it back one week later fixed with a knock buffer installed so I can log knock. Almost everytime I call the toll free number I find someone to talk to.
The big thing right now is the ECUflash since it is a cheap $90 cable and an Evoscan logger for $35, provided you know what you are doing. A lot of people do not and are experimenting making the ECUflash forum one of the most active. But I guess that is the way you learn.
I read that you can flash your ECU at least 100 times w/o problems, but I can modify my Xede maps w/o any limits. I can keep changing and uploading these maps for as long as I want and my ECU will stay untouched. Also Shiv has maps on his web site that are ready to upload. For me it is like an almost ready map that I can modify to my liking. I recently started mixing my own gas and running 93 octane only. I downloaded Shiv's 93 octane map that fits my mods and I am changing it to my liking.
If I ugrade to cam gears, no problem; he has another map that I can modify to my liking. Cams, you say; he has a map for those.
I can even run two maps for different occasions. Since not all gas stations sell 100 octane, my custom 91 octane map is a flip of a switch away.
And the Xede is so easy to use. Want to richen your AFR by a factor of 1. No problem, just add 4% fuel. Want to back off your timing by 1*. No problem type in -1 in the offset command after you highlight the column/cells you desire.
Finally, the customer service that I got from Vishnu when I needed them was top notch. I had an over temp protection problem in the Xede. I shipped the Xede to them on Thursday and got it back one week later fixed with a knock buffer installed so I can log knock. Almost everytime I call the toll free number I find someone to talk to.
Last edited by nj1266; Jul 30, 2006 at 08:04 PM.
Originally Posted by nj1266
I do not like flashes unless I have no alternative. I like to keep my ECU untouched. That is why I went with a piggyback like the Xede. Yeah it is more expensive than a flash, but I can take it out whenever I want and my ECU will still be untouched. On my car flashes are detected by the dealer should he search for them. You can flash your car back to stock, but I read that the dealer will still know that the ECU was flashed. Given Mitsu's history of voiding warranties, that is not a risk I am willing to take.
The big thing right now is the ECUflash since it is a cheap $90 cable and an Evoscan logger for $35, provided you know what you are doing. A lot of people do not and are experimenting making the ECUflash forum one of the most active. But I guess that is the way you learn.
I read that you can flash your ECU at least 100 times w/o problems, but I can modify my Xede maps w/o any limits. I can keep changing and uploading these maps for as long as I want and my ECU will stay untouched. Also Shiv has maps on his web site that are ready to upload. For me it is like an almost ready map that I can modify to my liking. I recently started mixing my own gas and running 93 octane only. I downloaded Shiv's 93 octane map that fits my mods and I am changing it to my liking.
If I ugrade to cam gears, no problem; he has another map that I can modify to my liking. Cams, you say; he has a map for those.
I can even run two maps for different occasions. Since not all gas stations sell 100 octane, my custom 91 octane map is a flip of a switch away.
And the Xede is so easy to use. Want to richen your AFR by a factor of 1. No problem, just add 4% fuel. Want to back off your timing by 1*. No problem type in -1 in the offset command after you highlight the column/cells you desire.
Finally, the customer service that I got from Vishnu when I needed them was top notch. I had an over temp protection problem in the Xede. I shipped the Xede to them on Thursday and got it back one week later fixed with a knock buffer installed so I can log knock. Almost everytime I call the toll free number I find someone to talk to.
The big thing right now is the ECUflash since it is a cheap $90 cable and an Evoscan logger for $35, provided you know what you are doing. A lot of people do not and are experimenting making the ECUflash forum one of the most active. But I guess that is the way you learn.
I read that you can flash your ECU at least 100 times w/o problems, but I can modify my Xede maps w/o any limits. I can keep changing and uploading these maps for as long as I want and my ECU will stay untouched. Also Shiv has maps on his web site that are ready to upload. For me it is like an almost ready map that I can modify to my liking. I recently started mixing my own gas and running 93 octane only. I downloaded Shiv's 93 octane map that fits my mods and I am changing it to my liking.
If I ugrade to cam gears, no problem; he has another map that I can modify to my liking. Cams, you say; he has a map for those.
I can even run two maps for different occasions. Since not all gas stations sell 100 octane, my custom 91 octane map is a flip of a switch away.
And the Xede is so easy to use. Want to richen your AFR by a factor of 1. No problem, just add 4% fuel. Want to back off your timing by 1*. No problem type in -1 in the offset command after you highlight the column/cells you desire.
Finally, the customer service that I got from Vishnu when I needed them was top notch. I had an over temp protection problem in the Xede. I shipped the Xede to them on Thursday and got it back one week later fixed with a knock buffer installed so I can log knock. Almost everytime I call the toll free number I find someone to talk to.
No, by no means would you ever need an SAFC to do cams. i can't even imagine why anyone would ever say that to begin with. An safc can do anything for cams. All it can do is change the AFRs at a limited number of rpm points. However, a flash can compensate for the necessary AFRs and timing at EVERY rpm point for low and hi throttle while also adjusting the idle speed control to give a good, smooth idle.
NJ's concerns are a bit much. You can flash yourself to stock and there's no trace. The ROM is identical to stock, and that's all that matters. Mitsu has no clue what anyone does to the ECU anyway unless they too get the EcuFlash software and look. Even if they did that, and there was a stock map, then they'd again have no clue that the car was flashed. There's really no concern there with warranty such. Much less of a concern than getting exhaust and other mods.
The 100 times thing is for full re-writes, and no one ever does that. People have flashed the same ECU 900+ times without failure, because when you flash it for tuning purposes, you're only changing a few of the many tables.
NJ's concerns are a bit much. You can flash yourself to stock and there's no trace. The ROM is identical to stock, and that's all that matters. Mitsu has no clue what anyone does to the ECU anyway unless they too get the EcuFlash software and look. Even if they did that, and there was a stock map, then they'd again have no clue that the car was flashed. There's really no concern there with warranty such. Much less of a concern than getting exhaust and other mods.
The 100 times thing is for full re-writes, and no one ever does that. People have flashed the same ECU 900+ times without failure, because when you flash it for tuning purposes, you're only changing a few of the many tables.
Originally Posted by Warrtalon
The 100 times thing is for full re-writes, and no one ever does that. People have flashed the same ECU 900+ times without failure, because when you flash it for tuning purposes, you're only changing a few of the many tables.
Originally Posted by nj1266
I have read this before, but I do not understand how the ECU would know if it is a partial flash of a full flash. For example, you made a change to the high octane fuel map only and you saved the new ROM. Can you now upload the flash of that high octane fule map w/o all the other parts of the map, ie, ignition maps, boost maps, etc...? How does that work?
Originally Posted by razorlab
Ecuflash checks with the current ROM in the ECU and only changes the regions that have been changed. When you write the new ROM to the ECU you will see it do exactly that in the dialog box.
Originally Posted by nj1266
Thanks Bryan. A follow up question. Let us say that the most flashed segments of the ROM are the ignition and fuel maps. How many times can you flash these segments before you can no longer flash them?
If you are really worried, you could do something like I do. A strong 91 octane tune with ECUflash and use a piggyback for 100 octane, logging, etc.
