Okay guys, 2 more questions!

I promise I will be done asking questions soon...

So I'm thinking I will get the XFlash along with the cam gears - but I probably won't be installing the cam gears myself. They look easy enough to install, but I'm afraid I might screw up with the timing belt or something.. anyway that's not the point.

My question is, if I got cam gears, then I'd be good for a Stage1 flash, but I need to drive my car to get the gears installed. Would it be OK to drive the car with a Stage1 flash before I have the gears installed? Or do I need to order the gears first, get them installed, and then get my ECU flashed? (meaning I have to pay 2x shipping)

And lastly, while I will stick with the XFlash for now, I may require the power of the XEDE later on. What would be the cost of upgrading to the XEDE? Would I just pay the difference between the XFlash and the XEDE, or is there some kind of upgrade program?

Thanks!

PS. What is this east coast dyno day I keep hearing about? When is it?

 

You can drive the car with the flash prior to getting the gears installed or install the gears, set them at 0, send the ECU to Vishnu for the flash, receive ECU back, set gears to -5.

 

Personally, I would set them at -5 from the start, even though the car won't be optimized. The less times you loosen and tighten the gear bolts, the less chance to strip the bolt head, under or overtighten, etc.

However, if you are concerned about price, you should definitely get the xede first, then the xedeflash will only cost a 100 bucks, instead of 399 or whatever it is now.

 

First of all, my mistake. The East coast dyno day this weekend is a Subaru dyno day. An east coaster hit me on the wrist with a ruler for bringing it up. Sorry about the confusion!

As far as the gears: Don't change the setting. Just drive them at -5 and don't flog the crap out of the car until you have everything ready. I drove around on a Stage 1 flash without cam gears for almost a week, but I took it easy.

Regarding changing to the XEDE later and the price, call Vishnu. I like the boost control of the XEDEflash a whole lot better than the Xflash, so if you can pinch the extra cost, go that route. Heck, get the XEDEflash now, then get the cam gears later. You can downlaod the map to swap to a stage 1 for free when you do get the cam gears.

XEDE>all.

 

zstryder, there are quite a few of us locally who've done cam gears (and even cams) ourselves. Don't pay full retail shop rates, unless you really want to. I can PM you contacts of local Evo owners who've done the job, including one who I believe has three complete cam installs under his belt. I personally would help you do it, but I don't have the timing belt tensioner tool -- I borrowed one to do my cams and gears.

 

Cool guys, thanks for the help.

The XEDE does look very tempting - but I don't have the moolah right now for it. I like the thought of being able to change maps on the fly, but I also wonder to myself how often would I change the maps myself anyway?

Aren't Shiv's baseline maps pretty optimized anyway? I just don't I'd gain anything from changing the values, and the baseline maps don't "hold X boost till redline," so for now I see no point in getting the XEDE. I don't see the track that often (but I do autox) so maybe the XFlash would be my best bet.

If I ever need XEDE, then maybe I'll upgrade.. thanks for the input guys.

 

Noize personally went from the xflash to the xede and I dont think he is looking back

 

The big thing to me is boost control with the XEDE. Its super awesome, because it takes control from the factory ECU. With the XFlash, you're still using the ECU's boost control, but you put a restrictor inline that allows the initial spike value to increase. Shiv has improved it, but IMO, nothing is like an XEDEflash.

Again, if you hold off on the cam gears for a little bit, there is only $100 from a XEDE to an Xflash and cam gears. While I agree that the Stage 1 XFlash will be faster, you'll save money in the long run, because I bet you'd upgrade to an Xede anyway.

Either way, though, you'll be really happy, bro!

 

Hm, maybe I am confused, but I thought both XFlash and XEDE ran the same boost levels? At least the stock baseline map does, but I'm not sure about Stage1 or Stage1+...

 

In theory, they would. But the XFlash is still controlled by the factory ECU. With the XEDE, the boost is much more spot on, as the XEDE itself controls the BCS. My boost values are perfectly on target, and my car is stronger close to redline, because the ECU is taken out of the equation for boost control. All it does is fire a dummy solenoid provided with the XEDE.

 

wow I hope Xflash still does a decent job of controlling boost because I'll be running it w/o XEDE on my stage 1+ car. I think Shiv posted that he can get the same results w/ XEDE or Xflash. I guess I will find out when I hit the dyno tomorrow. When I get the dyno sheet I will compare it to other stage 1+ cars with XEDE.

 

Don't misunderstand my post: The XFlash boost controller is not bad by any means. But for a custom tune and to extract 100% of the potential from the car, the XEDE will get you closer to perfect.

 

I think Shiv was saying up to a point Xflash/XEDE results will be comparable.. but for the big power, you will need XEDE. I think it's at one point the two start to differentiate that we really need to know, and unfortunately, not even Shiv knows that yet.

 

Sure he does! He's tuned a shat-ton of XEDEs and quite a few XFlashes. The difference is the features, the ability to grow, and the boost control. Just with its boost control alone, an XEDEflash car will be more repeatable than an XFlash car.

Again, do not misinterpret my intent. I believe that the XFlash maps (since Shiv has written all of them) and the coming XFlash tuner means that the XFlash literally smokes any other reflash out there available for sale by a wide margin. But given all of that, the Xede is still better. For 60% more in cost, it has A LOT more than 60% of extra features. In a 1+, I'd definitely spend the extra cash for the Xede. I'm going to go ahead and say that is the best mod I've added to my car BY FAR. The cam gears rule as well, of course, but with the Xede, they're better. My car picked up 25whp in spots above 6000rpm from Shiv's custom tune, and that's with Xede boost! When my Xflash controlled boost, I was down considerably there.

You have to realize that the XEDE isn't hype. Its a much more hardcore and advanced piece of equipment that has a lot more functions. To me, not coughing up the extra coin if you have a more hardcore car (like a Stage 1+ cammed car) for an Xede seems really counter-productuve. Its like leaving really inexpensive and safe proven power on the table. I had the Stage 1 as an XFlash for awhile, and while I loved it, my custom mapped XEDEflash is 10x more exciting!

In my experiences, there is no company out there making parts for Evos that has total area under the curve and safety like Vishnu does.

 

Wow, I'm really gonna have to think about this then... haha.

I gave them an email to see what they would say about the upgrade from XFlash to XEDE, because I really can't afford the XEDE right now.