Hello,
I'm just wondering why would it be better to buy a remapped ecu instead of a programmable type. A PiggyBack would then be more functional as it can add different settings when the time arrives. In your earlier statements, you said that this is the best setting, but for which car? Your base car? A modified car? This would mean that every car would have the same program, and cost $449. Wheres the "Work" in that?

 

There is no "better" approach. Each vendor out there making parts for the EVO is putting in the long hours, blood, sweat and tears to make the best possible products that they know how. Each vendor chooses a different approach with a different set of objectives in mind and with different resources available to them to achieve those objectives.

In our case, we believe our approach is the "best" for the vast majority of EVO owners looking for reliable, safe, power without any guesswork.

We have already invested more time and resources than any EVO could or would ever want to spend on the dyno and in all sorts of real world conditions building up a set of performance tuning maps that we believe delivers the best possible performance gains, while maintaining the factory power curve and overall balance and feel of the car.

The beauty of our approach is that there is nothing to add to your car. You can bring it in to your local dealership for service and there is no hardware to take disconnect and reconnect again. There is also nothing that needs to be monitored and adjusted -- ever. When the owner decides to upgrade his/her EVO later, and comes to us for additional bolt-on modifications like our exhaust ("Exhale"), throttle body ("Aperture"), bigger intercooler piping ("Breathe"), water injection ("WWI"), etc. we already have the maps to update their ECU for the new performance parameters. Will our maps work for our competitors’ products? In most cases, "yes," especially if the product is fundamentally very similar to our own offerings. However, we can only assure results with our own product line as there are just too many products on the market for us to test and tune around each possible combination of products that people might want to use on their cars from dozens of different tuners.

Our approach is the "best" for someone looking to:

(1) Keep the stock power characteristics of the car -- only faster
(2) Keep the car stock for dealer servicing purposes and minimize potential warranty disputes
(3) Stay "stock" legal for SCCA autocross and road race purposes
(4) Not ever have to touch, monitor or think about the ECU's functions

Truth be told, if you are looking to build up a horsepower monster with a stroker kit, upgraded turbo, custom cams, beefed up internals and a 600 hp power goal, our approach is not the way to go. That kind of project would best be served with a high end standalone EMS (Engine Management System) along the lines of a Motec/Haltech/Tec3/Autronic etc.... but... be prepared to spend $3,000 or more for a decent set-up, a couple hundred dollars getting it wired in by someone who knows what they are doing, and another $1,000 or more on the dyno getting it tuned properly.

So why not go piggyback/interceptor? Our philosophy is that piggyback and interceptor junction boxes are not the cleanest way to achieve power. We prefer our approach to "chasing" maps.

At WORKS, we chose not to take the approach sending false or manipulated signals to the ECU. Since the EVO's brain is very sophisticated and controls everything from ignition timing, to air/fuel ratio, to boost mapping, as well as setting the rev limit, fuel cut, and a host of other functions, we found it best to go right to the source in setting up the tuning maps for each of our bolt-on upgrades rather than messing around with "add-on" boxes.

Fuel controllers and interceptors in most cases not only cost more than our reflash, they aren't capable of doing nearly as much to enhance performance and reliability as a reflash (the S-AFC, for example, can't adjust ignition timing or boost mapping). There are also concerns about how these boxes account for (or, more to the point, fail to account for) the ECU's adaptive learning, and ability to accurately monitor and store engine fault codes, or process signals quickly enough to feed signals to the ECU in a fast and reliable manner.

Keep in mind too, that when a customer buys a Brain reflash from WORKS, they are automatically entitled to a complimentary reflash on their next order of WORKS engine tuning products. What happens to the pre-mapped interceptor or fuel controller? Well, sure the end user can adjust it -- assuming they know how. But how is the end user to know which maps to adjust and how to adjust them for the products he/she is adding on? The only safe and accurate way to do so is on an all wheel drive dyno using a wideband O2 sensor. So, now you’re paying big bucks to strap your car to a dyno every time you do your next round of bolt-on upgrades.

Some will say a dyno and wideband 02 sensor isn't absolutely necessary for retuning your car when new products are added, but given the choice, it seems to me that most EVO owners would rather have a reflash that is dyno tuned specifically for the products that they intend on running than a rough street tune based on guessing at which corrections need to be made. Keep in mind too, that generally speaking, one set of corrections will require a change somewhere else. So, when someone needs to, for example, pull out a bit more ignition timing, it is not only important that the hardware is capable of making the adjustments, but that appropriate corresponding changes are made to the fuel mapping and boost mapping.

So, if you have a stock car, we have a map for you. If you buy our WORKS line of engine performance parts, we have appropriate maps for those as well. Any combination of engine performance parts that we offer has their own maps, appropriate to that combination of parts. So whether someone has one WORKS component or a dozen, we can ensure performance and reliability without guesswork and without any headache.

-- DavidV

 

Don't expect a Christmas card from the SCCA this year.

 

-- DavidV

 

Any word on your HP/TQ gains with your ECU?

 

I was wondering if say you already had a ralliart exhaust system on your evo would the works "brain" do anything for it? or would you have to buy the "exhale" system instead.

 

David,
I checked out your website and found that it says the availability coming very soon on the release of the ecu. Is there any word when your company will be ready to start shipping.
Also, can you explain in the forums "evo how tos / installations" how to take an ecu out ( pictures gose along way if you can add also ).

And like everyone else any word hp/ tq with your ecu.

Thanks for your time,
Michael

 

2 questions

1. Can the dealership detect the reflash with it's diagnostics tools?

2. If the dealership re-flashes the chip to reset it, this has happened to my last two cars having warranty work done, does this delete your reprogramming and return it to stock, and if so, what would you charge to re-flash it again?

I have had a lot of success with "chipping" my VW GTI and I look foward to the release of your product.

 

Can you further explain this...How can it still be "stock"...yet faster??

 

Soon...

-- DavidV

 

We are able to calibrate our tuning for the components we offer. However, if a product is substantially identical, odds are our tuning will be appropriate for it.

If it’s any help, we have already had other customers with that exhaust order our ECU reflash. Hopefully they will soon be able to post their impressions.

-- DavidV

 

As of today (5/28) We are approx. one week away from scheduling our first ECU appointments. We will also be closing down our pre-orders soon, at which point we will no longer offer the 10% discount and free shipping on ECUs.

We will provide easy to follow instructions on how to remove and re-install your ECU, and are also available by phone to assist with any questions you may have.

-- DavidV

 

Gladly. Your power curve will feel just like the factory one, only faster -- no losing low end to gain high or vice versa, no increase in lag/spool-up time, and no issues with stuttering, stumbling or hesitation with our ECU reflash. Your car will feel just like it did before, only when you look down, instead of going 70 mph, you'll be doing 90 mph! The extra shove into your seat is also nice.

I keep telling people: it's not about the peak numbers, it’s about the power curve. Of course, we've had our share of doubters, but we put a couple of the local guys behind the wheel with our final prototype maps, and the comment is exactly the same each time: "Ahhh.... now I see what you mean!"

-- DavidV

 

I know exactly what you are talking about regarding "Stock, yet faster". I recently had a 337 GTI equipped with an Oberscheide O.Ct Chip. The peak hp/tq numbers were excellent but not quite as high as brand "X" or brand "A" (VW folks will know who I am talking about!). Bottom line though, was the Oberscheider chip which was painstakingly developed on a Maha dyno, was all about seamless power under the curve (which was just like stock only more!!). I have chipped and had aftermarket ECU's for many vehicles and the Oberscheider O.ct was the best I have ever driven to date. If your re-flash can net those kinds of results on a car like the EVO you will truly have a winner!

Like slt I am also interested in your feedback regarding the dealer re-flash concern. Is this a potential issue, and if it is what kind of protection do we have to ensure we can get a re-program for minimal cost? I think this is why the user installed flash tools like the Forge Revo and Conforti Shark injector are popular. Any potential of evolving to that level with your product in the future?

BTW David- I have sent a couple of inquiries about the ECU pre-order but have heard nothing to confirm yet? I realize that you are just beginning to schedule the pre-orders, but I just want to make sure I get in on the 10% + free shipping deal.

Thanks for any feedback you can provide!

Jeff
jredding@usmo.com

 

Thanks for your feedback, Jeff. I know exactly what you are describing regarding the chip for the 337, and we are going after the same results you describe -- while hopefully not trading off too much (if any) power to the competition.

I'm sorry I overlooked the question about dealer service and our reflash program.

A dealer tech will not be able to detect the reflashed ECU program. We, however, will be tracking the ECUs we reflash with our own unique way of tracking the VIN numbers for the ECUs we have flashed, as well as which modifications, if any, we have flashed for. This will not be detectable to the dealer service techs as part of diagnosing or servicing your car.

In the event that a dealer reflash is required for your factory ECU (for example, if Mitsubishi decided to offer a reflash as part of a model-wide recall or service campaign) we would, of course, offer a free reflash to our customers based on the mapping we had previously provided.

Lastly, I have you on my “to call” list for tomorrow. We were away at the track doing R&D for several days, so I am working through a bit of a back log in answering some of the emails that have come in. I look forward to talking to you tomorrow.

-- DavidV