laxEVO

david,

site looks like it's going to be good. looking forward to your product releases.

can you give us any tidbits on the ecu upgrade you mentioned in an earlier post?

is it a piggyback, replacement, reflash etc...

any info would be appreciated,

-d

mikenuts86

updates?

DavidV@WORKS

iTrader: (2)

Website updated!

Description: We do what our brains tell us. A car's ECU is no different. There is no single more valuable tool available to any tuner than the ability to access the car's brain and reprogram it to perform to its fullest potential -- especially after tuning parts have been added to the system. No piggy-back add-ons that intercept and falsify signals to the factory ECU and no standalone engine management systems requiring hacking apart the factory harness. The WORKS Brain is a factory ECU that has been reprogrammed with WORKS Performance Software. Nothing comes close to the plug-and-play performance and reliability of the WORKS Brain. The ECU can even be reprogrammed back to stock if necessary.

Price: $449.00

Availability: Pre-order now to recieve a 10% discount and free shipping in the Continental U.S. Pre-Order

-- DavidV

DavidV@WORKS

iTrader: (2)

"BRAIN" REFLASH FAQ

What is a brain "reflash" and why do all of WORKS engine products come with it?

WORKS is the first and only tuning company with the ability to reprogram the factory ECU on the U.S. Evo VIII. This is all done without ever physically adding or removing anything from the factory computer or its related components.

The ECU's ability to understand how an engine has been modified is critical to extracting the maximum performance and reliability from all engine related enhancements. WORKS offers its entire range of engine performance products from exhausts to intercooler and throttle body upgrades bundled with a re-flash of the factory ECU.

What this means to the end user is that the car runs safer and stronger than it otherwise would by just haphazardly bolting on performance parts. A good way to think of this is how your home computer optimizes itself every time you add new hardware. Just like your desktop computer, a car's performance and reliability are directly related to the ECU's ability to account for changed operating parameters like better airflow, a cooler intake charge, or less exhaust backpressure.

While other "tuners" may take the ham-fisted approach of bolting on parts without compensating for the changed parameters in the software programming, essentially treating the EVO as if it were a carbureted 1960's muscle car instead of a sophisticated piece of modern technology, WORKS understands that effective ECU tuning is what being a "tuner" is all about, and as such, serves as the backbone for any safe and effective modification path.

Can my WORKS Brain be brought back to stock?

Yes, our ECU programming can easily and safely be reversed back to stock with the factory defaults.

What's wrong with using Piggyback units?

EVO Enthusiasts may wonder whether add-on piggyback units such as air fuel or ignition timing controllers and other interceptor boxes are "good enough." WORKS believes that these are not the optimal path for effectively controlling what is going on inside your EVO's engine. Each of these add-ons essentially intercepts the signals that your car's ECU relies on and then changes them before sending them on to the ECU. By lying to the ECU, your car's brain has no way of understanding what is really going on. This in turn can cause the ECU to make dangerous and erratic adjustments based on a false premise, and, over a wide range of operating conditions, can cause more harm than good -- even potentially damaging your engine. This is especially true on ECUs that feature self-learning and adaptive memory like the EVO's.

In addition, "interceptor boxes" can compromise the communication speed between the ECU and its related components which presents a serious risk to a very dynamic, rapidly changing high-output motor like the EVO's where milliseconds count.

The EVO presents state-of-the-art performance and has a very sophisticated ECU which, like a flash based digital camera or music storage device, can re-save maps each time one makes changes to what is going on under the hood. WORKS believes that the only safe, reliable and effective way to tune your car is use this new technology to cleanly reprogram the car's ECU. Don't rely on 1980's black box technology. WORKS spends countless hours on the dyno determining exactly what is going on and what correction factors the factory brain relies on in doing everything from setting how your car idles when cold, to how it responds during full throttle rips.

What if I'm interested in purchasing several WORKS products?

All of the WORKS tuning products are designed to compliment one another and the addition of each product will make more power than the existing aggregate. If you order multiple products at the same time, WORKS will program the ECU to extract the maximum performance out of the entire group of upgrades. If, on the other hand, you wish to add products from the WORKS' product line one at a time, WORKS will re-flash your ECU with each new engine performance product you purchase. Whether you add WORKS products all at once or one at a time, you can buy with confidence knowing that the entire WORKS product line is designed to be fully integrated and that each performance product compliments the others perfectly.

Will the WORKS Brain upgrade work with other brand products?

Maybe it will, maybe it won't. It's anybody's guess. WORKS cannot offer ECU tuning for our competitors' products since each company has different designs and performance characteristics. We integrate our own tuning with our own designs. Each of our products have been thoroughly tuned and tested on the dyno, the track, and the real world to ensure that when you order from WORKS, you are receiving the best performance and reliability possible out of each and every product that we have to offer.

We drive what we sell. When it comes to tuning your EVO, do it right or don't do it at all.

-- DavidV

Rollaway

iTrader: (4)

so what will it do better for my evo??

Mean TT

Um Yeah, I still have no idea how much HP this adds. How about some dyno plots. I am gald that this has been developed, but it doesn't mean anything unless performance can be compared to other tuning options, or at least a stock number.
STi

zyounker

iTrader: (1)

Yeah, reflashed ECUs are a bit old. No one wants them when they can run a programable EMS.. I wouldnt want to have to send mine off everytime i mod my car..

I am sure you will say that these wont require the user to know how to program, but last i checked most EMS come with a base map. So that doesn't really matter.


Now if you where selling software to tune the evo through the ODB2 port, that would be worth a ALOT more.

And the EVOVIII ECU isn't exactly state of the art.. from what i hear it is almost exactly like the 2nd gen DSM ecu.


How much are you charging for every reflash?


-Zach

DavidV@WORKS

iTrader: (2)

More power and better reliability with the extra power -- especially when use in conjunction with WORKS' line of exclusive engine tuning parts for the U.S. Evo VIII.

WORKS spends countless hours on the dyno optimizing ignition, fuel, and boost maps to ensure that your EVO is operating to its fullest safe and reliable potential.

-- DavidV

DavidV@WORKS

iTrader: (2)

The reason we are only taking pre-orders at this point is that we are not yet prepared to assign a final horsepower number to our Brain reflash just yet. The good news is, each time we go to the dyno, we keep finding more power.

In addition, we will not release our Brain reflash until we have completed our exhaustive testing process which includes running the car in a variety of extreme environments.

We hold ourselves to the same rigorous standards that the OEMs do -- if the car can't make good, consistent and reliable power in everything from the scorching heat of the desert below sea level, to the freezing cold at high altitude, we will not release the product on the market. It’s that simple. The OEMs spend many months fine tuning the maps on factory ECUs before they release them, and we have been doing the same with our own tuning.

While WORKS recognizes that there are other tuners out there already offering various piggybacks and intercepting devices, some of which have undergone a fraction of the tuning time that we have spent building our maps, we are confident that WORKS customers will see the value in (1) having direct tuning of the car's brain instead of a go-between box, and (2) will appreciate the extraordinary time and expense that WORKS is investing into testing and evaluating our ECU upgrade before shipping it to customers.

-- DavidV

DavidV@WORKS

iTrader: (2)

Soldering in chip replacements may be a bit old, but there is nothing old about flash programmable ECU technology. As it stands, WORKS is the first and only tuning company with direct access to the U.S. EVO VIII's brain. It doesn't get much more cutting edge than that.

While a standalone EMS is an incredible tuning tool, and one that I run in my personal track car, keep in mind that base maps are just that -- base maps.

There is no base mapped standalone ECU available for the EVO VIII, and even if there is one eventually offered, these still require spending time on the dyno (in my case, over 100 runs) setting them up for each car. A base map is there to get you up and running so that you can drive the thing to the dyno -- no more, no less. Running around on a base map -- especially if the car has been modified -- is just asking for trouble. The difference in how much time and care WORKS spends developing and tuning our maps for the EVO vs. the typical base map offered by a standalone manufacturer is night and day.

Also, don't forget the expense. There is a big difference between spending $449 on remapping the factory ECU vs. $1,800-$3,800+ on a standalone.

Then there is the fact that many of the standalones require hacking apart the factory harness and wiring in additional sensors. Some don't, but the real deal heavy hitters like the Motec units and Tec3 do.

Don't get me wrong: there are hardcore club racers and such that are best served by going with a full standalone. But for 95% of EVO owners, especially those under factory warranty, going full standalone is overkill and would be far more of an expense and more of a headache than it is worth.

As for what we are charging for a reflash, for those enthusiasts adding WORKS products to their cars, we will reflash the ECU for free and provide the appropriate ECU credit for the product purchased (example: a customer who buys the ECU reflash from us and later purchases our upgraded throttle body "Aperture" receives a $100 ECU reprogramming credit on the price of the part.)

-- DavidV

Mean TT

Davis, I don't mean to be confrontational, and I don't even oown an EVO, although I will get one soon, but you did kind of contradict yourself. You said that you have already made over 100 dyno runs, but that you are uncomfortable making hp claims because you keep developing more power. I believe you, but there are already people that have gotten a lot of power out of a boost ocntroller and the S-AFC. I agree that an ECU is a better option, but owners will give up a degree of tuning ablilt with this approach although the might gain a degree of saftey. I think that it would serve you business interests to disclose when you feel comfortable releasing HP TQ numbers, and the type of dyno you are using for your tests. I visited your website, but there wasn't much technical stuff threre. I am glad that there is someone wilth a reprogrammed ECU, but please, PLEASE let us know the perofrmance gains so everyone can appreciate your hard work.
STI

ez76

iTrader: (5)

Vishnu Tuning has apparently found a lot of variance in stock performance of Evos.

How are you accounting for apparent manufacturing differences/tolerances among Evos as well as regional octane differences (the Evo is clearly a car that behaves differently with 91 octane than with 94)?

DavidV@WORKS

iTrader: (2)

Actually, the 100 dyno runs number was in reference to how many runs it took to re-map my already based-mapped standalone ECU on my personal non-EVO track car. Sorry for the confusion. This was to illustrate the point that the base maps only go so far on most of these pre-mapped EMS systems. We have significantly more dyno and development time on the EVO than what I have into my personal car.

We are using both an AWD Dynojet as well as a Dynapak for our tuning. Each dyno has its own unique strengths and weaknesses in terms or allowing us to tune for power, so we found that the only way to get optimal results was to use both. While it's more expensive and time consuming for us this way, it is also the best way for us to ensure that we these tuning tools provide us with the results we are after.

-- DavidV

Mean TT

Good to know Davis, you have to understand, I can't wait to get my EVO, and I want to know all about the performacne options before I get it. If you could, maybe you could put up a date when you plan to release the perofrmance gains your tuning offers. You also have to understand that I followed the STi talk over at an un-named competing forum, and and they had their version of a tuned ECU underdevelopment for 6 months, and they just recently release performance gains out of it. I am therefore a little suspicious after the other furmun experience I have had.

Boeturbolancer

iTrader: (26)

Are you doing anything for regular lancers or just evo's. Many lancer owners are going turbo and would be interesting to see what this reflashing would net to that setup.