Unichip misfires

[sperry]

Well, after a little reading on NASIOC, I think I may have found an explination for my misfire CELs.

The way the stock ECU determines if there's a misfire is by comparing crank and cam position signals. Since the Unichip intercepts and modifies the crank position signal, sometimes the ECU incorrectly thinks there's a misfire. That would explain my misfire codes on all 4 cylinders w/o actually hearing or feeling the car misfire.

Or perhaps the car is really misfiring, and I just don't notice it? I know I get some exhaust burps when I'm hard on the throttle and jump off the gas... but that's pretty normal, and it's not coinciding with the CELs, so I don't think that's a misfire occuring. I also notice some hesitation when I'm on the throttle around 3500 to 4000 rpms, but that's just good ol' Unichip tuning for ya... The CELs always occur at about 5000 rmps when I'm accelerating hard, and the car usually feels fine at those rpms.

Hopefully, all I'm seeing is another side effect of the Unichip's poor method of tuning. I'm telling you, it's all about AccessECU or ECUTek! Too bad they're illegal in STX. I guess next season, I'm just gonna have to bite the bullet, get some coilovers, some r-compounds, ECUTek, and mix it up with the big boys in SM. (You hear that Dean!!! Next season, you're mine!! Or maybe I'll just come in second to you. )

[Theo]

Me too. I want some decent engine management. I guess it's out of STX.

Theo

[STIwish]

What about the TXS UTEC? Hella flexible and tunable (yet expensive) alternative... it'll be my next performance mod after i finish off my current mods in limbo..

[Theo]

I want the UTEC. Unfortunatly it modifies boost and is not STX legal.
I will likely purchase this or something equivalent after this Autocross season.

Theo

[STIwish]

Why is everyone so uptight about what class they run in? i could care less if i run in DS or SU... as long as I get to go out and have fun.

[ArthurS]

Some people actually race for competitivly and for points. By going up in class puts you against sometimes faster and better drivers which can kink your odds a bit.

Like me, I would prefer to be in D-stock, but my endlinks and futur mods put me into STX. Or Evan for example, who is now in SU just because of his trunk.

I am happy to be out there and improve on my driving skills, but eventually, I would like to become competitive.

(Correct me if I am wrong on any of this)

[sperry]

Originally Posted by ArthurS

Some people actually race for competitivly and for points. By going up in class puts you against sometimes faster and better drivers which can kink your odds a bit.

Like me, I would prefer to be in D-stock, but my endlinks and futur mods put me into STX. Or Evan for example, who is now in SU just because of his trunk.

I am happy to be out there and improve on my driving skills, but eventually, I would like to become competitive.

(Correct me if I am wrong on any of this)

That's just about right.

Evan's trunk isn't the only thing that takes him out of STX tho... STX requires stock clutch/flywheel, no boost mods, and prolly some other stuff that Evan's got.

I've been autocrossing for about 4 years. The 1st few years I was plenty content on running for fun and to learn how to drive faster. This is my first attempt at running a full season with one organization, so I'd like to stay in STX for the rest of the season, then consider if I can afford to do all the things I'd need to do to be competative in a higher class. Unfortunately to compete with Dean up in SM, I think I'll need bigger brakes, coil-overs, better engine managment and some more driver skill. So that's like $5000 in parts... and I'm pretty sure I'm not gonna be able to buy driver skill...

Regarding the UTEC: It's a cool setup, but I wouldn't say it's the same deal as AccessECU or ECUTek. People go with the reflashes because they don't want to have to constantly futz with the setup. Granted a there are a lot of maps that you can download for the UTEC, and potentially the UTEC will mean you can squeeze every last bit out of your car, but I'd rather have a powerful map for my car made up by Shiv, with a solid margin of saftey built in, and be able to flash it once and forget about it. Am I potentially giving up some power? Yeah. But I won't have to think about it, or deal with "fixing" my maps for cold weather, or a weekend in the Bay, or anything. Having dealt with the EEPROM emulators here at work on the slot machines, I know they can require maintainence, usually right when you have a a deadline coming up too.

[STIwish]

Don't get me wrong.. I'd love to be competitive in auto-x, but im not going to hold myself back on mods id like to do just to stay in whatever class. First brand new car I've ever owned and i want the most out of it that I can get. If i do end up feeling the need to actually be competitive (outside of the dragstrip and shows), i wont be driving the Rex.