What does TUNE exactly mean?

We may earn a small commission from affiliate links and paid advertisements. Terms

I

infamouz

Senior Member
A lot of people say TUNE your car to make it perform better. Does this mean adding another ECU. Is that what that hondata thingy is? I need the help of the hs seniors. What does TUNE mean? Answers greatly appreciated. And if was to TUNE an acura integra, what would I exactly be doing to it?
 
Integra LS GSR or ITR?

Generally you either install a Hondata System or chip your ecu with a program written with crome.

It involves setting your fuelmaps and timing to get the most power out of you engine (rather than getting the lowest emissions).
 
reikoshea @ May 26 2006 said:
Quoted post[/post]]
Integra LS GSR or ITR?

Generally you either install a Hondata System or chip your ecu with a program written with crome.

It involves setting your fuelmaps and timing to get the most power out of you engine (rather than getting the lowest emissions).
Click to expand...
i'd been wanting to tune a gsr. So rather that getting the lowest emissions ay? So if the car passed smog before the tune, it won't pass smog after the tune? Can that assumption be made? So tuning all lies within the ecu being chipped? Is hondata another type of ecu, or a program you hook into your car? Thanks ahead of hand.
 
Hondata is more like a hardware plugin to your current ECU. It fits within the box and then it edits your stock map. Its like putting a better video card in a computer that has a chipset video card (if you know anything about computers).

You wont always fail emissions, but if your running 12.8:1 AFRs compared to 14.7, your emissions results are gonna be higher.
 
i've been looking on phearable.com, the guy who chips ecu's for a lot of people. I was thinking about buying a chipped ecu, but the car is a 96 gsr. isn't that considered obd2. but it only shows chipped ecu's for obd1's. Will i need a conversion harness. or i guess i could just tell him the year of the car and motor name, and he'll take care of it. I was thinking about putting the rev limit at 10000, and activating vtec at 5000. Is that too wide for a stock motor, as i think it engages at 5500 stock. phearable.net has been doing it for a long time, so they're reputable.
I found the answer about smog, why don't i just purchase the entire chipped ecu from phearable.com/net and then just switch for the stock ecu when smogging.
Also one very important question i still have to ask. When running a chipped ecu, will it actually cut the life of the engine. Its not like i'm planning on running my car all night at the races, but it would be nice to have a little something extra when you come up to a guy out of nowhere. Will a chipped ecu endanger the life of the b18c1 motor, or will it just run better because of the ecu.
And an ecu is just as simple as plugging in, so when i take out the stock one and put in the new one from phearable, what do i do. I know you just dont switch it. there has to be something you do when exchanging ecu's.
Any help is greatly appreciated. :worthy:
 
yes, phearable has a great tune for the stock GSR (cant give numbers, but my buddy went from beating my by 4 cars to about 9 after he got phearable's ecu). Just tell them what year your car is and what engine you need it tuned for, they will do the rest. Yes, it is as easy as plug and play, just take the old out and insert the new, thats it.
 
So I just turn the car off after im dont with the old ecu. Reach into where the ecu is kept on the passenger side, take out the old one and then replace it with the tuned ecu from phearable. Turn the car on, and then notice the difference i guess? Is there a chance of my engine light being turned on, since the ecu's Speed governor, Knock sensor, ELD, Vtec speed limit, Atmospheric pressure sensors are disabled. And the engine won't be in danger when i put in the new ecu right? When i say danger, I mean like just start leaking and overheating for some reason. stuff like that.
 
i seriously doubt you will have any problems. phearable is a reputable company. if the sensors are disabled it wont throw a code.
 
i've come to understand this tune now, thank you for your time i think i put you through a lot of questions bro. this is appreciated now that i have an idea and better understanding of tuning.
 
a Stock GSR isnt going to rev to 10,000rpms ... twice.
Even tuned, you'll stop making power before 10k, and most likely booooom your gsr.
 
You can tune your car for emission, fuel economy, power. Generally people tune to make the most power. While phearable might offer a good basemap to start out with, every engine is different, even identical setups will give different results. It's best to tune on a dyno, that way you can see realtime what changes in the fuel and ignition give you gains, and get a tune specific to your engine. Get a socketed ecu with a good basemap to start out with. Then go get it tuned by someone who knows crome and how to tune on a dyno. Oh yeah, convert to obd1. Or get all the tuning equipment and do the tuning yourself. I wrote a mini article a while back on my experience tuning here on HS, and you can also go to pgmfi.org, and read up. My .02
 
He's not joking about the phearable.net setup. I purchased the whole ecu chipped with a custom program to my specific motor and internals (for 185 shipped) and went from pulling on a 99si with i/h/e from half a length to well over a whole length and we are running an identical setup. Also the phearable.net ecu comes chipped and socketed with a dataport built in at no extra cost... you wont regret it and if you still feel the need to tune on a dyno it will save you some time and money.
 
Last edited:
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top