Ecu ?

[VampNSXX]

I have been reading about people who put in a aftermarket ECU on there NSX. the SOS or Dali ecu are the more popular ones that people talk about.

Why is it that some NSX owners say it makes the car run better and others say it does nothing at all for there car and other even say that there car was slower with a aftermarket ECU.



what is the truth? does it work or not.

 

[scorp965]

It's not a replacement engine control computer, it's usually an EPROM chip, inserted into a socket you solder onto the PCB inside of the ECU. There is a section of the FAQ for chips, here:
http://www.nsxprime.com/FAQ/Performance/chips.htm

It seems the consensus is 'not worth the money/effort'

There are aftermarket replacement engine control computers, but these are not smog legal (here in CA), and aren't required unless your engine is heavily modified, or you have forced induction. One example of this is AEM engine management, which replaces the entire ECU unit, there are other 'stand alone' engine management systems, and you will see performance increases with them, but the expense is high, perhaps $800-1500 for the unit, and ~$750 for tuning - with regular NA bolt-on's I doubt you would see impressive gains from such a system.

 

[NSXGMS]

The NSX is so well-tuned from the factory that monkeying with the ECU rarely results in any tangible benefits. Moving the VTEC point also is a no-no as it's been found it's already at the most effective point. And most ECU tweaks will drastically reduce the chances you'll pass smog, particularly in CA.

I like the Dali chip mainly because it raises the rev-limiter to 8500 rpm. It does change the tuning a bit but it was designed by the head tuner of Jun Racing in Japan who also tunes the JGTC cars.

Charts of dyno comparisons of chips can be found here.