ECU re-map comparisons

[ReelGuy]

Guys-

I am planning to pull the trigger in the next few weeks on a 2011 v10 Spyder.

I've read a lot of posts regarding the various tunes that can be purchased for this car, but I would like to know the real-world driver thoughts of one brand compared to another. I would be looking for more torque in the lower band range, not top end. Is there a good, better and best company? Are they priced relatively equally?

I have the same questions regarding sports exhaust, although I realize that sound is a personal issue. I am looking to drop weight and increase the tone.

Thanks in advance

[FiftyPence]

In regards to a remap you should personally compare the separate providers dyno plots.

Exhaust options have been discussed at length in the performance section of the forum on dozens of occasions.

There's no substitute for research as at this time there is not a single thread comparing all known brands, perhaps you can throw one together saving the time of the next member who asks.

[ignomini]

Unfortunately, I doubt there is much if any torque to be gained at the bottom end. Even the Lambos only make a couple more lb ft (Newtons for the Euro crowd) than the Audi. Chip tunes on an engine like this will give the most benefit in the normal power band of the engine, which is to say at the high end. The only way to significantly increase low end grunt is with boost.

Also, be a little careful of the dyno charts. They are all measured by different means, and are thus not directly comparable. Look at the percentage improvement for a given vendor at given RPMs. Then compare those percentage improvements against the percentage improvements of another vendor. The actual listed numbers from one dyno brand to another cannot be directly compared, but the improvements as a percentage on the same dyno can be compared to the percentage improvement from another brand or style of dyno.

In other words, if company A posts a dyno chart which shows a four percent increase at 5,000 rpm, and company B's dyno chart shows a five percent increase at 5,000, then company B wins at that rpm. It doesn't matter what they claim as far as the actual horsepower number, it's the percentage increase that matters.

Also, make sure you're comparing the same octane fuel. Dyno runs produced on US 91 octane will be disappointing. In my estimation, anyone honest enough to display the difference in their results between 91 and 93 octane has a leg up on the honesty scale.

A final note. Unless something has changed, the US and Europe use different measurement methods for determining octane rating. This means you cannot compare results produced with US fuel against results produced using European fuel.

[harrison]

I'll agree with all of your comments Ignomini. Where and how much extra power shines on the dynos' revealing charts/curves, is very interesting indeed. What might the percentage of error be for comparative purposes? Even altitude at the dyno site makes for slight differences.

[gazza1]

The comments above re dyno's are spot on..however I think there is enough feedback and qualification that the V10 has a lot hidden away and ANY map will bring a marked difference in performance regardless of a few horsepower here or there.

Doesn't seem to be a bad one out there or one that makes little difference unlike the V8 Ecu upgrades.

As well they all seem to provide a increase in driveabilty.

Re Exhaust..search is your friend

[SteveR]

As for low end torque, there is something to be gained in the V10. My before/after runs done the same day (10 deg F hotter ambient for the "after" runs) showed an average of 16.6 ft-lbs. gain from 3000-4000 rpm, with a peak gain of 27 ft-lbs. The least gains I saw were from 4000-5000 rpm, averaging about 10 ft-lbs across that range. Pretty decent all around for a tune.

Sorry I haven't gotten around to posting the graphs. The dyno shop sent me raw text files rather than .pdfs, so I need to figure out how to convert them to a graphs.

[drifting]

I think a re-map should be custom. Live mapping will get the best from your car with these generic remaps they don't give up the full power and torque that a good mapper could achieve. the only hard part is finding someone that can map a R8 as it isn't the run of the mill car

ABT do what looks to be a good map http://www.abt-sportsline.de/uploads...ronic_E_01.pdf If you don't want to go down the custom route.

[Arantor]

reelguy, don't know where u're from, but as i can say for germany here are some great tuners that are able to it. and there u are not paying for the tradename "ABT" and also get a full re-map that perfectly fits on your car.
abt is just playing over the same modifications to every R8, my tuner was working 4 hours on the dyno to get it as i want it.
but don't know if there are some guys like him around u ^^

[2-th-max]

Was just at my dealership today. APR is having a sale (about $150 off). Here is their web site goapr.com

[gazza1]

I thought of the custom map for a while but there are too many unknowns in someone fiddling with the variables just to gain performance.

A custom tune will almost always produce a higher gain and sometimes give a better match on mods but you also potentially increase the risk of your engine not running within stress tolerances of operation if adjusted by Dyno operators or tuners.

At least with a reputable generic map you would be playing a safer option.

Unless the tuner is a absolute specialist(like abt or similar) in the V10 itself it would be a no thanks from me.