r.e. Link g4 plug in ecu (vs reflashing)

[Guest Fastfour]

From memory they were 850's if that sounds right.

And yeah thats him. Had the plate STI LN

[BC5RA]

Scratch that, should have said suits light/medium tune, bigger injectors are okay.

I stand corrected.

[BC5RA]

 Fastfour said:

From memory they were 850's if that sounds right.

And yeah thats him. Had the plate STI LN

That's a bit of headroom, was he running a larger compressor?

[Guest Fastfour]

Not sure..... I think the car was all set up and the turbo was the next step to do

[BT]

 BC5RA said:

Scratch that, should have said suits light/medium tune, bigger injectors are okay.

I stand corrected.

You can run anything on standard ECU reflashed, turbo, injectors, bigger cams etc.

[BC5RA]

 BT']

[quote name='BC5RA said:

Scratch that, should have said suits light/medium tune, bigger injectors are okay.

I stand corrected.

/quote]

You can run anything on standard ECU reflashed, turbo, injectors, bigger cams etc.

Doubly corrected

At what point do you switch to aftermarket?

[BT]

 Spec C said:

think il just end up getting fuel pump and dyno tune with the stock ecu now , that will make 235 kw atw so speed tech says , witch is what im after ,

and il be saveing on the link g4 ecu witch this will be $2000 cheaper

WHY?!

How many times do you have to be told?!?!?!?!?!?! Your car is retuned by WRC Developments, who used to tune Subarus WRC cars. Why waste $1,300 in getting it retuned????

[funkytown]

AFAI knew they are just the same as aftermarket like link but slightly less configurable and or less features

[BC5RA]

I would assume they would be no good for a full time attack setup or hill climber etc.

[BT]

 BC5RA']

[quote name='BC5RA said:

Scratch that, should have said suits light/medium tune, bigger injectors are okay.

I stand corrected.

/quote]

You can run anything on standard ECU reflashed, turbo, injectors, bigger cams etc.

Doubly corrected

At what point do you switch to aftermarket?

When you feel the need.... ;D

Only real limitation is AFM, you can change it to be MAP based but depends on ECU (year model etc).

Per gear boost control, launch control, AVCS control, water sprayer control, per gear rev limits, map switching the list goes on... retains factory self learn functions so will keep pushing for power until it detects knock and will scale itself back.

Also cheaper than buying a standalone ECU and then paying for tuning on top!

[BC5RA]

 BT said:

When you feel the need.... ;D

Only real limitation is AFM, you can change it to be MAP based but depends on ECU (year model etc).

Per gear boost control, launch control, AVCS control, water sprayer control the list goes on... retains factory self learn functions so will keep pushing for power until it detects knock and will scale itself back.

Also cheaper than buying a standalone ECU and then paying for tuning on top!

And would retain all of the civility of the Factory ECU.

So you will be retuning with all of your desired engine changes?

[BT]

 BC5RA said:

I would assume they would be no good for a full time attack setup or hill climber etc.

False, my car runs the factory ECU reflashed and is solely used for just this!!!

Ken Blocks gymkhana cars also run reflashed ECUs...

[BT]

 BC5RA']

[quote name='BT said:

When you feel the need.... ;D

Only real limitation is AFM, you can change it to be MAP based but depends on ECU (year model etc).

Per gear boost control, launch control, AVCS control, water sprayer control the list goes on... retains factory self learn functions so will keep pushing for power until it detects knock and will scale itself back.

Also cheaper than buying a standalone ECU and then paying for tuning on top!

/quote]

And would retain all of the civility of the Factory ECU.

So you will be retuning with all of your desired engine changes?

Correct- injectors, turbo, v mount among other things will be retuned to suit by WRC Developments.

95% of their tuning is actually done on road, rather than the dyno. Ensuring progressive throttle response and very good on road manners (which does actually translate to the track) rather than solely tuning on the dyno and quickly road testing after.

[BC5RA]

 BT']

[quote name='BC5RA said:

I would assume they would be no good for a full time attack setup or hill climber etc.

/quote]

False, my car runs the factory ECU reflashed and is solely used for just this!!!

Ken Blocks gymkhana cars also run reflashed ECUs...

Interesting.. thanks for the schooling.

[BC5RA]

 BT said:

Correct- injectors, turbo, v mount among other things will be retuned to suit by WRC Developments.

95% of their tuning is actually done on road, rather than the dyno. Ensuring progressive throttle response and very good on road manners (which does actually translate to the track) rather than solely tuning on the dyno and quickly road testing after.

Is there any dynometer time involved?

[BT]

 BC5RA']

[quote name='BT said:

Correct- injectors, turbo, v mount among other things will be retuned to suit by WRC Developments.

95% of their tuning is actually done on road, rather than the dyno. Ensuring progressive throttle response and very good on road manners (which does actually translate to the track) rather than solely tuning on the dyno and quickly road testing after.

/quote]

Is there any dynometer time involved?

Yeah there is, it's just not the primary tuning base like it is for most tuners...

[Munkvy]

The only draw back that I know of to the reflashing of a stock ECU is the lack of output options (but Im no expert, so this maybe possible?). ECUTek seems to be quite well regarded in Oz in the Subaru scene, MRT swear by them too.

I think in NZ Link has been around so long and is so easy to get installed and going and has solid support that it has made itself the default choice. Although in saying that, I am quite happy with my Link - it has been the best investment Ive made in my car by far

[Guest]

If you already have an ecu that can be flashed its a no brainer to use it.

The Factory ECU in these cars is very good. The AFM can be an issue in certain situations

[Koom]

Topic has been separated and moved here to allow discussion of Re-flashing Late model ECU vs Aftermarket ECU's to continue as I quite like this topic and would like to do some research into using re-flashed ECU's sometime in the near future.

[pl0x]

just to add - there was a dude at a track day we went to had a V8 forged 2.5 with upgraded turbo, intercooler, injectors, surge tank etc etc running factory ecu + reflash, 300-350kw depending on the dyno

[nt_a_foz]

many of the members on here would know the car

Running ECUTek guy from auckland cant remember his name.

But a VERY well set up car

[Guest]

I have a link plug in ECU in my WRX V8 (a g3 not a g4 but the principles of this discussion still apply).

I have compared the functionality and options available for tuning with a v7 sti standard ECU in a friends car, and the factory one had more functionality than my link.

As said above the link does mean you run MAP and get rid of a potentially restrictive AFM, and the links normally have a standard USB plug for you to plug your laptop into (I'm not sure if the factory ones do), but otherwise the factory ECU is perfectly capable.

I think really the only reason to go link over factory (assuming your factory one is tuneable) is if your tuner of choice only knows how to work a link. Or if, like me, you bought a car with a link ecu already in it.

[Guest]

either option has there benifits, I deal with G4s on a regualar basis

the main problem with reflashing and alot of mods, is theres alot of correction tables inside the stock ECU, the more things you change, the more of the tables you play around with to get everything running mint witch is why a reflash will cost more then a tune on an aftermarket ecu as its time consuming.

road car with basic mods, I would go reflash over a link g4 depending on what your wanting out of it or what your plans are.

A G3 or G4 will still retain good drivability and cold start (dependant on the tuner) very similar, somtimes better then factory on both.

heres some of the pros of a G4 off the top of my head

fault codes and fault finding is pretty easy.

watertemp cut, boost cut.

switchable 3x boost maps inside the ecu via switch

Air temp, coolant temp boost triming

anti theft,

switchable fuel and ingnition maps

multipul overlay tables so you can run a nos system, water injecton all through the G4

antilag, launch control, flat shifting

Shift lights, water temp lights etc

and of course map sensor

theres more that i can't remember