Laptop to Impreza ECU

[craiginsight]

This may be a really dangerous thing to even consider, but I am wondering what effects/benefits could be achieved by getting some software and hucking my laptop up to the ECU of my Impreza Turbo. If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it.

Cheers

Guys

[ed.]

Depends if its designed for it and what software you have. If you have copies of the connectors and software the dealers use shoudnt be a problem as long as you dont mess with it. Its easy to plug in a nissan 200sx with datascan and conzult connector.

[sdewey]

craiginsight said:

This may be a really dangerous thing to even consider, but I am wondering what effects/benefits could be achieved by getting some software and hucking my laptop up to the ECU of my Impreza Turbo. If anyone has any advice I would love to hear it. Cheers Guys

Hi Craiginsight. I do this on my Mx5T. I'm running a programmable Flyin Miata Link ECU which replaced the standard ecu. The Link is quite old now compared to other ecu's from Electromotive, Motec, Haltech etc but I bought mine from Flyin Miata in the US and its code has been specifically written for the mx5.

You can do some amazing stuff with programmable ECU's, ie make changes to your timing/fuelling/ tell your fan what temp to come on, listen for engine knock, play around with boost settings etc. Best of all I can then datalog runs and compare the effects of the changes I've just made against older ones. The software I use will even work out hp and torque and has proved to be accurate to within 5%.

Basically it allows you to set up the engine to near optimum. The next step for me is to get a wideband sensor.

I'm sure there are many tuning companies out there that will chip your car. However if you plan on keeping the car for some time and adding mods to it, a programmable ECU can be a good cost effective way of optimising your cars hp and making sure the engine won't go bang, its also a lot of fun.

[tuttle]

Hmmmm
Progarammable ECU's are brill way to optimise & maintain your engine,however,you do need to really understand what your doing.Experimenting with some of the 'deeper' ecu functions can lead to tears-expensive ones
If you do choose this route tho,some of the Oz tuning sites do great bits of DIY electronic kit for peanuts.
Matt

>> Edited by tuttle on Friday 25th March 09:20

[sdewey]

tuttle said:

Hmmmm Progarammable ECU's are brill way to optimise & maintain your engine,however,you do need to really understand what your doing.Experimenting with some of the 'deeper' ecu functions can lead to tears-expensive ones If you do choose this route tho,some of the Oz tuning sites do great bits of DIY electronic kit for peanuts. Matt >> Edited by tuttle on Friday 25th March 09:20

[sdewey]

tuttle said:

Hmmmm Progarammable ECU's are brill way to optimise & maintain your engine,however,you do need to really understand what your doing.Experimenting with some of the 'deeper' ecu functions can lead to tears-expensive ones If you do choose this route tho,some of the Oz tuning sites do great bits of DIY electronic kit for peanuts. Matt >> Edited by tuttle on Friday 25th March 09:20

Tuttle is right of course. And when choosing an programmable ecu you need to do your homework, find out what fellow scooby owners are using and make sure there is a respected tuning company that can offer support and advice. Without the knowledge to program it, its a waste of money. I've seen some of my friends spend thousands on programmable ecus, not have the knowledge to tune it, not know where to go to tune it and then get frustrated and end up selling the car!

[craiginsight]

My car still has the standard ECU, can you tweak a standard ECU in any way?

Cheers

craiginsight

[tuttle]

Don't know enough about scooby ecu's.
However iirc,most manufs' make their ecu's with ROM (read-only-memory) chips,so that all the engine parameters/instructions are permenantly held in them.Some chips are 'flashable' so can be re-written thru your OBD whatever port,with a connector,lap-top & soft ware.Some tuners will replace chips with uprated (car & model specific)maps.Or go the whole hog & get a re-programmable ecu.So really there are 3 main options.
Try reading up ECU workings 101:www.howstuffworks.com/car-computer.htm

[craiginsight]

Thanks for the advice guys will have to do some research before I start messing around though.

Cheers

Craiginsight

[vixpy1]

Be carefull, I've seen the results of people fiddleing countless times.

A professional remap is not that expensivce, and unless you know what you are doing, it only takes a couple of wrong numbers in the map and 'pop'.

[Guy Humpage]

There's a product for the Scooby called DeltaDash which allows you to view all the engine parameters on a laptop for diagnostic purposes. You can't alter anything so it is harmless.

[DocJock]

Stephen Done cracked the Impreza ECU.

You can buy a licence from him and reflash a Subaru ECU
www.ecutek.com/

As already stated, LinkECU is simple and relatively inexpensive, but still a great tool (unless you really must have anti-lag and launch control )