Facelift ECU

[VR4WGN]

hey Guys well this is the ECU out of the Beast that gave me my awsum exhaust.
but i want to know if it is better than my PFL one i have now and if its worth installing.

i dont know what to look for so heres some pics i hope someone would like to let me know please
~Q~

[Ryan]

If the car that it's going into is:

* stock*
* a PFL auto

Then yes, it will make a difference as it did in my experience:

http://www.clubvr4.com/forum/showthr...ight=2002+1996

It's also flashable.

[elnevio]

It's the flashable ECU!

[Davezj]

that is a that part number ECU was fitted in prefaclift manual (not sure if they were plastic case ones thought bbut part number is the same) and facelift autos and manuals up to about 2001. and yes it has the MH7202 processor so is potentially flasable.

hope this helps.

[VR4WGN]

wow alot of info,thanx,the car was a manual black 2001 vr4 sedan(plastic case tho),um im wanting to upgrade my ecu sysatem and so on so is it in my best interest to keep this or not? i have a few others too and is pointless if theyr the same

[Davezj]

true, i am sure there is someone out there that wants to play with one of these.

shame you are in new zealand i would have bought it off you to have a play.

[Ryan]

Q in my experience with swapping ECU's, the post 7201 series learn quicker and offer better performance and fuel economy than the 7201.

[VR4WGN]

true, i am sure there is someone out there that wants to play with one of these.

shame you are in new zealand i would have bought it off you to have a play.

shipping will be cheap mate,i dont mind shipping lol,..hint hint!!!!

[orionn2o]

Yes if you had been in the UK and had it for sale I would have bought it straight away"!

Oh wait, hold on its a manual one isn't it...

[peter thomson]

The manual one we have worked fine in my auto so I don't think there will be a problem fitting that ecu

[Ryan]

^ Agreed - manual and auto ECUs worked fine in my car.

[Turbo_Steve]

Q - what are you fitting instead? Piggyback? Standalone?

[orionn2o]

The manual one we have worked fine in my auto so I don't think there will be a problem fitting that ecu

Do you still have that Peter?

Sorry I didn't realise that they were interchangeable!

[VR4WGN]

dont know,looking for help on that subject ay,um also guys i have n auto facelift 1 aswell if your interested too,and the tranny ecu too

[AderC]

Any metal-case ECU's are unlikely to be flashable. If you open up any plastic-cased ones you're looking for the MH7202F chip as in the bottom 2 pics. Have you checked what ECU you've actually got in your car? If you've a 98 prefacelift there's a chance you have the flashable 7202 processor already. The 7203 in the later facelifts isn't flashable yet (it's supposed to be but there appears to be a software glitch at the mo).

Not really much point spending a fortune on a piggyback or standalone ECU when you can tune the 7202 with a laptop, Openport 2.0 cable and ECUFlash software.

[Turbo_Steve]

Not really much point spending a fortune on a piggyback or standalone ECU when you can tune the 7202 with a laptop, Openport 2.0 cable and ECUFlash software.

Agree with that: if you're just going to build the car to a specific level and stop, then a flashable Factory ECU (like the one above) is perfect for you. For now you have to keep the factory MAF, which is a potential power limitation, but other than that: Why pay more?


However:
If you're going to KEEP changing the car, bolting on different bits to show them off, changing this, changing that, then continually mapping the factory ECU will become tiresome. If this is the route you plan to take, then there is no substitute for a standalone. It's the most expensive to fit, and takes the longest to get working the first time. However, after that, even big changes can be made quickly and easily. It's the easiest to get "Big power" out of too, but trust me, you're gonna pay big money for it. Just ask Brad how much his autronic cost. If you car is an auto, you will probably need to retain a factory ECU to talk to the Gearbox computer (TCU). Standlones let you completely ditch the MAF, and change any sensor, injector, idle control to anything you like. They also allow features like additional injectors, NOS control, Antilag, water injection control, automatic knock correction, and fuel selection based on a dash switch (so you can simply fill up with race fuel and switch to the faster map. Or you can have a 2nd fuel tank full of race fuel and switch over all at the push of a button)

The cheaper alternative to this is the piggyback. These are a perfectly workable solution, and can be tuned to any power output you like: the more you pay, the easier they are to tune. The problem with them is that they generally take longer to map, as to some extent you're compensating for things the factory ECU is doing. If you have an intimate knowledge of the factory Maps, it's generally not too much of an obstacle, but things like changing injectors can make a big difference, and end up with a fair bit of tweaking to get the full benefit.

Final word on the topic is driveability. To some extent, this is dependant on who does the mapping. But broadly speaking, the easiest setup to keep driveable is the factory ECU: once it's fully understood, the results are usually as good as factory or better, and the car is lovely to drive.

The standalone can take a bit of "finessing" for things like idle, cold start, aircon compensation and fan compensation, as well as configuring fan start/stop times, injector timings etc to get it just perfect. A good mapper will make a standalone drive just as well, if not better, than standard.

Piggybacks seem to suffer slightly here: if your engine is extensively modified, it can take quite a bit of time to get a piggyback to drive as nicely. Something expensive like an EMU is virtually a standalone, so with a lot of patience and a decent mapper you will still get comprarable results. With a cheap piggyback, and more extensive modification, the lack of adjustability can result in difficulties keeping things refined.

[peter thomson]

Yes

Do you still have that Peter?

Sorry I didn't realise that they were interchangeable!

[starky]

also don't the PFL autos run 260bhp and the Fl autos run 280bhp?
so upgrading would give an instant bhp gain.

[peter thomson]

That's not exactly true as the auto box ecu also has an effect on the boost level

also don't the PFL autos run 260bhp and the Fl autos run 280bhp?
so upgrading would give an instant bhp gain.

[starky]

Ah right just something I read somewhere

That's not exactly true as the auto box ecu also has an effect on the boost level