Tuning noob, need insight

[daytripper]

Hey all,
I have a 94 civ with a Gen 1 JDM B16a. Mods are as follows:

AEM long ram cold air, OBX intake mani, MSD ignition, DC header, Apexi WS2 catback, and the guy I bought it from said it has Skunk2 cams, but I haven't verified this. It is running a virgin USDM P72 ecu.

What are my tuning options? Basically, I am looking to get the most out of these bolt-ons without spending a s**t load of money. I am not planning on turbo'ing or doing any other mods in the near future, and I wont be doing any tuning myself.

What are the differences between chipping/socketing and the tuning programs like Crome, Hondata, etc? What kind of performance differences would I see, and what kind of price differences can I expect?

Thanks!

 

[got traction]

Find a local tuner who uses Crome, that will be your cheapest yet effective route. We typically charge 80 dollars to chip a ecu and put a base map on it. But, you will want to have it tuned also.

 

[charlie brown]

Hey all,
I have a 94 civ with a Gen 1 JDM B16a. Mods are as follows:

AEM long ram cold air, OBX intake mani, MSD ignition, DC header, Apexi WS2 catback, and the guy I bought it from said it has Skunk2 cams, but I haven't verified this. It is running a virgin USDM P72 ecu.

What are my tuning options? Basically, I am looking to get the most out of these bolt-ons without spending a s*** load of money. I am not planning on turbo'ing or doing any other mods in the near future, and I wont be doing any tuning myself.

What are the differences between chipping/socketing and the tuning programs like Crome, Hondata, etc? What kind of performance differences would I see, and what kind of price differences can I expect?

Thanks!

I just moved out of lawrence like 3 weeks ago. As for the software, i will always say hondata for my personal preference but AEM is definitely good. i dont know about the others. You need to drive to kc and go to Revline motor sports for you're tune. the guys name is chong and i can personally vouch for the man. He did all the tuning on my ls turbo and my ls/vtec. guys a wizard on the dyno. his prices are fair and he is very helpful with questions. Im new to honda motors (2-3 yrs exp) and he always answered my questions or pointed me to the proper source for info. its worth the drive. i think he still runs the only 9 sec civic in Kc but i could be, wrong hope this helps

 

[daytripper]

Yea i've already talked to chong, and thats who I'm gonna go with. So basically, the chip allows the fuel and ignition tables to be modified? Then, you dyno tune using A/F to tweak the maps?

Chong told me between $350 and $450 for chipping/socketing, and dyno tuning.

What kind of powers gain might I expect to see? I know the car is running rich and can make more power as is, but I dont want to spend $400 on something barely noticeable. I know this is a pretty vague question, but do you guys think it would be worth it for me, based on the mods I already have?

 

[charlie brown]

i really dont know what you're gains will be, and yes you have control over just about every system controlled by the ecu with S300. His prices are bang on for a "full tune". you would see 500 from some places easy. but you still need to buy what ever system you decide to go with, so add that to the bill. it gets expensive fast man. Hondata S300 is like 495.00 alone

 

[daytripper]

Wait, wouldn't he chip it, and then tune it with his own software? I thought I would need to buy tuning software only if I wanted to tune myself, which I don't.. Sorry, I am really new to ecu tuning!

 

[charlie brown]

to "chip" an ecu you need

ecu-you have that
the "chip" itself- you need to buy that

He takes said chip and solders it into the ecu and tunes the car. the $ figure he gave you is just for his services (chip not included)

 

[daytripper]

OK gotcha.. so I am still a little concerned whether or not it is going to be worth the money..

What if I did a few dyno pulls with air/fuel, and if the A/F is way rich across the board, that would be a good indication it would be worth it, and if it is marginally rich, then it wouldn't be worth it. Does that have any validity?? I know that ignition timing comes into play too, but I know this car is running quite rich.

 

[rileyb]

If you're paying for dyno time, may as well have it tuned. You will get the most power and the most MPG in gas mileage when it's tuned. Tuning allows the A/F to be stoich throughout the whole RPM range, thus giving optimal power and efficiency.