Given Mitsi was able to squeeze another 15kw from TJ onwards VRX models with a new exhaust and ecu tweak, (according to wiki) my dumb question is..

Has anyone done the ecu tweak without the different exhaust, and if so, was there anything to gain from it (power wise)?

(Looking for cheap and easy HP)

(Looking for cheap and easy HP)

As if . . . in theory, the power comes from the exhaust system tuning. Less kw at lower revs, more at higher. The ECU parameters were probably adjusted to give slightly different ignition timing at different rpm and engine loads.

In short . . . one is no good without the other.

as far as i know from TJ on, VRX ecu maps are the same as standard. power came from the straight through muffler and thats it. Jump from 155 to 163 kw. Engine still produces same max torque (well not exactly, up by 1nm) so its the fact that the max torque is higher in the rev range this is what gives more KW.

WIKI is full of shit, there were no cam tweaks specifically for VRX, TJ soon after production began got number 6 cams which lifted the power from 150 to 155 kw.

HM headers from ralliart are a good upgrade along with rear muffler.

Best thing is to get ralliart tune, relatively cheap upgrade , can be done for under $350

Except for the Ralliart, ECU mapping is the same for all 6G74s from H series through to the W series. From the info I've come across, as well as some experience of my own, the Ralliart tune on its own is not worth a huge amount - cams and exhaust improvements swamp the mapping gains. The Ralliart mapping does however change the apparent engine response, making the engine seem more happy to rev.

Given Mitsi was able to squeeze another 15kw from TJ onwards VRX models with a new exhaust and ecu tweak, (according to wiki) my dumb question is..

Has anyone done the ecu tweak without the different exhaust, and if so, was there anything to gain from it (power wise)?

(Looking for cheap and easy HP)

As mentioned by the others, the gains are purely from the fitment of a straight through rear muffler (adds +7kw) - No ECU tweeks between VRX & non VRX models.
So +1 for Wiki being full of it about ECU & 15kw power increase.
Straight through rear muffler & ralliart cams are the best bang for your buck mods on a FWD magna TH onwards.

You can get a ralliart flash tune but as mentioned, it won't make that much of a difference.

Beyond that - save up and get a 6G75 engine swap - if you want a considerable performance increase that is still affordable.

Thank you all for your responses.
Having gone thru the dyno results, it seems to agree that exhaust is where the power is..Example..
TJ vrx-stock=124kw
TL VR with extractors and exhaust 145kw

So that's 16% more horses from extractors and exhaust....Makes you wonder why they didn't put the exhaust on all magnas to end the falcon vs commodore question...

Thank you all for your responses.
Having gone thru the dyno results, it seems to agree that exhaust is where the power is..Example..
TJ vrx-stock=124kw
TL VR with extractors and exhaust 145kw

So that's 16% more horses from extractors and exhaust....Makes you wonder why they didn't put the exhaust on all magnas to end the falcon vs commodore question...

I think you're missing a point there. The TJ VRX that you just mentioned with 124kw would already have the exhaust upgrades that are worth mentioning (removal of the triflow restrictive rear muffler).

A TL VR with extractors and exhaust will not jump 20kw. Not sure what dyno these were run on but that's an awfully high reading. If you wanted to compare wheel numbers you need to make sure you're comparing cars that have been run on the same dyno because all dynos read differently.

yea dont look too much into dyno numbers as a lot of tuning shops will show what you want to see, like 20kw from extractors

So that's 16% more horses from extractors and exhaust....Makes you wonder why they didn't put the exhaust on all magnas to end the falcon vs commodore question...

Cause a lot of us like a quiet car. The Magna was a very quiet car in it's day and even by modern standards it is still very good.

Jimbo:
You say you like a quiet car. I certainly do. You try driving over 1000km in one hit with a loud, droning exhaust and see how you are at the end of the trip. The longest I have driven was 1550 km in a day. In my wife's TF Magna. We left early in the morning and intended to stop somewhere en route, but when we got to the intended destination, it was too early so we decided to go on to the next town. After 3 towns where we were going to stop, we still had 300 km to go. My wife said to me "Are you OK to drive home?" I said yes and we completed the trip. When we got home, we were both quite fresh. The trip was in outback Qld, and at times we were, shall we say, travelling slightly in excess of the posted 100 km/h limit, but rarely over 112 km/h. The Magna was a superb car for this type of travelling. Wife's new Outlander is not as good I am afraid to say.

I certainly could not have done that with a droning or even loud exhaust.

travelling slightly in excess of the posted 100 km/h limit, but rarely over 112 km/h. The Magna was a superb car for this type of travelling. Wife's new Outlander is not as good I am afraid to say.

I certainly could not have done that with a droning or even loud exhaust.

A minor point - a droney exhaust may get you an extra few killerwasps, but you aren't going to use those extra killerwasps cruising at (il)legal speeds. Whereas the drone follows you wherever you go. Hell, my first car had 40 HP and cruised nicely at 70 MPH! (SA rural roads were unrestricted back then)

I guess young people want the "look at me, my car is HOT!" factor, older blokes want the "my car is invisible but damn comfortable!" factor. lol

Another issue against having a loud exhaust is the attention it gets from the boys in blue. Often, you may as well put a flashing light on the roof saying "Here I am, book me!". In my younger days, I had a Citroen DS21 - the first of the injected models. In those days, there were no speed limits except in towns. Whilst travelling, the town police would ignore me, but where I live, they used to (still do) chase the younguns with their hottie cars. The slightest infringement and they were gone. I was (still am) careful about speed limits, but occasionally I accidentally go over. The police used to ignore me in my funny french thingy, but that french thingy easily kept up with the Holden Torana XU1 of the day. Being annonymous has its advantages. Mind you, a TF Magna with std exhaust was pretty invisible as well.

[QUOTE=erad;1611431]Another issue against having a loud exhaust is the attention it gets from the boys in blue. QUOTE]

I have to agree. Even though I have more grey in my hair than any other colour, I have still been pulled over here in Tas for the height of the magna ! (Passed with flying colours)...But still, just because its lowered and has mags !
Nothing like the attention I used to get in a 390ci powered falcon in nsw though ! :badgrin:

I don't think of a magna as a loud car (with stock exhaust) but any noise does attract the sea gulls. :hand: