We all know about the GREDDY piggy back systems you can get installed and tuned but my question is can you chuck (well, gently drive) a magna with stock puter and dyno tune it?

If so, what would you be looking at in price?

The whole point of a dyno tune with the piggy back is to make sure your fuel curve is optimal by changing air/fuel ratios. As far as i know the stock ecu is not tuneable, the only way would be to update the inbuilt software (some car makers do this, didn't the XR6T recently need this done?) or to put a piggy back ecu on there.
But in saying that, if stock ECU's were easily re-tuneable i doubt many people would be going out and buying piggy back systems :).

^ pretty much what he said. As far as anyone knows - the std ECU can only be adjusted by a mitsubishi service center, and more than likely they will not use their equipment for performance applications.

I'm pretty sure you could get a dyno 'tune' done where they would plug meters into the ECU to monitor air / fuel ratios etc. They just won't be able to adjust the fuel mapping or anything. If such a diagnosis revealed issues with your tune - then you should get a report and take that to mitsubishi, who will more than likely just update your ecu with the latest soft/firmware.

Having said all that - it is my understanding that the ECU is capable of delivering the correct air/fuel mix in just about any situation (unless there is an issue with the ecu, some of it's sensors, or you have performed mods which require a piggyback ecu).

Is it worth grabbing an ECU chip out of a newer model (say TL or TW) to put in a TH-TJ ? I'm assuming any firmware upgrades that were discovered with the 3.5 engine management would have been made to the later models ?? Anyone ??

s it worth grabbing an ECU chip out of a newer model (say TL or TW) to put in a TH-TJ ? I'm assuming any firmware upgrades that were discovered with the 3.5 engine management would have been made to the later models ?? Anyone ??


if its worth doing on a TH its worth doing on a TW they r the same car

if its worth doing on a TH its worth doing on a TW they r the same car
Except for the cam specs so it might not be worth it and could even be the wrong step to take.

Ditto.
True, ECU does that. We just don't know the tolerances, perhaps it's only +- 3 % or what ever, where as modding intakes and exhausts would warrant wider tolerance, say +-10 % change in the mixtures and timing etc. But.... alas.


Having said all that - it is my understanding that the ECU is capable of delivering the correct air/fuel mix in just about any situation (unless there is an issue with the ecu, some of it's sensors, or you have performed mods which require a piggyback ecu).

Except for the cam specs so it might not be worth it and could even be the wrong step to take.


the difference in cams is nothing to write home about i wouldnt say ... i cant feel the difference between a TH and a TW

the difference in cams is nothing to write home about i wouldnt say ... i cant feel the difference between a TH and a TW
Yeah but that's negated by the weight increase. Anyway, if there's no apparent difference between those two models then swapping ECU's would give just as much a difference. Not worth doing.

your better off getting a propper ecu so you can adjust timing maps, not just badly deform the sensor readings to the stock ecu.

those chips/piggys end up costing upwards of 700 dollars and you get a once off gain which has to be retuned every time you change your shirt almost.

piggy back systems are really not a good idea.

oops sorry i miss read the original post disregard what i have already said


We all know about the GREDDY piggy back systems you can get installed and tuned but my question is can you chuck (well, gently drive) a magna with stock puter and dyno tune it?

If so, what would you be looking at in price?

if u can find someone who can retune it then its worth it though there r VERY few around ....... as far as i know its only the TH ( or greater maybe?) ecu that can be reflashed.

anyone who says its not worth it can argue all they like but the one of the fastest NA magnas have a reflashed ecu ( not naming no names dont wanna dump him in it )

though getting a reflash is the same as any other piggy back or new ECU, its only as good as the modsu have

umm, turbo charade, you say that piggy back ecu's provide a once of gain, and you have to keep retuning it ? ?

only after you have significantly modified your engine (cams etc) will you need to retune it, you wouldn't retune it after air filter, then CAI, then TB , etc


i think the results speak for themselves from people with piggy back ecus, they are moer than worth it !

oops sorry i miss read the original post disregard what i have already said
No worries.


anyone who says its not worth it can argue all they like but the one of the fastest NA magnas have a reflashed ecu ( not naming no names dont wanna dump him in it )
Is it actually the same ECU that's off the shelf and has been remapped by a tuning shop or has it been done properly for an off street street application and not available to the general public?

honestly im not the one to be asking as far as that goes, all i know is TH ecu's can be reflashed i know cos a mate from work was trying to replace his TF's ecu with a TH ecu so it could have a remap ( he did a 3.5L conversion with stage 2 cams etc)

i could be wrong but its the standard ecu tuned with a certain program that very few ppl have acces to.

and the 2 ppl i know who had this done had the same guy do it in adelaide privately,

correct me if im wrong but there are gains to be had from a tune piggy back from near stock cars, didnt ego get an extra 8 kw's or something from a retune with only exhaust? .... though i think that was complete new ecu? but still shows there r gains regardless,

u just need to work out if u want to get it done when its near stock and keep having it retuned so the car is at its very best but have to pay for all the extra retunes, or ... just get piggy back when u have finished modding or looking at cams ... no rite or wrong decision i ges

correct me if im wrong but there are gains to be had from a tune piggy back from near stock cars, didnt ego get an extra 8 kw's or something from a retune with only exhaust? .... though i think that was complete new ecu? but still shows there r gains regardless,

u just need to work out if u want to get it done when its near stock and keep having it retuned so the car is at its very best but have to pay for all the extra retunes, or ... just get piggy back when u have finished modding or looking at cams ... no rite or wrong decision i ges

Yes i got gains sout of my Haltech piggyback stock.. I dont have an exhaust system.. its standard cept for the dual standard pipes out the rear which in turn isnt doing wonders for the back preassure... with just a K&N panel filter i had 131kw ATW.. after the haltech went in i had 136kw ATW.. I Gained 5KW out of just a retune.. the panel does SFA and the exhaust was prob better performance wise left standard.. Pfft what a couple of KW for a pair of duallies...:P

your better off getting a propper ecu so you can adjust timing maps, not just badly deform the sensor readings to the stock ecu.
You know you can adjust timing with a piggy back too, right?

i could be wrong but its the standard ecu tuned with a certain program that very few ppl have acces to.
any car thats obd-2 compliant can have its ecu re-tuned.

generally the manufactur will need to "unlock" the ecu, but with obd-2 comes a standard for comunicationg with the ecu and the sensors that feed it information.

the more sensors that are on an obd-2 compliant car, the more that can be "tuned"

a piggy-back computer such as the e-manage (or soon the be released e-manage2 w/ launch control!) are worth their weight in gold. TO A POINT!

once you pass that point, its a full replacement or nothing!

Pretty sure the Magnas aren't fully OBD-II compliant.

(or soon the be released e-manage2 w/ launch control!)

how similar is this to the e-manage ultimate??? I read something yesterday which seemed to indicate a 'blue' e-manage could be made into an ultimate with firmware 1.45 (from memory).

*wouldn't launch control make it 'illegal' in drag racing??*