ECU Upgrade for my Crossfire

[WhiteXFire]

So, I've decided that I'm doing this. However, all I've found was one from Renntech for $995 that only raised it 10hp/12tq, and one from this place in Toronto called 10x Tuning for $595, the chips are called UPsolute. I found someone on cardomain.com with the latter, and he says it dropped the 0-60 to 5.7s from 6.5s and 1/4 mile to 14.3s on the site, but I emailed him for more details. Anyone else know of any other options???

[sfd]

im sorry i dont have any leads on chips but 10hp gain/whatever torque is ****ty for $1000.

although i dont know whats all done to your car (ps my g/f adores your car, you have to play with the wing next meet for her, she keeps asking me about it) wouldn't it be wise to chip the car after some extensive mods? i know some cars respond well to chips but it makes sense to me to have a custom burned chip after the major bolt ons are done.

[Chair-Force]

No offense, but if you start modding that Chrysler, your just asking for problems.

[sfd]

No offense, but if you start modding that Chrysler, your just asking for problems.

now why would you say that?

[MuddyREX]

I thought you were leasing that car, why mod it?

[2point4DSM]

10hp gain sounds more like BS to me. I bet your car is off by at least 10hp every other run.

Your better off getting a wideband meter, a logger and throwing on some naazzz for ~$995. Get something like 50hp gain and call it a day.

And since your leasing it you can easily pull all that stuff out if you ever need to bring it back for warranty work or when it comes time to trade it in.

Isn't that what most people do when they mod leased cars?

Wil

[WhiteXFire]

I thought you were leasing that car, why mod it?

Well that's why I probably won't end up doing anything extensive, but upgrading the chip can't hurt. I've been reading more about the one from Upsolute, 215hp to 238hp, 229tq to 251tq, and I think less than $500 including install. Everyone that has them says there's a very noticeable difference in low-mid power. Oh, and it seems there are 2 dealers in NJ and one in Baltimore.

Any other thoughts...I appreciate the input, both positive and negative.

[2point4DSM]

Any idea how you get that much power out of the ecu. More timing, less fuel? Does it say you need to run higher octane fuel or need at least an intake and exhaust?

I'm just skeptical because in the past DSMrs never had any luck with ECU unpgrades on a basically stock car. Only time there were differences was when the car was modded and the chip was tuned for most boost, less timing, etc.

It's just kind of weird that Chrsyler didn't tune that thing perfectly from the factory. Or did they. I remember a certain sport compact magazine run an article about exhaust systems. Seems some cars actually lost power with aftermarket exhaust.

I think the best bang for your buck is always going to be an intake. The best setup would be a ram air with a K&N type of fitler media.

Wil

[the mike]

Trouble is that it is a Mercedes motor, not Chrysler.

NAAAAAAAWWWWSSSSSS!!! j/k

[WhiteXFire]

Trouble is that it is a Mercedes motor, not Chrysler.

NAAAAAAAWWWWSSSSSS!!! j/k

I opened up the box earlier to take a look...Mercedes emblems everywhere. Upsolute is a German/European company and sells this stuff for Audi/VW/Mercedes/BMW/etc. The baseline of the chip is still based off of the crossfire, but it's basically identical to the slk320. And yes, it improves the ignition control and injection control.

[WhiteXFire]

It's just kind of weird that Chrsyler didn't tune that thing perfectly from the factory.

Well, they take more into consideration than just sheer speed/performance. They have to balance out differences in different markets, safety, durability, performance, etc. The aftermarket chips bump up the performance end for a specific market while still considering safety/reliability to an extent.

[Blaise]

im sorry i dont have any leads on chips but 10hp gain/whatever torque is *no cursing!* for $1000.

People regularly pay $600 for a Hondata ECU on their RSX for similar gains, or $1000 for a K-pro for slightly better gains. It's normal.

No offense, but if you start modding that Chrysler, your just asking for problems.

...says the owner of the WRX who has admitted that he's not on his last trans. Wow.

As for the OP, I'd try to find real-world third party dyno results before buying anything. Will you have to send your ECU in for retuning or what?

[WhiteXFire]

Anyone know of a good place to get dyno'd around here? Blaise made a good point that I should dyno before and after to see the real results.

[SexyDSM95]

From the experiences I have read and heard a guy I use to date bit.ching about how his chip sucks I am not going to do any sort of ECU upgrade on my car. Even though these cars are VW's and Subuarus, there have been so many problems with them. One is what they call "hard limp mode" and what happens is the car just likes to shut off or run worse then stock for no apparent reason. IMO when you start hacking/messing with the ECU you are begging for trouble (especially if you have no stand alone or logging system to see exactly what's wrong). Ask a couple people who own Subarus what happens after they upgrade their maps, the ECU went nutso and now the car runs somewhat like crap.

[Aaron]

I think you have too many friends with fast cars. 6.5 is nothing to turn your nose up at. $1000 is a lot of bones, no matter how you look at it.

[WhiteXFire]

I think you have too many friends with fast cars. 6.5 is nothing to turn your nose up at. $1000 is a lot of bones, no matter how you look at it.

It's $425 installed from Upsolute. Also, I've been reading through several forums online, including crossfire ones, and have yet to see a negative review, including people who have had them over a year. It is easy to convert back to stock, and has a 30 day $$ back guarantee as well as a warranty.

[CarbonIS]

It's just kind of weird that Chrsyler didn't tune that thing perfectly from the factory.

Well, they take more into consideration than just sheer speed/performance. They have to balance out differences in different markets, safety, durability, performance, etc. The aftermarket chips bump up the performance end for a specific market while still considering safety/reliability to an extent.

Did that come straight from the Chrysler marketing and sales promotion handbook?

[Chair-Force]

I think you have too many friends with fast cars. 6.5 is nothing to turn your nose up at. $1000 is a lot of bones, no matter how you look at it.

It's $425 installed from Upsolute. Also, I've been reading through several forums online, including crossfire ones, and have yet to see a negative review, including people who have had them over a year. It is easy to convert back to stock, and has a 30 day $$ back guarantee as well as a warranty.

Honestly, the Crossfire is a very small market of interest for aftermarket vendors. If I were in your shoes, I wouldn't mess with aftermarket ECU's. The sales of Crossfires have been very low and I dont see how these ECU's can be proven reliable yet. Yeah, you could always revert back to stock but if damage is done or your engine is blown to $hit, that may not help to much.
Save your money and spend it on handling parts.
Recirculating Ball steering = :thumbdow:

[WhiteXFire]

Well, you're forgetting that the motor and platform are identical to the slk320 mercedes that has been around for a while, including being built in the same plant. The company that I've been dealing with is based in Austria, and has been making them for MB for years.

[Chair-Force]

Your saying its an identical ECU?

[WhiteXFire]

Your saying its an identical ECU?

Well, I can tell you that like most of the things under the hood it says nothing but Mercedes on it. I do not know if it is 100% identical, but I'm pretty sure almost all the engine specs are identical.

[Chair-Force]

Well, its your money and car so do what you want with it.
Im just saying I wouldnt mess with that ECU, esspecially with MB parts, ;)


Also get rid of that Recirculating Ball steering! :finga:

[WhiteXFire]

I'm still undecided, but I'm leaning towards it. And I think we got mixed up somewhere...the chip is still designed specifically for the crossfire, I was just saying that it's not a "brand new engine" that no one has seen before. It's the leftover slk320 platform, spec for spec.

As for running into problems, the only thing that would worry me is the actual removal and installation of the chip. Through 2 days of reading, I have yet to find someone who chipped their crossfire and had a problem with the new mappings. Granted, I have come across people who have had problems with new chips in their cars, but they were almost all VW, and no N/A MB.

Other than that, if anyone else is looking at chipping a european car, I'd check out Upsolute. They have been very straightforward and responsive to my questions/emails. They also have a forum on their website where people can discuss/ask questions and get answers directly from the programmers at the company. I tried to get in contact with Powerchip, which is located in CA and also offers a chip for the crossfire. Aside from the price being almost $300 more and requiring me to remove the chip myself, mail it to them, and then get it back 1-3 days later, I have yet to see an email response typed by a person. I received two automated emails with a glorified brochure and some general info, and after replying, have still not heard back.

[OutOfStock]

I know Upsolute makes chip for the GTI's too. And yea i heard limp mode BLOWS. Drops like all the power outta the car. But id say save the chip for turbo cars

[WhiteXFire]

I know Upsolute makes chip for the GTI's too. And yea i heard limp mode BLOWS. Drops like all the power outta the car. But id say save the chip for turbo cars

Yeah, a few people with GTI's were like the only ones that reported any problems on Upsolute's forums. From what I read, they updated the software and fixed it for free for the people having problems. I think some of those problems were related to the need to replace some other stock part.

[2point4DSM]

Any updates?

[PaleDSM]

For that kind of money I would think there are better piggyback/standalone options that you would have control over and would provide better gains.

You forget all about a 15hp gain as your ass gets used to it in a week but it will take you a long time to get over the grand you just got done blowing. Just food for thought.

[2point4DSM]

It use to be the same for DSMrs when they first came out. And probably for a decade it was still true.

[WhiteXFire]

Yeah, I got it chipped the end of June...$425 installed. Definitely has more acceleration mid-range. I just stil hear conflicting statements that it's tuned/optimized for 91 octane vs. 93 octane. I was told the latter, which would be good considering I always run 94.

[2point4DSM]

Did you get before and after numbers at the dyno or track? Or race someone for baseline performance?