The same goes for Tennessee, Even in the most remote places here in the South people at lest know what a hat is for and how to wear it.
Now lets just drop this east vs west /north vs south debate and talk about cars and car related issues.

 

AGREED! (Go heels!)
bhobson333- are you going to the track days @ VIR in Febuary? I will sign up this week. I hope I won't be the only 350 out there.

 

Go Heels!

I filled out the registration form today & will mail it tomorrow. I'm looking forward to it. I just hope we get good weather!

Brian

 

WELL SAID BRIAN!!!

I prob have more in taxes taken out in a year than you make gross.

for gods sake man, do a little research, or cant you read?

 

I've read that in major urban cities in the US, such as LA, vehicle emissions only make up 2% of the air pollution. And of that 2%, most is caused by cars that are neglected or out-of-tune. This leads me to believe that the amount of air pollution created by the vehicle emissions of properly tuned cars would seem to be very, very small. NOTE: I don't have proof this statistic; I've simply read it in a couple of places previously and thought it might be worth mentioning. I'd be very interested in seeing an official document with the official numbers.

Regarding electric cars: they aren't necessarily as "clean" as advertised. They are always touted as "zero emissions" vehicles, but this isn't really the whole truth. It's true that the vehicle itself produces no emissions, but where does the electricity come from which powers the vehicle? It comes from power plants, which often produce *lots* of emissions. (Depending on the style of plant, of course.) I guess one way to figure out the emissions of an electric vehicle would be to measure the amount of electricity used, then find out the amount of emissions created by your local power plant when making that amount of electricity. (Fully electric cars typically require a lot of electricity.) So in a way, electric cars aren't really preventing emissions, just creating them somewhere else.

From what I've read, the little econobox hybrid cars (like the Insight, Civic Hybrid, Prius, etc.) seem to be the lowest emitting vehicles around at this time. They generate their own electricity internally from various mechanisms (thus not relying on eletric power plants at all), and although they do burn gasoline, they burn very little compared to fully gasoline powered vehicles.

Anyway, just a few thoughts I had on the matter of vehicle emissions. I'm not directing this at any specific person, just tossing it out there as some food for thought.

 

(Is there any way to fork this to another thread? We're in a good conversation, but off-topic)

Good thoughts, well-stated. You're absolutely right.

If your electricity comes from coal-fired plants, you may actually be doing harm to the environment by running a full-electric car! If your electricity comes from a nuclear plant, you're not contributing to greenhouse gases, but you're increasing the burden of handling nuclear waste to future generations.

The good thing is that we're on the verge of a major technological change. I was originally concerned about the intent to move towards hydrogen fuel because I assumed that they were planning on electrolyzing water, which requires a lot of electricity. Instead, it seems that they have come up with a way to break down hydrocarbons for the hydrogen then burn the hydrogen, so I think we have a new, more efficient way to utilize a wide variety of hydrocarbon fuel. The most recent long-range designs I've seen have a small hydrogen-fuelled motor at each wheel with no need for a major engine compartment anywhere on the vehical. Radical change is coming!

 

Dont forget that with a full electric car your dumping a gang load of batteries every few years...now where does all that acid go? Does it disapear? Hmmmm I'd swear it went into my friends stomach but who knows he's one of the major polutants in california thats for sure.
What was this thread originally about anyways?

 

Screw all of this political/environmental crap.......all I want to know is when is this new "tuned" ECU going to be available, how much is it going to cost, and where can I get it?

 

Thats what I'm talking about!!

 

I also had a question about the actual installation. Is it as easy as plug and play, or do you need to do some resetting of certain parts of the car?

Any ideas?

 

Depends on the car and its computer. In my Audi, I swap chips quite often. (Depending on what I need: good gas mileage, big power, 100 octane gas, etc.) When you swap the ecu/chip in an Audi, there's not much to it. Just pull out the old one, put in the new one, then turn the key to the "on" position for about 30 seconds before starting the car. (This lets the electronic throttle body recalibrate itself.) If you are worried about the dealer, than you can also go in to the comptuer with a VAG tool and reset the error code that gets generated when you unplug the ECU. It doesn't hurt anything to leave the error in there, but it might tip off the dealer that you've swapped chips.

 

Ah, c'mon man! We have to consider the environment here. We've all got to live in it!

 

Amen brother,

We want our mods and we want em now!

Want to crack down on emmisions? Check out some of these refiniries around here!

Meanwhile I think I will go whipe my butt with a spotted owl because they can't cut down any more wood in the protected area they live in here and we are running out of toilet paper!

No wood no paper!

California has more strict emmisions than any state. Ever here of Smog Check II and remore sensing?



This is getting ridicoulous!



Smog Check II

 

I DONT KNOW WHO ELSE TO LISTEN TO!!!!!!!!! HELP ME!!! HE SAYS THIS HE SAYS THAT WHAT IS TRUE WHO IS RIGHT?!!! ARRGGGGHHHH!

 

Agreed,

Are you listening Nissan. We are going to chip our cars, we paid good money for this ground breaking sports car and you should expect it. Follow VW's lead and compete and you will libe long and prosper.

That ECU you have sounds off the hook!

Sort of like Hyper Tech where you just fprogram and flash using a controller and a diagnostic port. You can flash back to stock at any time, takes 5 minutes.

 

Absolutely... chips for us VW/Audi owners with the 1.8t engine *really* make a difference. The 1.8t engines are built like tanks and grossly underpowered from the factory, and the chips really bring them alive. And the added bonus of things like APR's switchable programs is *very* cool. More chip manufacturers should do the same... especially the valet modes.

 

I only wish it were so easy with the Z to gain 30, 40 horses and 40 lb.-ft. with just a $400 chip. I think VW & Audi de-tune those engines to hold down insurance and maximize longevity. I'm sure they know enthusiasts could easily tune them up to 220 or so, but for the majority of buyers, 150 or 180HP is more than enough.

 

That's probably one of the few 'cons' I'd see in a naturally aspirated engine: it's hard to get huge power gains without adding forced induction or doing serious engine rebuilding. However, the smooth power delivery of an NA engine is *very* nice. With a turbo upgrade and pretty darn high boost, my 1.8t engine in my Audi doesn't exactly have a smooth powerband.

I really like the 350Z, and am very close to trading in my Audi. To tell you the truth, I'm actually okay with the idea that a chip probably wouldn't do too much. The pros of the engine outweigh the cons, and in its stock form it already has *way* more power than my Audi.

 

A good example of succesful ecu remapping is the Shark chip for BMWs. This upgrade is pertinent here as it deals with gains in a naturally aspirated engine like the 350z. The creator of this chip was able to find 34 crank hp and 40 crank torque on an OBD-II E36 M3. http://www.bonnevillemotorwerks.com/e36m3-dyno.html

Why did BMW decide to limit their flagship 3 series? I don't know the answer but here is a little humor to lighten the mood off this thread. http://www.bonnevillemotorwerks.com/topten.html

I also have to make clear that this might not be applicable to Z fans due to the factory level on tune.