What is everyone's input on running the stock ecu on one of the currently available stroker kits like BC or GTM in an N/A application ? I am sure there would be gains to be had with an engine management change but I am curious whether the car would run with a stroker motor and a stock ecu. Thoughts??

 

I don't think it would be wise to re-engineer a motor and have it set to run on parameters calculated for a completely different configuration.

Not to mention, why would you want to spend the time, money and effort to drop a stroker motor into your car and not want to get the most out of it? I understand your car is a 2007 with the HR motor, but if you want a stroker motor right now and you do not have the patience to wait until a viable ECM unit comes out for your ECU then I would look into buying a used 03, 04 or 05 Z or G with a non-revup motor.

 

It will run like ****, or not run at all, most likely. If you're really going for a full engine build don't cheap out on the EMS

 

Been down that road before with an 04. No thanks. GTM will have their HR kit out in the next little while so I am exploring options. I have done engines before with Honda's with strokers and high compression and the cars always ran well on the stock ecu, it was just peak power that needed to be addressed with an ecu upgrade. With the HR motor stroker, you still have the same cam triggers and timing sensors as the stock motor so I would think the ecu would not be able to tell the difference between the motors. Saying that it would not run would kind of be like saying it would not run with the stock ecu if you ran big cams and higher compression pistons. Opinions?

 

In short, it would run like absolute POOP

Would it idle? Maybe. Would it rev cleanly? Maybe

Would you would risk a ~$10k investment for a series of "maybes" - I sure wouldn't want to

You've got an ecu tuned for a given set of circumstances - a certain compression range, a certain rev range, certain cam profile, etc etc etc

You are dropping BIG money on building a motor, no matter what year Z it is - it's worth the relatively small investment to get a proper ecu to run the show, tuned by someone who knows what they are doing.

Now, if you mean running a reflashed ecu to do things, sure it can be done. But again, it's all in the knowledge of the person punching the keys - they ultimately make or break the rest of the setup, regardless of how "trick" the parts are.

Even on my motor build, the car ran excessively rich at idle (to the point where you would literally tear), and had some generic driveability hiccups even at low revs...and that was with a relatively mild cam upgrade (steep ramps though), and a small bump in compression (10.3 to 11.3) and no change in displacement. Given the setup one would run to make a stroker worthwhile, it would be even worse.

 

FYI big cams (depending on how big) and higher compression WILL run and idle like crap or not run at all on a stock ECU.

 

Just pulling experience from past builds on Honda motors.