I am looking into getting this kit but a few things concern me:

1.) is there a flash for an '05 6-speed?
2.) I would think that the heat under the hood would be VERY bad and detrimental to things expecially if you had a fiberglass bumper or CF hood..
3.) I have heard of bad flashes happening from technosquare. Would this cause a blown engine?

I had some major problems with my last FI install on my '01 Eclipse GT. It was such a minute thing(sheered the rivits on the crank angle sensor by SLIGHTLY moving the crank backwards a LITTLE bit to have it centered at TDC) and it caused some major problems to the point where I was so fed up I sold the car and bought the Z. I just am researching and want to find out the most I can. I love the looks of the kit and I go to a lot of shows and am actually having one of my own next year so that is a BIG plus. And I am not looking for 700whp or anything I just want something a little lower than 400hp(400 seems to be the "iffy" mark for a reliable engine) with stock internals and reliability and this kit seems to fall right in there. And I have heard great things about Turbonetics before the Z was even released. And when you factor in the price...I would much rather have a turbo than supercharger. I had a supercharger on the eclipse and no matter how tight it was the belt would slip, and all this over crap. Thanks for any help.

 

Ask the supra guys if it is a big problem for them.

 

1) yes there is a flash for the 6mt...

I was wondering if the flash in the Tnetics kit flashed all 3 maps to make sure the ECU never added or pulled timings. I have heard speculation that the cause of some of the blown engines has been from the car being tuned on one of the timings and then getting blown later when the OEM ecu changes them... hopefully MIAPLAYA can clear that up for us.

 

So there is a flash out for the 2005 Zs?

And good point about the Supra. That is one of my lower concerns. It doesn't cost nearly as much to repaint something heat effected as it does to replace an engine lol. And you say "...some of the engines that have blown..." How many have blown? I don't really like the idea that I just kind of put the ECU in my car from a company that hasn't tested it on my car and it is basically a "cross your fingers" kind of thing that the ECU doesn't change the maps. If that happens I am out thousands of dollars.

 

when i said "some of the engines that have blown" i ment vq35's in general not with any particular kit... but tons of engines have blown with different kits for many different reasons, some people blame the kits, some people blame the tunes, some people simply run too much PSI, some blame the stock oil pump, and finally some blame the ECU for adding timings.

I was speaking generally not about any kit or ecu mod.

I am starting to sound like a Tnetics fanboy b/c it really seems like the kit for me but it comes with a stock tune and the ECU reflash as part of the kit. I hear its a pretty conservative tune to help protect your engine, and it has been tested by the company that makes the kit. The TS flashes are 3rd party but many people have had good results using them since they can give you a flash based on what other mods you have while the Tnetics one assumes everything on your car is stock except the turbo kit.

 

Everything on my car WILL be stock when/If I get this kit. But I was told they send you a postafe paid box to mail the ECU out correct? So you can't just bolt this kit on and go, you have to mail out and wait for the ECU to come back before you do this, correct?

 

Thats correct-it does come with a pre-paid box for your ecu, and I believe you get it back in 2 days. Meaning if you send it Monday, they receive it Tuesday, flash it, send it back and you get it back Wednesday.

 

That is what I was afraid of lol. I don't mind the wait at all. I don't care if the mailing/flashing thing took a month. When/if I do it it will be in the winter while the car is in storage for 6 months+. So 3 days is no big deal to me. I have just heard a lot of issues with the tune going bad, they flashed it wrong(flashed it with incorrect or extra parts that were not actually on the car), it reset itself, etc. What happens if my battery goes dead, will it reset the ECU to the flash or to the initial setup of the ECU from factory? I KNOW there will be time I will have the battery disconnected for periods of time. Does that mean everytime the ECU is reset that I have that risk of the ECU "changing" and causing my engine to blow?

What kind of wear in period is there for this kit? and when the computer is reset, how long is the "learning" stage where the ECU will have setup all it's maps and stuff?

 

No the flash has been pretty stable...It is set to run your car at a VERY safe 11:1 AFR. TO answer some of the other questions about the flash...The bad gas map is retained in the ECU for those instances when needed however the standard map (the one you are in most of the time) and the Advanced timing map are both altered. Essentially they created the tune on the standard map and then copied over the advanced map with the standard map. SO there is no map in the ECU that will carry timing advance that could hurt the motor. There is a flash for the 05 NON REV UP motor. If you have the 300 HP REv UP Motor that flash has not been done yet. I have over 11k miles on my car and heat has not altered or negatively affected ANYTHING in the car as of yet. If you are truly concerned with it you could have all the pipes JetHot coated prior to install. Then header wrap the downpipe and turbine inlet pipe for even more heat retention. This would reduce underhood heat signficantly. Mine are not wrapped or coated and I have been just fine. (I will be header wrapping my pipes just to see what kind of difference if any it makes). There is no REAL break in period. All the turbos are VSR tested to over 50k RPMs and measured for vibrations and oil consumption prior to being packed for shipment so the turbo in essence is ready to go out of box. Of course I would verify the AFR on ANY turbo kit prior to getting retarded with it but basically its a bolt on, plug in, turn key, mash gas style system.

 

FYI, 400whp is well within the safe limits of the motor. The iffy point is unknown really since everyone who blows their engine does so because of some extraneous circumstance, like a poor tune, idiotic driving, running low on oil, etc.

 

The ECU cannot "change" as you described...The maps are saved in the ECU and the stock maps are GONE unless you have it reflashed back to stock....

 

Ok, that puts me a little more at ease.

You say you have had it on for 11,000 miles with no issues. But what do you have other than bone stock? Like does this kit have upgrades like headers, injectors, return fule line,etc? If so which do you have to be safe. I am kind of weary about the fuel system since it isn't a return fuel system. APS addresses this KINDA but this doesn't address it at all. I plan on staying bone stock, no upping the boost, I want it to be safe. Would an AAM return fuel system be needed? better oil pump? water pump? tranny cooler? oil cooler?, etc.

 

My motor is 100% stock internally including pistons, cams, rods, etc. As for a return system no I don't have one. The Turbonetics kit comes with 380cc drop in plug in injectors and a Walbro 255 lph fuel pump. With this and the flash the AFR remains 11:1 across the board on a stock motor. It does not come with headers the facotry headers are used and for all purposes are stronger then most aftermarket ones anyways. All pumps in my car are also stock..the only mods on the motor I have are as follows:

Turbonetics kit
Apexi WS2 exhaust

Thats it...nothing else. I did add a Blitz upper radiator hose only because it has a silicon bung formed into it for a coolant temp sensor. Which was nice. The other coolant hoses are stock. Yes 11K + with no hiccups as of yet.

 

Nice to hear. I will probably get the Nismo Exhaust and that will be it besides the turbo kit. Headers tend to make cars raspy and too low, expecially with test pipes(atleast from the cars I have owned) The rest will be engine dressup kind of stuff and a body kit. It I decide to do this.

Another thing, I noticed there is a HF Cat and a catless kit. My eclipse had highflow cats and, I am not sure if it was the cats or the flesh tubing, I had some nasty rasp and the exhaust was too loud(required new headers) I couldn't even stand it. What does this car sound like? I never EVER want rasp again. It sounds like a metal kazoo and it makes me feel like my car is cheap. I sounded like some of these civic hatches that run around town. I HATED it lol. Are there any like drive by sound clips? I have heard and seen all the ones you posted with people IN the car. I saw a dyno one but you can never really tell how loud it is when you are in square room like that it all echoes.

 

I have a couple quick drive by ones...
http://www.capital350zclub.com/hosti...mianetics3.avi
http://www.capital350zclub.com/hosti...mianetics2.avi

But no there is no rasp...Honestly...catless is the way to go IMHO...backpressure is your enemy here. FYI I have the catless kit...

 

Nice Z! Do you have any clips of a high speed drive by?My eclipse did it at like 3,200-3,700 rpm. in 2nd EVERY time lol. There is no rasp at all? And I know back pressure is my enemy, but I have visual emmisions in my area. So it doesn't have to pass smog but I will need to atleast APPEAR like it would pass lol. Do you have dyno charts between the two kits(catless and HFs)?

 

No no high speed ones other then in car video that you might have seen. Its kind of hard to get a high speed video with good audio becuase of wind interference. As for rasp NO there is NONE. Ask anyone from Socal who has driven or ridden in my car. protocav, jimrhit, g35pm, Razorxg35, Bluebatmobile, etc, etc. I dont currently have power charts between the two no but if visual is all you have to pass there an easy way of doing this without actually having cats....buy an old cat...cut the heat shields off, put them around the downpipe somewhere and weld them on. Walla...looks like you have a cat.

 

Mine goes to ~10.4:1 for some reason. May that be one of the reason for my misfire code? Does Turbonetics have inhouse dyno to get my reflash adjusted?

 

Yeah, but then if they notice that it is fake I'm screwed.

 

If a cop can tell that its fake by looking under the car without getting it in the air and checking it out up close he deserves a promotion...