I'm considering learning how to tweak the cars A/F ratios, fuel adjustments, etc and I was wondering if doing this would be beneficial for an NA setup. Any positive gains from doing so? Also, does anyone know if the APEXi controller works as a real-time A/F meter as well?

 

Actually, I found a recent post that answered my main question. Another one I have is does the APEXi unit also work as a knock controller?

 

waste of money IMHO as all its doing is scaling the MAF readings and as a result, altering timing as well. They are inconsistent at best on the Z, but work decently on other cars (Evo's). It does not work as an AFR meter. While you can moniter the narrow band 02 sensor, it is largely a waste of time as the readings constantly change. To truly moniter AFR, you need a wideband (AEM, PLX, etc)

Save your money for something like a UTEC which is a MUCH better alternative, or have your ecu reflashed on your car (not via mailorder IMHO)

 

mine looks cool .

 

Yeah, I really want to get my ECU reflashed but Technosquare is located on the other side of the US I don't feel safe sending out my main control unit in the mail. Is there anywhere on the southeast side of the US that does reflashes? I want to get a UTECH or E-Manage Ultra but I don't feel confident in that extensive of tuning since this will be the first time for me. How complicated are these units?

 

i think its a good show mod

 

I had one on my car running nitrous, and it is the only way to know what is going on with the car unless you spend big $ on a e-management system of some type. I took mine off the car when I put a greddy twin turbo kit on.(e-manage runs the show now.) I will sell you mine if you want to save some $.
e-mail me at jkaale3333@yahoo.com

 

it can work well in combination with a reflash for finetuning but its abilities are very limited like z1 stated. all it does is adjust your maf readings, it cannot control the other issues like timing at all. a utec is a much better device but also a bit of overkill for a mildly modded vq as the utec is quite pricey.

 

ive been researching this a lot, considering all options, and i think for you and me the best option is the reflash, heres why -

i don't want to drop $1k on parts for the UTEC, never mind getting it on a dyno and paying someone to tune it, if i was interested in that serious of a job i'd just go FI

if you just wait until you have all your engine mods on and do a reflash, that ends your tuning story. i was on the phone with Mike at AAM, great guy, and he told me that if i send my ecu in after all my mods, get it back, run it on a dyno and find weak points, then i can send it in again along with the dyno chart and just pay for shipping and they will fix it, provided its sent in within a couple weeks and not like 8 months later, a perfectly reasonable offer.

so my plans are to get all my AFR changing mods and then send it in to get it reflashed, telling them what mods i have, and requesting a timing advance and removal of rev and top speed limiters (a combo that nothing but the UTEC can do). then im going to dyno it with an AFR measuring dyno, and if its still got some weak points ill just send them the dyno chart and my ecu again, and have them perfect it. that way its a one time fee and all that we want (a good tune with our few N/A mods) is accomplished at a reasonable price, and very effectively

just for comparison, the mods im getting this done with are :

Injen CAI
Custom HKS Hi Power Ti true dual exhaust
CarSound High Flow Cats (aka Kinetix)
Strup Headers
AAM Angled Plenum Spacer
JWT Clutch
JWT Flywheel
350evo 3.9 Final Drive

the last 3 of which don't affect the air fuel, but the flyhweel will make me want to raise my redline even more, so ill tune after it

hope this helps

 

i had an apexi safc tuning my turbo'd Nissan NX, most get their ECU's reflashed, but i was stubborn and cheap, but it ran well with the SAFC. I ran a 13.3 at 107mph with that little 4 banger.

 

Thanks for your intuitive post on this subject. Now that you explain it that way, the reflash does seem to be the best option. Is there any reason why you are going with an AAM reflash rather than the Technosquare which seems to be very popular in the forum? Your AF mods seem to be very similar to what I'll be running with my NA setup. So far, I've got resonated test pipes and a custom made intake. Either a plenum spacer or new plenum will be following very shortly. As for headers, I bought some headers a few months ago, but didn't want the hassle of putting them on so I sold them I'll be considering some headers once I can afford the crawfords w/ jethot coating. BTW, how much is the AAM reflash? 495 seems a little high for technosquares reflash considering that they probably have saved templates for different mods and all they have to do is plug and chug. Anyways, keep in touch as it seems that were going the same route in terms of tuning. Thanks again for your input!

 

I'm doing the AAM reflash partly because I am getting my plenum spacer from them, and they are running deal where if you buy their plenum spacer you get $50 off of the reflash. That and having talked to the AAM guys and the TS guys, AAM was friendlier and more knowledgable in answering my questions. Also, I just double checked after reading your post and it seems that both reflashes are essentially the same price, TS's website lists $595 (unless theres a special I don't know about), and AAM lists $599. The thing that turned me to AAM was their great policy on sending my ECU back to them after a dyno with their reflash, to take out the last of the flaws. TS never said anything about that, if they would do it, that would be cool, but AAM is also giving us $50 off for the spacer, so AAM is the way to go for me. Plus, I go to college at Johs Hopkins in Baltimore, so AAM is just 30 minutes away from me (even though my Z is back home in texas), and I can at least go and pick up the spacer to avoid S&H charges, so there is even more savings, not much, but im not skimping out by deciding between these two very reputable companies.

And yes, I agree with you on the price, it REALLY sucks that we have to pay that much for a reflash, but as far as I know these are the only reasonable options that can adjust air fuel, remove rev and top speed limiter, and advance timing all in one

yeah we should definately keep in touch, itll be nice to see what numbers we hit with these, ive been doing tons of research on every single part in my mod list, and I'm fairly confident that they are the best fit for my goals

good luck!

 

oh and one thing i forgot to mention about the SAFC-II, if you want to properly tune it you'll need a wideband O2 sensor, so heres the price breakdown

SAFC-II ~250
Wideband system ~500 with all necessary parts
Install, dyno, tune - ~ no idea

so thats $750 right there versus the $600 of a reflash that does more than just air fuel...

 

a good wideband can be had for well under $400. install is a piece of cake, definitely DIY. also keep in mind that with a wideband a/f gauge you dont need a dyno to tune it. you can just tune it "on the street". and with a wideband you never need to pay again for tuning. any time parts change you can adjust the a/f yourself without having to pay again for another reflash.

 

well wideband + data logging materials from what I have been looking at has been in the $500 range. and I know you can street tune but from what I understand you do that in 3rd gear and a dyno is done in 5th, which I don't know why but is supposed to be better. BUT this isnt even my biggest point, lets say you get the wideband and everything for it for $300, thats still 500-550 with the SAFC-II. you take that and add on another 50-100 bucks and you not only get your air fuel corrected by pros, but also get your top speed and rev limiters removed, and timing advanced. and if they dont get it right the first time you can send it in just paying for shipping and do it again. thats the biggest point in favor of a reflash IMO. yet another thing to mention is that if you get your plenum spacer from AAM then the reflash costs 550, so its the same price. i just cant find a good reason to get the SAFC-II...

 

i used to have S-AFC II to tune my car. It worked for like couple hours then the ECU took over. Therefor what have been programmed into the S-AFC is not working like it supposed to.

 

I would strongly recommend against mail order tuning, but that's just me. Seems to me to be a very convoluted way to achieve the desired results. Might want to call technosquare and see if they have a dealer in texas

As for the wideband, unless you have a TIG welder at home to weld the bung to the exhaust, it is most definitely not a DIY install.....