GC71

Hi All,

I am undecided on getting either the HKS F-Con Vpro or Utec for my 03 Z

Heres some addtional info :

Mods on the car when being tuned would be full exhaust(incl. test pipes), pulleys, plenum spacer and K&N drop in. I am not planning on going FI or cams etc. the EMS will be the final(I hope) engine performance mod.

I live in Singapore and hence there is no one who can professionally tune the Utec,whereas the F-Con will be tuned by an authorised tuner who will be doing more of a road tune ie with little use of a dyno.

Questions I have are :

1. Would installing an F-con be overkill for my mods?

2. Would I be able to tune the Utec myself without the use of a dyno? I am not a pro-tuner, but have a basic understanding of tuning and would use pre-loaded maps, road tune, then go on a dyno to fine tune.

3. Based on my mods, would the F-Con which is considerably more costly yeild considerably more gains then the Utec?

4. I was told by the HKS tuner that if I was to use the F-Con, I would have to change my intake into an open pod with an enlarged intake pipe to increase air mass(I thought it was more abt. intake temp.) so as to optimise the F-con is this true?

5. I was also told by the HKS tuner that overall expected gains from all my mods would be around 20-30whps. What would be more significant would be the change in the overall powerband which would make the car much more responsive. I was a little bit dissapointed to hear this and would like to know if this is also true and if not, then what would be the estimated power gains I would be looking at?

I was actually more inclined to getting the Utec as I like the idea of being able to datalog and do self-tuning which is part of the enjoyment of owning a Z which is a car for auto-enthusiast. But I also have concerns on not having professional assistance available here which is why I am considering the F-Con.

Look forward to your views on this.

Cheers
Glenn

Nic@CiNcity

iTrader: (93)

Even though this topic has been covered one billion times today alone, i must say that for your first post, it's nice to read something with some meat to it. Sounds like you have a good understanding on things.

My opinion would be for you to go with the UTEC. Because you're NA, learning to tune on your own isn't such a big deal. I bought a UTEC and learned to tune on my own with the Greddy twins. The people over at TURBOXS helped me alot over the phone as well as the HUGE amount of support right here on the forums. From what i've read, the guys using the Fcon are the ones pushing their Z's to the limits most people would never dream of. For the average tuner and even people with several grand under the hood, a UTEC is all you'll ever need. Match that with the TurboXS Tuner Pro, and you got yourself a winner! Hope this helps? Good luck and happy tunning!

rocks

iTrader: (1)

Utec is fine, you also spend 2500$ in more mods. I paid 1300$ for my utec with all accessories. Wideband, mapswitch, mapsensor, utec. FCon is 3500$. BTW there are several very high hp Subarus with a utec and they dont explode the whole you need a Fcon over 500hp is just pushed by the dealers of it to make more profits. The fcon is easier to tune with because its target A/F works well. The utec you can find software thats free than can do target a/f. Tuning a utec is not hard.

ZU L8R

iTrader: (84)

+1 the Fcon is overkill for you. If your tuner can tune a FCon they should be able to figure out a Utec pretty easily.

rocks

iTrader: (1)

Here is a link to the forum i use for my windows utec software. http://www.dezignduo.com/UTI/phpBB2/ It works for the Z utec.

Another thing i wonder about the fcon is it able to make fuel corrections dependent on altitude? I know the megasquirt can it uses two map sensors to do it. The utec cant so you have to be able to adjust it when you go to alot higher or lower altitudes.

GC71

Thanks all for the advs so far am really learning a lot these couple of days as I soak up all the info. on this site..

I am wondering if I would require the optional MAP sensor as the Utec manual recommends using MAF readings for NA? Would using MAP and open loop be better?

Rocks...thanks for the link, I just registered and waiting to have access. Is UTI a programe that allows the Utec to perform auto-tune? How were the results from it? Also, where did you purchase your Utec, I'll be looking at a reliable shop to freight it over with a couple of good pre-loaded maps to accompany my mods(I think they are pretty consistent with most other Z owners who are going the NA route). This would make the tuning process much easier.

I am now more inclined to the Utec seeing that the on-line support is huge and feedback is that it is not so difficult to self-tune as long as it comes with the Tuner pro unit.

Cheers
Glenn

rocks

iTrader: (1)

I bought my utec from www.racemrc.com. You dont need the map sensor for NA applications. I got it because I am planning on turboing my car, so i will hook it up but it will just be disabled untill i need to use it.