- Tue Apr 22, 2008 8:51 pm
#1888230
Fitted the Hondata Group N ECU today, as supplied by CPL Racing. Certainly not as flexible as our EP3 brethren's Kpro, but as availablilty is thin on the ground, thought I would give it a shot.
CPL delivered it special delivery and it took 15 minutes to fit. A simple plug and play affair.
The parameters that have been changed are:
* The VTEC point has been lowered to 3800 RPM
* There is a VTEC window in place between 3800 - 5200
* Rev limit raised to 8600 RPM
* Secondary Oxygen sensor has been disabled. (To allow race headers)
* Oil level indicator has been disabled. (Not sure why?)
* Ignition timing has been advanced
* Cam angles optimised for better breathing
Bad Points:
Initially, I was not pleased with the ECU, as my car sounded quieter at idle, and had lost a little of the burble that I like.
The inbuilt limiter preventing > 4000 rpm (stationary/neutral) has gone, found this as I started the car. I had just completed a 30 mile trip so the car was warm, so I blipped the throttle to see if the exhaust not changed and it zotted off past 5k. Ooops - will have to remember that.
Loss of the immobiliser.
Good Points:
OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG! OMG!
A cracking increase of torque felt, pulling much harder from idle through the entire rev range. 8600, feels like a cushion limiter, just dipping it by about 200 rpm, when it hits. Not vicious but gradual. There seems to be a bit more urgency in the way the the REV counter swings around, heading towards the redline whilst under acceleration and the Speedo backs this up, with 100 being achievable in third. (Simulated Driving: Other vehicles may deviate from said figures - Don't try this at home and not on a public highway - End of Disclaimer).
Now, I was quite concerned as to what would happen with the new ECU, when I hit the 3900 point. In respect of what speed I would be doing in top, and would it interfere with the cars normal cruise control speed. I know the car is not tuned for economy but I didn't want it to be sat in the VTEC continuously.
This is cleverly, where the VTEC window comes in. The VTEC window allows you, anywhere between 3800 and 5200 to press the throttle, and immediately be in the VTEC range, all the way through to 8600. But if you wanted to cruise at say, 4000 rpm, the VTEC will disengage. It senses the application of the throttle to either switch in or out of the VTEC. It does this anywhere within the VTEC window, giving you some sort of economy.
As the Group N is a preset ECU, it can be bought off the shelf. £659.00 Inluding Special Delivery. There is no requirement for you to send and ECU. An exchange option is not available, and realistically, probably not financially beneficial for the supplier.
The Group N is optimised for vehicles that have any combination of intake, header or exhaust. From that you can expect that it is a generic map that is loaded into the ECU. One that has been calculated to operate with stock cams. In fact, there is a disclaimer that says that it will probably not be beneficial to those who have uprated cams as the VTEc point will be too low, however as there are only a couple of Cams available at present. Toda A3, and Brian Crower it could be assumed that the Hondata has been designed without taking these newly available products into consideration.
The Group N is a direct replacement.
Not yet driven the car in anger, but on the whole it feels beefier and more responsive, and the VTEC wail goes on... and on...... and on................