I'm sure a lot of you out there heard of 'Unichip'... It is a piggyback ECU made for petrol and diesel engines... It is famous for it's capabilities which almost matches a standalone!!! But too bad it is not so famous in 'Malaysia' as there are not a lot of tuners around... Unlike 'Greddy' famous 'E-Manage', you will need a special equipment to adjust the fuel...

Found myself a good used unit of 'Unichip Q' (not the latest... latest one is Q+) and decided to give it a try... I always like to be different and I'm those who don't like to follow the norm!!! When I first got a glimpse of the unit, I was shocked as it looked really small!!! It felt very solid and tampering is almost impossible as there's not a single screw in sight!!! 

Since only a handful of tuners around, I decided to go to one of the most reputable one which is located in 'Sunway'... 

Besides being compact, the amount of wiring needed to hook it up is as minimal as possible!!! Just a few wiring required to be tap onto the original ECU...

During setup, the tuner encounter some problems with the 'Unichip'... The whole unit went limp and it can't detect anything at all... There is no communication between the 'Unichip' and the laptop!!! At first, we thought the problem might come from the 'Dastek' fuel controller device... Borrow one from another workshop and the same thing happened!!! Plugged in another 'Unichip' albeit an older version and there's communication  between the two devices... So meaning my unit is faulty then!!! Damn... 

So the tuner decided to do a reset and flash it again... Insert the require map and viola there's communication!!!

Strapping onto the dyno machine and is time to find out how much horsepower the '1JZ' is churning out!!!

In standard form, the '1JZ' is churning out slightly less than 200ps on wheels which is around 253ps on engine (base on 30% transmission and drivetrain lost)... Looking at this figure, I'm pretty sad (but is normal for a standard '1JZ' to put out these kind of numbers) as 'Toyota' quoted 280ps on standard '1JZ' engine... Currently I'm running on 'RON 95' instead of 'RON 97' so I assume there's some number lost because of the lower 'RON' rating as 'Japanese' like to use 'RON 100' for their performance engine!!!

After tuning with the air fuel ratio (original ECU is way too rich!!!) and retarding a few degrees of ignition timing due to knocking and also increased the boost from the standard 0.8 bar to 1.0 bar, the '1JZ' churn out a respectable 246.52ps on wheels which is around 320ps on engine... Not too shabby!!!

After tuning, the whole car seems lighter and no more boost cut!!! Normally it cuts at around 0.9 bar... The torque is much stronger as well as the car pulls much harder compare to before... As a conclusion, piggyback ECU is a MUST for turbocharged cars as it liberate a lot of power just by turning up the boost a bit and dialling the air fuel ratio...

To be continue...

Recently changed all four of my 'FrankenBenz' tyres to a more pocket friendly brand... Quite frankly I've never heard of this particular brand before... It was recommended by the tyre shop owner saying that this tyre is very good as the price is cheap and the performance is above average...  All these while, I only used top brand tyres as I believe a good tyre is really important as it is the only contact you have with the road...  Unfortunately, my wallet is complaining about the high prices that the branded tyre command!!! So I got no choice but to try out the cheaper alternative...

The tyre that I've changed to this time is call 'N3000' and it is from 'Roadstone' (never heard of it!!!)... Upon a closer inspection, only I realized that this brand is actually a 'Nexen' tyre which is from 'Korea' (and I've heard of it!!!)... Frankly speaking it does boost my confidence up a little bit when I know that the tyres are actually from 'Nexen'... 

The tyres are really cheap and I save around RM800++ for all four tyres... Each tyre is around RM200++ cheaper compare to my previous 'Dunlop' (which is not the most expensive in the market!!!)... So looking at the price, I did not have very high expectation from the tyres... 

After using the tyres for a while, I'm beginning to like it a lot!!! The ride felt more pliant and road noise is definitely lower compare to the 'Dunlop'!!! Turn in is about the same and I don't really feel any difference in out right grip right now as I don't really push my car hard!!! So sometimes it is kind of waste to use high performance tyres!!!  The 'N3000' is doing a really good job currently keeping my car on the road... So the next test will be a round up 'Genting'!!!  That's all for now and I will do an update on the tyres when I found something be it pros or cons...  Till then...

To be continue...

Got myself two sets of rear boot rubber for my 'FrankenBenz'... The original one is in a very bad shape... In fact there is no more rubber... Just bare metal as you can see from the pic below...

After installing the 'AMG' ducktail spoiler, the whole boot became very heavy... So a lot of people tend to close it like they close other cars!!! Slam it down HARD!!! So you can imagine what happen when they do this... My heart drops to the floor when you hear the metal hit against each other!!!

 Without any rubber to absorb the impact!!!

The new boot rubber install!!! Nice...

 Oops... Out of focus shot as it is raining and I'm running for shelter!!! 

To be continue...

Recently, I've been toying with this idea of selling 'FrankenBenz' and get something cheaper to maintain especially on petrol bills!!! (I've not driven 'FrankenBenz' for more than two weeks now as I've send the 'ECU' for repair... took more than a week for them to sort it out - will blog more about this later... in fact I just got my car back tonight)... But after getting so used to 'FrankenBenz' power and torque, ordinary car will not suffice... So what other car that have the ability to thrill and go gentle with the petrol??? I'm thinking about high revving naturally aspirated (NA) car of course... Before driving a turbocharged car, I used to believe that it will save fuel when you're not boosting it... I'm so very wrong (this does not apply to puny continental turbocharged engine)!!!

So 'NA' is the way to go... But what kind of 'NA' engine??? Rotary is definitely out of the question as it drinks fuel like you drink cold beer during a sunny day!!! Continental engine is out of the question as well as famous potent 'NA' engine are either too BIG in capacity or too expensive for me... So left the usual  three 'Japanese' so to speak... My criteria is very simple this time... 2.0 liter is the max for me... 'Nissan' have the SR20 Neo VVL engine that packs a punch but their car is a bit boring expect the hard hitting 'GTR' and 'Skyline' of the past... 'Toyota' have a very nice engine and it wins me over with it's amazing technology... 5 valves per cylinder coupled with individual throttle body (ITB)!!! Presenting the famous 4AGE 20V engine!!! The only downside to this engine is the capacity which is only 1.6 liter!!! So left 'Honda' which is really famous for it's high revving 'VTEC' engines... From the humle B16A --> B16B --> B18C --> B20B till the mighty K20A, you will definitely find an engine that suit your needs and budget... For me, I'm inching more towards the newest K20A engine which came with 220hp standard coupled with a 6 speed manual gearbox!!! Plonk the engine in a humble 'Civic' and you got yourself a giant slaying car!!! Yummy!!!

'Nissan SR20 Neo VVL'...

The very famous 'Toyota 4AGE 20V' aka 'Blacktop'...

The almighty 'Honda K20A'... But still...

NOT as mighty as this!!! 'Toyota 1JZ-GTE' which is also the heart of 'FrankenBenz'!!!

Like I mention earlier, I just got my 'FrankenBenz' back less than one hour ago and the moment I step on the accelerator, all my previous thoughts are gone!!! What 'NA' or 'VTEC'??? 6 cylinder and a pair of turbochargers are the way to go!!! The power delivery is super smooth and addictive!!! I just can't get enough of it... Will continue boosting tomorrow!!! Will update the status on the 'ECU' repair in my next blog post... Besides, I manage to get rid of the bell tinkering sound too!!! Till then and happy boosting!!!

To be continue...

Finally managed to get a used good condition rear parcel shelf for 'FrankenBenz'!!! I've been looking high and low for this item ever since I decided to start 'Project FrankenBenz'!!! This is the only part that betrays the age of 'FrankenBenz' and I can't wait to get rid of it...

The first aid compartment is in very good condition... Everything is still intact...

This rear parcel shelf is from a newer model and it is slightly different compare to the one on 'FrankenBenz'...

As you can see from this pic, the speaker cover is in dire state... Notice the different in design??? The new one is definitely better looking!!!

Last time, the mechanic relocate the speaker because the original place can only fit in a 5" speaker while the new one is 6" (better sounding and much easier to source!!!)... This time I insist that the speaker must be in the original place but the magnet can't go through it!!! With some brute force and the help of a plier and hammer, we manage to bend the metal surrounding the speaker area and make the hole just big enough for the magnet to go through... Use some extremely sticky tape and tape the speaker in place... Viola very clean and nice looking rear parcel shelf!!!

To be continue...

Did I talked about the screeching sound emitting from 'FrankenBenz' in my previous post??? I did talked about the inability for it to rev pass 4000rpm occasionally... Before this happened, 'FrankenBenz' started to have some really strange noise and it only occurred occasionally... So I did not pay much attention to it... Bad idea!!! Really bad idea as I found it the hard way...

I was on my way back from work and I stopped by a petrol station to feed my hungry 'FrankenBenz' (which is always hungry for petrol!!!) and everything went fine until I started my car... I heard a loud 'klong' sound and my voltmeter reading drop from the usual 14.++ to around 11.++... I quickly stopped my car and pop the hood... To my horror, the whole alternator sits on the radiator piping!!!

There, the alternator rest on top of the bottom radiator piping!!! How the hell the alternator managed to drop is beyond me... But after some inspection I found the culprit!!! Culprit for the screeching sound as well as why the alternator managed to come loose... The screeching sound came from the belt turning the waterpump, aircond compressor, crank shaft pulley, alternator as well as power steering... As the alternator came loose, it's position is off and it cause the belt to slip and screech... 

As for why the alternator drop is really simple... The alternator is screw to a bracket from the waterpump and the bracket decided to snap and this cause the alternator to drop... So in order to fix the alternator back, I will first need to replace my waterpump which is still in very good condition!!!

Luckily I was at the petrol station when this happened!!! And I'm really lucky as the petrol station attendant gave me a foreman number (my foreman refuse to come to my aid as I'm too far away and he told me to tow my car back to his workshop!!!) and I got nothing to lose and gave the number a call... After explaining it to him, he said that he was able to help me... Luckily this does not happen a day later as I'm going outstation the very next day!!! 

This foreman have no prior experience with 'Toyota 1JZ-GTE' engine but he have vast experience on 'BMW'... In order to take out the waterpump, basically the whole front part of the engine needs to be dismantle!!! Everything including the radiator up till the cam pulley!!! I don't know what the 'Japanese' is thinking when they designed the '1JZ-GTE' as the amount of work needed to take out the waterpump is mind boggling!!! I really appreciate this foreman that came to my aid as the amount of work needed would definitely put a lot of people off... If I'm the foreman, I will definitely ask it to be tow as this is not a job that can be finish in an hour time... But the foreman is professional enough to finish the task at the side of the petrol station!!! 

It took the foreman more than five hours to finish the job!!! By the time I reach home, it was already 12am in the midnight!!! I'm really grateful for the foreman as he did an excellent job reviving my 'FrankenBenz'!!! Now 'FrankenBenz' is back boosting happily...