V9x ecu tune

Nissan Navara Forum

Help Support Nissan Navara Forum:

This site may earn a commission from merchant affiliate links, including eBay, Amazon, and others.

V9x

Member
Joined
Aug 1, 2013
Messages
124
Reaction score
1
Location
Victoria
I had a interesting day visiting 4x4 shops pricing stuff up . I found a small 4x4 shop that had a stx550 in there having a few mods being done , the bloke was keen to show me a few bits and pieces and I was interested in picking his brain .

Now the most exciting thing he told me is that he is able to remove the factory computer and reprogram it then re install and essential override most if the factory settings .

He tells me he does this without the need for any external control being fitted to the ecu then sets a tune , that has equally as good outputs as any plug in chip . He says it's not detectable by Nissan and they can't reset or override it .

He showed me a box full of chip units , some very expensive that have been discarded as rubbish !

He also tells me he could most likely override the problem with the gearbox when it changes from 1st in 4L

I was sold ! And all that for $1350

I didn't think it was possible to do that without a control unit being installed but he convinced me ..


What do you blokes think?
 
If you're able to mail the chip to him, and get it back and DIY, Sign me up. Any sort of warranty on it that it won't fry something?
 
There is atleast two guys I know of in Vic doing the exact thing for the 550's, one is an agent for another company who is a member on here and has made other threads but I don't remember his name the other is a guy who contacted me several weeks ago.

Haven't seen the results of either or how their prices compare but for $1350 it would want to be good.
 
Just so everybody knows, if the ecu has an EEPROM fitted as factory Nissan is able to count the amount of times it has been rewritten.

If it had an EPROM factory, an EEPROM would have to be fitted in order to flash another tune into the ecu, again this is detectable by Nissan.

Dont be fooled into thinking this is all new and nissan aren't savvy to the aftermarket sector and how they get around things....

Rewriting an ecu is a very good way of tuning it but the biggest downfall is that you cannot tune the engine live when it is under load. Without this capability the tune will never be perfect.
 
If you're able to mail the chip to him, and get it back and DIY, Sign me up. Any sort of warranty on it that it won't fry something?

From what he's told me you would have to send your computer to him for it to get it tweaked , and probably need to send the car also to dyno it : )

Warranty we never spoke of , but he assured me it was a very safe tune and didn't involve raising fuel rail pressure , or boost pressure . Said it just changed Injection timing and duration .

Now don't quote me on this but I believe the dyno figures were around this

90 kw standard @ wheels

130 kw tuned @ wheels


Seemed like a decent improvement to me , I said I would want to see mine on the Dyno before and after , to make sure that he was talking BS . He said that was fine and he would like to show me as it would be good advertising for them.

I was quoted $2700 for a steinbaur chip system from a different shop , with lesser performance figures then the above.


So $1350 seemed cheap for a good tune that is not detectable by Nissan and wouldn't need to be removed when you take the car back for warranty jobs : )
 
Just so everybody knows, if the ecu has an EEPROM fitted as factory Nissan is able to count the amount of times it has been rewritten.

If it had an EPROM factory, an EEPROM would have to be fitted in order to flash another tune into the ecu, again this is detectable by Nissan.

Dont be fooled into thinking this is all new and nissan aren't savvy to the aftermarket sector and how they get around things....

Rewriting an ecu is a very good way of tuning it but the biggest downfall is that you cannot tune the engine live when it is under load. Without this capability the tune will never be perfect.

Yeah that's one big think holding me back.
 
From what he's told me you would have to send your computer to him for it to get it tweaked , and probably need to send the car also to dyno it : )

Warranty we never spoke of , but he assured me it was a very safe tune and didn't involve raising fuel rail pressure , or boost pressure . Said it just changed Injection timing and duration .

Now don't quote me on this but I believe the dyno figures were around this

90 kw standard @ wheels

130 kw tuned @ wheels


Seemed like a decent improvement to me , I said I would want to see mine on the Dyno before and after , to make sure that he was talking BS . He said that was fine and he would like to show me as it would be good advertising for them.

I was quoted $2700 for a steinbaur chip system from a different shop , with lesser performance figures then the above.


So $1350 seemed cheap for a good tune that is not detectable by Nissan and wouldn't need to be removed when you take the car back for warranty jobs : )

Thats a load mate. The 2.5 st have 141 @ the wheels stock. you should have like 170
 
Just so everybody knows, if the ecu has an EEPROM fitted as factory Nissan is able to count the amount of times it has been rewritten.

If it had an EPROM factory, an EEPROM would have to be fitted in order to flash another tune into the ecu, again this is detectable by Nissan.

Dont be fooled into thinking this is all new and nissan aren't savvy to the aftermarket sector and how they get around things....

Rewriting an ecu is a very good way of tuning it but the biggest downfall is that you cannot tune the engine live when it is under load. Without this capability the tune will never be perfect.

I was hoping you would chime in on this cause I know you know your stuff : )

I just had to google what EPROM meant , so your telling me that when Nissan plug into their computer it will tell them that it has been re written ? Is that why people use an external tuning box that piggy backs the ecu ? Sorry my terminology is shit .
 
You have 550 foot of toque do you really need much more. I can leave vts for dead and I only have 450. Just need to learn how to ride the turbo. Don't see why you want to risk your ecu for that little more.
 
The stock 2.5L engines make 100-115kw atw stock.
STX550 is 140ish atw stock...

I'm glad you clarified that . I did say don't quote me on those figures hahahaha

I wish I was near the sunny coast as I'd be coming to see you diesel tuner : )

What's your recommendation for max power gains for the v9x engine mate?

I can't help myself I just want more power lol
 
I was hoping you would chime in on this cause I know you know your stuff : )

I just had to google what EPROM meant , so your telling me that when Nissan plug into their computer it will tell them that it has been re written ? Is that why people use an external tuning box that piggy backs the ecu ? Sorry my terminology is shit .


Reflashing is a funny old business. Instead of paying for a product you are essentially paying for intellectual property.
Why people think this is worth so much is simply beyond my comprehension!

I used to charge $660 for a full reflash of subaru/mazda/nissan/mitsuibishi petrol stuff which was normally around 3-4hours of tuning. Basically the customer was paying just for the dyno time.

Some setups do require a licence per car like EFI live for dodge/cummins/gmc/chev stuff which is say $500. So licence + tuning time in those setups.

I have seen opensource reflashes (reflash tuining without licence requirements range from $660 up to $2200 for the exact same thing) So until reflashing is alot more widespread we wont see lower and consistant pricing on it.

On cars that require ecu removal and other stuff to be added the cost can be a little higher but I would not expect it to be drastically higher.

With the reflash counter, Nissan and other manufacturers have access to this when or if they need to find out.

If its more than 1+ factory ecu updates than you are screwed in a warranty claim.

Im not saying this is the only reason people use external tuning boxes but it certainly is one of them.

The others is that when buying a tuning box or piggy back system you are paying for an actual item that you can resell (even if it is only for 10% of the cost)
With a reflash you can never recover the cost no matter how hard you try.
 
Last edited:
I'm glad you clarified that . I did say don't quote me on those figures hahahaha

I wish I was near the sunny coast as I'd be coming to see you diesel tuner : )

What's your recommendation for max power gains for the v9x engine mate?

I can't help myself I just want more power lol

Well, the intake system would be my first upgrade.
It is a big time restriction even with an otherwise stock car.
Exhaust isnt to bad, but certainly a 3" will help there.

You can extract probably the same power out of either a unichip/steinbauer or reflash. The reflash would be the most tuneable solution, followed by the unichip then anything else after that.

At least with a unichip when you get rid of the 550 you can take the chip with you and fit it to the next car.
 
Well, the intake system would be my first upgrade.
It is a big time restriction even with an otherwise stock car.
Exhaust isnt to bad, but certainly a 3" will help there.

You can extract probably the same power out of either a unichip/steinbauer or reflash. The reflash would be the most tuneable solution, followed by the unichip then anything else after that.

At least with a unichip when you get rid of the 550 you can take the chip with you and fit it to the next car.

I guess a big part of it too would be where/how you drive it? I know living in Canberra in the winter months the car is totally different then the summer months. I love the get and go the St has when it's -7 outside compared to 35
 
Air temp makes about 1% more hp per 10deg F in naturally aspriated petrol stuff.

Diesel can be a bit more depending on boost and intercooler efficeincy.
You are probably feeling 5-7% difference in power going from 35deg down to -7deg.

Humidity can also make a very big difference. Generally very cold climates are drier, thus will make more power
 
Air temp makes about 1% more hp per 10deg F in naturally aspriated petrol stuff.

Diesel can be a bit more depending on boost and intercooler efficeincy.
You are probably feeling 5-7% difference in power going from 35deg down to -7deg.

Humidity can also make a very big difference. Generally very cold climates are drier, thus will make more power
 

Latest posts

Back
Top