theory on boxster bolt on problem

[Porschekid]

Will GIAC do a custom ECU tune like you are suggesting?

[insite]

Originally Posted by Porschekid

Will GIAC do a custom ECU tune like you are suggesting?

not POSITIVE, but i believe yes. there are some others (can't remember all off hand) that will let you choose a map that is optimized to 91, 93, or 100 octane. don't know if anyone has dual map firmware yet.

[turtle]

OK, after reading the posts I went back and asked one of my techs that builds our upgrade jobs about leaning, knock sensors, and the role played in an engine set up with variable timing. REMEMBER I am not a tech, so if I cross something up, I apologize -
He described the knock sensor's role these days as an effeciency device - keeps the engine running at peak gas milage. I asked him about leaning out and detonation and he said more or less as follows:
The process of leaning out is a cycle, I think he called it a spiral, and happens over several cycles. Evidently sensors in the exhaust loop can pick this up, and correct it in the place of the knock sensor. You will still get pinging, at idle, but this can be corrected by an elevated idle setting.
This whole knock sensor thing came to me by way of Carlos Alvarez, who works for the Service side of Nissan USA, and HE got the tip when he pulled the cats off his M3 (not sure of the year). Said the car was running like crap, and retarded so far it was stumbilng under hard acceleration. So it worked on a Bimmer, works on the Z's...
Is GIAC the premier chip proger for the Boxster? I will ask them...

And eslai:

It made us nervous too...we waited till someone came in with enough money and balls to try it. I sure as hell wasn't the test case.

[turtle]

i've emailed giac and waiting for a response - will you guys know.
also - all acounts here say that when the MAF fails, you foul plugs. SO - it runs rich with a failed MAF=low temp reading is factory failure default. this is the first peice of the puzzle - how to get the ECU to run rich so that airflow mods such as intake and exhausts don't lean out the mixture.....
now to see what GIAC comes up with in regards to the knock sensor

[PorscheDoc]

GIAC does not disable the knock sensor, or any other sensor. This is what seperates the leaders in the industry from the local laptop tuner.

[insite]

for clarity, i didn't mean to imply that GIAC would DISABLE the knock sensor.

what i believe they can do is to optimize firmware for a specific grade of fuel (i.e. 93 octane if you live on the east coast, or 100 octane if you race) by programming the ecu to allow spark advance appropriate for those fuels.

[turtle]

Originally Posted by PorscheDoc

GIAC does not disable the knock sensor, or any other sensor. This is what seperates the leaders in the industry from the local laptop tuner.

Seems to me that when you bypass cats and fool around with the exhaust in a big way you'd better disable something(cancelling the code effectively eliminates the sensor) or you'll be driving around with the check engine light on, and god knows what happening from the ECU to compensate for the readings on the exhaust sensors. So it's not an unusual thing.
If an industry leader has such a solution I am all for it.
But for every person that reports good gains from indusrtry leaders, there is another that doesn;t get squat, often listing the same mods. As I read through the archives, it's been beaten to death on these boards, with seemingly more folks not getting gains.
And while I understand we are talking about two different cars, I have seen the same issues before - and not from "laptop tuners". I would like to avoid that is all.
Anyways, I will hopefully hear from GIAC themselves shortly.

[PorscheDoc]

Originally Posted by turtle

Seems to me that when you bypass cats and fool around with the exhaust in a big way you'd better disable something(cancelling the code effectively eliminates the sensor) or you'll be driving around with the check engine light on, and god knows what happening from the ECU to compensate for the readings on the exhaust sensors. So it's not an unusual thing.
If an industry leader has such a solution I am all for it.
But for every person that reports good gains from indusrtry leaders, there is another that doesn;t get squat, often listing the same mods. As I read through the archives, it's been beaten to death on these boards, with seemingly more folks not getting gains.
And while I understand we are talking about two different cars, I have seen the same issues before - and not from "laptop tuners". I would like to avoid that is all.
Anyways, I will hopefully hear from GIAC themselves shortly.

Yes, disabling the knock sensor is a great way to keep a CEL from coming on, which is why most hack programmers will do it. Proper programming eliminates the need to disable the knock sensor and will optimize the maps in the ECU to keep the CEL from coming on...properly. Don't get me wrong, I am not a programmer, but we work closely with GIAC on our tuning (our boxster supercharger kits are tuned through GIAC, in fact we will be tuning the 3.2 kit hopefully this week), and I know what you can expect from people who know how to properly tune engines, and what to expect from people that don't. We just went through a huge battle with EIP on a VW turbo kit, and after seeing their "tuning" and "ecu chip soldering" abilities, I am leary of a lot of lower level tuners.

[eslai]

Originally Posted by PorscheDoc

GIAC does not disable the knock sensor, or any other sensor. This is what seperates the leaders in the industry from the local laptop tuner.

I have to agree here. I've seen too many people dicking around with aftermarket ECUs that don't have any business being there. On a car like this I'd want serious professionals tuning the system, I wouldn't feel comfortable with experimenting on my own.