Advice needed: Dinan ECU for K8: Yea or nay?

PurpleDinosaur · Post by **PurpleDinosaur** » July 27th, 2007, 2:00 pm

Background: 93 GS SE Stock K8. Will be adding CAI and Cat Back 2.5" exhaust (probably pacesetter causeI'm lazy) Don't have the know how to do a ZE or DE Swap nor tha money to have it done...

Read the corksport Project MX-3 page and they mention:

DINAN ECU -- This is a very similar product to what SUPERCHIPS offers. HP gains in the 10-15 range which are acheived by tuning the engine to run off high-octane gas. There is a definite 'seat of the pants' improvement to the power and throttle response on an otherwise unmodified Mx3. We recommend this improvement as the best 'bang for the buck' modification for power increase on the Mx3. The advantages of the DINAN and SUPERCHIP ECU's will be negated to a certain degree if the engine is heavily modified.

Is this fact or fiction?

Anyone have use one? Have one?

I already burn 92+ octane fuel... used to race 4 stroke dirt bikes and know that higher octance = cooler motor... so given how senstive ours are to heat I run high(er) octane gas... Reading that a modded ECU would create more power with the fuel I burn anyway, it seemed a natural.

I searched and have a number of thread about modded ECUs but most they talk about ZE issues...

Any help would be great. I'm motor literate but by no means a "tuner"... so treat me like a newb.

THanks in advance for your help!

-Barney

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » July 27th, 2007, 2:05 pm

Not worth the money IMO. Spend the dough on some suspension goodies if you want to go faster without the trouble of wiring in some part or worrying about how to install it.

PurpleDinosaur · Post by **PurpleDinosaur** » July 27th, 2007, 2:11 pm

PATDIESEL wrote:Not worth the money IMO. Spend the dough on some suspension goodies if you want to go faster without the trouble of wiring in some part or worrying about how to install it.

hmmm - not sure I get how suspension parts will make me faster (unless they will help me launch without wheel hop?) but no matter...

I was skeptical of the +10 hp claim... The only way I can see this working would be if the system advances the spark and High Occtane fuel keeps it from detonating... but 10hp???

As for wiring - I was under the impression that the ECU was reprogramed and had planned on buying a new one to be modded... I guess thats not how it works?

My car's pretty fun as is... but I'd sure like to coax a bit more power out of it...

-Barney

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » July 27th, 2007, 2:27 pm

Just as a side note.. I think you will lose power with 2.5" exaust on the K8. I think you will lose exaust velocity due to the large size of the pipe.. which in turn will reduce the scavenging effect and result in more unburnt gasses left in your cylinders after each exaust stroke. Resulting in less power and lower fuel economy.

Long story short.. for the K8.. I wouldnt go larger than 2.25". But thats just my opinion

Tunes67

PurpleDinosaur · Post by **PurpleDinosaur** » July 27th, 2007, 2:41 pm

Thanks for the tip Tunes; I was waffling between 2.25 and 2.5 and in typically male fashion opted for the Tim the Tool Man "Bigger is better" mentality... thanks for bringing me back to reality! LOL

Is 2.5" good for DE or ZE swaps? Asking cause if I can't extract another 10-15 whp from the K8 (NA) I should just leave it alone until I'm ready to drop a 2.5 in it...

ps - I read the thread on exhaust diamter / back pressure; just din't realize the 2.5 was past the point of diminishing returns for the K8.

Tunes67 · Post by **Tunes67** » July 27th, 2007, 3:16 pm

You know.. I havent seen numbers that would say 2.25 or 2.5 is the best for the DE or ZE. But both engines move a LOT more air than the K8. On a naturally aspirated DE or ZE.. "At a guess" You'd probably get better low end torque with the 2.25 but have better peak horse power with the 2.5. I have no numbers to base this on.. just what my gut instinct says. Who knows I may even have that backwards LOL

What you can do for a easy check.. find out what size the pipe is of a stock Ford Probe GT is or the MX-6. For the K8.. its 2 inch.. so one size up should be plenty assuming you are going with a high flow muffler and cat as well. I tend to go up 1 step at a time when doing performance exaust on these smaller engines. Too big may actually hurt more than too small. I definately wouldnt go bigger than 2.5 on the ZE or DE unless boosting.

Tunes67

PATDIESEL · Post by **PATDIESEL** » July 27th, 2007, 3:37 pm

Tunes is right, the 2 1/4 is better for the K8 for the reason he stated. The tq and HP stuff he posted for the DE or ZE is also correct. I've seen dyno proof on other forums that correlates- more HP for a larger pipe, but a tad less tq. If dragging is your interest I would get better motor mounts to help with wheel hop and consider some urethane bushings. Sway bars, struts ard springs will help, but will do more for a track driven car than a drag car.
10 hp gain from a ECU flash seems high to me and I've heard they are not really going to give that much HP. It might be a best case senerio, but the average car with average mods will not get quite that much. Also, 10 HP is not enough in a drag race to mean much. A short shifter, better launch and other things will imporve your times alot more than 10 HP will.

PurpleDinosaur · Post by **PurpleDinosaur** » August 3rd, 2007, 3:08 pm

More sage advice fromthe masters... I am not worthy [/wayne]

Thanks!

-Barney

nope-mx3 · Post by **nope-mx3** » August 3rd, 2007, 5:18 pm

I had 2.5" on my K8, loud as he...
Installed the SS Headers, and got a 2 1/4" exhaust fitted at the same time, much better. pulls more evenly, and a lot less noisy.

-n