I was just wondering what the difference would be if i bought a chipped p28 for my del sol with my d16z6 swap instead of a virgin p28. I understand what it means, but would there be any benefit since i don't know what they did to chip it? it sounds funny, but isn't there a bunch of different ways a ecu can be chipped? By the way, I will be putting on a turbo set up hopefully next year. And i know that the ecu would need to be chipped, should I wait until then to get it tuned specifically to my car? buying the swap next week and selling mine, so any info would be great.

 

The chip allows for the use of tuning software.

The p28 is the OEM ecu for the 92-95 OBD-1 Civic Si/Ex

You wouldn't benefit from the chip unless you had modifications warranting a tune. I.e A cam, a really good header, turbo, etc.

 

you can get a chipped ecu to be ahead of the game if ur planning to turbo the car soon just one less thing u need to buy you would just need another base map when the time comes. your best to keep it stock and save your money for your turbo kit. you would take a loss and have to sell the intake headers etc when you bought a turbo kit. So save up until the time comes.

 

If you understood what it means you wouldn't have to ask the question.

If you're only dreaming about boosting the car it would be an absolute waste if you were to get a chipped and socketted ECU and get it tuned since you would have to go back and have it retuned if and when you "go turbo". Tuning sessions can run about $500 on average per session and maybe $100 per hour.

Stock or nearly stock (I/H/E) are not good candidates to tune primarily due to the dollar spent per horsepower gained being absolutely cost INeffective.

 

just google on ECU chipping... on what it does, and how it's done... it's not that hard, you can chip the ecu yourself

 

you could but i would never advise this. its not something i would do unless u know how to solder circuit boards. ive seen many people think they can do it and do it and burn the board up its not that easy to do it urself either. not worth ruining a perfectly good ecu because u think its easy to do yourself.

 

Precisely. Chipping is not something for the inexperienced. It's an easy way to cost yourself an ECU or valuable time/money. It's gotten pretty cheap honestly you could easily buy a chipped ECU with a base map for a few hundred dollars.

 

More like a couple hundred at most (of less). You can pick up a chipped ECU in the Marketplace and get a decent basemap from Pherable. Maybe cost you $150 if you look.

 

I think this is a moot discussion. There is little to gain from chipping a stock z6. I like the Google suggestion, but the quick answer is it would be a waste of money for your current motor.

 

I think most people are under the assumption that tuning a D-series engine will somehow free up tons of hidden horsepower.

Newsflash. Honda makes these things very efficient from the factory. Not much anyone is going to do that doesn't require dropping a bucket load of cash to make them any mroe powerful or efficient.

 

It's pointless tuning the motor before actually turboing it. Running a motor NA that is built for turbo will be slow. And buying a header and such will be a waste of money better put towards just turboing the engine from the start. You can drive with a turbo on the engine but not running the charge piping connected. The turbo and manifold are the major expenses for the engine itself. Engine management is the other major one.

 

Actually, i have a turbo set up THANK YOU! maybe you shouldn't assume that I don't. Everyone says tune and chipped, well, i had a simple question of the main difference. Like I said, I understand what they mean, I just was unsure of what the difference. I am buying a virgin p28, when I install my turbo, i am getting a tune. Thanks everyone, good to get everyones opinion.

 

You said you are getting a turbo setup NEXT YEAR. You didn't say you HAD one.
Let me quote it to refresh your memory.
If you have a "turbo setup" I don't understand how you don't know the difference between a virgin unchipped ECU versus a chipped one with a proper basemap or EMS (Hondata, Neptune, etc...) on it (which you WILL NEED if you are actually turbo'd)?

You can't tune a virgin P28 if it is unsocketted and unchipped. And what EMS do you plan to tune it ON?

So simply put, you cannot run a turbo without a tunable ECU (well you can but you'd be ill-advised to do so) and you cannot tune on a stock ECU.

Do some more reading.

 

I have an eg coupe with a d16z6 I am swapping to a b16 its obd0 I have everything worked out except ecu I'm not going to do a whole lot to the motor do I need to chip my p28 for it to work or just wire it in thanks for the help

 

my 97 has a p28 running a b16a is that normal ?

 

Is it chipped? Is it running okay?

 

The ECU doesn't matter nearly so much as the basemap if it's been altered. If you don't have the proper mapping the engine won't run well.

 

ya it runs fantastic

 

Leave it alone then and don't question. As stated, don't get hung up on what ECU it is since it's the maps programmed on it that tell the engine what do to.

 

^ thats a key point P06/P28/PR4/P75 ECUs all work the same once they've been chipped and tuned (in the case of non vtec ECUs you'll need to additional components to the board) P28s and P06s actually use identical boards, the P06s just lack the vtec components)

Word to the wise though, P07s can't be chipped so don't buy one thinking you can.