Unichip Tuners and Magnums?

[quarky42]

Hi,

Was watching MuscleCar on Spike where they were featuring a Shelby "retro concept" car rebuild. At the beginning they were talking about a company Unichip Tuners and they showed a black magnum on the Dyno for a split second.

Anyone know anything about them and more importantly about their work on the Magnum?

[GasGunR]

I saw it too Guess we need to search the internet... they need to know we are here!

Don

[Fireman512]

Wow! I just about to post the very same thing! From the looks of it they had a RT on the dyno, so I know one of our knowledgeable comrades has some kind of info on this product.

[quarky42]

Found their site:
http://www.unichip.us

I searched for a LX Vehicle and their offerings: "This application is currently only available as a custom hard-wired installation. Please contact your local Unichip dealer for details."

[Fireman512]

From what I found on the net, they custom make a piggyback controller in conjunction with runnin your car on a dyno. When I tried to see who does it in my area, they were shops that specialize in imports.

[quarky42]

If someone is already filling out the Contact Us form there, please post it here so we don't bug them all at once. It means more getting a steady stream of interest than 10 people all at once. Even if they specialize in imports, anyone with a new idea on controlling the mother of all nanny computers is welcome. I welcome anyone to take a crack at tuning these cars right per the mods people have done on their cars. If that means a piggyback controller or replacing the fuel maps all together somehow... I'm at least willing to hear them out to see what their concept is and would like to see the dyno results.

[GasGunR]

http://www.unichip.us/ Its a computer that interfaces between the engine and the PCM. Only available as a hard wire version so far, they seem to be working on a plug and play version for our cars. I asked them to check out our forums.

Don

[Fireman512]

If someone is already filling out the Contact Us form there, please post it here so we don't bug them all at once. It means more getting a steady stream of interest than 10 people all at once. Even if they specialize in imports, anyone with a new idea on controlling the mother of all nanny computers is welcome. I welcome anyone to take a crack at tuning these cars right per the mods people have done on their cars. If that means a piggyback controller or replacing the fuel maps all together somehow... I'm at least willing to hear them out to see what their concept is and would like to see the dyno results.

Well said!!

[Fireman512]

http://www.unichip.us/ Its a computer that interfaces between the engine and the PCM. Only available as a hard wire version so far, they seem to be working on a plug and play version for our cars. I asked them to check out our forums.

Don

Is that hard wire system for our LXes or do they mean in general? If it is for us, what kind of numbers are they gettin? Just wonderin out loud.

[quarky42]

Ya I hope they come here and give us something we can look at and seriously consider. Only numbers, dynos, and data will get the bucks around here.

[bradkaye]

I had also checked them out for creating a custom tune for my 2000 Isuzu Rodeo when my increased tire sizes killed my low-end torque. The closest garage to Atlanta that did the tune at the time was somewhere in southern Florida and they'd need the car for a couple days to keep it on the dyno and do the tune.

The advantages of it, of course, is that it can be tuned for not just peak horsepower, but for very usable horsepower and efficiency at any throttle position and would be tuned, not for any LX, but specifically for your LX. The chip would also be only as good as the tuner creating the program for it, so the proficiency of the shop doing it is critical.

On my Rodeo, it just didn't seem to make sense spending $1800 for a custom tune for the marginal horsepower benefits on a non-performance engine, but they assured me they could make any car run better than when you picked it up from the showroom. That shop mostly did tunes for high end cars like BMW's and Porsches.

If they make a version that can connect to our cars, it would be ~$470 for the 'dumb' unit, then you have to schedule plenty of dyno time to tune it in. It definitely would be able to handle any issues with the fellas doing S/C or Turbo boost to the engines.