IS F (2008-2014) Discussion topics related to the IS F model

MHP ECU/TCU Thread (updated with v1 gains: Graphs/Spreadsheet Breakdown)

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Old 11-25-08, 07:43 AM
  #31  
LexISguy
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I find this topic very interesting, BTW Andy I shot you an email a day ago about the IS-F. I wondering if you could work on or even crack the Toyota ECU. Maybe someone can volunteer there IS-F and let him work on it and see what happens. I am curios to see what Lexus has left on the plate. But as zak mentioned my worries is about engine/transmission longetivity.
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Old 11-25-08, 01:27 PM
  #32  
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Originally Posted by MHP
Dealers can't see the changes we make to the code as we don't pry chips off boards and resolder them.
Are you claiming that if you bring an F in with a blown motor there is no way a dealer can tell the ECU has been reworked?

This is interesting and I think there would be a market just as there is with BMW and Merc. My biggest concern is the fact that there is no credible documented history with your firm tuning Lexus/Toyota and the "F" in particular.

What you guys should do is find a guinea pig and offer to flash the F at no cost and document the results. I would be much more interested if I could see the track and dyno results. If the gains are as big as you claim they will be, honestly I do not think $4500 is all that bad. If TRD ever comes out with a supercharger for this car it will be in excess of $4500, but then again you get the comfort of the warranty.
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Old 11-25-08, 01:57 PM
  #33  
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Originally Posted by lobuxracer
Only one question - do you have any experience on Scion/Toyota/Lexus? If you don't, you're blowing smoke about being able to change anything. I have personal contacts in your industry who are well known for Audi/Porsche tuning - they've been working on Toyota's encryption for about 2 years now and still don't have it.

So, have you done this or are you claiming you can do it without actually having successfully flashed a unit yet? The list of claimants is long - World Tuning, Cobb Tuning, and a host of others have said they "will do it." So far, since I first started working this issue in 1997 with the Supra ECM, no one has been able to access Toyota's code and change it.

If you're not doing a reflash, then you've got a piggyback emulator.

What are you really claiming you can do?

This.

Toyotas ECUs are Infamous. It's in my long term life plan to be able to....
"understand and work with it" .

However, If you haven't done it already and haven't even tried, You shouldn't be singing that tune you are.
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Old 11-25-08, 02:58 PM
  #34  
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well ill let one of you guys try this one out! and if it doesnt blow your engine i'll buy it!
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Old 11-25-08, 04:17 PM
  #35  
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Originally Posted by zakizaki
If you are producing such increases in power what is done so the increased power does not overburden the longevity of the engine and transmission?

I realize you stated there have been no reports of failure that you are aware of but what DO you do to make sure of that? Are you just hoping that the engine and transmission are robust enough as they come from the manufacturer?
We live test all our calibrations on engine (Bosch/$300k) and transmission dynos ($1 mill+) before we ever put them onto a real ECU/TCU.

We have a combined 35+ years of tuning experience of all makes/models and types of driveline combos. PD blowers (roots, twin screws, TVSs), Centrifugal superchargers, single and twin turbo (plus spray) apps, N/A, small, moderate and large displacement, pushrod and OHC.

We also have contacts within the industry that give us access to info that I'm not sure anyone else is privy to.
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Old 11-25-08, 04:19 PM
  #36  
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Originally Posted by LexISguy
I find this topic very interesting, BTW Andy I shot you an email a day ago about the IS-F. I wondering if you could work on or even crack the Toyota ECU. Maybe someone can volunteer there IS-F and let him work on it and see what happens. I am curios to see what Lexus has left on the plate. But as zak mentioned my worries is about engine/transmission longetivity.
I know we can tune Toyota/Lexus presently. All software is binary code and we can manipulate the OEM code of any manufacturer using our inhouse software/hardware. We just need to build the check sum software file which should take 7-10 days tops.
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Old 11-25-08, 04:25 PM
  #37  
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Originally Posted by cssnms
Are you claiming that if you bring an F in with a blown motor there is no way a dealer can tell the ECU has been reworked?
Correct, the dealer doesn't have the necessary software to read code that we change. That being said, we're not going to blow up anyone's motor, lol, that would be bad for business.

This is interesting and I think there would be a market just as there is with BMW and Merc. My biggest concern is the fact that there is no credible documented history with your firm tuning Lexus/Toyota and the "F" in particular.
As I said previously, we do Bentleys, Jags, Porsches, MB/AMGs, etc. That's a common concern that was at one time felt by owners of said vehicles but as with anything else time was the telling factor and we delivered as promised.

What you guys should do is find a guinea pig and offer to flash the F at no cost and document the results. I would be much more interested if I could see the track and dyno results. If the gains are as big as you claim they will be, honestly I do not think $4500 is all that bad. If TRD ever comes out with a supercharger for this car it will be in excess of $4500, but then again you get the comfort of the warranty.
We're far beyond giving away free tunes for any make at this point. We offer a 100% money back guarantee on all our tuning so there should be no question about whether or not we stand behind our product. If it's on the road with our name on it, we want it to be the best it can be period.

Putting a supercharger on such a relatively high static C/R motor is a bad idea. I laughed pretty hard as a MB/AMG competitor tried for 4 mos to put a KB 2.6 twin screw on a 6.2/4v AMG 63. 11.3:1 static C/R doesn't play too well with boost lol.

If voiding warranty is your main concern you shouldn't be too worried. We're not going to blow your motor (we've never lost one, if we did you'd hear about it on the net, trust me) and you're dealer doesn't have the ability to see the changes in code we make. If you're uber worried just buy a spare ECU have it vin synched and send it out. Then you can swap back to stock in a matter of minutes.

Thanks
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Old 11-25-08, 04:28 PM
  #38  
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Originally Posted by MR_F1
This.

Toyotas ECUs are Infamous. It's in my long term life plan to be able to....
"understand and work with it" .

However, If you haven't done it already and haven't even tried, You shouldn't be singing that tune you are.
Hardware is hardware, software is software. We can already tune the encrypted BMW 2009 ECU/TCUs and 2009 ChryCo ECU/TCUs as well as all of the 2010 encrypted European controllers.
It's all binary code and as long as the check sums add up your control unit won't revert back to stock or become corrupt and will never see a CEL/MIL.
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Old 11-25-08, 04:33 PM
  #39  
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Originally Posted by MHP
We have a combined 35+ years of tuning experience of all makes/models and types of driveline combos.
Anyone else find this comment odd? Why if they have so much experience have they never done Toyota/Lexus?

Sorry, not to be the pessimist, but how they claim to be able to crack the code in 7-10 days....when no one else has been able to do it at all seems strange??
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Old 11-25-08, 05:06 PM
  #40  
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Originally Posted by CDNROCKIES


Anyone else find this comment odd? Why if they have so much experience have they never done Toyota/Lexus?
As stated by 8speed and no offense but other than the Supra there was no need for performance tuning.

Sorry, not to be the pessimist, but how they claim to be able to crack the code in 7-10 days....when no one else has been able to do it at all seems strange??
There is no code to crack. We can already play with the calibrations, we just need to build specific check sum software to ensure the revisions take and we'll be set. Same as we've done with every other make we've tuned. It's not rocket science and as such I have no idea why no one else has done it. Honestly that's probably the most frequent question we're asked, why can you do things that others can't? A: I have no idea why others haven't or can't. I can only speak to the things we've done and can do.

Thanks
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Old 11-25-08, 05:11 PM
  #41  
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Well... Someone just needs to do us all a favor and give them a try and report back! Any takers???
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Old 11-25-08, 05:54 PM
  #42  
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With all due respect, I don't think any company is above building credibility within a new market niche and as such marketing themselves accordingly.

Stepping into a car club and claiming you can do this or do that without proving yourself just does not cut it in today's world especially in light of mounting skeptism and at a cost of $4,500. Personally, I don't see why you don't offer to tune a member's F or any F for that matter and prove your product. In the end it would amount to a damn cheap marketing expense and one that if you prove yourself in the Lexus/Toyota world you will make it back 10-fold. Even Dinan offers to tune new models at no cost in order to build on their market credibility. Certainly if your business could do without new business you would not be on here making a case for yourself.

I would certainly not fork over $4,500 on an unproven product and go through the hassel of trying to screw around with you guys to get my money back because the result does not live up to expectations, not to mention the potential for damage to my car which you guys do not cover. Otherwise, good luck and by all means report back if you find someone that's willing to fork over their car for this upgrade because I am all for plunking down my hard earned money for a proven product.

Last edited by cssnms; 11-25-08 at 06:27 PM.
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Old 11-25-08, 06:30 PM
  #43  
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Agreed 100%

I think your company needs to put up or shut up(no dis respect meant) Yes everyone has said no one has been able to tune a toyota......but maybe just maybe since everyone says it cant be done no one has even tried! I would hope that you could tune the ISF because that would make this great car even better.

Again you should offer to either tune someones car for free(with all damages,expenses etc.. on your dime) to prove your companys ability.

I for one would think it would be awesome if we had a legit ECU/TCU mod and would probably purchase it for my ISF if the results were proven.

The ball (and profits) are really in your court MHP


Originally Posted by cssnms
With all due respect, I don't think any company is above building credibility within a new market niche and as such marketing themselves accordingly.

Stepping into a car club and claiming you can do this or do that without proving yourself just does not cut it in today's world especially in light of mounting skeptism and at a cost of $4,500. Personally, I don't see why you don't offer to tune a member's F or any F for that matter and prove your product. In the end it would amount to a damn cheap marketing expense and one that if you prove yourself in the Lexus/Toyota world you will make it back 10-fold. Even Dinan offers to tune new models at no cost in order to build on their market credibility. Certainly if your business could do without new business you would not be on here making a case for yourself.

I would certainly not plunk down $4,500 on an unproven product for a Lexus and go through the hassel of trying to screw around with you guys to get my money back because the result does not live up to expectations, not to mention the potential for damage to my car which you guys do not cover. Otherwise, good luck and by all means report back if you find someone that's willing to fork over their car for this upgrade because I am all for plunking down my hard earned money for a proven product.
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Old 11-25-08, 06:45 PM
  #44  
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MHP,

I am excited, but doubtful with your claims. Anyone that can tune a Lexus/Toyota with its current computer is certainly on to something. I have never seen a successful tune or piggyback for a Lexus/Toyota. All have required a standalone system. I hope our negative attitudes and doubts don't scare you off. Prove us wrong!
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Old 11-25-08, 07:07 PM
  #45  
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Originally Posted by cssnms
With all due respect, I don't think any company is above building credibility within a new market niche and as such marketing themselves accordingly.

Stepping into a car club and claiming you can do this or do that without proving yourself just does not cut it in today's world especially in light of mounting skeptism and at a cost of $4,500. Personally, I don't see why you don't offer to tune a member's F or any F for that matter and prove your product. In the end it would amount to a damn cheap marketing expense and one that if you prove yourself in the Lexus/Toyota world you will make it back 10-fold. Even Dinan offers to tune new models at no cost in order to build on their market credibility. Certainly if your business could do without new business you would not be on here making a case for yourself.

I would certainly not fork over $4,500 on an unproven product and go through the hassel of trying to screw around with you guys to get my money back because the result does not live up to expectations, not to mention the potential for damage to my car which you guys do not cover. Otherwise, good luck and by all means report back if you find someone that's willing to fork over their car for this upgrade because I am all for plunking down my hard earned money for a proven product.
We initially posted a discounted offer for the first 3 beta testers but it was erased (rightfully so) since we're not board sponsors. The price was not $4500.
Second, we offer a 100% $ back guarantee, if you're not happy, you get your $ back. So there's no risk regardless of what make of vehicle you drive.
Third, we don't do free cals because we don't have to. We don't have to jump into this market either, we're busy enough with European tuning. Basic business sense dictates that it's not smart to spend 15-20hrs building a custom calibration for free when we can charge (and not hear complaints about pricing) to do that with other makes when we're already slammed with work.

Custom tuning is extremely time consuming, especially the TCU portion, it's not like flashing a canned tune. We are a premium tuner, with premium results, so again, we don't do anything for free.

Thanks
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