The Ikon

Will you take custom orders in the future? I'm really interested in the upgrade. But not until the spring...

I hope you keep the mods coming. This is not the only site that SC owners dwell...

MadMaxSC400

I'm sure he'll keep the programming, and if nothing else it can be copied off of my ECU. I dunno why I got the impression lots of people mod their cars.. maybe I've been to one too many import shows or the NorCal street racing scene has warped my mind. Either way, yeah, all they have to do is pull up the data and flash it onto a new ECU.

The Ikon

At least I know there a door still opened for those of us willing to buy one. There are many Lexus owners willing to pay for an ecu upgrade. Have Leo to shop the GS4, IS3 owners too, because they tend to spend more on mods for their rides vs. the SC/LS owners.

Max keep me posted on your future dynos and 0-60 times...

MadMaxSC400

He's already made one for those cars. However I'll keep you up to date. This is a big post, isn't it?

the_ez_rhino

im still interested, I dont have enough money right now, but I think it would be a good idea to offer a full package (chip, intake, exhaust) that way it would just be plug and play, no special tuning for different exhausts, and it would allow you to get max power because you would be using whatever exhaust works best for you.....

Just an idea....

Jason

MadMaxSC400

I really wish someone made a mandrel bent exhaust system for the SC400. It's way too expensive to have it done (a grand for like 5-10 hp difference vs regular pipes) and I can't get it in the area. If you already have upgraded exhaust you can get the ECU set up for that with the intake, no special tuning needed. Unfortunately the only real cat-back bolt on systems I see for cars are for Hondas and other very common cars.

Keith13b

iTrader: (3)

We all want something like that, its just we are a little shocked it costs so much; considering similar upgrades for other cars are less than half that of the Lexus. I just want to give it a little time for the prices to come down. Lexus SC400.com came out with an upgrade, then you, and I hope several other follow. Then the glory of America comes alive - Competition.

ALOT of people still want to do this, but we want to see dyno sheets, long term reliability, and reputation. We want to see the cars win at races, and talk up your upgrade. I sure don't want to be the gunnie pig for a computer upgrade, thats when things start F'ing up and warrenties don't cover stuff like that. So we, as the consumer, are just being cautious and money conscious.

Don't take anything personally, the product is EXTREEMELY new and will take months, if not years, to market.

Please don't drop the project, keep testing and tuning in your spare time. Find good programs for all types of setups, and after a while, we will start buying.......I know I will. Money is short during the Holiday season, and many of us can't do much untill late spring or summer time.


Happy Hollidays to all, and have a safe new year.

Keith

The Ikon

Keith, I think you summed it up beautifully...

MadMaxSC400

Keith: We have dyno sheets... look at the first page. In order to pull all the power we got out of the motor, people like Adam will have to install SAFC's on top of their sc400.com computers, and even if he gets a good deal on it and the tuning he'll still be out $1300+ dollars. I personally think that his chip should have gone DOWN in price, not up, because then you'd have more of a price differential, the cheaper chip for people who want a nice boost and the expensive one for people who want a blast. I assume that in time it'll go down in price. My outlay was considerably more than $1000 because I basically paid Leo and another guy to find out how the ECU works, then modify it. And, the original idea was also that it would be a one-off upgrade for my car because they thought it'd be a lot more complicated than it was to install. The fact that it can be sold to people without major modification is simply a side-effect.
I guess you could say it was a Christmas present to myself, whenever people ask me what I want for christmas I say "a 100 shot NOS kit!" or "an HID upgrade!" Most people don't know what the hell I'm talking about
Oh and Keith, as for racing, well... street racers don't give out trophies
Oh, and Merry Christmas!

Keith13b

iTrader: (3)

Leo, and Mad Max,

1st off, I was in no way comparing your upgrade to sc400.com's upgrade. Theirs is a one shot deal good for stocker engines to optimize the vehicle, as-is. Yours is adjustable, and re-programable. But they both are compter upgrades available for purchase.

I agree whith you whole heartedly about sc400.com's chip. No disrespect to their company at all, but the cost is a bit high, and no dyno??? Man for the 20$ for a dyno run, Its' worth the investment to lay down the facts on paper.

As far as your chip....is there a way we can tune it with a lap top at all? So as we upgrade, we can tune it in real time? For my RX-7, we hook up a lap top to the computer when we did a 1/4 mile run or high speed run, and it would track fuel (injector pulse width), ignition, boost, etc. Then we could due minor adjustments (even during that run), then we would do another run, and keep tuning it in. When we had it optimized, we saved the program to the cars computer. In that sence, I-95 became our personal dyno. This was great for tuning in Intake systems because it wasn't sitting stagnant on a dyno.

If we were to send the chip back to you, how much would you charge to re-program it for another mod?

What about a group buy price?

Here is a good time for the others to add their input and questions - Ikon?

I'm very interested in your product. I, in all honesty, don't want to spend that much money, but I am willing to buy one. I've seen the same thing done on other cars at a fraction of the cost. I understand the Lex has twin computers and that has a lot to do with the cost. But please re-think the price if you could.

email me at keith.rivera@dep.state.fl.us if you want to talk off the forum.


Keith

CDALTON

HKG Harrier I am interested in getting the ECU upgrade. Keith13b had a good question about future upgrades. What kind of $$ are we talking. I have my car in storage but am still willing to purchase one. But I would be pissed if I dropped a grand and four months later when i bring the car back out, you would be offering a better program for the same price. Give me a e-mail at cdalton@hscil.net, so we can discuss getting me one. Thanks again for all your hard work.

mjames08

I am also interested in purchasing one, but it's Christmas time, and I have zero dollars to spend!!!

CmputerWiz

I haven't read like half of the pages here, since I'm on a 19.2k wireless connection. It takes 4min to load EACH page. So what I have to say may have been covered...lol

If someone is using an ECU program from Japan, it could cause major problems here. 100octane gas is what's used over there, and if you used a program, tuned to the max on 100octane over here....BOOM. You're gonna kill your motor too fast.

SR

MadMaxSC400

I've started a controversy! muahahaaa
read what he ^ says it's true. 2 More posts and we'll hit 100!

SCV8

Nice work!
So Leo,what would the chances be of getting a larger MAF integrated into the type of add-on ECM that's currently being tested?
Would something like that have to also have a controller with it,since the MAF probably wouldn't be of the same type as our cars came with?
I'd rather do it all at once,and hopefully within one nicely tuned system,as opposed to buying a larger MAF kit, like the SplitSecond guys have for $1,000 alone.
From spending years tuning on 4 cylinder engines of the 2.0 displacement,I sort of came up with the 310-320hp as a goal on the Lexus V8,considering the heads are up to the task and all.
From what has been achieved so far,I'd say that goal is pretty likely to happen,and hopefully it does.
Still TAPPED OUT after the new wheels/tires,but not for long.