ECUnleashed Gen2 - RESULTS ONLY
- Thread starter Karson
- Start date
pqsqac said:
vmaxaust
New Member
If anyone is interested. There is a very viable alternative to ECUunleashed and any other software upgrade companies. Late last year I spoke to Chris from...
flash-tune.com
They are located in the Los Angeles area. After talking to him I sent them my Australian 2013 S10 ECU. They had not read the program in this model we receive here in Australia which is the actual European model. I was in the U.S about 5 weeks later and visited Chris to see the actual software at work.
On my return I was to reinstall my ECU and use the upload cable setup they supplied me. The problem was the wiring loom on this European bike is different in terms of wire colour coding so their upload setup designed to be left permanently attached to the bike so changes could be made without removing the ECU. This was not to be as Chris could not accurately determine the correct match up of wires to enable this to happen.
I really did not care as my bike will not be highly modified. I fitted an Acropovic slip on and that's all I'm doing to the bike. After the failure of the permanent upload cable Chris sent me a bench downloader kit. This setup worked and I was able to make changes to the stock program, save these changes in a new file and within 4 minutes, upload the file to the ECU sitting at my desk.
Fitted the ECU back and went for a ride. No more off idle bog, no more holding back through the gears, rpm limit raised slightly, lowered the cooling fan cut in cut out temp range, no more abrupt decel cut off. The engine is smoother and responds instantly to throttle input. You can take the clutch switch bridge out and toss it forever. This is how the bike should have come from the factory. I turned traction control off and nailed it in 1st while doing 20kph and the front end just came up nicely about 2-3" while it was turning the rear tyre on a relatively rough road surface.
The best part is the fact that I have not altered the fuel curve at all. The O2 sensor still controls all closed loop fuel functions. Now that I've done some miles the fuel economy is even better than stock if you can keep from nailing it all the time. The main changes are to use the best possible spark table for ALL gears not just top gear which is what Yamaha does. The spark is increased slightly as well in this "best" table so the use of higher octane fuel (which Yamaha recommends anyway) is a good idea.
The most significant improvement really comes from the fly by wire throttle tables. These tables represent your actual throttle input in percent versus the actual percent of throttle opening actually applied to the throttle body throttle blades. In other words, the reason you seem to turn the throttle off idle but there is that minor annoying delay as you try to accelerate away, is that you may turn the throttle 20% but the table says to open the throttle blades barely 10%.
Now all my throttle inputs at the throttle handgrip is EXACTLY what the ECU tells the throttle body blades to open to in percent. Just like a carbed bike, when I turn the throttle 30% the throttle blades open 30% and in ALL gears. The OEM program in this regard is terrible. Now the S10 comes to life and frankly the best feeling is at part throttle, not just flat out. The part throttle response is now exactly how it should have felt for a great 1200cc engine is really is. Effortless acceleration any rpm and any gear. It's not like the animal Vmax I have but it's brilliant compared to stock.
I've changed some fuel decel parameters as well to soften the abruptness of backing off. It feels much more like a good carb setup without that abrupt jerky fuel cut off. One can experiment with the decel and make it to suit their own taste. What I've done is minor but it works very well for me. I will experiment further with the decel.
For those who have done more mods or have a Dynojet PCV fitted and tuned. Chris's software supports Dynojet program file uploads to cater for the fuel curve. That way you don't lose what you've already done but now you will enhance it even further by having control over the items I made changes to. The program from Flash-Tune is an undressed version of the OEM program so you can go to a local dyno and tune the fuel using this software rather than the Dynojet unit. Some people are used to and experienced with the Dynojet fuel tuning so take your pick.
I build high performance V8 engines for a living, run them on our engine dyno and use factory software to tune these EFI engines to perfection. I had been looking for something like this since I bought my first Gen II Vmax in late 2008. I sent Chris the Tenere computer first because that bike needed more help than the Vmax to run the way it really should.
The final step in this project is to put the S10 on my local bike dyno at Dynobike here in Melbourne. If there are any areas in the fuel curve that need touching up I will do so using the factory software that flash-tune supplied. I doubt there will be much if anything I will need to alter.
By the way, this bike has done just over 4000 kms and is run in reasonably well. It's definitely true that the more miles it got up the better it ran as it fully settled down.
Sam
flash-tune.com
They are located in the Los Angeles area. After talking to him I sent them my Australian 2013 S10 ECU. They had not read the program in this model we receive here in Australia which is the actual European model. I was in the U.S about 5 weeks later and visited Chris to see the actual software at work.
On my return I was to reinstall my ECU and use the upload cable setup they supplied me. The problem was the wiring loom on this European bike is different in terms of wire colour coding so their upload setup designed to be left permanently attached to the bike so changes could be made without removing the ECU. This was not to be as Chris could not accurately determine the correct match up of wires to enable this to happen.
I really did not care as my bike will not be highly modified. I fitted an Acropovic slip on and that's all I'm doing to the bike. After the failure of the permanent upload cable Chris sent me a bench downloader kit. This setup worked and I was able to make changes to the stock program, save these changes in a new file and within 4 minutes, upload the file to the ECU sitting at my desk.
Fitted the ECU back and went for a ride. No more off idle bog, no more holding back through the gears, rpm limit raised slightly, lowered the cooling fan cut in cut out temp range, no more abrupt decel cut off. The engine is smoother and responds instantly to throttle input. You can take the clutch switch bridge out and toss it forever. This is how the bike should have come from the factory. I turned traction control off and nailed it in 1st while doing 20kph and the front end just came up nicely about 2-3" while it was turning the rear tyre on a relatively rough road surface.
The best part is the fact that I have not altered the fuel curve at all. The O2 sensor still controls all closed loop fuel functions. Now that I've done some miles the fuel economy is even better than stock if you can keep from nailing it all the time. The main changes are to use the best possible spark table for ALL gears not just top gear which is what Yamaha does. The spark is increased slightly as well in this "best" table so the use of higher octane fuel (which Yamaha recommends anyway) is a good idea.
The most significant improvement really comes from the fly by wire throttle tables. These tables represent your actual throttle input in percent versus the actual percent of throttle opening actually applied to the throttle body throttle blades. In other words, the reason you seem to turn the throttle off idle but there is that minor annoying delay as you try to accelerate away, is that you may turn the throttle 20% but the table says to open the throttle blades barely 10%.
Now all my throttle inputs at the throttle handgrip is EXACTLY what the ECU tells the throttle body blades to open to in percent. Just like a carbed bike, when I turn the throttle 30% the throttle blades open 30% and in ALL gears. The OEM program in this regard is terrible. Now the S10 comes to life and frankly the best feeling is at part throttle, not just flat out. The part throttle response is now exactly how it should have felt for a great 1200cc engine is really is. Effortless acceleration any rpm and any gear. It's not like the animal Vmax I have but it's brilliant compared to stock.
I've changed some fuel decel parameters as well to soften the abruptness of backing off. It feels much more like a good carb setup without that abrupt jerky fuel cut off. One can experiment with the decel and make it to suit their own taste. What I've done is minor but it works very well for me. I will experiment further with the decel.
For those who have done more mods or have a Dynojet PCV fitted and tuned. Chris's software supports Dynojet program file uploads to cater for the fuel curve. That way you don't lose what you've already done but now you will enhance it even further by having control over the items I made changes to. The program from Flash-Tune is an undressed version of the OEM program so you can go to a local dyno and tune the fuel using this software rather than the Dynojet unit. Some people are used to and experienced with the Dynojet fuel tuning so take your pick.
I build high performance V8 engines for a living, run them on our engine dyno and use factory software to tune these EFI engines to perfection. I had been looking for something like this since I bought my first Gen II Vmax in late 2008. I sent Chris the Tenere computer first because that bike needed more help than the Vmax to run the way it really should.
The final step in this project is to put the S10 on my local bike dyno at Dynobike here in Melbourne. If there are any areas in the fuel curve that need touching up I will do so using the factory software that flash-tune supplied. I doubt there will be much if anything I will need to alter.
By the way, this bike has done just over 4000 kms and is run in reasonably well. It's definitely true that the more miles it got up the better it ran as it fully settled down.
Sam
coastie said:
Hungry Tiger
2012 Blue S10
AC,
It's true that you have been saying much the same. And even going further and helping others to sort their ECU.
But there were many who flashed before your solution was well known. (or even existed)
Also, although we may have spent additional dollars, in respect to this second alternative, it was pretty painless to do so.
For me it was hardly even an inconvenience. I drove right up to AF1. 20 minutes later I drove away flashed. I spend more time at Whataburger for lunch!
But again, I get the message. And it IS a good thing for new owners and those that have procrastinated.
Choices. Good ones too.
It's true that you have been saying much the same. And even going further and helping others to sort their ECU.
But there were many who flashed before your solution was well known. (or even existed)
Also, although we may have spent additional dollars, in respect to this second alternative, it was pretty painless to do so.
For me it was hardly even an inconvenience. I drove right up to AF1. 20 minutes later I drove away flashed. I spend more time at Whataburger for lunch!
But again, I get the message. And it IS a good thing for new owners and those that have procrastinated.
Choices. Good ones too.
vmaxaust
New Member
Doesn't really matter where anyone lives. Once you have their upload cable and software it's very easy. They now have baseline programs on their server for free uploading by anyone who has bought their cable/software package. Really all one needs to do is install their software, attach the cable to the ECU, choose the file you want to upload and 4 minutes later your ECU is flashed. The great thing about the software is that it shows you the factory versus the modified program and enables you to make your own changes or just use Flash-Tunes generic improved program. The generic program now is great so if you are not a person who understands tuning and all the parameters just flash your ECU with their generic improved program and you will have the same results as mine.
Sam
Sam
vmaxaust
New Member
Some people just think too much and believe there is some secret formula to success by spending maximum dollars. For me the Flash-Tune was a no brainer when I could see the actual parameters in the software. Once you can see what the factory has done and how easily one can remedy this, you won't look back. For the non tech people the ECUunleashed I suppose does something with the same or similar results. For me it's a case of "I want to know what is being changed and to what degree".
Sam
Sam
avc8130 said:
Haven't looked at the FT stuff lately, but I think I remember that to "interface" with the ecu, you have to splice and solder the FT harness onto the ECU wires near the connections, right?
tenerejack
New Member
Getting ready to send off the ECU to Flash-Tune. $200 re-flash instead of $400 for kit. Wish I could have the kit but too pricey right now. Any advice? They say they do all the flashes on Mon & Thurs so it shouldnt take too long. Any advice?
Having adopted the Unleashed Gen2 as soon as it came out I would be a bit loathed to flash over the top, if Flash Tune get hold of an Unleashed map so I can see what I already have I would be tempted to pay up for the kit and take it to a Dyno to just perfect it, but would not tale the gamble on the FT generic map being better than my Unleashed one.
Just took lunch and went to 2 Wheel Dyno Works in Woodinville, WA, and got the deed done by Nels over lunch.
First impressions: Holy crap! Are you kidding me?
THIS is going to take some time to get used to (in a good way). What happened to my lumbering beast and where did this crotch rocket come from? ::015::
First impressions: Holy crap! Are you kidding me?
THIS is going to take some time to get used to (in a good way). What happened to my lumbering beast and where did this crotch rocket come from? ::015::
HAHA...No kidding around here, the flash is all business! You better stock up on tires! Now get out there and ride!Salmon Sam said:
Just to pipe in on cost reference point for everyone: Unleashed Gen 2 for $449 (cash 'cause the missus would kill me). :-X Took about 20 minutes. Smile: forever!