Ric Shaw Performance in Australia has now developed a fully adjustable piggyback ECU for the RX8, operating with a windows software package to retune the engine management. It also caters for turbo charged and super charged conversions.

HOW MUCH AND WHERE CAN I GET IT AND THE STATS OF HP INCREASE>????????

I'm listening.

the lack of info is really evil :o

I'm Listening also!! Price, Performance Gains? Vague comments thus far!!

Guys, Ric Shaw cannot discuss price and availability here unless he is a registered vendor on this site. Please PM him for that info.

BOOO...anyone have a link?

guys , working on dyno and G-tech data for the piggyback ecu. more to come.

Ric,

How soon are you willing to ship to the US? I really like the fact that it is adjustable via Windows. Also, is it a clip on unit or do you have to spice wires to install?

Thanks

RX8on19s, i can ship now. i am still tuning / testing on my car but i can send what i have tuned already for anyone to then test and adjust themselves from there. this sould be done by tuners with experience and equipment only.
i tested 0-100 kms/h times.
results: 3/4 full tankof fuel,80kg driver,DSC off,27 deg C temp on the day(hot).
1) 6.45
2) 6.50
3) 6.71
4) 6.85
1/4 mile not done yet. fuel economy not done yet.

RIC,

Times look good....I have my own wideband to help tune. How can we order?

more testing on ecu.
original bridgstone 225 tyers
23 c temp on dash
80 kg driver
2/3 tank
1)6.06!!!!!! wow
2)6.56
3)6.93 axle tramp
4)6.86
will get some photos.

Ric,

Do you have any mods on you RX-8 or are these times with a stock RX-8?

Will this work on an A/T?? If so, sign me up!

Originally posted by VelocityRedRX8
Will this work on an A/T?? If so, sign me up!

ditto

RX8on19s , i have my piggyback ecu and an exhaust change.
ran a 6.20 and a 6.43 again today.

guys , with the auto cars it will still work but i havent done one and i need to ckeck if the ecu wiring is the same as 6 port engine. if the ecu is wired right it will allow tune changes of fuel and ignition but the 4 port my get better or worse results.this is a Q ??????

Will the piggyback ECU come stock w/ a reliable power adding base map or does it need tuning after installation?

Ric,

Based on the doc's I read on "http://www.mazdatechinfo.com/" the wring seems to be the same on both.

Regards,

Ric,

Does your tune also include timing advance?

Regards,

guys , the ecu has a map in it i have done and it will increase performance as the 0-100 km/h times show.it controls fuel and ignition.with optiomal 2 x aux and map sensor for turbos.

lets see some raw data, instead of a few numbers typed in... that might help convince some skeptics, like myself... just a suggestion!

Your saying that the times are better as we can see? 0 to 100 kph is 62 mph as you know. Your time of 6.43 is .5 off of what Mazda says is their 0 to 60 time. Canzoomer says times of 5.4 to 5.6 could be obtainable with his mod.

Thankx.

i will be testing back to back the Canzoomer unit and our unit tomorrow.
more to come.

Originally posted by RIC SHAW
i will be testing back to back the Canzoomer unit and our unit tomorrow.
more to come.

RICK

Hymee and i conducted some tests on Maurices stage 1 kit today i will talk to you on friday and share the information with you .

It will be a good to compare /share our information .


michael

OK Hymee and L&L... time to spill the beans

I'm all ears (or eyes... seeing this an internet forum)

I posted them last night. Spent 3 hours. Now the whole thread seesms to have dissapeared. I'm looking furiously....

Ric,

How did the test go between the units?

I also have an A/T RX8 and would like to know if it will work on it.
Also I found a chip on Ebay that claims 20Hp gain and is real cheap he has sold many. But I am skeptical and not sure if I want to take a chance screwing up my new RX8. Here is the link any info would be appreciated.

http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/ws/eBayISAPI.dll?ViewItem&category=42604&item=2455624219#ebayphotohosting

Markt40,

This is a complete fake and I can prove it to you. Look at the Dyno sheet. First of all, his power band ends at 7000 RPM's. All of us who own a MT know the we can all REV to 9,200 RPM. This individual is a joke and should be reported to EBAY.

All of these ebay chips are all fake....

Thanks I thought it was to good to be true!:mad:

I know I will report this clown to ebay. I am tired of freakin rip offs there. They just waste space and make reputable sellers look bad.

Ric,

Thanks for the tracking number buddy. I tracked the unit and it is on its way to Miami. It should be here by Thursday. Can't wait to hook it up and start tuning. I will contact you as soon as it arrives.

Regards,

Ric,

I just got an email from USPS stating that your ECU arrived at my house! Can't wait to get there.......:0)

Originally posted by RX8on19s
Ric,

I just got an email from USPS stating that your ECU arrived at my house! Can't wait to get there.......:0)

RX8on19s,

Pls keep us all posted....

Here are some pictures of the Piggy-back install.

More Pic's....

Welcome to my tuning Office........

RX8on19s,

Have you done any testing of the unit, and if so how has it been?


Dale

Hey!
Looks a lot like MY tuning office! :p

http://www.mazdamaniac.com/images/emanage/cockpit.jpg

Yeah...

I would be very interested in hearing how everything is going as well...

David..

Guys,

Let me start by saying that Ric is truly a man of his word. He has delivered to us a fully functional piggy-back ecu to the US.

The first unit I received had an issue that trigger the Cel light (Check engine light) to flash on & off at high RPM's. This issue has now been corrected. Today, the second unit arrived and the car is now running hard!!

If all goes well, the car will be put on the dyno tomorrow. I will post the results. Once again Ric, thanks for letting me be part of your ecu development & testing.

Regards,

RX-8on19s

Aargghhh!! Need.....more......info!

If this unit performs the way I think it will, I will purchase one TODAY!! Please let us know how it feels, ease of installation, and dyno results.

:D

any more information on the unit lately??????

RX8on19S have you used the logging yet? will be waiting for your dyno results. did you get the blank off plug i sent ?
we will be an line with product soon with a new web site.

We have a cost yet?Im about ti order an ecu mod just not sure which.Putting my 5zigens on this weekend.

Rx8on19's did you get dyno results yet? How is the tuning going?

T

Guys,

I did not have a chance to dyno this weekend and I know that is what everyone wants to see.

What I can tell you now is that there is a big difference in the way the car accelerates from beginning to end. The difference is especially noticeable when you're in the 3,000 to 7,000 RPM range.

Ric's ECU can control the following elements via a beautiful Windows interface.

•A/F ratios
•Ignition Timing
•Two AUX ports (Can be used to activate NOS at specific RPM)

A few of you have asked me about the install. The install is not a plug-n-play (plug-n-pray). It requires that you tap into several wires located inside the PCM box. It took my buddy and me about three hour to complete. Most of the time was dedicated to hiding the wires and insuring that the taps were correct.

Overall, I am extremely satisfied with the product and Ric has been a tremendous help. I will post the HP figures probably by next week. Here are some picture of the unit & the install.

ECU Unit

Ric provides you with a 40 page manual that covers how to program and install the ECU. Excellent documentation!!!!

ECU Programing:

I use my "Tablet PC" with Windows XP to program the unit.

ECU Programing

Here's what the program looks like. It allows you to tune the cars A/F ratio and Timing in 500 RPM increments

ECU Programing

Here are the AUX ports for you guys that want to control NOS or boost

Where is the unit? The unit is mounted in the rear to the windshield fluid housing. It fits perfect back there. You can even tell. All you can see are two black tie-raps.......

My RX-8 visited the dyno yesterday and the results were disturbing. For several months, I have read articles posted by fellow forum members stating that the “RX-8” runs way to RICH. Their theory is that if you lean out the A/F ratio, you will gain more HP.

Based on my experience yesterday on the dyno with an A/F reader, this theory is incorrect. We noticed that my RX-8 gained more HP & Torque by Richening the A/F ratio.

You will see in the graph below that peak power is obtained when the A/F ration is maintained in the 13.0 through 12.0 range. This A/F range is considered to be a really rich. As the A/F ratio is leaned out, the car losses HP & Torque.

Please note that the HP & Torque figures below only reflect A/F tuning. I did not have enough time yesterday to adjust the timing on the dyno. My timing right now is stock. I suspect that adding more timing at strategic points will added a bit more HP & Torque.

Rotary Extreme Intake, No Cat, Stock ECU:
191.3 HP & 135.7 Torque

Rotary Extreme Intake, No Cat, Ric Shaw ECU – with Lean A/F ratio:
189.0 HP & 133.5 Torque

Rotary Extreme Intake, No Cat, Ric Shaw ECU – With Rich A/F ratio:
193.5.0 HP & 140.5 Torque

That's interesting. Your stock a/f ratios look way smoother than many others I've seen on here. We've seen some of them dip towards 10:1 which would verify the rich statement. Your dyno numbers also look higher than most. The rich statement may very well only apply to limp mode and not full power.

Has anyone tried this mod on an auto 8 yet? If so, like many fellow auto owers have stated... Sign me up!! :D

It would be interesting to see you do some tests on the RE intake (on/off) to see if it is having an affect on the A/F ratio. That may explain why your observations vary from people who have done testing with the stock intake.

So.. with the ecu mod, you got a whopping 2 hp?? Which could be attributed to dyno variations..eg..no gain? I'm concerned.

-- Aaron

amartin,

Just don't look at HP. You need to consider that it gained about 5 pounds of torque. This is great becuse RX-8 does not have much torque.

Also remember that the timing is stock write now. The HP should go up a bit more this weekend. Overall, the car feels alot better now with the ECU. Even the tone of the engine changed...

guys . this is right ,take the intake off !!!
it seems the U.S cars run diff to our Australian cars and so all toy need to do is adjust the tune as you can with my ecu. the graph scale is hard to read and compare, i would change it to give a finner reading.
remember the real feeling of the car in a state of new tune v original tune.
the dyno will not show the responsiveness of the tune.
i hope to do an auto soon. it will work but the result will have to be seen when it is done.

The posted runs don't even represent actual tuning work. They were merely runs done with a richening and leaning across the board just to see what happens. These results are not indicitave of the potential of the engine after proper, thorough tuning. There is more to tuning than just adding or subtracting fuel. Timing has huge results on the rotary and a simple adjustment of the leading/trailing plug split can yield some fantastic results.

Give him a chance to get the thing dialed in properly and then look at the results. If an ecu is fully programmable for both fuel and ignition, doesn't it stand to believe that it has the potential to get a big gain such as canzoomer's? After all he is doing the same thing.

I personally start ecu tuning on an n/a rotary with a 10 degree fixed timing split across the board. Max advance set at 25 degrees. Then I add fuel until it loses power and then back it down slightly. This sets up a very nice smooth base map to work from. From there you can start playing with advancing the timing at different rpms. The most advance can be had at the torque peak. It needs to decrease a little after this point. You can also play with the timing split. Increasing the split makes the engine less likely to detonate. Decreasing the split makes it more likely. It doesn't mean that it will though and as long as the split stays at 10 degrees you can not get it to detonate. Maniac verified this with his e-manage. Whatever you do, make only 1 change at a time.

There is so much to play with that days can be spent on the fine tuning that gets that extra few horsepower. Brian Cain in Dallas played with the timing split on his turbo RX-7 a few years ago and learned alot. He's a guru now. Granted his car with its turbo is much more powerful but just a simple leading/trailing split adjustment gained him 20+ hp at the wheels. While a gain this large won't be possible on a naturally aspirated engine, it does give you a good idea of the potential of trying different things. Later on I hope someone plays with the opening rpms of all the different ports and the VDI system. We may be surprised here too.

Go tune that sucker and let us know how it turned out. Rick Shaw is a very reputable shop in Australia. I trust his products and hope one day I am fortunate enough to visit them if I ever make it to that side of the world. How about a drive in one of those race cars Rick?

rotarygod, i agree with what you have said. the inlet can also be played with and this can be done with the Aux's in my ecu. one step at a time.
do come and say GDAY if you come down under. keep on racing.

I can vouch for the ECU system that Ric offers. I have recently had the piggy back ECU done along with the exhaust by Ric. I admit I was a sceptic, however the increase in the mid to high revs is fantastic. The car is a lot stronger and more responsive from 3000 and the hesitation from take off is gone. Even when driving in peak hour the take off is smoother.

How much more hp are you making dyno ,i think thats why people are not jumping to buy his unit.

How long does this take to install????

guys. we will not quote power figures as the dyno does not tell the real story, we all know this so it would be wrong to misslead you. proof is in the pudding so listen to the results posted by the guys with the units fitted.
we only take a day to fit the ECU.

guys. we will not quote power figures as the dyno does not tell the real story, we all know this so it would be wrong to misslead you. proof is in the pudding so listen to the results posted by the guys with the units fitted.
we only take a day to fit the ECU.

the most i seen this unit put out was 2 hp i never heard of anyone else cliaming anything so which guys are you talking about. and by putting it on the dyno you get a sense as to what you picked up i agree its nothing perfect but a ball park figure.

Originally posted by smrx8
the most i seen this unit put out was 2 hp i never heard of anyone else cliaming anything so which guys are you talking about. and by putting it on the dyno you get a sense as to what you picked up i agree its nothing perfect but a ball park figure.

That's because you've never seen anyone that has properly tuned one yet. It easily has the potential of the Canzoomer unit. The person on the forum who said he only got 2 hp admitted that he only riched or leaned out the mixture across the board to see what would happen. Since timing plays a huge role, this isn't an accurate way to judge potential. For every timing setup, there can only be so much power made. If that person would play with the timing maps, there could be so much more power unlocked.

Ric Shaw
need a piggy back for my jdm rx8
i have install agency power exhaust+decat,aem intake,ap pulley,bhr ignition coil,act flywheel+ counter weight,exedy stage2 clutch

Ric Shaw
the car have jdm speed limit..:(

Buy a Cobb AP from our forum user 'MazdaManiac'.

You'll be happy....

Dude, this was seven years ago

I did however enjoy the "has the potential of the Canzoomer" comment :rofl:

Buy a Cobb AP from our forum user 'MazdaManiac'.

You'll be happy....

If it is available for his model.

Only the 2003/2004 hi-power (6-port) MT JDM models are supported.

Good buy to your speed limiter, our ECU will sort that.
I can tune as to the best result any system has to offer.
Our system will work well on your set up with the mods done.
Call me to organise please.
02 97167690

/\ wow - talk about a blast from the past ...