There are good points to each type of ECU modification.

With the release of Canzoomers stage 1 piggyback ECU, and the upcoming Racing Beat ECU reprogramming service, It would be interesting to see what people would prefer.

Racing Beat (http://racingbeat.com/FRmazda4.htm)

Service would require your ECU to be sent to their facility in California. Unit would be reflashed with software designed by Racing Beat to enhance performance, and sent back the same day.

Pros
No additional hardware
ECU box is left stock (CZ's modifies ECU cooler assembly)
Years of rotary performance mod experience
Even closer to "the way it should be" with a proper tune living in the ECU rather than altered input signals to our lame current firmware via a piggyback.

Canzoomer Stage 1 (http://canzoomer.com/)

Pros
Removable so no trace is left
Upgradeable with flash updates (none as of yet)
Completely tested and shown to have great results
You don't need to send your ECU anywhere
Mazda can't "wipe it out" with a flash to the ECU

Obviously these are only a few pros for each example. Cons were left out because in general one's pros points to the others cons.

Also, The Racing Beat example is not yet available, so variables like price and performance gains are unknown.

The purpose of this poll isn't to speculate which mod would out perform one another...as its impossible to know that. Its to see what way people prefer their ECU be modified. Piggyback or reflashed. http://racingbeat.com/ConRX8/Test.4.jpg

I will go with Canzoomers. If I was going to use a simple reflash I would want to purchase a seperate ECU and In order to use it I would have to take out the stock unit. With CZ's I could simply unplug it and plug stock back in direct. As long as the dealer wasn't going into the ECU case there wouldn't be any sign. I like that better because it's simpler IMHO.

Originally posted by 93rdcurrent
I will go with Canzoomers. If I was going to use a simple reflash I would want to purchase a seperate ECU and In order to use it I would have to take out the stock unit. With CZ's I could simply unplug it and plug stock back in direct. As long as the dealer wasn't going into the ECU case there wouldn't be any sign. I like that better because it's simpler IMHO.


I think its obvious that people are worried about warranty issues, and therefor leaning towards the Canzoomer product.

We still dont know how 'electronically' obvious it would be to a casual MIL query on a PCM with a RB reflash. I would venture to assume the words "RACING BEAT" dont flash accross the screen of the dealership scan tool. If the A/F lookup tables were modified to produce a leaner, more powerful mixture, and all else left alone.......why is that so bad?

The fact is...if RB can modify the PCM in such a way that gives back our missing ponies.....without setting off bells and sirens at the dealership.....I'm very interested. Given the history of quality, well engineered products from Racing Beat, I'm sure they are putting the same care into the design of the ECU reprogram service. Also....there is a distict possibility it will be cheaper than CZ's.......this is only a guess.... no hardware...just the development and research, a test bench and profit margin. It will be interesting to see what they will charge.

Forgive me if I'm not entirely knowledgeable about ECU mods, but would the modded chips cause trouble with emissions? If so, it seems the CZ would be ideal because it can be unplugged to easily return the car to stock tune for emissions testing.

Originally posted by DemonRX-8
Forgive me if I'm not entirely knowledgeable about ECU mods, but would the modded chips cause trouble with emissions? If so, it seems the CZ would be ideal because it can be unplugged to easily return the car to stock tune for emissions testing.

Its very possible that a reprogram to give more power won't result in a failed emissions test. If the only adverse affect from a more aggresive tune would be slightly higher exhaust gas temps......then emissions testing should not be a problem, in either of the examples listed in the poll.

Let's say that Mazda, or the dealership, decided to reflash your modified ECU because you had it there for some service bulletin or simple procedure and the dealer service decided that reflashing the ECU might solve it. They reflash it and anything that Racing Beat did reprograms your Custom "tuned" ECU.

With Maurice's, it's 45 minutes to take it out, return it to "factory" condition and take it to your dealership for serviceing, return it home and 45 minutes to pop it back in and off you go again.

I'm thinking of doing Canzoomer's just for the fuel efficiency alone, not mentioning the boost above 5000 RPM. I've noticed most of my driving is below 5000 anyway, with 4500 being high end average and 3500 on the shift.

i'd have to say Canzoomer since i've gotten 3 ECU reflashes so far...if these will reflash an ECU reprogramming then it's a big waste of money

Originally posted by BRx8
i'd have to say Canzoomer since i've gotten 3 ECU reflashes so far...if these will reflash an ECU reprogramming then it's a big waste of money

Yes....in that case it would have been a bad idea.

I guess what I dont know is two things that would make things a bit different regarding dealer reflashes

1. Does the dealer reflash an entirely new script from start to finish with a reflash?...OR...does a dealer reflash only address a specific area on the eeprom? Like an evap code that gets stored for no reason (cause of many CEL's)....a "reflashed" ECU may have just been a change in code for that specific area. In that case, it would have no affect on the new Racing Beat A/F tables that were programmed....for example.

2. Would Racing Beat make good by putting back code on a PCM they already flashed.....in the case that the dealer wiped it out. At least for a limited time frame.

I'm sure these questions will be answered by RB when they are ready to service our ECUs.

that's a very good question which i didn't consider...i had 2 CEL lights and 1 low oil warning light...the first time i brought my car in, they flashed my system twice, once for the CEL (forgot exactly which module) and another for the oil light...the CEL came on again, and the dealer flashed it again, this time supposedly for the powertrain control module, like i said i forgot what exactly they flashed the first time...so maybe they do only flash what needs to be flashed...