Software Upgrades For RX8
 

I have just got back from the shop that tunes cars. They have informed me that they can download software to my computer on the RX8 to upgrade power and fuel comsuption.I will get great gains in both power and fuel comsuption. The software is from Germany and they have informed me that they will be upgrade the frequency files on the computer.The only concern I have is that should the dealer find out I will lose the warranty on the car. I have just 4000 miles on the car. Another question is that I heard that every time the car goes in for a service they reboot the computer or reflash. If they dont this will the software be lost.Will they dealership find out if the software is down load.They have already uploaded the maps from my computer..
Please advise , anyone.

From what I have gathered on this site, DO NOT let anyone tune your computer that does NOT know anything about a rotary engine, it isn't like a piston engine when it comes to tuning or much of anything. Also, from what I have seen there is only a few companies that actually know how to understand and change the Mazda maps and code.

Who is this German software company? Or who is it that's offering this service from the German company?

Ze Germans are coming!!!

Sounds scary to me.

Well I have spoken to the car tuner.They have done a few RX8's in the country.But i am afraid they might mess it up.Then how do I fix the problem? The techi has done Merc's & BMW's and other high end cars but as stated above it is a risk.Is it really worth the 15% power gain.If the computer is mixed up how do u fix it?
I will try and get the info on the software for discussions..
Any other info will be apreciated...
Has anyone done the software upgrade.

They are telling you a 15% gain with just a different fuel map :eek:.

RUN FORREST!! RUN FORREST!!

They're probably just leaning it out, a lot.

Our cars like to run RICH.

Do it anyway and tells us what happens.

I have no doubt that a 15% gain is possible from reprogramming the ECU. Unfortunetly, no one has actually released a 3rd party flash yet. The stock ECU runs very rich for two reasons: one is to prevent detonation which can kill a rotary much faster than a piston engine. The other is to reduce exhaust gas temps to prolong cat life.

Given that its highly doubtful this company has access to the ECU programming, they are probably using a piggy-back unit like the emanage to modify signals going either into or out of the ECU. This can be dangerous because you are depending on a given input producing a given output from the ECU. Since the ECU has multiple operating modes, this is not as easy as it sounds. The ECU is designed to try to protect the car, therefore if it thinks its inputs are strange, it will move to a fail-safe map to protect the engine. Of course, if you are modifying the outputs, this doesn't have an effect unless the ECU sees some value (like EGT) go out of range.

They have informed me that they would be doing the upgrade on the frequency files of the computer.They will install on the ROM of the computer.I would love to try it out and give results.What if they mess it up how do we fix the problem then.Does it make sense a 15% power gain on a remapping and tuning.It seems impossible , but i might be wrong.I think they will upgrade the fuel because the first time they did it to another 8 its kept stalling on idle...they seemed to have fixed the problem on that...how does remapping improve power please expalin anyone...please..

Still curious to hear who this German company is that makes the reflashing of the PCM possible.

Tuj
I understand were you are going with this but they have assured me that this is not a piggy back system.They have the connection cords that mazda use to connect to the Computer as they uploaded the maps from my 8 but they will rewrite the sofeware to get power gains and less fule comsupmtion.I think it might work as they have tuned BMW's and Merc's & Scooby's but these are not rotary engines does what they say about rewriting the software make sense..please advise...

Ok, well I suppose its possible that these tuners have connections at Mazda and actually can reflash the ECU with their own custom maps. If that's the case, then if you want to go back to stock, you just need to have the dealer reflash the ECU with the stock Mazda map, or you can do it yourself w/ a canscan + the pass-thru programming feature. There's a site where you can pay to download the latest factory flash. BTW, this may just be a translation issue, but I'm not sure what a "frequency" file would be.

In brief: the ECU uses a 'map' or matrix of RPMs on one axis, and airflow on the other. Each cell then contains the pulse width for the fuel injector signal; basically how much fuel to inject for a particular RPM and airflow value. Engines are generally most efficient and make the most power when they burn the fuel completely, therefore the air-to-fuel ratio (a/f or afr) is crucial. The ideal is 14.6 or stochiometric.

The problem is that as the fuel compresses, hot spots in the engine can ignite the mixture before the spark fires. This is called detonation or knock or pinging. Since this happens during compression, the expansion force of the combustion pushes back against the rotor (or piston), and since the rotor has more inertia, the forces instead push against the apex and corner seals of the engine. In a piston engine, the rings are pushed up from below by the crankcase pressure, which helps resist these forces. In a rotary engine, on the other side of the apex seal the exhaust stroke is taking place, so the seal does not have pressure on the other side to help reinforce it. This, along with other factors make the rotary much more suceptible to damage should knock occur. Literally, one big ping can kill a rotary engine.

One way to prevent knock is to run rich. The extra fuel acts as an inhibitor to preignition. This is one reason why the 8 runs so rich stock. The other reason is that exhaust gas temps (EGT) rise as the mixture becomes leaner. Since rotaries already have a hotter exhaust than piston engines, running lean can create very high temperatures in the cat, which shorten its life. The EPA (in the US) mandates 25k lifespans for the internals of the cat, therefore, its believed that Mazda retuned the ECU to run rich to reduce cat temperatures to prolong its life. If you don't run a cat or don't care how long it lasts, then its no worry.

If they're not an experienced rotary tuner, I wouldn't go near them.