sweet old post. cant wait to get my set-up finished! but its in the works!

 

I've read too many threads about going to a 19% pulley. I want some power but total reliability. Randy Webb is not too keen on going to anything above a 15% pulley.

 

Total reliability needed? Then stick with what Randy recommended.

He's tracked his MCS with various sized pulley upgrades and it is possible to have things break down. Track duty is very hard on any car.

My 19% pulley is fine, my belts get changed ready or not every 6 to 12 months. Only once I had one that was a little fraying- it's possible it was a defective belt because I did 95% street driving and it was only about 6 months since the last belt change.

 

RC injectors are some of the worse products on the market. my tuner won't use them anymore because they have caused his way too many tuning problems! sticking open or closed. they are absolute crap!

 

GIAC offers a program for the 15% pulley/CAI/Exhaust. I purchased it and it smoothed everything out, pulling all the mods together. The GIAC changes your rev limiter to 7200 and advances timing but thats it. I felt it improved things but was still running pig rich so I wanted try something else.

I met John of LDG at the Dragon and I got a tune there however my car was not 100% and John wasn't happy with the tune he was able to accomplish. Apparently a problem was that my belt was slipping a bit. Once home I put on a new belt and went to a Dyno. Sent my ECU and new dyno info to John and he re-flashed my ECU. Got it back two days ago.

The LDG tune for 15%/CAI/Exhaust - considerably more tables are modified. The car feels better in everyway over the GIAC (and I liked the GIAC). I was not able to Dyno this weekend (John wants to see the data) but am scheduled for next weekend.

 

I have 15% pulley, CAI and Milltek and the GIAC has really smoothed out the car (It is like night and day). Although another Vendor beat me up over my decision I am very happy and satisfied with the way the car runs and could not be happier.

Like BahamaBart has said it really ties the mods together.

 

Couldn't agree more. Extremely smooth.

Still curious how a LDG tune could be that much better.

 

I've had the 19%/380cc/GIAC kit for a few months now and I love it!!

I used to have a 15% & MTH Tuner and think the 19% kit does improve the power a little, but the real advantage is that it makes the available power much lower in the RPM range and a lot smoother!

I believe LDG can get a few more HP than GIAC, but GIAC has proved to be very good at what it is meant to do: get all mods to work together and a smooth power delivery!

 

Ok-But how much more power do you think I would get? (5HP?). Look I admit I don't know what the advantage is over Alta 15% Pulley,DensoIK22's,Webb CAI and RAF,and Milltec Cat Back Exhaust. I've noticed my car has better torque low down since I put in the Webb and the exhuast sounds nice. The now feels slightly quicker then an 07 Cooper S that I recently drove.It sounds like with GIAC the power will be slightly smoother and I can rev the engine to 7200. Therefore is the power curve higher up on the rev range?Would I benefit more from a Shrick Cam? I'm asking because I don't know. I will not do a throttle body and I don't see any need to change injectors with a 15% pulley.

 

If all upgrades are the same with 15% pulley then the difference between GIAC and LDG flash will be small probably only a few HP maybe less than 5 but I don't know how the total power curve will vary. Power varies at different rpms so merely saying that one has more HP doesn't mean as much if it is only 5 more above 7000 rpm and mostly the same HP plus or minus 1-2 HP all along the rpm range. Torque varies same deal. You want the curve to rise sharply early then flatten over a long rpm range and peak before 6800 rpm then fall off.

Shrick cam? No, not unless you add a Jesus Head or similar upgrade. Gains are too small and labor cost too high to add cam alone.

Larger throttlebody not high yield even though it is not difficult.

You money much better spent on suspension upgrades/tuning and light rims and the stickiest tires you can find.

 

Next question. Would a header give me any significant power gains or is it much like doing a cam(Lots in labor but little to show for it)? Sounds like after the ecu flash you would need to spend major money to get an aditional 20 HP.What about changing out the IC? Is it a worth while change for power or or is it more for longevity of the engine components?Since my car came with the aero kit I was thinking of going with Dinan for the suspension. I'm concerned that lowering my car over 1/2 inch will cause it to hit speed bumps

 

The bottleneck is the head. If you are considering a head and cam then GIAC is definitely not for you because it's not tuned for it, period. GIAC was tuned on a car with stock everything except CAI and exhaust, plus the pulley and injectors specified. It works fine with a header (which actually helps get rid of that annoying "overboost light" where the DSC stops working at 18.5psi) but any more significant mods will require a custom tune, which GIAC does not do. The LDG canned tune does allow the option of custom adjustments later.

GIAC is for someone with the discipline to stop at a reasonable point, and who has bolt-on mods but wants better drivability than the lumpy mess that commonly results from a random assortment of cobbled-together aftermarket parts. It even drives more smoothly than stock, which makes the car feel a lot more expensive. But it is clearly not for someone who cares only for that last 5hp.

BTW don't you think a thread about GIAC for 19% and larger injectors is the wrong place to be asking about cams, intercoolers and lowering (or for that matter the 15% GIAC, which has its own thread)?

 

Absolutley, well said!

 

Hi all, I did a search for "GIAC" and this thread came up. Who sells GIAC? Is there a vendor link somewhere? Thanks for any info. .

 

You can search on GIAC's website. I don't know which region of California is closest to you, but here is the main GIAC dealer page for California.

http://www.giacusa.com/dealers.php?s...%20South%20Bay

Retail price for the flash is $325. Some places choose to charge an install fee which can range depending on the shop. Since there is such an abundance of shops in the area, you might be able to call around and find one that doesn't charge the install fee.

 

heres my impression: after having my 19% for 10,000 miles without a tune or injectors, I was very ready for giac.

first was the smoothness: before the flash the car felt good to me but people said it was a bit harsh of a ride. Now when you get on and off the gas it is a very smooth transistion into power. finally the car knows what to do with my boost crazyness.

power: the car doesnt feel quite as strong on the low end, but this goes right back to the smoothness factor. I think it feels slower cause I dont feel the boost coming on as hard. where you gain the power is in the mid and high range. I was really surprised at how much better the car feels now going through the whole rpm range.

I'm glad I got the flash, but of course a custom tune is going to be better, but a drive to LDG would have been far to long. car feels very smooth now and it really rips.

thanks: (here is the sappy part) thanx to my speed shop, Autometrics Motorsports for all the help with my car and the flash. thanx to HELIX for just a phone #, but it made my day go a LOT faster with their help. Thanx to johan for the great deal on the injectors. and thanx to all of you for making me want a faster mini.