rtm4676

Im at a cross roads, Im likely to be changing my exhaust soon which will probably be a straight through 'no cat' system. With the exhaust change, I have read over and over again that the car should get mapped(d cat). Ive spoken with others that say fit an air fuel ratio guage and if it reads ok and not running lean your ok. Also I should fit a boost controller at least 2 stage. Does any of this make sense? Or is it a case of - get an ecu upgrade and be done???

Last question, Im unlikely to go for anything power wise outside of 320-330bhp, if the ECU upgrade is the only way to go, does it need to be Apexi or is a Unichip a serious alternative? Im not trying to sound mean but having spent quite a bit so far on handling etc and still further investment needed to get her right tight I dont really want to be spending £800 on a Apexi remap if something else would work? The Unichip is around £500, £300 cheaper and would allow me to finish off other things. Or will a air/fuel monitor be enough?

Opinions/advice needed

Slowboy Racing

ECUTEK, Apexi power FC, SimteK in that order of pricing.

Fitment depends on what year car you have ?

Running a car with just a decat won't give you any problems as such, however some cars may suffer boost spike which can be addressed by an electronic boost controller or other methods, a boost gauge is a must to monitor this.

To get anywhere near your quoted figure a Remap or replacement ECU is the way forward.

rtm4676

I have a V4 type r. Sorry I missed that part. So, are we saying that a straight through 3" without the cats will be ok without the need to remap? I have a boost gauge which is holding well at 1.1bar and spiking at around 1.25 before settling straight back and holding steady.

Any thoughts re the boost controller, I dont want to throw loads of coin at this, my money's going towards the handling.

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Also, if the OP's car is pre Sep.97, MY93-96, then don't forget the ESL Live which is about £100 cheaper than a brand new supplied fitted and mapped PFC and Commander.

Best of all ESL have just released a MAFless version of the little sucker! (soon to be released for MY97/98 too!).

rtm4676

She's one of the last V4's (1998), just before the september change to the V5's

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

If money's the limiting factor, then IMO your best option is to get a 2nd hand PFC on here (or ebay). They're always available - especially for the 3/4 (and 5/6) cars.

Prob pick one up (with Commander) for no more than £350 these days. Then JGM can travel to you to map for £250 +VAT. So that's a total of about £640.

Unfortunately, unless you find a second hand PFC WITHOUT the Commander, you're not gonna be able to do it for much less than this sort of ball park figure.

rtm4676

So your thoughts are to remap and not just run the dcat without? There was PFC which sold on ebay for £330, the guy confused me when he said the ports/pins were the "fat type and he needed the thin type" thats his words not mine. I live close to Andy F so I guess that would be an option. Im still going to be the thick end of £650 potentially. Im not trying to scrimp just find the balance, having run the car at Knockhill yesterday she's pretty quick hence why Im looking to spend my money more on stiffening the car. However the exhaust needs looking at hence the whole D cat question...

Jolly Green Monster

iTrader: (4)

Go see Andy F

joz8968

iTrader: (13)

Sorry, didn't look at OP's location.