Been running the tune for a bit now. I’m going to be doing a bunch of logging, swapping back to the stock ecu and comparing, etc. I’ll give you guys my initial review, which I’ll revise over time. I was going to hold off posting for awhile, but Count was cool with it, and it’s not fair to keep you guys in the dark! I know another member or two is testing as well, feel free to add to this.
While limited by the torque converter, there is a much improved responsiveness in the lower rpm range, this ties in with a more linear pedal response. I was pleasantly surprised by this.
In regards to pedal/throttle response. The car feels smoother and more luxurious, if I baby the throttle the car responds very smoothly, just like a daily driver should. It used to be a bit jerky due to throttle delay, this has been eliminated. An example would be if I was cruising 40-50km/h at 1800rpm, then punched the gas. there would be a lag and the car would jerk forward, but it wouldn’t accelerate much. Now if I do this the car responds smoothly and instantly, with noticeably improved acceleration, which further increases once I hit 3200 RPM.
In talking to the calibrator, this was the tricky part, dialing in the pedal to respond accurately to the driver while giving improved acceleration. Pedal modulation is so much easier than it was before. Try it on a stock TIP 3.0, punch the gas a few times while cruising, it will go jerk jerk jerk*, the tach needle will go up a bit but it won’t accelerate much. Then try it on a JHM tuned 3.0, the car will go vroom vroom vroom, surging forward with each punch.
Speaking of 3200 RPM, the power gain after 3200 RPM is incredible for a stock tune. I am trying to write this factually with no emotion, but it really is very impressive. This is due to the torque converter locking. When accelerating from a stop you can actually watch the tachometer needle practically jump as soon as you hit 3200 rpm, the car then pulls very strongly all the way to 7200 rpm (I think?)
In critiquing the tune, I can’t really say anything negative about the tune itself. I don’t forsee there being any noticeable improvement to be made on it.
I drove my car A LOT right before getting the tune, noting carefully how the car responded to various input. I probably put in about 4-500kms of very critical driving, I felt very in-tune with how the car responded in every gear and across the whole powerband before swapping ECU’s. In doing that the only thing I could see someone possibly complaining about would be the pedal response. You might find yourself pushing it a bit farther than you are used to. The pedal has been VERY fine-tuned to respond as smoothly as possible. I was testing the cars responsiveness while shifting under 3k rpm, and I found the pedal needed to be pushed in a bit more than normal. However I soon realized that I was going well over the speed limit, this is due to much more low end acceleration than I’m used to.
OK all the technical stuff aside. The car feels exactly like it should stock. I’m curious to see how my gas mileage improves once I stop driving like a 16yr old in his new Honda civic. I imagine it will get better, just based on how much smoother the car is. It’s actually easier to drive like a granny now, if that makes any sense.
What I can’t put into words is how the car feels. I can’t imagine how it will feel for the manual guys, as they will get so much more response in the low end. The car even sounds better, much more refined. Compared to stock I think it almost sounded like the car was struggling if you went WOT, and after about 5000 rpm it sounded strained as it wasn’t giving out much more power. I’ll have to get some sound clips as I really cannot describe it. You can literally hear the car making more power all the way to redline.
The car is just begging for an unrestricted exhaust and TCU tune. If you got WOT with the stock car, it feels like it’s giving everything it’s got. If you go WOT with the tune, it is clearly much better, but now feels like the car is being held back. For me as an auto, the low end is still lacking, the TCU tune is essential to get the extra low end power as well as improved shifting.
As an aside I took the GF for a spin after I put the ECU in. She actually came over to watch me install it. After hearing me talk about the 3.0 progression over the past little while she was pretty curious to see what all the fuss was about. I took the car out and just cruised around at low rpms. Here’s how the conversation went, pretty much word for word.
Me: "oh cool, definitely an improved throttle response, see how the rpms go up as I push the pedal?:
her: “omg just floor it”
went WOT from a dig for a few gears, then stopped
Me: “wow…”
her: “you are trying so hard not to smile right now aren’t you?”
In closing, the tune gets a 10/10 from me right off the bat. It does exactly what a tune should on a stock car, noone can put this in their 3.0 and not be impressed. I think the manual guys are going to be blown away, they will get a lot of oomph that I was unable to experience due to my transmission. I am completely happy with the performance. That being said, now that I know what the simple tune can do, I can guarantee I will be getting the DP’s and TCU tune, and whatever other hardware becomes available in the future. The worst part about beta testing is that I’ll have to switch back to my anemic stock ECU at some points :-\
I think from what I’ve said it’s clear JHM didn’t ask me to write any of this. I’m only writing this so that anyone interesting in getting the tune when it is released will be well-informed of what they will be receiving. I hope this is thorough enough, I could go on for a lot longer lol. If you have any questions at all post em up.
