So as some of you know, I was the first to get the Active Autowerk ECU tune flashed into my '07 Z4MC via the OBD2 port. Let it be known to all that I was just as skeptical as any of you potential buyers out there. Not because I don't trust AA's work, but because this is a relatively new tune and I originally only felt minimal gains at best while trying to be unbiased.
However after I had driven a couple hundred miles and allowed the ECU to adapt, as well as disconnecting the battery overnight to reset the ECU and also resetting throttle adaptation, I began to feel a difference in the low to mid-range increase in acceleration as well as better cold start and smoother part-throttle responses. At this point in time though, I still was not sure if I was fully happy with my money spent. However, since JSW (Jlevi Street Werks) provided me a full money-back guarantee no questions asked, I decided to give the ECU some further testing prior to making any rash decisions.
So I proceeded to do a full track day @ Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca yesterday (Monday). No fault codes, no hiccups, no mess. Nothing but pure bliss. I was EXTREMELY impressed with the power delivery, especially in sport mode
I'm going back to Laguna again on Nov. 27th woot!
And I drove with DSC off all day at the track, if anyone wanted to know lol. This car is simply amazing for the market niche it competes in. Hands down, BMW did a superb job with the all-around performance of this car. But then at this point, I was only half convinced. What if it was just by butt dyno or the placebo effect taking hold?
There was only one thing left to do. Put the car back on the dyno and compare the results with my baseline which I did just several weeks ago.
Well after having run the dyno today in mid-70 degree ambient weather, I have to say that for the money, I'm completely satisfied with the tune, especially for the relatively low cost compared to other tunes out there for our cars. I will not be asking JSW for my money back
My baseline dyno (as seen from the baseline thread I started here:
http://www.zpost.com/forums/showthread.php?t=433124 ) yielded 266rwhp and 237rwtq at best:
The "after" dyno yielded 293rwhp and 243rwtq at best:
^^
*The thicker more solid lines in the dyno represent present-day "after" runs. The two lighter less solid lines were from the "before" runs.
**The red, green, and dark blue "after" runs were with sport mode on
***The purple and light blue "after" runs were with sport mode off
Note that both dynos were on an otherwise stock car with the exact same DynaPack and the exact same operator. The only relevant information performance-wise for the car and dyno is that:
1) my baseline was done without any muffler cannisters on (was curious about the sound
and
2) my final dyno was with SuperSprint Race muffler cannisters on
Absolutely everything else was stock (except the ECU of course
).
All in all, the Active Autowerk ECU tune was able to yield me a peak 27rwhp increase, and a 6rwtq peak increase. But what those #'s don't tell you is the area under the torque curve that is inreased. If you compare the before and after dyno, you can see that the decline in torque is delayed by a significant amount, which helped to reach those hp gains. More area under the torque curve is always a good thing
I'm not sure how this tune will affect other people's cars, but considering mine was stock, I'd assume that the "adaptive" tune will allow for even more increase in hp and tq.
I'd like to give a shout out to Cal @ JSW for helping me out with this and other mods for my Z4MC. I'd recommend for anyone from NorCal to pay JSW (Jlevi Street Werks) headquarters a visit. They are located in Santa Clara, CA. and are a vendor for Active Autowerks. If you are not local, then you may have to find a vendor closer to you, or you might even have to send your ECU into AA headquarters in Florida.
