PDXEvo

iTrader: (4)

I have had the Unichip in my car now for about 4 weeks. Before getting into all the details, I just want to state that I am very happy with the overall results. The device has given me a noticeable increase in power, acceleration, and driving pleasure. All of this without any drivability issues, hiccups, or strange / erratic car behavior. The car is completely stock so all these numbers and information are based strictly on the addition of the Unichip device.

Installation:
The downfall with most piggy back type devices is that they need to be wired into your stock ECU somehow. The Unichip is no different than many other piggy back solutions, and it does require some ECU wire splicing. However, Perrin will be providing some very easy to use clips, along with very clear instruction on which wires will need to be joined to use the device. I would say that the entire installation can be done in about an hour, if you are familiar with wiring diagrams. It will also be necessary to remove the intake to easily access the ECU harness and create a clean installation. Fortunately, this is a very easy process, and doesn’t take much time.


Dyno Results:
Coming into this, I wanted to compare my car against the base Evo that Perrin has. The only difference is that I have the factory ECU update on my car. As you can see, we had very similar results. Though I was off by about 14 WHP when compared to the Perrin Evo X, we still made very similar numbers.




The Tune:
Next, with the Unichip installed and ready to go, Perrin installed the Stage 1 Evo X base map. The change was quite dramatic immediately on the dyno. The car really sounded stronger, and smoother, in the top end. Another noticeable change was the boost curve. It was quite a bit smoother, over the MBC, and held nicely at 23psi before dropping down to ~17psi at redline. Perrin is currently investigating some different methods for holding boost a little longer and there may be updates to this later. Take a peek at the Dyno results below:




As you can see the Unichip helped pick up 44.1 ft/lb of Torque and 55.9 WHP. More importantly, the X picked up a lot of power across the entire range of the run, and not just a peak number. This nets more power through the entire acceleration curve, and is VERY noticeable on the street.

Other Comparison:
Since I used this Dyno quite a bit on my Evo VIII, I thought it would be interesting to show the differences in how the two cars perform. Seeing this chart really showed me how much more powerful the base X is over the VIII. In this Dyno comparison my VIII had 264/272 cams, TBE + Cat delete, Intake, and EBC running 22 psi tapering to 19psi at redline, and a UTEC computer tune. All that work and money gave me a car that had 313whp and 311 ft/lb of torque. With the X, just a simple Unichip installation is giving me 318 ft/lb of torque and 313whp! Even with the weight differential, it is obvious that you are going to get a lot more for your money with the X when it comes to your final numbers!

Another interesting thing to notice is how the X is building boost a bit quicker the VIII did, and holding power all the way to redline. Something the VIII always had issues doing. I would contribute this behavior to the MIVEC system in the X, which is obviously showing quite a bit of benefit for the design. Dyno charts below:





Three Weeks of Driving:
When it comes to performance parts, I am on picky s.o.b. It is very important to me that whenever I add a part to my car, that it doesn’t completely ruin some other function of my vehicle. As such, I am happy to say that I have no complaints about the Unichip design. After several weeks of driving around, I have been unable to identify any drivability issues with the design at all. There is no noticeable “tip in” point, and the car responds much quicker to throttle changes then it ever did before.
I have also found that the handling system seems to be unaffected by the changes! Granted, with all the new found power, I have found myself losing traction a bit more often in accelerated turns, but it sure is damn fun!
Under controlled cornering, I did not feel any noticeable loss of control, or instabilities from the Unichip. The car still holds line perfectly, and the ACD+S-AYC systems still operate normally, without any issues. There were no ASC error lights or codes created from the Unichip installation or usage.
Gas mileage stayed the same as it did prior to the Unichip installation. This is no surprise since the device does nothing until you build a certain amount of boost. There were also no part throttle issues, highway, or high gear issues to report either.

Final Thoughts:
I have found the Unichip to be a great solution and I am very happy with the results I have seen with it. I highly recommend it to anyone that is looking to add more power, and smooth out those acceleration curves! For more information, contact Perrin Performance @ www.perrinperformance.com

Thanks!
Chris

Mightygnu

iTrader: (4)

Congratulations! Althought I still am not a fan of the UniChip, glad to see some results!

madfast

any installation pics coming? i don't see why you'd have to take off the intake. the intake looks relatively out of the way. either that or how far in are you making the connections?

the only problem i see with the unichip is the cost savings of having to splice into factory wiring isn't worth it if an aggressive dealer spots the splices and voids your warranty. totally reversible mods ftw!

Mightygnu

iTrader: (4)

Yes, splicing is no fun. Need a PnP harness hehe.

PDXEvo

iTrader: (4)

My current installation is kind of sloppy right now, but I can take a pic and post it tomorrow. I'm not normally a fan of piggy back devices myself, due to all the issues that have been known to occur in the past on such devices, however, the Unichip doesn't seem to have any of these issues. The product has really matured over the last few years!

Tunerhead

iTrader: (2)

Nice.....good Unichip review.

wspy

Pics please

mksevo

I agree with others, in this day and age, it should be Plug and play. anyone will pay the extra 30-40 dollars for a wiring harness. this keeps it clean and simple and easy to remove. It sound like a very nice product. can you do any tuning to it yourself.

TTP Engineering

iTrader: (465)

Does that dynochart really say "Flywheel HP and TQ"?

STi2EvoX

^ yeah WTF?

forreal

Nice review... ^^ Yea, flywheel horsepower... Huh?

Could you add in a pic of the A/F ratio curve b4 and after + what type of gas?

PDXEvo

iTrader: (4)

Ill see if I can get the graph of the AFR's. Doesn't matter what the chart says, all that matters is that the runs were done with all the same settings and the comparisons are the same. The only thing really worth focusing on is the difference of the before and after, not the peak power. I can run on a different dyno and have it say I have 400 horses. As always, best to focus on the facts, and they currently show that the increase in power was ~55. As to what my real WHP number is, who knows.