[FSociety]

Originally Posted by AlexGT

I have the M Performance Style 405 forged 19" wheels... I think that is one of my problems now, I did the comparative numbers and I drop 2 lbs on each wheel and tire on the front and 4.2lbs on each on the rear! So with Racechip giving so much torque and in addition of the ER catted downpipe, lighter wheels made my car loose so much traction it gets scary sometimes.

So my advice is, stick with the OEM wheels if your doing Racechip and Downpipe upgrade

OEM loose traction even faster lol #Cheapyear LS-2 do

Originally Posted by Guyhim1

I installed my RC about two weeks ago so here is my short review:
Installation was straight forward ( honestly the hardest part was to unlock the sensors)
I let the car sit for 20 min prior to disconnecting anything. i put the unit on the top right under the black plastic cover - it sits great and not moving.

first start- no CEL or issues.
first drive- took around the block on the way to the highway- did not notice a big change but there is a million stop signs in my block .
Noise- can def hear the whistle/air suction more ( i have an aFE as well)

on the highway -first drive on the highway - nice difference in acceleration biggest change that actually got me by surprise was when i floored it at around 40MPH and the car jumped forward !

200 miles on it now- No issues at all. very happy with it
i send a email to paul from RC regrading upping the map after i found a gas station that sells race gas so now i can mix to get higher octane. He is super responsive and customer service is great. he is looking into what mix i should do and what map to use to maximize the chip .

Right now i am using 91 octane and AFE intake. i am waiting fir dinan to finally release their S2 Power kit and see whats that all about , although it will prob be around the 5-6K

Congrats! are you on B setting (stock) ?
If you go on RaceGas you can prob go up to F,0,1,2,3,4 range (But I recommend going up 1 setting at a time)

I know pdawg went up to 5
I've only reached 4, haven't tried 5 yet but i will end of month at the Dyno

[Guyhim1]

yes i am on B1. Paul said i should try C then D.
will up to C this weekend. can anyone recommend what mix i should do with 91 Octane and a 100 Octane ?>

[FSociety]

Originally Posted by Guyhim1

yes i am on B1. Paul said i should try C then D.
will up to C this weekend. can anyone recommend what mix i should do with 91 Octane and a 100 Octane ?>

The stations that have 93 in SoCal are they really 91 ?
I visited for a few days early Feb and I saw 93, 91, and don't recall if it was 89 or 87.
I wouldn't recommend beyond F on 91 octane, RC-Germany has 98 RON which is 93 Octane USA.

[Guyhim1]

i wont go over D prob . yup we only have 91...and that premium lol

[FSociety]

Originally Posted by Guyhim1

i wont go over D prob . yup we only have 91...and that premium lol

So you're telling me 93 in Cali is really 91? 91 is really 89 and 89 is really 87 ? lol
At the pump you're filling says 93 or 91 ?

[Guyhim1]

haha the pump says 91... does not say 93

[FSociety]

Originally Posted by Guyhim1

haha the pump says 91... does not say 93

There's 93 then I filled up at ARCO and 76Gas in Santa Monica

[Guyhim1]

yeah for sure. i live in SF area and i need to travel around 30 miles to get 93. but i did find a place to have 100 so thinking of mixing it,,,

[Béhème]

Question from the naive: if the maximum safe increase in boost with premium gas and no other mods is in the range of 3-4 psi (BMS Stage 1, JB4 map1, AFE Scorcher, etc.) why would you get more power out of the RC ? Isn’t it the same maximum safe boost under full throttle?

[cgeaves]

Forgive me if this has already been discussed. What does the "plug" do (that comes with RC) Does it simply put you back to stock without removing the wiring harness? I installed the RC last weekend and I honestly don't notice a seat of the pants difference. I've been making runs with it plugged into the module and then unplugging from the module and putting the "plug" in to compare. I have no way of quantifying the power change other than seat of the pants which is a poor scientific experiment but I was hoping that would be all that would be necessary!! Human nature is such that we believe what we want to believe especially when we have spent money on it!! I do think it has affected my mpg's positively although I won't know for sure until I fill up this weekend and check the mileage. I never trust the mpg's that a car's computer tells me. I always check it the old fashioned way with a calculator (miles traveled divided by gallons used).

I've also been interested in the discussion about how to plug in the harness. There are absolutely no instructions with this purchase which is ridiculous!! I've read that it doesn't matter.....that the module will "figure it out" regardless of how you hook it up. That may be but I contacted the vendor I purchased this from and he had no clue so he contacted the manufacturer and 5 days later came back with the verdict that the harness with the yellow wire should be plugged in on the right and the harness with the white wire should be plugged in on the left. For what it is worth I have now had it plugged in both ways and my car seems to perform similarly. In fact it doesn't seem to matter what I do......it seems all the same. When I give it throttle from a dead stop in sport+ it will not break the tires loose but when the rpm's get up to 5k or so the tires will break loose a little in 1st and again in 2nd.

Thoughts???

[cgeaves]

Originally Posted by cgeaves

Forgive me if this has already been discussed. What does the "plug" do (that comes with RC) Does it simply put you back to stock without removing the wiring harness? I installed the RC last weekend and I honestly don't notice a seat of the pants difference. I've been making runs with it plugged into the module and then unplugging from the module and putting the "plug" in to compare. I have no way of quantifying the power change other than seat of the pants which is a poor scientific experiment but I was hoping that would be all that would be necessary!! Human nature is such that we believe what we want to believe especially when we have spent money on it!! I do think it has affected my mpg's positively although I won't know for sure until I fill up this weekend and check the mileage. I never trust the mpg's that a car's computer tells me. I always check it the old fashioned way with a calculator (miles traveled divided by gallons used).

I've also been interested in the discussion about how to plug in the harness. There are absolutely no instructions with this purchase which is ridiculous!! I've read that it doesn't matter.....that the module will "figure it out" regardless of how you hook it up. That may be but I contacted the vendor I purchased this from and he had no clue so he contacted the manufacturer and 5 days later came back with the verdict that the harness with the yellow wire should be plugged in on the right and the harness with the white wire should be plugged in on the left. For what it is worth I have now had it plugged in both ways and my car seems to perform similarly. In fact it doesn't seem to matter what I do......it seems all the same. When I give it throttle from a dead stop in sport+ it will not break the tires loose but when the rpm's get up to 5k or so the tires will break loose a little in 1st and again in 2nd.

Thoughts???

FWIW I drive a '14 M235i with Dinan exhaust and AFE drop in. My RC is set on the factory original "B".

[M2-BM35i]

Perhaps a faulty unit...

[FSociety]

Originally Posted by Béhème

Question from the naive: if the maximum safe increase in boost with premium gas and no other mods is in the range of 3-4 psi (BMS Stage 1, JB4 map1, AFE Scorcher, etc.) why would you get more power out of the RC ? Isn’t it the same maximum safe boost under full throttle?

Your vehicle vs another person's same vehicle will not always be 100% the same, different engine tolerance, weather, gas, tires, even mods. I think AlexGT Delnari chaddy74 will be able to tell you soon what's the most boost they've seen so far, each of them have different mods.
I'm testing my RC above F to see its tolerance with my engine without any mods. And I've seen 21-22 boost (for me 17 is stock I believe)

Originally Posted by cgeaves

Forgive me if this has already been discussed. What does the "plug" do (that comes with RC) Does it simply put you back to stock without removing the wiring harness? I installed the RC last weekend and I honestly don't notice a seat of the pants difference. I've been making runs with it plugged into the module and then unplugging from the module and putting the "plug" in to compare. I have no way of quantifying the power change other than seat of the pants which is a poor scientific experiment but I was hoping that would be all that would be necessary!! Human nature is such that we believe what we want to believe especially when we have spent money on it!! I do think it has affected my mpg's positively although I won't know for sure until I fill up this weekend and check the mileage. I never trust the mpg's that a car's computer tells me. I always check it the old fashioned way with a calculator (miles traveled divided by gallons used).

I've also been interested in the discussion about how to plug in the harness. There are absolutely no instructions with this purchase which is ridiculous!! I've read that it doesn't matter.....that the module will "figure it out" regardless of how you hook it up. That may be but I contacted the vendor I purchased this from and he had no clue so he contacted the manufacturer and 5 days later came back with the verdict that the harness with the yellow wire should be plugged in on the right and the harness with the white wire should be plugged in on the left. For what it is worth I have now had it plugged in both ways and my car seems to perform similarly. In fact it doesn't seem to matter what I do......it seems all the same. When I give it throttle from a dead stop in sport+ it will not break the tires loose but when the rpm's get up to 5k or so the tires will break loose a little in 1st and again in 2nd.
Thoughts???

Originally Posted by cgeaves

FWIW I drive a '14 M235i with Dinan exhaust and AFE drop in. My RC is set on the factory original "B".

So yes the dummy is suppose to revert it back to stock, lets say you have tested a few settings and no errors or whatever and example you reach "4 or 5" and u get an error mesg or CEL , you can either plug the dummy and continue driving (CEL will clear) but need to revert 2 ticks down (that will be your safest maximum) before you plug in RC unit .
The stock setting is a optimal balance for MPG improvement and minor performance improvement, as you increase each setting will get performance higher.
If you've driven 20-30 miles and don't feel anything its because each engine will react a little different to it. Increase 1 setting up to C drive 20-30 miles (normal at first, then full throttles to see how it feels for you).
Test 1 increase and let us know.

My friend with 550 is happy on B, mine came on C but I have tested it for the past 4 months in each setting to notice the big difference (2 ticks above stock due to my weaker engine). My other pal noticed big change 1 tick above on his F15 50i.
I know Alex is still on stock B (but has perf mods), Chaddy is on F, and Delnari is prob heading to C by now.

[Béhème]

Originally Posted by ROBNYC

..........I'm testing my RC above F to see its tolerance with my engine without any mods. And I've seen 21-22 boost (for me 17 is stock I believe)

.

Stock boost is, to my knowledge, 10-11 PSI.

[Delnari]

If you are not hearing or feeling a different in acceleration your unit is not working. Again this is the best Stage 1 piggyback I have installed to date. The difference with the RC Ultimate is tuning the faster processor can give compared to similar MAP sensor only units. They claim boost is not as high as competitors. They can manipulate signal adjustments faster with the more powerful computer. I'm a believer!

[AlexGT]

Originally Posted by Delnari

If you are not hearing or feeling a different in acceleration your unit is not working. Again this is the best Stage 1 piggyback I have installed to date. The difference with the RC Ultimate is tuning the faster processor can give compared to similar MAP sensor only units. They claim boost is not as high as competitors. They can manipulate signal adjustments faster with the more powerful computer. I'm a believer!

I have to second Delnari on this. I'm very glad that he specifically is making this kind of review for the RC Ultimate because he has used other brands in the past (not as me that this is actually my first piggy back ever).

And that the unit does not come with detailed installation instructions, no big deal, at the beginning I was confused too, but then (with a little help from pals on this forum) I understood where those cables go and that manufacturers claim that either one goes to either sensor connector, it worked for me without a problem.

I suggest you claim your warranty with your vendor.

[Béhème]

Originally Posted by Delnari

....................They claim boost is not as high as competitors. They can manipulate signal adjustments faster with the more powerful computer. I'm a believer!

Not sure I understand. What else than more boost could result in more power ???

[cgeaves]

Thanks for the responses. Those of you who have the RC installed.....can you break your tires loose off of the line?

[Delnari]

Originally Posted by Béhème

Not sure I understand. What else than more boost could result in more power ???

Someone had posted a European article comparing the top piggyback units on the market for the M235i in Europe. If you search you find the article showing the top performing units. The RC Ultimate finished in the top section explaining how it delivered more performance with less boost than some of it's competitors. Making power is more than just making more boost.

[G-Mann]

Great feedback, Alex, chaddy and Delnari. I might give this a spin after my 10k maintenance in a couple months.

Chaddy, I understand your the only one running it with a cat-less DP and not throwing any codes. What is the list price on the RaceChip?

[chaddy74]

Mate Im running a catted DP 200 cel !! The ER provided zero gains over the high flow catted option and of course the car is happier.

My advise on exhaust is catted 200 cel DP "stock mid pipe" and a high flow axle back section and muffler.

Chaddy, I understand your the only one running it with a cat-less DP and not throwing any codes. What is the list price on the RaceChip?[/QUOTE]

[chaddy74]

There are several factors to making power, boost is only one aspect.... important of course but other things like airflow, IAT temps,timing , engine load and AFR's play an equally important role to making good power. Although I dont believe the RC alters AFR it does a very good job on other areas to provides clean solid power BUMP with equally as good delivery.

Originally Posted by Béhème

Not sure I understand. What else than more boost could result in more power ???