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Retune HKS f-con iS or reflash ECU?


Aerosmith
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Hi there,

 

i posted this in legacy forums but because HKS f-con can be used on many other cars, i thought of asking you guys for advice.

 

my 2007 LGT 2.5 has a piggyback HKS f-con iS currently.

when i bought the car, there was a problem with the tuning, at 70km/h and 5th gear, stepping on pedal will cause jerking, have to manually downshift. previous owner told me need to retune.

however, some of my friends told me it would be better to remove the piggyback and go for direct reflash because it is cheaper and the ecu have direct control whereas the piggyback is more or less a bypass which is inferior. but i was thinking how can a $3k hardware be inferior? hope pros in here can advise.

the current quote for reflash is $500, retune of HKS is about $650.

 

1. how much can a HKS f-con iS be sold for in the market, estimated price will do.

2. is reflash better or retune better in terms of performance.

 

Thanks a lot.

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however, some of my friends told me it would be better to remove the piggyback and go for direct reflash because it is cheaper and the ecu have direct control whereas the piggyback is more or less a bypass which is inferior. but i was thinking how can a $3k hardware be inferior?

 

You really think a $3k reverse-engineered ECU is better than Subaru's own ECU?

 

Don't bother with aftermarket ECU. Reflash is easier, safer & more readily available. If your budget is $3k, you can go for expensive reflash like ECUTek.

 

Are there any hardware changes before the previous owner sold it to you (e.g. dekit)? If not why is there a need to retune. Is the original tune wrong?

 

Tuner is also important. I don't think there are many do f-con. But ECUTek, open source etc there are many tuners. Ask around, esp subaru & legacy forums, which tuners to go for and which to avoid.

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You really think a $3k reverse-engineered ECU is better than Subaru's own ECU?

 

Don't bother with aftermarket ECU. Reflash is easier, safer & more readily available. If your budget is $3k, you can go for expensive reflash like ECUTek.

 

Are there any hardware changes before the previous owner sold it to you (e.g. dekit)? If not why is there a need to retune. Is the original tune wrong?

 

Tuner is also important. I don't think there are many do f-con. But ECUTek, open source etc there are many tuners. Ask around, esp subaru & legacy forums, which tuners to go for and which to avoid.

 

thanks for advice.

 

what you said is true and logical, i also agree. but i still wonder why is there a market for piggyback then?

the previous owner is very honest guy, he no dekit, he did gearbox rebuild and thus need retune, but since problem was not serious to him, he drove in that state for the last one year. but i feel safer with a retune.

 

anyone knows how much the hks f-con iS can fetch in used market? or will workshop buy back?

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fcon got no resale mkt.

i try to sell a fcon sz 5 years ago. i drop till $300, still no ppl buy.

 

tuning at gr is expensive.

 

most subaru use reflash.

if other car want to use it , they need to redo harness Which is v exp.

 

gr will allow u to trade in, only When u buy their fcon v pro @ 5k++ lol.

 

piggy back with never be better than stanalone ecu.

 

stay with re flash.

 

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(edited)

thanks a lot guys, i forget to inform you that the LGT is not stock, its about 460bhp.

does it mean ECU retune is not possible, thats why need piggyback?

Edited by Aerosmith
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Neutral Newbie

A good piggyback allows for higher resolution mapping and on the fly adjustment of diff profile mapping. Sports, eco, fun mode. Higher resolution allows u to play with different settings in smaller increment, squeezing marginal gains required by motor sports racing. Of course u will need a darn good tuner who knows what he is doing to maximise your gain. Since you already have the hks why not spend a hundred to tune it, reflashing your stock ecu would probably be in the same region

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fcon got no resale mkt.

i try to sell a fcon sz 5 years ago. i drop till $300, still no ppl buy.

 

tuning at gr is expensive.

 

most subaru use reflash.

if other car want to use it , they need to redo harness Which is v exp.

 

gr will allow u to trade in, only When u buy their fcon v pro @ 5k++ lol.

 

piggy back with never be better than stanalone ecu.

 

stay with re flash.

 

 

haha i tried to sell my sz here couple of years back too. end up sold it for $200 but buyer doesnt want the harness. think he is using it on a MRS while my harness is for subaru.

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