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U12 Bluebird, Pintara & Stanza => performance and handling => Topic started by: elly on Mar 8, 2009, 10:23AM

Title: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: elly on Mar 8, 2009, 10:23AM
Hey Guys, i've been looking around your online shop and im thinking about buying the stage 3 chip for my u12.
i just wanted to know a bit of information about it.
i've searched around allright, but not the exact info i guess im looking for.

wheres my ecu box located...?
i think i found it in the middle of the car under the dash and radio?

can anyone just install it or do i need to go to a mechanic?
and is the chip like unplug and plug new one in or is it soldered in?

and what would i see in performance wise?
i've already got 2.25" catback & extractors.

i can just skip stage 2 cant i?

Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: BILL*69 on Mar 8, 2009, 11:17AM
wheres my ecu box located...?
i think i found it in the middle of the car under the dash and radio?
Correct

can anyone just install it or do i need to go to a mechanic?
and is the chip like unplug and plug new one in or is it soldered in?
it is soldered in, you can do it yourself with teh correct skillz, but id assume on your behalf its probably a better idea to take it to a TV/Video repair kind of shop, get them to solder it in for you. if you do it yourself you will void any warranty that may exist whatsoever.

and what would i see in performance wise?
i've already got 2.25" catback & extractors.
it removes the flat spot at approix 2400rpm, and it will pull much harder through the rev range. it can increase economy, if you drive the car correctly. the rev limit is also increased, cant remember what to though.

i can just skip stage 2 cant i?
yes, but the effectiveness of the chip depends on the mods done to your car. i think with simple mods, a stage 2 is more appropriate, but i suppose stage 3 cant do any harm, its just suited to cars with a bit more grunt.

Anyone feel free to correct me if i was wrong anywhere here.
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: sxtacy on Mar 8, 2009, 11:58AM
I agree with the installation, you is possible to do it yourself, I have for 2 weeks, nearly there  :)

But to make life a hell of a lot easier just get a tv/video/computer shop to take out your old one and put in the new chip. And if they stuff it up, its easier to prove, than if you or a mate did it.
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: Vithy on Mar 8, 2009, 01:39PM
with installing the chip i would recommend getting it taken somewhere tv repair shop, automotive elect what ever and get at  socket put in. The socket allows you to remove and install chips so, say for example ya want to return the stock chip back in for wat ever reason you carefully remove the antrx chip and reinstall the stock chip. If ya get it soldered and ya want to return to stock again you will need to either have the chip de soldered and stock re soldered or have a spare stock ecu so you just swap it over.

it can increase economy, if you drive the car correctly.


incorrect it is gonna increase ya fuel economy no matter how ya drive (or atleast it does on my car lol) i been for numerous fangs in the hill, 5 gear pulls, lots of city driving and carrying passengers and im lookin at 500km wid 1/4 tank left, which compared to stock is brilliant :D but i am running 98 oct for bp which i had done so on stock ecu but didnt get awesome milage wid a bit of non fuel economic driving.

rev limiter change depends on wat ya ask nos to do for ya.....i think its raised to about 6.5k or 6.8k somewhere around their.

you will feel the difference in running the chip

i say get stage 3

im only running pod and z32 afm other than that car is stock. my exhaust manifold also has a large dent inwards reducing flow and chip still ran sweet as

i highly recommend a stage 3 chip DO IT!
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: sxtacy on Mar 8, 2009, 03:08PM
Just finished installing my stage 3 chip and although I only have a cold air intake at the moment the difference is amazing, just taken it for a ride around the block and you CAN actually feel more power! I can't wait until I get my exhaust done.

Go stage 3!
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: 91TR.X on Mar 8, 2009, 07:56PM
i was lucky to get 400 out of a full tank... so id consider it more economic!
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: elly on Mar 8, 2009, 07:59PM
allright sweet, ill get a stage 3 chip once i have the money.
i'd rather a professional did the job instead of myself.

thanks guys  ;D
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: chr1S on Mar 8, 2009, 10:58PM
I thought you had a fucking goat in the backseat.
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: Vithy on Mar 9, 2009, 03:54AM
I thought you had a fucking goat in the backseat.

bahhahahhahahha
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: nstg8a on May 10, 2009, 05:24PM

you will feel the difference in running the chip

i say get stage 3

im only running pod and z32 afm other than that car is stock. my exhaust manifold also has a large dent inwards reducing flow and chip still ran sweet as

i highly recommend a stage 3 chip DO IT!

so is there any negatives to a stage 3 in a stock or near stock car?

i hate doing things twice, so id rather go straight for the better chip straight away, and that way i dont have to think about it again, i can concentrate on other mods.

does a z32 or rb25 afm go on easy? or a bit of messing round?
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: Vithy on May 11, 2009, 02:30PM
z32 is a piece of piss all ya need to do is rewrie the new plug into the loom for the afm and have a rubber join of 76mm from autobarn which cost like $12 dollars and is basically plug and play....well worth it my fuel econ and performance of the car went up nicely

i highly recommend it. my car only has pod bog stock otherwise
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: nstg8a on May 11, 2009, 04:58PM
z32 is a piece of piss all ya need to do is rewrie the new plug into the loom for the afm and have a rubber join of 76mm from autobarn which cost like $12 dollars and is basically plug and play....well worth it my fuel econ and performance of the car went up nicely

i highly recommend it. my car only has pod bog stock otherwise

cheers for that, does the rb25 afm go on just as easy?


Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: veece on May 13, 2009, 12:52PM
stage 3 is no good for you!

a chip is pre writen and the stage numba means how modifed your engine must be for the chip to be effected.

1= standard 2= mid mods like intake, exhuast, and cam 3= highly modifed with head work, lumpy cam and cam set up to rev out high.

stage 2 wood give you the best bang for buck as stage 3 will remove fuel cuts but fuel and spark timing will be ineffective on your set up.

both stage 2 and 3 will remove the fuel cuts and flat spots
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: Habibosaurus on May 13, 2009, 01:00PM
stage 3 is no good for you!

a chip is pre writen and the stage numba means how modifed your engine must be for the chip to be effected.

1= standard 2= mid mods like intake, exhuast, and cam 3= highly modifed with head work, lumpy cam and cam set up to rev out high.

stage 2 wood give you the best bang for buck as stage 3 will remove fuel cuts but fuel and spark timing will be ineffective on your set up.

both stage 2 and 3 will remove the fuel cuts and flat spots

False although I see what your saying it makes more sense to get the stage 3 from the word go as when you do mod you car, you don't need to remove the stage lower chip and put in the higher stage chip which makes more economic sense. There are plenty of members who run stage 3 with next to no mods... i.e:


im only running pod and z32 afm other than that car is stock. my exhaust manifold also has a large dent inwards reducing flow and chip still ran sweet as

i highly recommend a stage 3 chip DO IT!

I myself will be getting the stage 3 and have just a basic CAI setup.

Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: noss on May 13, 2009, 03:30PM
n/a is a little different to turbo.. you couldn't interchange chips on a turbo motor and expect it to run nice.. the chips in the n/a motors though, you're pretty cool for most anything.. within reason of course. things excessively high compression you'd need a different tune.. i've done extensive testing on running the stage 3 chip in a motor with stock intake and exhaust.

basically the stage 3 was tuned around having a cam, exhaust and intake, headwork etc. but has been tested on a variety of configurations succesfully. you just want to make sure you run at least 95 octane, but i'd recommend 98. you should get more power out of the stage 3 than the stage 2 on any configuration. the stage 3 has more agressive timing and a leaner, more linearised (smoother maps) fuel map than the stage 2 chip.

linearising the maps tends to help with achieving more torque and smoother throttle response. the stage 3 is tuned to run 13.3 - 13.5:1 air fuel ratios right through the rev range (except cruise/idle which is leaner) the stage 2 chips run a bit richer and are not linearised, they also run less timing.. this allows people to run cheap (non premium) fuel and not experience pinging. there is of course a chip i've developed that runs stage 3 maps and less agressive timing which is good for regular unleaded.. i guess you could call it stage 2.5 if you really want to confuse people.

the stage 'x' for the antrx chips (and most other chips) is basically just a branding to differentiate between different levels on tune, recommened (on n/a) for xx mods, but not actually required to have xx mods. i've more so based it around what fuel you should use. stage 1 (discontinued) was just a very basic chip, performed better than stock, but could be used on any fuel. stage 2, 95 octane is recommended, but has been sucessfully run on regular.. stage 3 is for 98, but has been tested on 95. each stage should offer more power than the previous.

turbo tunes, i always recommend a custom tune.. and i'm more than happy to do this.. it doesnt cost any more than getting the chip of the shelf and i can gaurantee you a far better result.

Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: nstg8a on May 13, 2009, 06:44PM
n/a is a little different to turbo.. you couldn't interchange chips on a turbo motor and expect it to run nice.. the chips in the n/a motors though, you're pretty cool for most anything.. within reason of course. things excessively high compression you'd need a different tune.. i've done extensive testing on running the stage 3 chip in a motor with stock intake and exhaust.

basically the stage 3 was tuned around having a cam, exhaust and intake, headwork etc. but has been tested on a variety of configurations succesfully. you just want to make sure you run at least 95 octane, but i'd recommend 98. you should get more power out of the stage 3 than the stage 2 on any configuration. the stage 3 has more agressive timing and a leaner, more linearised (smoother maps) fuel map than the stage 2 chip.

linearising the maps tends to help with achieving more torque and smoother throttle response. the stage 3 is tuned to run 13.3 - 13.5:1 air fuel ratios right through the rev range (except cruise/idle which is leaner) the stage 2 chips run a bit richer and are not linearised, they also run less timing.. this allows people to run cheap (non premium) fuel and not experience pinging. there is of course a chip i've developed that runs stage 3 maps and less agressive timing which is good for regular unleaded.. i guess you could call it stage 2.5 if you really want to confuse people.

the stage 'x' for the antrx chips (and most other chips) is basically just a branding to differentiate between different levels on tune, recommened (on n/a) for xx mods, but not actually required to have xx mods. i've more so based it around what fuel you should use. stage 1 (discontinued) was just a very basic chip, performed better than stock, but could be used on any fuel. stage 2, 95 octane is recommended, but has been sucessfully run on regular.. stage 3 is for 98, but has been tested on 95. each stage should offer more power than the previous.

turbo tunes, i always recommend a custom tune.. and i'm more than happy to do this.. it doesnt cost any more than getting the chip of the shelf and i can gaurantee you a far better result.



good response... answered every question i had...


just thought of another though, have these been dyno tested? or just real world tested?
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: veece on May 13, 2009, 07:21PM
yea its hard to get a chip to run prefectly to your set-up. real-time tuning will always be better al tho a chip a good cheap way to get rid of fuel cuts abd flat spots.

my engine mangement is stage 2 chip, fuel control, and o2 senor gauge.
works good.

when didn't hav the fuel controler the engine started to run lean which wood mean premature wear!
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: noss on May 13, 2009, 09:50PM
just thought of another though, have these been dyno tested? or just real world tested?

when i first started selling the chips, someone did a dyno run before and after, but i cant for the life of me remember what the results were or where the dyno graphs are :( i realise this isn't good from my perspective as a seller or your perspective as a buyer, so i'll have to run around and find what hard drive in my piles of shit might have the graphs.

i will say though that the results were positive. from memory around 5kw on a ka24e with exhaust and basic intake mods (air filter)

the other thing, back in the day when nissman used to run his pintara at willowbank, i did a few chips for him and with his feedback tried to improve the chips.. every time i did a new chip he seemed to get his quarter time down..

i also have g-tech results somewhere.. although i know a g-tech shouldnt be used for hard results, it certainly does give you an indication of improvements.
Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: nstg8a on May 13, 2009, 10:11PM
when i first started selling the chips, someone did a dyno run before and after, but i cant for the life of me remember what the results were or where the dyno graphs are :( i realise this isn't good from my perspective as a seller or your perspective as a buyer, so i'll have to run around and find what hard drive in my piles of shit might have the graphs.

i will say though that the results were positive. from memory around 5kw on a ka24e with exhaust and basic intake mods (air filter)

the other thing, back in the day when nissman used to run his pintara at willowbank, i did a few chips for him and with his feedback tried to improve the chips.. every time i did a new chip he seemed to get his quarter time down..

i also have g-tech results somewhere.. although i know a g-tech shouldnt be used for hard results, it certainly does give you an indication of improvements.

sweet as, there dosnt seem to be any negative feedback about the chips, so that has to be a bloody good sign.



Title: Re: Stage3 Chip Question
Post by: Budgie on May 13, 2009, 10:36PM
i will say though that the results were positive. from memory around 5kw on a ka24e with exhaust and basic intake mods (air filter)

What about one of the old Melb dyno days... do we have info hidden away in one of those thread noss?

I remember Urq's car, when it wasn't fucked pulling good numbers with chip, exhaust, cam, pod