Nistune?

[cbileske]

Hi everyone,
looking into doing a nistune, wanting some opinions on it. Has anyone had luck on tuning out turbo shuffle? Is there any way to run one larger MAF sensor instead of the two? What all is required to buy with the board? I already have the consult cable. Is the nistune software have a nice interface which is easy to get familliar with? Thanks for your input. I'm tired of running on stock settings.

[judasentinel]

Nistune is simply a reprogrammable chip that replaces the stock Nissan chip in an ECU. The RB26 ECU works with twin MAF setup, so the Nistune chip that replaces it also works with a twin MAF setup. Just like the stock chip, Nistune will work with two MAF voltages, both of which are used to determine airflow.

Tune chips (stock OR aftermarket/downstream) do not use MAF voltages to create tune maps. If you care to delve deeper into the whole concept of performance chips, you will see that each chip contains two types of tune maps - injector/airflow/afr, AND ignition. These maps are static until you change the specific values in them, based on LOAD (boost, throttle position/movement), and RPM. The maps are actually spreadsheets with load on the Y axis and rpm on the X axis.

The stock chip or for that matter Nistune chip are nothing but reference sheets for the ECU. Some of the static info stored on the chip are MAf type/size and injector size. The ECU uses the signals from various sensors in/around the engine to determine what kind of an air/fuel ratio is needed to run safely and when (timing) to send the ignition signal. As such, the MAF signals going to the ECU have nothing to do directly with the chip itself. The ECU reads the voltages coming in from the MAFs and then determines based on what rpm and load the engine is at, to select the AFR and ignition timing from the maps stored on the chip. In every stock chip, as well as in Nistune, there is a backup set of maps that you can call the KNOCK maps. Whenever the stock ECU (whether it has stock chip in it or Nistune) detects a knock/detonation, it reverts to these backup maps because these maps are relatively more conservative (retarded ignition timing and richer afr). A lot of people copy the knock AFR map values on to the normal running maps to run richer and safer. Power FC does not have this safety feature.

Now come to the specifics of how Nistune may be different from the stock chip. First and foremost, the main difference is that you cannot reprogram the stock chip itself, but you can reprogram Nistune chip on whim, as often as you like. The difference is analogous to having a DVD-R and DVD-RW. The second major difference is that Nistune allows the ECU's THINKING brain to be fooled, in that it allows you to run bigger MAFs and injectors by manipulating just the airflow sensor voltage to the ECU. Nistune allows you to select a host of different types of MAFs from a scroll-down menu. For example, if you use Z32 MAFs, the ECU does not really know if you have changed the MAFs to larger ones. But there will be more air flowing into your engine for the same amount of voltage being thrown at the ECU as that coming from the stock MAFs. As a result, the ECU will be thinking that you are safe, whereas in reality, you may be running lean. And after the engine has warmed up, the ECU stops reading the O2 sensor feedback as well, so you are really treading on thin ice. How Nistune helps here is that it changes the MAF voltage in a way that you do not run lean when using a bigger MAF. In short, Nistune changes the static reference data for the ECU as well as allows you to change the afr and timing maps.

I can go on and perhaps should stop. Still not sure if the GTR ECU can work with a single MAF with a Nistune chip. Why dont you ask Matt (the owner of Nistune in Australia) if it can be done? And as for the turbo shuffle, one relatively easy way to get rid of it, or at least minimize it is to advance the ignition timing just a little bit.

voltages from them will throw the ECU off into thinking that for the same v. That's all

[cbileske]

Holy! I'm going to have to go home and re-read this. Thanks for all the info. I was reading on the nistune sight about using some single ford or Toyota mafs.

Now another question, will the consult cable work on the car the way it is now? Just to view sensors etc? Do I need to own a license to use it?

Thanks!

[judasentinel]

Nistune kit has two components to it - the chip/daughterboard that get installed into the ECU, and a software that you need to hook your computer/laptop with the ECU. The Nistune software is free to download but you need a license key to use it. The consult cable that you have, is it USB? If so, it will work just fine with your laptop and Nistune software. just make sure you have the license/key to use the software. Without the license/key, you cannot make any changes. Not sure if you can at least view the sensors. It would be pointless to do that anyway, if the Nistune daughterboard you have already came preprogrammed with stock settings, as you already know what they are.

[cbileske]

No, I don't have the nistune board yet. Looking to find out as much as I can before hand. In school for another week, then I will be able to afford messing with the car again.

[SkyLizzle]

....mistake