SCWells72

Seems like discussion of the Weapon-R ECU/intake kind of died around here. What was the final resolution? If I have a GS430 and want to get an extra punch out of it, should I consider the more expensive Weapon-R solution or the now bargain-priced SRT solution? From some of the other threads around here it looks like they yield about the same theoretical improvements, so it seems like the SRT is the better deal...

Anyone have a take on this?

RacingAristo

when you look at y2kgs's dynos, there is something interesting.

From the 1st dyno:
GS400 with Weapon R intake & cold air ram 235.4HP & 258.6TQ
GS400 with WR ECU Intake System 250.3HP & 283.1TQ

From the 2nd dyno:
GS400 with stock 238.9HP & 249.7TQ
GS400 with SRT ECU Intake System 244.4HP & 246.2TQ

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

So, stock GS400 has 238.9HP & 249.7TQ.
GS400 with Weapon R intake & cold air ram 235.4HP & 258.6TQ.

By using Weapon R intake & cold air ram, you actually lose 3 horsepower and gain 8.9 TQ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GS400 with stock 238.9HP & 249.7TQ
GS400 with SRT ECU Intake System 244.4HP & 246.2TQ

By using SRT intake/ECU, you gain 5.5 HP but than you lose 3.5 TQ?

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

GS400 with stock 238.9HP & 249.7TQ
GS400 with WR ECU Intake System 250.3HP & 283.1TQ

With Weapon R intake/ECU, you gain 11.4 HP and 33.4 TQ. This system costs yah $1000+

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

SCWells72

Actually $1K for intake + ECU isn't too bad when you look at other cars' tuners. For example, I've been looking at Dinan's performance software + cold air intake on my wife's Z3, and together they cost $839 and produce an increase of ~19hp/18lb-ft.

I personally won't get the Weapon-R combo for $1K--maybe at $600-700 and a little more feedback from users--but it's not too far afield for the decent reported performance increase.

BLiu

RA,

Granted the original baseline figures were a bit mixed up. Still, an increase in torque is much more preferable than an increase in HP. Torque is what will give you the acceleration to produce quicker times. Just look at the +33.4 ft lb of torque and it should cause you to salivate. That is a huge TQ increase!

Find another ECU system that can deliver an increase of 33.4 ftlb of torque for under $1000 and I will give you kudos.

Remember, the 2nd dyno with SRT comparison is on a different GS400. The reason being that it was probably a real hassle to do a stock run, a WR intake run, a WR intake/ECU run, and a SRT HFI/ECU run all on the same car. That's probably what should have been done to reduce any confusion.

When I get my car dynoed at least we will have another confirmed WR intake/ECU result...

Brent

Kaban

HKG, how about renting a 430 from Hertz for a week or something and do the tunning, I mean they are not going know right? Also have WR considered a plug and play set up? Like a connector that will plug into the stock air flow meter plug which won't cost much but makes installing a lot easier. Can't wait to see your finished ecu.

RacingAristo

yeah I saw the dyno on SC board. It's pretty good consider he only has the ECU upgrade.

kcart55

Hi, I'm new to this site, and I am looking for a chip upgrade for my GS 300. I only have 700 miles on it, will it void the warranty? Thanks

SCWells72

kcart55, there really isn't a "chip" in the traditional performance chip sense because the Lexus chips are tightly encrypted and difficult to crack. However, there are piggyback ECUs (electronic control unit) that work with high flow air intakes to optimize the air/fuel mixture, etc. They purportedly work very well, although the exact gains on the two major offerings are being debated even now. The two vendors are Weapon-R and Swift-Racing, and the estimated gains on a GS400 (don't know the GS300 numbers) range from 10-40HP and <10-35lb-ft roughly, in other words, noticeable gains at the high end. As a nice side effect, these ECU/intake combos are also supposed to increase fuel economy slightly (~1-2mpg).

Whether these mods will affect your warranty is a little tricky. The short answer is that if you're worried about that, you probably shouldn't do this type of mod. Currently only L-Tuned and some TRD mods don't affect your warranty, and only if installed by a Lexus dealer. The long answer is that a dealer can only back off of your warranty if (s)he can show that some part failure is directly attributable to the aftermarket component(s). Unfortunately proving that it's not could be difficult if you ever had to do it.

Hope this helps!
Scott