Well I have finally gotten my car back from the body shop after a nice little accident causing about $4500 in damage. They were slow as hell, taking a little over 8 weeks to get everything done. The problem at first was parts. It took 2 1/2 weeks for the parts to arrive. Then I had to wait becuase they were backed up with other cars. Then the body guy went on vacation right as my car was almost finished. Despite them dragging their feet on it they do some damn good work. They replaced the rear right quarter panel and I could not even tell the car had been damaged when they were done. I saw no wavyness where the weld was and the paint matched perfectly despite my best attempts to find fualt. They also fixed some minor dings and dents for the hell of it.

Oh by the way the body guy asked me if there was something wrong with the paint. He mentioned that when he was stripping it it should have given him some resistance but it was flaking off rather easily.

Anyway while it was in the shop I pulled the ECU and sent it to TS to get burned. Now that I have had my car back I have got on it a bit to see what it could do. Honestly I was expecting a bit more. Before installing (OBX catback and K&N w/ GAB) it I would get f-tons of wheelhop in first on dry road with stock tires. After installing the ECU I figured I would get pure wheelspin in 1st and wheelhop in second. However this is not the case. Same amount of wheelspin and nothing in second on stock tires on dry/semi-dry road. There could be a problem with the exhaust becuase it was damaged in the accident and the shop repaired it. The dent was centered on the main rear beam and was about 6x1 in and 1in deep at the deepest point. I have taken a look at where the dent was and it is gone, but I have not taken a very close look at all to see if it is bent or wavy. Irregardless I would think minor wavyness in the exhaust would not be a big deal nor effect the performance that much considering most of the gain of the catback is generally regarded to come from the b-pipe. I am gonna try to get a dyno with the stock filter setup and the ECU and compare it to my dyno with the OBX exhaust. The only problem is that I worry that the repaired exhaust might be cuasing some problems. If I put the stock rear section on and dyno it would it be considered as a fair comparison or should I keep the repair rear section on, dyno it, and assume a possilbe 0-2whp loss due to the previously damaged rear section? What do you guys think?

I talked with TS about not feeling any difference and they said it was most likely due to having not drove the car in a while. I am not sure I buy that as I have an excellent memory. He also stated that the ECU should not have a problem with my car becuase the mods I have are common. Hopefully I am wrong. I would not like to have dropped $500(+$37 shipping) for little to no power gain.

 

i really dont understand why people are having problems. i know for sure that i gain power. i say u reset your ecu and let it learn all over again. this will not clear the program but it will give your ecu to relearn. and then get it dynoed but who knows it might be your exhaust

 

Okay now that I have had a good while to check it out I do feel some gains. Exactly how much I couldnt tell you but it feels like a bit more than my catback exhaust gave me. Before the ECU when I hit the 1-2 shift hard it chirped the tires. Now I get good wheelspin. So far that is the only big difference I have noticed. Recently I have noticed it feels like it pulls somewhat harder than before too. Regardless I am still going ot get a dyno done. I am hoping for atleast 6whp gain over the 4000-6500rpm range and a peak gain of 12whp. Just like my last explanation of my dyno of the OBX catback I will try to be as detailed as possible in all aspects of the information. I will aslo try to get the files hosted ASAP. Right now I am waiting on a friend who wants to dyno his Lightning . He has to put the tranny back in it, but it shouldnt be more than 3 weeks. I want to try to get a group deal going at the dyno shop. We need atleast 5 people total (7 would be nice in case some people have problems pop up beforehand) and right now have 2 people confirmed and 2 tenative. If there is anyone in the northeast ohio area that wants to get a dyno done PM me or get in contact with me in some other way so we can coordinate. Normally its 65$ for 3 runs (+15$ for A/F ratio) and 50$ for 1 run (doesnt count towards group deal). With the group deal its 55$ for 3 runs (+10 for A/F ratio). I dont beleive there are any better deals with more people. Directions and more info can be found at www.bigshotdyno.com
Oh yeah and I checked out the exhaust. It looks like it was never damaged except for some scratches where the dent used to be so I dont think I am losing any power there.