# Unitronic stage 2 on 2007 Rabbit really worth it?



## berfles (Oct 29, 2011)

*Unitronic stage 2 on 2007 Rabbit really worth it? (Stage 2 doesn't work, updated)*

I've had people tell me tuning an NA car is "useless", and others say that it does make a noticeable difference. What I want to know is specifics: power gains, whether or not it made good on the list of things it's supposed to fix (rev hang, fuel efficiency etc). I've seen a post on here talk about it, but nothing had any sort of specifics like I want. Does anyone here have that information? My car has an LNT intake and Magnaflow exhaust.


----------



## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Have it. Love it. Definitely a noticeable increase in power as well as better fuel economy. Rev hang is less. Would definitely recommend it.

If you're looking to add further modifications (SRI, turbo, etc) they are probably not the company for you as they are not as "into" the 2.5 as companies like C2 and UM are. If/when Unitronic releases an SRI version of their tune/pushes redline to 7000-7200rpm like others I will be more likely to recommend them to you for their support of further modifications.

Perhaps with their move to hardware they may begin to provide further support, we shall see.


----------



## berfles (Oct 29, 2011)

Thanks. I certainly don't plan on turbocharging the Rabbit, I'm just trying to do what I can to make it a little more fun. I have an RX-7 that is my real "fun" car.

Do you have any numbers in terms of power gains or MPG increase?


----------



## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

I don't myself, I haven't dynoed my car yet. The butt-dyno definitely feels good! As far as MPG goes, my best ever was on an 8 hour road trip through Northern Ontario, cruising at dead on 105km/h (65mph), I made right about 6.5L/100km (36MPG) which was about 750km.


----------



## sagerabbit (Aug 14, 2007)

Without an aftermarket intake (ie CAI), I don't think a tune on these engines gives a performance or MPG advantage. I have a CAI and needed the tune to fix the rev-hang. 

Is your RX7 an FC or FD?


----------



## berfles (Oct 29, 2011)

lessthanalex said:


> I don't myself, I haven't dynoed my car yet. The butt-dyno definitely feels good! As far as MPG goes, my best ever was on an 8 hour road trip through Northern Ontario, cruising at dead on 105km/h (65mph), I made right about 6.5L/100km (36MPG) which was about 750km.


Damn, that would be awesome. I'd be happy to just routinely get 30MPG, certainly won't expect anything that drastic. I've been getting 25MPG during this garbage cold months, highest I've ever seen is 29.8.



sagerabbit said:


> Without an aftermarket intake (ie CAI), I don't think a tune on these engines gives a performance or MPG advantage. I have a CAI and needed the tune to fix the rev-hang.
> 
> Is your RX7 an FC or FD?


I have an LNT CAI. RX-7 is an FD, 1994.


----------



## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

Keep in mind, that was 100% highway driving with cruise control on the whole time. When I'm 100% city I do about 23-25MPG although my right foot has gotten significantly heavier because of all the parts I've got. Normal highway driving which is around 75mph I do about 30MPG.


----------



## berfles (Oct 29, 2011)

lessthanalex said:


> Keep in mind, that was 100% highway driving with cruise control on the whole time. When I'm 100% city I do about 23-25MPG although my right foot has gotten significantly heavier because of all the parts I've got. Normal highway driving which is around 75mph I do about 30MPG.


I mainly do highway also, I live about 35 miles from work, only maybe 5 miles are considered "city". Always have cruise control set around 73 on the speedo, and I know it's 3-4MPH off so I'm only doing about 69MPH. 

Definitely considering it again now. If I'm reading the warranty right, I have 30 days to get my money back if I don't like it. Pretty much a no brainer then. Only thing holding me back is the fact that I got a nice crack in my windshield on Friday so I need a new one. Then I remembered I'm likely getting $500 back from taxes, which takes care of the tune, and by putting the tune on my new credit card I get $300 cash back. That takes care of the windshield at the very least.

I think I'm in good shape.


----------



## berfles (Oct 29, 2011)

I set a visit up for this Thursday to CBTuning. I probably should have filled up with 93 this last time but I forgot about it and put 87 in again. Oh well.


----------



## timmiller05 (Mar 26, 2010)

I got the unitronic software on my sportwagen 2.5 and like it. I think it is set for 92 octane which is all I can get in WA but im sure the 93 wouldn't hurt :thumbup:


----------



## LampyB (Apr 2, 2007)

i'm running the 93 oct United Motorsport tune...night and day difference, absolutely love it!


----------



## alwaysdutch (Oct 19, 2011)

I would love to have the Unitronic software, but I have the '05 ECU on an '08 motor, which needs to be flashed first. In order to do that, I need:
- ID from both the '05 and '08 vehicles and ECUs, according to Unitronic
- $200 to have it flashed, and $350 to upgrade to stage 1.

What I am wondering is if Unitronic has a stage 2 for the '08 2.5, as I don't see it on their website.


----------



## Anile_eight (Sep 30, 2009)

I went C2 stage II. These guys are great!!! and it is certainly cheaper. It feels awesome! I love it!


----------



## LampyB (Apr 2, 2007)

alwaysdutch said:


> I would love to have the Unitronic software, but I have the '05 ECU on an '08 motor, which needs to be flashed first. In order to do that, I need:
> - ID from both the '05 and '08 vehicles and ECUs, according to Unitronic
> - $200 to have it flashed, and $350 to upgrade to stage 1.
> 
> What I am wondering is if Unitronic has a stage 2 for the '08 2.5, as I don't see it on their website.



out of curiosity why do you have an '05 ECU for your '08 motor, just seems like a royal pain in the butt to try and get the immobilizer codes for both ECU's. and is Unitronic going to charge you $200 to do the immobilizer flash? that seems way high...

why not go with C2 or United Motorsport considering both companies are fully active on the forum and both provide excellent support? also these are the two companies that are actively developing our platform, way more so than Unitronic and even APR. nothing against Unitronic, they provide great software. but C2 + UM also provide great software, and both are here to answer questions on the spot...and openly to the public on the forum.

EDIT: regarding your inquiry about Stage 2 from Unitronic, if all you have is the info listed on their website why even go through the hassle of finding out about Stage 2 when you have everything you need for the other two companies right in front of you on Vortex? just seems like a lot of work to go with a company that doesn't provide the same level of support as the others...


----------



## Anile_eight (Sep 30, 2009)

^ i agree!


----------



## alwaysdutch (Oct 19, 2011)

Ok Lampy, answer on your first question:

Why an '05 ECU on an '08 Engine? Simply because I could not get the motor to start with the '08 ECU due to the immobilizer. Now, I like to have the ECU connected to the '08 motor, but it will require a flash.

I do not know enough about this stuff to determine if it can be done to update the '08 ECU with a stage AND immobilizer flash in one.

So, called Unitronic and they told me they need VIN numbers from both cars, and IDs from both ECUs to determine if it could be done, so discouraging.

That is really the reasons behind my question. If anyone has a good idea on this, I am all ears.

Also consider I live in Atlanta and need my transportation. Unitronic has a dealer 20 miles from here, so that is one reason I checked them.

I don't mind checking other companies, just need to see what can be done.


----------



## itskohler (Jan 7, 2011)

Call me an idiot, but I cant find any stg 2 products on anyones page. :banghead:
All I see is 1 and 1+


----------



## LampyB (Apr 2, 2007)

i'm pretty sure you can only get the immobilizer codes from a dealer willing to provide them. audi's B5 platform enabled people to just buy and sell ECU's that were plug and play, but when they went to B6 you had to have the immobilizers. virtually no one trades ECU's with the B6's simply because of how much of a pain in the ass it is. yes you can get it done, but i'd be really interested to know how difficult it is. keep us posted!


----------



## alwaysdutch (Oct 19, 2011)

Let's not forget the original thread questions here....LOL


----------



## LampyB (Apr 2, 2007)

alwaysdutch said:


> Let's not forget the original thread questions here....LOL


to the OP, yes tuning the 2.5l engine has made a huge difference in my opinion. it's night and day. i was going to sell the car if the tune didn't make me happy with the power, but after i had it tuned i completely changed my mind. and yes, some N/A cars won't really see a difference when tuned. the Audi 3.0 is a great example. Tuning this engine doesn't really do jack, and even for $300 everyone has mainly said it isn't even worth it. go for it on the 2.5l, you'll be very happy with the added power. 

also, getting rid of the rev limiter was possibly even better than the added power. the limiter was driving me bananas, and the car is very smooth now that it's gone. the idle rpm's are also adjusted and raised up to 800, which made a noticeable difference in how easy it was to take off from a complete stop. just a lot easier to get into gear, less need to rev the throttle. my fuel efficiency may have _slightly_ gone up, but there wasn't much of a difference overall. the 1.8T/2.0T engine when tuned gets significantly better mileage though as long as you're not mashing the throttle. in my turbo's i went from about 30mpg's to 34mpg's on the highway...it was fantastic.

you can go to each of the tuners websites and take a look at their dyno's for further proof.


----------



## berfles (Oct 29, 2011)

Well I'm back from CBTuning.... and back to the drawing board. I took half a day off from work and drove the 30 minutes to their shop. Got the car in, they hooked it up, and about 10 minutes later the owner came out and told me the stage 2 wasn't available for my ECU. He got on the phone with "Mike" (I assume someone at Unitronic) and told me that it just wouldn't work at all for an early 2007 Rabbit, it would crash the ECU. If I deleted the cat I think he said it would work, but I have enough trouble getting the RX-7 inspected without a cat so I'm not going that route. I figured I was good to go after I told him in an e-mail exactly what my car was and what tuning I wanted.

The best I could have done was the 1+, which he said made similar power... according to Unitronic's site though there is a big difference so I didn't want that.

He said he had United Motorsports and someone other one I never heard of that is used on Mercedes, and that if I changed my mind he'd knock $50 off the price. Also said he'd cut me a break on any parts I wanted.

So now I don't know what to do. I keep hearing about C2 but every time I go to their site, I only see versions that call for headers and all that. Which one is everyone talking about?


----------



## sagerabbit (Aug 14, 2007)

My '07 Rabbit with an '06 motor was flashed with C2 software intended for use with a CAI and I had the minimum octane bumped up to 89 (still runs best on 91 or 94). That's all


----------



## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

give united motorsports a try...!  might be well worth it


----------



## LampyB (Apr 2, 2007)

you can't go wrong with united motorsports. jeff @ united has been the pioneer for our platform, and he actually created C2's 2.5l tune when it came out, and was the first to eliminate the rev hang. he then branched off on his own and now runs UM. nothing against C2, but jeff really knows his sh*t.


----------



## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

LampyB said:


> [...]. he then branched off on his own and now runs UM. [...].


it wasnt that he simply branched off... he was pretty much forced out by chris Collier. They were 50% owners...

but yes, he does know the "odd" engines, such as the I5, VR6, etc... and UM (by jeff atwood) is VERY good.


----------



## berfles (Oct 29, 2011)

I'll give them a look I guess. I've been looking at so many now I forget which is which, I think UM offered 15-18whp gains which is still less than Unitronic even with their gains not being measured at the wheels. Unitronic seems to make the most power for cars with just intake and exhaust.


----------



## Jefnes3 (Aug 17, 2001)

Go see Tom over at APTuning, or send the ecu in to United Motorsport.

He/I can sort all the stuff you need while you wait.
Immo defeat, performance software. 
This can be done for any '05, '06, '07, '08 rabbit ecu you have.


Your situation has been made way more difficult than it should be.

-Jeffrey Atwood


----------



## alwaysdutch (Oct 19, 2011)

Same situation here. The guy from Unitronic made it sound like a huge task.

I am also curious if the '05 ECU can be upgraded for my '08 engine, so I don't have to remove it again, and don't have immo cost.

Would the '08 ECU be better to upgrade? (Stupid question as the ECU came with the engine), and therefore be worth it to take the immobilizer cost?


----------



## thygreyt (Jun 7, 2009)

alwaysdutch said:


> Same situation here. The guy from Unitronic made it sound like a huge task.


which is why you should go with UM. 

they know it, you dont have to worry...


----------



## lessthanalex (Oct 12, 2009)

They had to write the file for mine when I got flashed, both times actually, but my tuner just gave them a call and sent over my cars info they pulled. Took them about half hour. I think it depends on how busy they are when they get that call. I was lucky and had a fairly easy time getting it done. Others have had a much longer time for that or not had success at all. 

It's really unfortunate because I do love their software, but they haven't made any changes or updates since around the time I went stage 2, two years ago. Would be nice to see the added support from them with slight customization/adaptation of the tune to more advanced specifications, as new products ARE being developed and released for our platform.


----------

