Pic compare: 93 Cali ECU vs 95 non-Cali M2 Stage 3 ECU
 

Subject says it all. I've got a 93 cali car. I bought an M2 stage 3 ECU based on a 95 non-cali car.

'93 Cali (N3A3-18-881A):
http://www.rotormafia.com/ecu/93cali-1.jpg

'95 Non-Cali (N3D8-18-881):
http://www.rotormafia.com/ecu/m2ecu4.jpg

You can see that a small daughterboard was added to the M2 ECU and that the EEPROM chip in the upper right has been removed and replaced by socket + new EEPROM chip.

'93 Cali:
http://www.rotormafia.com/ecu/93cali-3.jpg

'95 Non-Cali M2:
http://www.rotormafia.com/ecu/m2ecu3.jpg

I'm sure that Pettit, XS, and others must do something similar. Anyway, just posting these up because they show a quick way to tell if you've really got a modded ECU or not.

Sonny

Good info Sonny.

Are you sure the entire daughterboard is added by M2 or could that just be a difference of '93 vs '95 ECU? Anyone with a stock '95 ECU feel like popping it open?

Wanna trade your ECU for a stock cali one ;)

The daughterboard I was referring to is just that little piece that has the MZ-9705 writing on it. I'm certain that is not a Mazda part because Mazda would definitely not need to hand write "FD3S" on their own ECU. That piece is added by M2. Directly below it, you can see that the big chip has also been replaced by a new chip/socket combo. Same goes for the upper right.

There's really no magic there. That is very similar to the way Honda ECUs are chipped. The difference is that Mazda ECU is much further behind in terms of public development. Hence, the hefty $700 chipping price. You can chip your own Honda ECU for free. In time, maybe our Mazda ECU's will end up there, too.

Sonny

I knew the piece you were referring to. It just wasn't clear to me from the picture if the entire daughterboard was not Mazda OEM vs. just the EEPROM that has the FD3S sticker on it.

Does anyone know if Mazda uses ECUs similar to this is any of their other cars? If we could figure out a way to increase the sales volume for M2/Pettit the price may come down from $700 to $200-400 range making it a much more attractive option to folks that don't want to go all the way to a PFC or other customizable ECU.