new to the forum
 

hey guys im new to the forum i got a 93 rx-7 TT i dont know too much about cars and a friend of mine said that if i get a cat-back exhaust would i have to remap my ECU or something?? :molepoke:

if it's just the catback exhaust than its fine, if you start adding intake,downpipe, and midpipe then you must. If your planning to add these mods youll gain alot of HP from these bolt ons alone and the power FC ecu is the good to accomodate for these. Be careful these cars are very sensitive, I suggest read more about them or get good info from this forum, other than that youll love it.

You can add any and all of the mods you mentioned and retain the stock ECU as long as you maintain 10 psi of boost and no more. While this is the general consensus there are some mods that just lend them selves to not being able to hold the boost at that level. Even the PFC is not going to handle those mods without the proper maps. The catback in itself will not give you any problems on the stock ECU.

CantGoStraight is right on.

However, I should point out that a boost gauge is all but required to keep track of this. That way you know if the cat-back increased your boost, and that you need to dial the boost back down. Typically, a flow mod might add 1-2psi of boost. That's about all the margin you have, so if the cat-back takes you from 10 to 11 or 12, definitely dial it down before adding the next mod, or add the mods to support higher boost (which is ECU, and/or fuel upgrades). IMO, I think it's better to keep it at 10psi, certainly until you really know the car well. Higher boost reduces engine life and other things.

If you already have an intake and downpipe installed, your friend may be giving you very good advice since *usually* a few mods starts to raise the boost levels, and some ECUs are set up exactly for that situation. But IMO it's better to follow the source of the issue (boost level).

Dave

so what mods can i do that does not require a new ecu? and not making the turbo go past 10 psi?

Depends on the car. For me, I found a downpipe and Efini y-pipe had no change. (Still stock intake and main cat). When I added a RB cat-back I saw a boost increase. But the point remains: get a boost gauge so you can watch the boost with every mod you add.

remain tasteful there dude, and work within your budget and means, which means, make sure u have enough money to fix it if you break it. and above all have fun man and welcome to the money pit owners club..:bigok:

You should look into the reliablity mods I think getting hard pipes and a greddy elbow is a great way to start out it brightens up the engine bay and along with a downpipe, cat-back, and intake add some power before you need to change out the ecu. But along with riptor please dont go ricing out your car stay away from the cheap exterior mods.