Swift Diary: Unichipped Suzuki Swift K12M

December 31, 2012

What is Unichip?
"The Unichip is a sophisticated supplemental computer integrated into your vehicle's engine management system putting the power of electronic engine control into the tuner's hands. It's not just data squirted into your car, it's a fully functional computer working seamlessly with your car's engine management system".

Unichip in Swift 1.2 VVT
In short its a piggyback ECU that sits parallel to the stock ECU of the engine and can alter ignition and fueling parameters. Its more than a basic fuel computer as it does more than that.

I decided to get one for my car as a performance mod and as the first addition to make my car ready for the performance goodies that are to follow. Many people will say that for a naturally aspirated engine one should get exhaust headers and air intake revision before they go for any piggybacks and i kind of agree with it because a piggyback will give the most results in an engine with its breathing sorted. But i decided to go for a piggy back first for two reasons 1) To see how much power my car really makes bone stock and 2) to see what kind of improvements i can expect from just a piggyback.

Unichip is good when it comes to piggybacks and certain applications and we had a fully equipped dealer with a Dastek Dynamometer in Tamil Nadu.

So on December 31st 2012 i scheduled a visit to Spitfire Performance at Coimbatore for the Unichip installation. At Spitfire I met J. Balamurugan (JB) who is the bossman there. Jb is a very down to earth person, he explains what the chip is and what it can do and how it works and he himself does the mapping on the dyno. The people there are very commited towards this and on the day i was here they even skipped their lunch so that they are able to finish my car well in time.

Now about the chip, it looks almost as big as the Car's ECU and is quite heavy too. I got the Q+ version although i needed only the Q, Q+ is for forced induction applications and Q is for normally aspirated applications. The Q+ variant can drive additional injectors directly and do couple of other things. I bought the Q+ since i have plans to go boosted with my car in future. With this installation Unichip has been setup to control the AFR and ignition timing in my car. If need be Unichip can also alter the drive by wire setting and the variable valve timing settings in my car, but it was chosen not to go there this time.

After the tune up the car gained about 5BHP and about 5NM of torque, it may not look like much on the graph but there is a noticeable difference in performance which i noticed on the drive back to Kerala. Overtaking in 2nd and 3rd gear is quicker than before. The car responds well to throttle inputs even in 5th gear while cruising, earlier 5th gear response was sluggish. Overall i'm very pleased with Unichip. A fringe benefit is that i'm getting a better fuel economy!

With better breathing provided by headers and an air intake revision Unichip can get the engine to a better state of tune, I intend to get the car re-tuned once again after i get those installed. But since i now have the stock numbers for reference i can know how much of a difference each mod gives on the dyno. On the day of the dyno the car was stock except for Denso Iridium Power spark plugs and slightly wider Michelin 185/70/14 tyres.

Notes:
Unichip not a tuning box like Petes Box, Race Chip, Spider Tuning Box etc., Unichip is far more powerful and fully programmable piggy back engine computer. It will work with both Diesels and Petrols, can work on any vehicle with an ECU. Has to be programmed/tuned for that particular vehicle. So if i upgrade to another vehicle in the future i will just put it in my new ride and get it tuned for it.

Unichip Q+ installed