Presto

sorry to be the bearer of bad news but it will not work with your 2008. There is a thread on this forum itself where some guy tried in his 2008, i believe he even tried to swap a 2009 ecu but did not get it to work. Uprev is your only option, its a shame though as ecutek is far advanced with a lot more features.
You can try contacting seb@specialtyz. He comes highly recommended from all the vq guys.
visconti has some pretty bad reviews... as well as some good ones so seem like a hit or miss.

Arxylis

Well...dammit.

It would have been nice if the Visconti Tuning website had made mention of the fact that Ecutek isn't compatible with the 2008's. It seems kind of shady of them not to mention anything when others have confirmed that it doesn't work.

I had an Uprev order through Z1 ready to go when I came across a promotion on the Visconti site and went with that. I wanted the extra features and it was $150 less, it seemed like win-win.

Looks like I'll be returning the Ecutek kit. Hopefully, they won't give me any issues with the return. I never plugged the cable into the car to pair it with the license, so I don't see why there would be any problems. Although I have come across other forums that have said their customer service is lacking. I paid through Paypal so if they get an attitude about it I'll go through them to mediate.

Unfortunately, I won't be able to get the Uprev tune until I get that refund (all of these other parts and labor have bled my funds rather dry...). I should be getting my car back in the next couple of days, so I'll be driving around untuned for a week or two most likely.

Melophile

If you aren't able to return, I may be interested in this, but not until like Januaryish, or February. If you end up holding onto the ECUTek for that long, leave me a message

EDIT: Whoops, just read the most recent post XD I didn't realize there was one more page.

Arxylis

Today's update:




Yes! Finally!! After two months and several delays, my G is back home!

Snapped a quick pic getting gas on the way home from the shop.



Here you can see the Z1 diff cover and Whiteline diff bushings peeking out:


I had to take it easy on the drive home. It had been raining all day and I didn't want to test how well the shift kit works on soaking wet pavement.

The overall feel, even with all of the upgraded mounts, is surprisingly about the same as stock. No harsh vibrations at all. Everything feels "tighter" for lack of a better term. Response to throttle input is immediate, and with the shift kit the gear change is solid and quick.

The exhaust is a bit louder in the cabin but is a lower tone than it was before. The HFC's and Y pipe work great together, and I have yet to hear even a hint of rasp which is exactly what I was going for. I'll do a proper recording sometime this weekend if the weather cooperates.

Arxylis

After I got home I got to work on some of the other things that have been piling up in the closet waiting to install.

First is the EXLED map lights. I liked the Phillips LED's I put in when I got the car last year, but they weren't quite bright enough. These fix that problem, aggressively. They have a dimmer potentiometer to adjust them to your liking. With the brightness cranked up all the way, it's difficult to even look at the light directly. Much better!

Comparison between the Phillips LED and the EXLED panel:


I pulled out the cupholder portion of the center console to mount up the USB charger. Easy peasy, just need to solder the wires to the charger and tap into the 12V port that is in the center console.





I also put the Cusco strut brace on before I decided to call it a night. Don't mind the dirty engine bay, lol.

Arxylis

Also, on another note, I have yet to hear a peep out of Visconti Tuning. I have messaged the support email address, John himself, and messaged the Facebook page. It has been 3 business days. I'm getting a little miffed...

Arxylis

I was able to get a quick little video of the exhaust today. This was shot using the same setup as my previous exhaust video: Canon T3i with Takstar SGC-598 shotgun microphone, low pass filter on, +10dB gain.

MaQG37

iTrader: (4)

That's what I was afraid of by going in with that tune deal. This isn't the first time he's done that. PayPal should be able to help you if doesn't get back with you.

Arxylis

I opened a case with Paypal, and I got a reply within minutes. I was told that ECUTek does support the 2008 G37 with the 5AT, and he sent me a screenshot of supported ECU's



I'm not sure what changed in the course of a year when John himself stated that it wouldn't work...



Anyway, he said that I am welcome to submit an RMA to return the ECUTek kit. I just feel better going with Uprev, as they have always been compatible with the 2008's. I realize that I may be sacrificing some power to do so, but it is what it is.

Arxylis

I got a box with some Black Friday goodies in it from Z1 Motorsports!

$50 off for the Uprev kit was difficult to pass up on, so I went ahead and grabbed it.







Also got some free stuff. Everybody likes free stuff!

Presto

interesting how visconti replied in minutes after opening a paypal claim. Let this be a lesson to everyone, avoid visconti even if its free. There are ecutek reviews right here on this forum from another tuner, sure they might be more but you get what you pay from.

Arxylis

Got another one of my little projects installed today. It's a brake light flasher module with an accelerometer from a company called XDP. Here's the link to where I bought it on Amazon: https://smile.amazon.com/gp/product/...?ie=UTF8&psc=1

I'll be putting together a DIY that I will post on the forums for anyone interested in doing something similar. This particular module has a lot of settings that I still need to tweak to get it how I want it. I made a quick video of it in action with the default settings.

Arxylis

Here's the link to the DIY for those that are interested: https://www.myg37.com/forums/d-i-y-i...t-flasher.html

Arxylis

Since I was off today, I decided to rip half of the interior apart.


Soon afterward, I realized I should put this opportunity to some good use and work on a couple of pending mods. I changed out the cabin air filter first, then went about wrapping some interior bits.

Here's some pics of said wrap:

Got the pieces removed and cleaned.



Shifter bezel wrapped, showing comparison with stock Washi trim.



Ashtray lid wrapped and installed. There's a couple of parts I'm not quite happy with due to stretching of the vinyl.



Radio trim was easier than I thought it would be. This was also the last part I did, so maybe I was getting the hang of it by then.



It doesn't look like a huge difference from stock in pictures, but it is noticeably darker with a different grain to it.



Center stack close up.



I'm saving the door trim and door pulls for a later time, but this shows the contrast of the Washi to the Brushed gunmetal wrap.



All in all, it didn't take very long and I like the result. I need to get the chrome strip on the shift **** wrapped too, it needs it desperately.

sLADe781

iTrader: (1)

I would absolutely love to have this setup!! Would you mind sharing where you picked up the charger? Also the wire(s) that you tapped into for power? I'd really like to do this as well if it's not too difficult!