I just recently got a 2015 Miata MX-5 Club & was told I could increase it's HP just be using a TUNING CHIP by about 40-60 HP. I have no idea what is a good brand to try. From reading a few of the posts here it sounds like there are a lot of scammers making false claims. If anyone has any suggestions for reputable Tuner brands I would appreciate hearing about them!! My car at this point is a BASE STOCK NC 2015 Mazda Miata MX-5 Club Retractable Hardtop with a 2.0 L 4 cylinder engine. I know these only make about 160 HP & I was hoping to get it up to around 200 HP to help when I need to pass other cars!! Any help or advice would be appreciated!!

 

Welcome to the forum

There is NO "tuning chip " for a Miata that will increase those levels . Its not physically possible even with a full custom EFI/ECU Performance calibration. Or a complete stand alone ECU for that matter!!
Think about that for a minute?

If it is non Turbo charged then unless you spend about $5000+ (very conservative amount) you are not going to get 40hp with the casual bolt-ons. Oh unless you use Nitrous.
Not sure where the Miata power was measured whp or crank. My guess is crank either way 40 hp is a large gain.

 

hello conrad 16.5

 

In a NUT SHELL without getting technical..................

A custom tuning chip can be made for most any vehicle but for the cost you would be better off getting a ECU calibration program
Most universally available or mode and years applicated tuning chips do only a very small about of ECU input that changes anything worth really getting them.
What we found is most of them "CHEAT" and only change the drive-by-wire % operation which has the user believe they have more power.

There is nothing that can compare to having the safest and best noticeable difference then an ECU calibration change which companies like Versa Tune have vehcle specific mild safe ECU calibration to complete custom ECU calibration for the individuals model and year Mazda.

For invested money chips are not worth it in the end while a programed calibration available from sources like Versa Tune are well worth the investment

Here is a short data logged from a customer I worked on making adjustment in a complex ECU calibration.
This is one type of DATA logging ECU/EFI Performance Calibrators view to determine better ECU calibration for a specific vehcle use .

You can not do this with a CHIP! At least who would want to?



And its great background music i selected to video the short info.

 

My mechanic says he can do a ECU tune on the Miata that might give it a little more horsepower. I'm just not sure how far I want to "GO DOWN THE RABBIT HOLE" of adding things like a Turbocharger or Supercharger just give myself a little more passing power. It's not like I plan on hotrodding it around like I've seen the younger generation does with their Miatas!!

 

Not sure what he is using and a bit skeptical. never the less the most you will get with ECU calibration is improved throttle response and "maybe" 3-5 hp gain MAYBE depending on what software is being used and the experience level of the person doing the calibration.
Regardless before you have anyone do anything to your ECU make sure they are able to FIRST download the complete ECU so you have an uploadable back up. Any advise that it is not needed or the calabrating LOCKING your ECU is not advisable and indicates an armature ECU calibrator.

 

Unless your mechanic specialises in Mazda ECU's I wouldn't let him touch it.
As Callisto said first thing is to download a complete copy if the original bin file just incase things go wrong which they do and locking it means only the person that locked it can continue to make any future changes. There are software programs that can find the lock kep for some ECU's but it can take many hours to find the key.

 

I use a few programs the BMW is about the only one I can upload a VIN OEM ECU file after it was locked by some wanna -be- self taught tooooner. But that is only because I have global access to a specific BMW platform/ Otherwise the other program like Mazda versa tuner, and a couple other most do not offer global access to ECU even with their authorized ECU Calibrators Not sure why I think it is a control thing so your have to buy the software per application in any given platform they offer the program for? I was just lucky with the BMW program and when they found their error they did not tell the retailer or customer only stated that a new update was available for free. natural everyone jumped on it cuz FREE. LOL littler di they know part of the upgrade was eliminating global access to any of the platforms ECU. Mine for my personal vehcle was on a laptop that still had windows 95 and still does and I still have complete global access to anyone's ECU on that specific platform. t great because i have a very small charge to un-lock ECUs previously locked by other tooooners.

 

GM did the very same thing. They conned everyone into free access and if their tool they were using was not genuine it cut them off. There was also a chip manufacturer FTDI I think it was and the Chinese coppied then in big numbers but the manufacturer outsmarted them and most of the cheap scantools are usless. The most used software I have is good old TunerPro with a couple of programs made by a fella in Western Australia and his work is fantastic. Matter of fact I have done 4 logs and bin file changes to the Starion this morning using the new wideband I bought and olny getting the low speed and idle sorted out. I have seen many so called professional tuners and they have little understanding other than to dump more fuel and timing and if it produces a few extra HP it must be good then the owner complains of flat spots and drive problems in all other areas. If it was only that simple.

 

Adding timing and more fuel is a sign as you said often done indicates they were not professional EFI/ECU Performance Calibrators. Just making changes to an already well calibrated ECU file takes at least an hour . Unless you cheat and grab lard block sections . And creating a completely new calibration takes several hours by creating multiple files uploading them in the ECU and testing them by way of long data logs . Or targeted RPM range .And it’s even more challenging with Mazda Skyactiv engine with VVT and up to 13:01 CR. My MPG files took me servers months and dozens of of experimental files until I finally found one of mine that safely work on the engine and my personal camshafts.