Tune Check Elantra N that has been flashed

[biggeley]

So.. I ended up buying a practically brand new 2022 Elantra N from a local dealer with less than 5k miles.. Car runs exceptionally well (too well actually, which I didn't realize until the next day when I was able to spend some extra time with it.. The day I bought it was rainy). Well anyway, the car has clearly been modded and has been flashed with a tune.. I found it has upgraded HKS spark plugs and my JB4 is showing it running 20-21PSI... Anyway I'm pissed about that and probably going to make the dealer take the car back.. But anyway I did some data logs on map0 out of curiosity today.. Fuel wire was disconnect and the "running a flash tune" option was enabled in the user options menu..

Wanted to get some opinions about the tune that is on it.. AFRs seem okay, boost seems about as high as you'd want to run on 93.. but not sure about the timing advance.. Seems squirrelly.. I hadn't actually seen what a flash tune looks like before though the eyes of a JB4.. Is is typical a tuner will build in so much advance timing that even on 93 it's relying on the computer to reducing timing to protect itself?

[mangosmoothie]

I realize this is an older thread, but I haven't been on in a while. I'd like to contribute since this is an area I'm interested in.

Unfortunately, people in the N community don't like to datalog or share them, so there are very few datalogs available.

Yours looks like a lap3 tune if I had to guess. Their tunes for stingers look pretty similar with how there are big timing corrections across the board. Lap3 claims the entire strategy is different from stock and we can't look at jb4 logs as we would an unflashed ECU. But the JB4 consensus is that's not true, and he uses a pretty poor tuning strategy.

Because of that, I decided to try N75. I specifically asked him if the flash was ok for 91 as well, and he said yes. Turns out my tune actually appears more aggressive than yours just looking at boost and timing.

N75 said the JB4 timing readout isn't accurate and not to look at it...... Dunno why. N75 and Lap3 have a lot of ECU tools and other software at their disposal. I'm not even sure the logging they experimented with to develop these flashes is from OBD data.

So to answer your question.... From the eyes of the JB4, yes it seems normal lap3 and N75 build in so much advance timing that even on 93 it's relying on the computer to reducing timing to protect itself. The general consensus from JB4 is this is a pretty poor tuning strategy. However, as I'll show below, I'm not entirely sure what to believe.

5000 rpm, map6 requesting 1.6 psi less

	boost	ign	biggest ign correction	iat
N75 ma0	21.6	20	Cyl4 - 9	62
N75 map0	22.6	23	Cyl2 - 5.3	51
N75 map6	20.7	24.5	Cyl4 - 3	55
N75 map6	20.7	20	Cyl2&3 - 3	82
Your flash map0	21	11	cyl 2-3-4 - 9-9.8	73
Stock flash map2	20.7	15	0	89

So compared to my map6 and a stock map2.... you have similar boost, but significantly less timing with lower iat.

map6 set for 0.9 psi less. That said, the ecu is requesting more psi so the end result is more psi than map 0.

	boost	ign1	biggest ign correction	iat
N75 Map 0	21.1	20.5	Cyl4 -7.5	60
N75 Map 0	21.3	24	Cyl1 - 7.5	53
N75 Map6	21.7	24	Cyl 2&4 - 2.3	53
N75 Map6	21.9	22	Cyl3 - 3.0	80
Your flash map0	20	13	Cyl 2-3-4 8.3	75
stock flash map2	20.7	17	0	87

Same story. similar boost, less timing, but big corrections despite a lower iat.

When I first reviewed my logs, I just thought "oh, there's a lot more timing than stock, so that probably explains these big corrections." But when I logged map6 and saw similar/more boost and timing with less correction, that didn't make a ton of sense. How did it go from 7.6* of correction to 3* with the same end result?

Now that I see a log your flash, I'm even more confused. I'm on worse fuel, but can run the same or more boost and significantly more timing with less ign correction on a higher iat. How is that possible/make sense? Same deal comparing your flash to stock flash on map2.... You have similar boost, but significantly less timing and lower iat. With more correction across the board.... it's not adding up or naking sense to me.

I guess there's a chance these tuners change how the rom functions on the flash, and the data displayed from JB4 can't be interpreted the same?

[biggeley]

Hey, thanks for input! Since I posted, I ended up making the dealer perform an "ECU mapping validation" and they claimed it was all stock. They couldn't even detect an alteration.. I told them to force re-flash the stock program back to my ECU and they claimed they did, but there was no change whatsoever.. After some back and forth they took the car back, and probably resold it to some other poor schmuck. Needless to say I'm no longer doing business with that dealer.. Ended up with a used/certified Kia Stinger GT from elsewhere.. It's been untouched, and dealer personally knew the first owner. My JB4 has a new home.

I can't say for sure if it's lap3 or not as I have no information. But the screws holding the ECU to the ECU bracket had been turned a few times. It had been removed and shipped off to be refreshed.

Yeah, no idea what was up with the car.. It felt really weak in the mid-rpms when the timing was getting pulled.. As least compared to the Veloster N I had recently sold it felt weak in the mid rpms but it pulled much better on the top end. Something was just off about that tune and I could feel it without even having the JB4 attached. That is the scary thing about these tunes - you don't know what you're going to get exactly, and once you got it you're stuck with it.