P12 ECU review

[Shadow1]

Well i got a p12 ECU from Tony(1990ex) this past weekend at the Greensboro meet. and i must say, i am VERY impressed with the results. Here's my write up on it:


Performance: Dag is all i can say. it was installed by 1990ex(Tony). radio fuse was taken out and battery disconnected to reset the ECU(and my freakin stereo. shnit). once i started it up, it sounded normal. me, 1990ex, and coffee_bean went to get on the highway and the car seems like it wanted to pull rather than stop or just drive.

My current mods are 4-2-1 header, a6 IM swap, SRI, and a cat back exhaust(2.25"). with these mods and the pt3 ECU, it did well on the highway. but unless you retarded the timing a bit, you wouldnt feel that more pull in the upper RPM range. once the p12 ECU was installed, it felt like it pulled all the way to redline. high speed pick up is A LOT better with these mods.

Gas suffered tho. but that might have been because i was loving how the motor pulled no matter where i was in the RPM range. lmao. but i would recommend this mod to anyone with an a1 or a4.

Main Points:
-pulled all throughout the RPM range
-gas MIGHT suffer. depends on the driver
-2nd gear pulls feel ALOT stronger
-EXCELLENT mod that works well with I/H/E combo


will get a dyno next month to see where im sitting at power-wise and post up.

[visualpoet]

... radio fuse was taken out and battery disconnected to reset the ECU(and my freakin stereo. shnit)...

Wouldn't the fact that it was already out of the car and disconnected from the power have reset it? Noob! You just reset your stereo for nothing.

Glad you got one and like it. They seem to be becoming a lot more popular than when I first got mine. When I did mine, I noticed a difference in the way the coupe ran. It actually felt and sounded smoother than the pt3, but there was more power on hand as well. It was well worth the $54 I paid for it.

Interested to see how much of a performance increase you got from yours. I picked up 15 whp, so I'd be surprised if you get less than that.

[Shadow1]

Wouldn't the fact that it was already out of the car and disconnected from the power have reset it? Noob! You just reset your stereo for nothing.

Glad you got one and like it. They seem to be becoming a lot more popular than when I first got mine. When I did mine, I noticed a difference in the way the coupe ran. It actually felt and sounded smoother than the pt3, but there was more power on hand as well. It was well worth the $54 I paid for it.

Interested to see how much of a performance increase you got from yours. I picked up 15 whp, so I'd be surprised if you get less than that.

lmao. yeah. i hate it because theres something wrong with my $30 CD player from walmart. lmao. it resets every once in a while when i start the car. i mean i have to set my bass and all that crap again.


but you dyno'ed yours? how did you find out you got a 15whp gain? DAG man. freakin 15whp. didnt even think that man. i was expecting at the MOST 10.

[90-JDMCB7]

two words for you

Speed Racer!

[visualpoet]

lmao. yeah. i hate it because theres something wrong with my $30 CD player from walmart. lmao. it resets every once in a while when i start the car. i mean i have to set my bass and all that crap again.


but you dyno'ed yours? how did you find out you got a 15whp gain? DAG man. freakin 15whp. didnt even think that man. i was expecting at the MOST 10.

Oddly, you're not the first guy on here to install his p12 and immediately pull the fuse to reset it.

I've got a beltronics vector fx1 accelerometer that I've calibrated to the car. Once it's dialed in it's pretty accurate. It times your 0-10 up to 0-100, your 30 ft, 60 ft, 1000 ft, 1/8th mile, 1/4 mile, 60-0, whp (after you have it calibrated, which does require you know your vehicle weight.) and some other stuff. I had been timing runs and doing the math as I did mods, and I take an average over 6-10 runs to account for variables, and then after each mod, I'll make another 6-10 runs and average that out. (I've got an industrial park behind my house with a couple of straight level strips, I run the 1/4 both directions in case it's not level, and average that out)
If you know your 1/4 mile time, and your car's weight (including yourself and anything else in the car when you run) you can figure out your whp. Some people prefer dyno results, but dyno numbers don't take several factors into account, such as rolling friction and wind resistance, so my dyno numbers will be higher than my actual numbers.

I think the reason I got the extra ponies was that I already had a few things done. They say it's 10 hp on the stock f22a1, and I think that the other mods made the difference. Just like having a SRI might give you 5 hp, a full exhaust might give you 10, but both together give you 20. Every mod works better with other mods than it does by itself. (numbers not intended to be accurate, just used for example)

[JoshM]

Fuckin a1.
I need more power.
I'll check out the JY's for a P12.

[C91BLX7]

My p12 has been treating me well for about 6 months. Not bad for 25 bucks.

[Shadow1]

Oddly, you're not the first guy on here to install his p12 and immediately pull the fuse to reset it.

I've got a beltronics vector fx1 accelerometer that I've calibrated to the car. Once it's dialed in it's pretty accurate. It times your 0-10 up to 0-100, your 30 ft, 60 ft, 1000 ft, 1/8th mile, 1/4 mile, 60-0, whp (after you have it calibrated, which does require you know your vehicle weight.) and some other stuff. I had been timing runs and doing the math as I did mods, and I take an average over 6-10 runs to account for variables, and then after each mod, I'll make another 6-10 runs and average that out. (I've got an industrial park behind my house with a couple of straight level strips, I run the 1/4 both directions in case it's not level, and average that out)
If you know your 1/4 mile time, and your car's weight (including yourself and anything else in the car when you run) you can figure out your whp. Some people prefer dyno results, but dyno numbers don't take several factors into account, such as rolling friction and wind resistance, so my dyno numbers will be higher than my actual numbers.

I think the reason I got the extra ponies was that I already had a few things done. They say it's 10 hp on the stock f22a1, and I think that the other mods made the difference. Just like having a SRI might give you 5 hp, a full exhaust might give you 10, but both together give you 20. Every mod works better with other mods than it does by itself. (numbers not intended to be accurate, just used for example)

dag man. yeah. i figured that the mods would give me a better gain than if it was just a bone stock F22a1.

Fuckin a1.
I need more power.
I'll check out the JY's for a P12.

do it man. you'll love it. its out of the '95 Preludes with the F22a1.

My p12 has been treating me well for about 6 months. Not bad for 25 bucks.

and ill be keeping mine. screw a chipped ECU. lmao.

[Shadow1]

Speed Racer!

shut up. lmao. im waiting on what your gonna do about those coilovers man

[JoshM]

do it man. you'll love it. its out of the '95 Preludes with the F22a1.

There's a few Preludes in the JY, not sure on the engine though.
I'll go check on Thursday.

[C91BLX7]

There's a few Preludes in the JY, not sure on the engine though.
I'll go check on Thursday.

Just look at the VIN, it will say BA8 then it should have a P12 in it.

[1990Ex]

Well i got a p12 ECU from Tony(1990ex) this past weekend at the Greensboro meet. and i must say, i am VERY impressed with the results. Here's my write up on it:


Performance: Dag is all i can say. it was installed by 1990ex(Tony). radio fuse was taken out and battery disconnected to reset the ECU(and my freakin stereo. shnit). once i started it up, it sounded normal. me, 1990ex, and coffee_bean went to get on the highway and the car seems like it wanted to pull rather than stop or just drive.

My current mods are 4-2-1 header, a6 IM swap, SRI, and a cat back exhaust(2.25"). with these mods and the pt3 ECU, it did well on the highway. but unless you retarded the timing a bit, you wouldnt feel that more pull in the upper RPM range. once the p12 ECU was installed, it felt like it pulled all the way to redline. high speed pick up is A LOT better with these mods.

Gas suffered tho. but that might have been because i was loving how the motor pulled no matter where i was in the RPM range. lmao. but i would recommend this mod to anyone with an a1 or a4.

Main Points:
-pulled all throughout the RPM range
-gas MIGHT suffer. depends on the driver
-2nd gear pulls feel ALOT stronger
-EXCELLENT mod that works well with I/H/E combo


will get a dyno next month to see where im sitting at power-wise and post up.

thats the way i was taught to do it oh well. your gas suffered because we didnt do anything lower than 100

[vinbon63]

I bought one too off of Kai...great seller. I attempted to install mine but it was extremely cold out, like -20 and I gave up on trying to unplug the original ecu. I will do it again when it is a lil warmer lol.

[JDMchristian991]

i love mine,and got it off big joe so mine has like...20 more hp from him just touching it.

[sideswipe]

Didn't the P12 come out of the 90-93 Preludes? This piece is most definitely on my shopping list, ain't no way Shadow's beating me to the VA Meet!