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Thread: Volo VP15 OBD Tuner

  1. #1
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Volo VP15 OBD Tuner

    Volo Performance

    Sometimes I'm a little impulsive. I've done enough research on tuning options for the Mirage to know that there's not much out there SPECIFICALLY for the Mirage just yet. There are a few options out there, and a little more money than I wanted to spend.

    Learned about the Volo tuner Friday night. Did a little research on it. And in a matter of a couple hours, I decided to go ahead and order one! There are good reviews out there, including from a website that tests "performance chips". They were very skeptical about it before they tried it, and they concluded that it does, indeed, work.

    Part of my research included downloading the tuning software from their website and looking through the options. Between that, and reading some reviews and some Q&A from the company that I found in various places, I've concluded that this is how it works.

    It's not a true "flash tuner". You don't just plug it in and flash the ECU and then put it in the closet when you're done. It doesn't overwrite the stock tuning, and it doesn't give you the option to do any sort of fully custom tuning. That's not necessarily a bad thing. Most people don't need that level of control.

    What it does is modify the fuel and spark (and maybe throttle?) trim tables. It does this every time you start the engine because it's not permanently making changes to the ECU. Therefore, to use it, you have to keep it plugged in.

    The options in the software are pretty straightforward, it asks:
    - Year/Make/Model/Engine of the car (and their library includes a LOT of different cars... meaning that you could use this on more than just your Mirage, it's versatile)
    - Performance Priority (Economy, Performance or Mix)
    - Fuel Octane (87, 89 or 91+)
    - Towing/Hauling (never, sometimes, always... I'm not sure what it does with this... throttle curve?)
    - HHO (do you have it or not... insert eyeroll)
    - High Flow Air Filter, like K&N (yes or no)
    - Cold Air Intake (yes or no)
    - High Flow Exhaust (yes or no)
    - Exhaust Header (yes or no)
    - Ignition Mods (yes or no)
    - Underdrive Pulley (yes or no... not sure what it does with this, either...)

    And then, it appears that it sends the following info to the module (via USB) depending on your options:
    SET PRIORITY P
    SET FUEL 2
    LOAD OFFSET 0
    HHO ENABLE F
    FUEL OFFSET 1 0
    FUEL OFFSET 2 0
    FUEL OFFSET 3 1
    FUEL OFFSET 4 1
    TIMING OFFSET 1 0

    Guesses as to how that works:
    Priority - this one's obvious, and your priority probably mostly affects throttle control
    Fuel - yeah, it's going to add more fuel... I guess to the second level...
    Load Offset - This probably has something to do with throttle control, as well
    HHO - Presumably injecting HHO would reduce the fuel requirement and allow greater timing advance, but I don't care, not something I'm into
    Fuel Offsets - These are probably different RPM and/or load ranges. Where to apply the increased fuel?
    Timing Offset 1 - The level of timing advance over stock.

    Would be cool if they just said what all of these things are and allowed you to manually set each one if you wanted to, and what their range of operation is. (and maybe they do, there is a "load custom map" option, and maybe the kit comes with a manual?) If they don't, then it will just take some experimentation to see which options affect which variables.

    So, while this isn't going to be anywhere near as effective as a full dyno tune via flash tuner, piggyback ECU, or aftermarket ECU -- it does allow a little bit of tuning, and should be better than nothing.

    For about $138 shipped... it seemed very much worth the risk. If it gets me a little bit more from the exhaust mods that I've already done, it will totally be worth it.

    The only thing it doesn't appear to do that I would like is to raise the rev limit, even just a little bit. For autocross, being able to reach a higher speed in 2nd gear without having to shift to 3rd is always welcome. A couple hundred RPM can make a difference. After playing with it, I may contact Volo and ask if this is something they can do. Maybe they can add it to a future release of the software? (or maybe it's an already available "custom" option?)


    Simplify and add lightness.

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  3. #2
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    So, I ordered mine Friday night. It shipped Monday from Arkansas via USPS. I should see it at my door on Wednesday.

    Tick-tock, USPS, tick-tock!
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Stock redline is 6500, right? When does the ECU cut spark? I'm looking at a 2018 Mirage es at my local dealer in manual to get in a few months. Just bought a new Eclipse Cross from them over the weekend.

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    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    The red line on the tach is 6500. Actual engine redline could actually be 6200 or so, I don't know.
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Senior Member Top_Fuel's Avatar
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    Looking forward to your testing. I know you didn't buy it for mpg...but i would be interested if the economy mode produces measurable results.

    I don't pay much attention to tuning devices...but I had no idea you could plug something into the OBDII connector and have it alter fuel/spark/etc settings. That's actually kind of cool. Sometimes you may not want to over-write the ECU tables.

        __________________________________________

        click to view fuel log View my fuel log 2015 Mirage ES 1.2 manual: 52.2 mpg (US) ... 22.2 km/L ... 4.5 L/100 km ... 62.6 mpg (Imp)


  7. #6
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    As I have time, I'll probably play with the economy modes just to figure out what they do. I can't give honest "best fuel economy numbers" because I have decidedly non-Eco tires, and little opportunity to do good economy runs. But, I should be able to tell if my "typical hypermiling trip" MPG goes up, or if it becomes "easier" to get good MPG, and how drivability suffers for it, etc, etc. It's easy enough to change the settings... just gotta plug in a laptop!
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Have you come across RS Chip? After reading your post I came across it.
    http://en.rschip.com/chiptuning/mits...age/1.2i-76hp/

    They have 2 models for the mirage.
    I read up on the Volo and came across a post with dyno results. End up the Volo did nothing.
    I am going to read up on the RS chip to see if it does anything to performance.

  10. #8
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Package should arrive today. If I don't get it installed tonight, it will probably be Friday. I'll keep you posted on real world results.
    Simplify and add lightness.

  11. #9
    Still Plays With Cars Loren's Avatar
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    Package did arrive, but I forgot that I don't have my car today. I swap it for the driver's ed car when I have lots of lessons scheduled, so I won't see it until tomorrow.

    Packaging is nice, everything is well-printed. The quick start guide is SPARSE, but the device really is just that simple and the software is intuitive. Plug it into your USB, go through the setup, write to the device (I refuse to call it a "chip", that's not what it is) and you're ready. All I have to do is plug it into the car now.

    So, maybe I'll have some info tomorrow.
    Simplify and add lightness.

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    Hmmm. The fact that they're located in the USA, and offer free local installation by their "ASE certified" techs is intriguing. Too bad they don't back it up with hard numbers.



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