JB4 vs Unlocked Tune

[Tpellegrino11]

Ok, this has definitely been answered, but after hours of research and so much information out there, this has became crazy.

To get into it, I am looking to do a few mods in the future. Such as full exhaust with catted Dp, charge pipe, intake to start. I have a 2022 3.0, but I'd personally like a tuneable ecu as that's what I did throughout all my years of owning multiple cars, never had the situation of a locked ecu. However, how reliable is the JB4 with these mods? Is there a power difference as well? I'm mainly looking for reliability, as i don't want to go boom boom. The JB4 just seems weird to me essentially. What are the current methods of unlocking the ecus for 2022s? I see new threads every few months on a new vendor offering ecu unlocks, but who is the most reliable and cheapest and fastest? I'm sorry for the more than likely duplicate post, but I just want some clarity and some aspects of what you guys have some so far. Thank you in advance !!

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[underdonk]

Just a general note about all of this: The JB4 is great with bolt-ons and with the car in stock form. Will net you "more power." As others have said before (@zrk) better than I have, it's a fancy boost controller. I don't think I've ever seen a documented comparison, but an actual tune applied to the ECU, with the same mods, compared to the JB4, will net you "more power." Anything more than simple bolt-ons and you'll want (or in some cases need) an actual tune. Unless this car is wildly different than others I've worked with in the past (and if it is please correct me), that's the general situation with piggy backs vs. actual ECU tuning.

 

[Jrob]

I have been on JB4 tuned by Jesse for about 3k miles. It has been nothing short of perfect totally reliable and a great difference than stock. I had the car spraying meth for about 1500 of those miles. Obviously a short term thing, but there's only 4500 miles on my car right now. I'm currently about to send my ecu to GTP Motorsports in California for an unlock. I'll be skipping the clone for now and just using MHD doing a 93 & E50 with bolt ons.

To compare pricing: I'll be at $1200 for the unlock with FEMTO, ~$550 for a tune, $500 for the MHD license and the dongle is about $80.

As far as JB4 goes, the JB4 is $670, although you can find them used for around $500. You'll want a custom map 6 tune for Jesse and for 2 maps that's $700.

With that being said you'll be at about $1200 for a JB4 and tune. Which is just the cost to unlock the ECU. You also have to include the price of an ECU to do ECUTEK. If you plan on just doing bolt ons, MHD is a great choice. Doing big turbo, PI, etc you would want the clone. In my opinion I wish I just did the unlock to begin with and skipped over the JB4. It's a great simple solution, but it just isn't enough for me anymore. There isn't a wrong choice as you will be in great hands with either option just have to think about your end goals.

 

[Tpellegrino11]

I have been on JB4 tuned by Jesse for about 3k miles. It has been nothing short of perfect totally reliable and a great difference than stock. I had the car spraying meth for about 1500 of those miles. Obviously a short term thing, but there's only 4500 miles on my car right now. I'm currently about to send my ecu to GTP Motorsports in California for an unlock. I'll be skipping the clone for now and just using MHD doing a 93 & E50 with bolt ons.

To compare pricing: I'll be at $1200 for the unlock with FEMTO, ~$550 for a tune, $500 for the MHD license and the dongle is about $80.

As far as JB4 goes, the JB4 is $670, although you can find them used for around $500. You'll want a custom map 6 tune for Jesse and for 2 maps that's $700.

With that being said you'll be at about $1200 for a JB4 and tune. Which is just the cost to unlock the ECU. You also have to include the price of an ECU to do ECUTEK. If you plan on just doing bolt ons, MHD is a great choice. Doing big turbo, PI, etc you would want the clone. In my opinion I wish I just did the unlock to begin with and skipped over the JB4. It's a great simple solution, but it just isn't enough for me anymore. There isn't a wrong choice as you will be in great hands with either option just have to think about your end goals.

Yep that's what I'm going to then. Reason I'm really asking is because more competition is coming to unlock ecus . I've seen $5000 then $3000 few months later but $1200 is way more reasonable now. Thank you for that

 

[Jrob]

Yep that's what I'm going to then. Reason I'm really asking is because more competition is coming to unlock ecus . I've seen $5000 then $3000 few months later but $1200 is way more reasonable now. Thank you for that

Absolutely! Just DM them on Instagram. There's been plenty of positive posts about their service

 

[NFamous60]

Absolutely! Just DM them on Instagram. There's been plenty of positive posts about their service

You referring to GTP doing your unlock? My thoughts were if your going to post that much for the unlock why not turbo swap how much more power would tune get you over jb4? I'm asking for personal knowledge as well considering in in the same boat thinking of going mhd until better avenues for full unlocks are available. But also how good would the car run with a mhd unlock and a top mount?

 

[Dr. Supra]

You referring to GTP doing your unlock? My thoughts were if your going to post that much for the unlock why not turbo swap how much more power would tune get you over jb4? I'm asking for personal knowledge as well considering in in the same boat thinking of going mhd until better avenues for full unlocks are available. But also how good would the car run with a mhd unlock and a top mount?

Jb4 is limited power and very limited features. I sent mine off to gtp last Friday to unlock. I will be going with bm3. Bm3 currently has more features than mhd. When unlocked, supra can make more hp with 93/e40 custom tune.

 

[zrk]

Bm3 currently has more features than mhd

While this is true, OP said he's going with a GTP unlock, which means you can't use most of the stuff, no flex, no anti-lag, no map-switching, etc. With a GTP/Femto unlock, you only get access to calibration tables so it's about the same feature set.

 

[FLtrackdays]

Ok, this has definitely been answered, but after hours of research and so much information out there, this has became crazy.

To get into it, I am looking to do a few mods in the future. Such as full exhaust with catted Dp, charge pipe, intake to start. I have a 2022 3.0, but I'd personally like a tuneable ecu as that's what I did throughout all my years of owning multiple cars, never had the situation of a locked ecu. However, how reliable is the JB4 with these mods? Is there a power difference as well? I'm mainly looking for reliability, as i don't want to go boom boom. The JB4 just seems weird to me essentially. What are the current methods of unlocking the ecus for 2022s? I see new threads every few months on a new vendor offering ecu unlocks, but who is the most reliable and cheapest and fastest? I'm sorry for the more than likely duplicate post, but I just want some clarity and some aspects of what you guys have some so far. Thank you in advance !!

Appreciate the explanation in this initial question. This is all new to me and interesting as shit! Happy unlocking

 

[Jrob]

You referring to GTP doing your unlock? My thoughts were if your going to post that much for the unlock why not turbo swap how much more power would tune get you over jb4? I'm asking for personal knowledge as well considering in in the same boat thinking of going mhd until better avenues for full unlocks are available. But also how good would the car run with a mhd unlock and a top mount?

There's definitely more power on the table with a real flash tune instead of jb4 even if you're just doing a downpipe and flex fuel. Between the flex fuel, map switching and the port injection system, the JB4 will only take you so far and gives you head room, once you're done logging and your jb4 tune is done that's really it, a big turbo doesn't give you that much more power, you can't do PI etc. For many people it's enough bang for their buck to stay JB4.

 

[AJRMKV]

Something that caught my eye with MHD vs JB4 was the cold start feature with MHD, is it still useable with a partial unlock? If so, how much can it quite down the car on startup with a full exhaust system?

 

[32bitsofGil]

Something that caught my eye with MHD vs JB4 was the cold start feature with MHD, is it still useable with a partial unlock? If so, how much can it quite down the car on startup with a full exhaust system?

Burbles and similar features should still work. Certain features are not available for the Gen 2 B58 yet either. I recommend you reach out to MHD support for further clarification, or do the boring thing I did and read the usual manual

 

[D3ad_Hand]

Just a general note about all of this: The JB4 is great with bolt-ons and with the car in stock form. Will net you "more power." As others have said before (@zrk) better than I have, it's a fancy boost controller. I don't think I've ever seen a documented comparison, but an actual tune applied to the ECU, with the same mods, compared to the JB4, will net you "more power." Anything more than simple bolt-ons and you'll want (or in some cases need) an actual tune. Unless this car is wildly different than others I've worked with in the past (and if it is please correct me), that's the general situation with piggy backs vs. actual ECU tuning.

I'm just going for a catted dp a catback and maybe an intake. JB4 get the job done?

 

[32bitsofGil]

JB4 != ecu tune

they feel way different guys. JB4 can only listen to the car sensor data and then replay modified data back to the stock ecu. It always had a “laggy” feeling to me on throttle. Plus it’s not really desirable for me to have unpredictable pedal feel. For the same price as a JB4 you can do a basic Femto unlock…

 

[underdonk]

I'm just going for a catted dp a catback and maybe an intake. JB4 get the job done?

Yep

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