New to this, need to learn

[D3ad_Hand]

Hi to whomever is reading this I have recently decided to buy the upcoming 2023 toyota supra or the 2022 supra still have not decided and to the people saying wait on the manual this going to be my main car so daily driving going back and forth I would like to stay with conveyance of an automatic.

So I am not new to the world of moding cars however I am not that informed either so this thread is basically going to be me asking a lot of questions it would appreciated if you can answer some thank you in advance. I will first pull up my overall info about the subject then diverge into questions in the subcategories below it. P.S a lot of the questions will be based on what I saw other people do so sorry if I sound dumb or uninformed about a subject so please go easy one me I've taken a keen interest on the supra and moding it and wanna be part of this nice community

1. ECU: So for the ECU I heard a lot of talked about how the DME is locked and all but I dont get it whats a DME and I've seen people mentioning visconti tuning for an ECU unlock that I get a bit. Also saw people mention a semi tune if you could call it that with the JB4 but I dont know whats a JB4. Finally whats an ECUTEK I see a lot of people having it on their supras and I saw some bmw videos. I am looking to custom tune my soon to be supra with 2 maps one for daily driving and the other one for a track or racing or whatever

1.1: whats a DME why is it locked and is there a way to crack it?
1.2: whats JB4 and what does it do and why isnt it being used by everyone
1.3: whats an ECUTEK?
1.4: is it possible to tune your supra over the locked ECU? and if so is it so bad?


2. Intake: As for intakes I know some basic knowledge about them. I've seen people install the injen intake on their supra's and that intake sound so gooood. However an upgrade to that are carbon fiber intakes which look amazing and sound amazing but is there really a big difference that I should consider the carbon fiber intake?

2.1: Are carbon fiber intakes that good from a normal intake? Should I consider one?
2.1.1: Are charge pipes necessary? What difference do they make?
2.1.2: Why the do prices for carbon fiber intakes shoot up way higher than normal intakes. I get it there carbon fiber but is it really worth it?
2.2: What intakes would you recommend? based on your experiences


3. Downpipe: A lot of people recommend catless downpipes, but over here in the UAE due to the strict law we have over here against moding and all I dont wanna risk it and wanted to go with a downpipe with a cat converter.

3.1: through my time for searching for parts and stuff I truly fell in love with the AMS downpipe. However what would your recommendations be? based on your experiences


4. Exhaust?: As for the Exhaust I dont really think an Exhaust is really necessary. The stock Exhaust to me sounds amazing and I havent really looked much into exhausts. However the Takeda 3 sounds amazing but I dont see it adding that much power. Due to strict noise laws here in the UAE (as I mentioned before) its fine to go for an exhaust however if I ever go for one I dont know what to go for maybe an exhuast with valves so that in comfort it does not sound as loud but in sport rips with its voice that I am fine with but what would you recommend.

Thank you for reading my post this is my first one and hopefully one of many I hope I am welcome into this community.

P.S sorry for all the dumb questions but you gotta start somewhere right?

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[MX5Racer]

I have many of the same questions after owning it a year LOL

I agree the Automatic is great for traffic and will be quicker anyway, so win/win.

I also agree the exhaust sounds fantastic in Sport mode and even though I almost always upgrade exhaust I've been in no hurry with this car.

I may do an intake but really don't see a need for much more, this car is a beast right out of the showroom

 

[suicidaleggroll]

1.1 - DME is just another name for the ECU, same thing. It's locked because that's the direction OEMs are going. Companies are working on ways to unlock it, there's one option out of Russia but that can be tricky with the current state of the world. Others are working on it as well but as far as I know there aren't any other options that are completely ready. Another option is to swap in an ECU from an earlier model that's not locked.
1.2 - JB4 is a piggyback. It intercepts signals from the sensors, and manipulates them so that the stock ECU running the stock tune does what you want. Easiest example is it can report to the ECU that the manifold pressure is 4 psi lower than it actually is, causing the ECU to raise the boost by 4 psi. That's the basic idea, but it can control more than just boost pressure that way.
1.3 - Ecutek is one of the several platforms available for tuning the stock ECU. Others are BM3, MHD, etc. All of them require the ECU to be unlocked first, for that see 1.1.
1.4 - No, it's impossible to tune a locked ECU. The only option is a JB4.

2.1 - The only difference is appearance
2.1.1 - The only difference is appearance
2.1.2 - Carbon is expensive
2.2 - I like my MST v2

3.1 - If you need a functional cat, then Active Autowerke and AMS are probably the best options. There might be a couple more with GESI certified cats as well.

 

[zrk]

Another option is to swap in an ECU from an earlier model that's not locked.

This still requires Femto in Russia. You cannot just swap in a 2020 ECU, this is the 'clone' method.

 

[Mason]

You lost me at Conveyance

 

[suicidaleggroll]

This still requires Femto in Russia. You cannot just swap in a 2020 ECU, this is the 'clone' method.

Thanks for the clarification, I’m not super familiar with that process

 

[Vexeclipse2007]

Trust me..my buddies have supras too and they talk about what they are doing to the engine and thats greek to me. All i know are the basics. Exhaust down pipe intake and thats it lol i am all about appearance and everything. Supra stock is fast eno for me

 

[XtremeMaC]

You lost me at Conveyance

That's certainly an inconvenience.

 

[SupraDC]

That's certainly an inconvenience.

You misspelled inconveyance.

 

[zrk]

@underdonk did a great job. I'm going to try to add a little more color.

1. ECU: So for the ECU I heard a lot of talked about how the DME is locked and all but I dont get it whats a DME and I've seen people mentioning visconti tuning for an ECU unlock that I get a bit. Also saw people mention a semi tune if you could call it that with the JB4 but I dont know whats a JB4. Finally whats an ECUTEK I see a lot of people having it on their supras and I saw some bmw videos. I am looking to custom tune my soon to be supra with 2 maps one for daily driving and the other one for a track or racing or whatever

1.1: whats a DME why is it locked and is there a way to crack it?
1.2: whats JB4 and what does it do and why isnt it being used by everyone
1.3: whats an ECUTEK?
1.4: is it possible to tune your supra over the locked ECU? and if so is it so bad?

Hokay, so. This is confusing. As @underdonk said, ECU == DME. It's the same thing, that's the easy part. Then it gets harder when it comes to locking/unlocking.

Most ECUs for recent cars are locked, and the Supra is no exception. However, there are some gotchas that make this... hard. The 2020 Supras have a software lock that has been cracked. If you buy a 2020 Supra, or a 2021 Supra that has an ECU whose manufacture date was 06/2020 or earlier, you can just 'bench unlock' the ECU and go on with tuning. There are several stateside companies that can attach a little box to your ECU, unlock it, and that's that. Most 2021 and all later ECUs have a more secure hardware lock. This has not been fully cracked, though as mentioned above, there are options for tuning this. Without getting into details if you wish to tune your ECU, you will need to send the ECU through a vendor (or do it yourself, but risky) off to Femto in Europe. They currently have a shop in Finland which makes this process a little easier given the unrest in Russia/Ukraine. The vendor will either have Femto partially unlock your ECU or clone your ECU's data to a donor ECU that does not have the hardware lock. These options are expensive and annoying-- 13-20 business days without your ECU. (If you have questions about this process, please ask. I can help. I've done this).

Another popular option is the JB4, which is a hardware device that intercepts signals and has the ability to actually control the electronic wastegate on this car. Again, @underdonk nailed this, as well as the rest of your ECU questions.

2. Intake: As for intakes I know some basic knowledge about them. I've seen people install the injen intake on their supra's and that intake sound so gooood. However an upgrade to that are carbon fiber intakes which look amazing and sound amazing but is there really a big difference that I should consider the carbon fiber intake?

2.1: Are carbon fiber intakes that good from a normal intake? Should I consider one?
2.1.1: Are charge pipes necessary? What difference do they make?
2.1.2: Why the do prices for carbon fiber intakes shoot up way higher than normal intakes. I get it there carbon fiber but is it really worth it?
2.2: What intakes would you recommend? based on your experiences

It's a noisemaker. Pick the one you can afford comfortably and like the looks of. There is no performance benefit to any of the options available. If you shoot for the moon and swap to a bigger turbo, you'll likely not use an intake at all, or just a small filter.

3. Downpipe: A lot of people recommend catless downpipes, but over here in the UAE due to the strict law we have over here against moding and all I dont wanna risk it and wanted to go with a downpipe with a cat converter.

3.1: through my time for searching for parts and stuff I truly fell in love with the AMS downpipe. However what would your recommendations be? based on your experiences

A downpipe, even catted, is pretty much table stakes for any sort of tune, JB4 included. The factory downpipe is a major bottleneck. Before I switched to a catless downpipe, I used MAPerformance downpipe. It worked fine, the price was right, and it didn't throw a check engine light. ActiveAutowerkes and a couple others also don't throw CELs. If you tune, you really need a downpipe.

4. Exhaust?: As for the Exhaust I dont really think an Exhaust is really necessary. The stock Exhaust to me sounds amazing and I havent really looked much into exhausts. However the Takeda 3 sounds amazing but I dont see it adding that much power. Due to strict noise laws here in the UAE (as I mentioned before) its fine to go for an exhaust however if I ever go for one I dont know what to go for maybe an exhuast with valves so that in comfort it does not sound as loud but in sport rips with its voice that I am fine with but what would you recommend.

Stock exhaust is fine. Both sound and performance-wise.

 

[underdonk]

@underdonk did a great job. I'm going to try to add a little more color.

I didn't do it! You'll never pin it on me!

 

[romanLegion9574]

Gonna answer stuff that didn't seem covered:
1.2: whats JB4 and what does it do and why isnt it being used by everyone
Because it's limited in the readings it can modify (namely boost pressure). This limits the upper bounds of power you can achieve. To go above and beyond, you'll need a full tune which provides access to more settings.

2.1: no real benefit from CF over another intake. Maybe a little bit lighter, but 99.9% for looks.

2.1.1: It depends on how much you plan on modding the car. If you're keeping it to just bolt-ons, you don't need to change the stock charge pipe. But if you plan on running nitrous, meth, etc., you'll need to go for an aftermarket option.

2.1.2: See 2.1. Its for looks. Do the looks justify extra cost for you?

2.2: If you're looking for loudness, seems like the most up-to-date ranking is HKS, Armaspeed, and MST for the top 3. I personally think MST is best bang for buck.

3. No idea about what the UAE's emissions laws look like, but you want a downpipe with a GESI-approved filter (I think that's the wording). Active Autowerke, MAPerformance, and AMS catted are the 3 downpipes I remember off the top of my head that have the GESI setup and don't throw a check engine light.

4. Given the noise restrictions, you're best off staying stock. The downpipe should give you a nicer tone.

 

[KAREEMMK5]

Femto was just in Dubai last week and unlocked many locked ECUs. You missed that chance to do it quick in an hour!
I also heard they are opening an office in dubai soon so you might get lucky soon!

 

[D3ad_Hand]

@romanLegion9574 @underdonk @KAREEMMK5 @zrk @Vexeclipse2007 @suicidaleggroll @MX5Racer

Thank you all for the responses I appreciate you taking the time to check out my post and reply to me.

1. ECU: As for the ECU the processes seems tedious to unlock your ECU if @KAREEMMK5 is right about the office they will open up hopefully in Dubai I might just work with them then other than that my ECU will be staying where its at for a while.

2. Intake: As for intakes I might just go for the injen or MST gonna have to decide at the time but they're both amazing intakes and I'll throw the carbon intakes outside the window.

3. Downpipes: As for downpipes I might just go for the AMS catted one or the Active Autowerke downpipe they both sound amazing and both are around the same price.

4. Exhaust: Most of you recommended to stay stock and I think I will. however in the future I might just go for Takeda aFe exhaust.

Thank you again for all the responses and answering my questions

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