Active Autowerke: Active 8 - Tune review

[luis_hp64]

Hello fellow members!

Some background info about me to earn the interest of some of you in this forum. I know I am a noobie on this forum, but I’ve been a gearhead for quite a while. I have always dreamed of owning an ///M5 ever since I saw it for the first time (an e39) racing against a built Mustang on the streets of my home country the Dominican Republic. After years (since 2012) that the F10 came out I knew I was going to be purchasing one. I was finally was able to pull the trigger on January of this year and I couldn’t be any happier with my decision.

The previous car I have owned are:

• 1991 Acura Integra DA9.
  
• 1997 Honda Civic EX auto which was converted manual with a b18b1 swap.
  
• 1996 Acura Integra DC2 with fully built b18b (ls/Vtec) It made about 18X whp back in 2007.
  
• 2005 Toyota Corolla XRS which comes with 2ZZ-GE and 6 speed manual transmission. In case you recognize this engine code, yes is the same Toyota motor found on the Lotus Elise. The car FBO was making 186 whp and was running about 14 flat due to lack of traction. It was called the Type R killer lol.
  
• 2002 RSX Type S - This car was built from the ground. I got this car shell as a theft recovery with no motor, transmission, or interior.
  
• Then decided to chill and go for Lexus IS350 F-Sport and then GS350 F-sport. I now own an Alpina White M5 non competition package due to $$$.

Here is the babe.








Now down to business, after month of research throughout this and other forums and reading about the different piggyback tuners I decided to go with Active Autowerke “Active 8 tuner”; although, I was never able to find any type of review on this tuner.

Why Active Autowerke?
1. Their great reputation throughout the years.
2. Their GREAT customer service.
3. Their great reliability and warranty on their products (30 days money back even if I didn’t like the product).
4. They are local to me, and after hearing people having trouble with other piggybacks I was a no brainer to save the headache.

Some pictures of their shop:





Here is a picture of the product as delivered and installation process:







Now, what’s the best way to know the difference on your performance parts? That’s right, dyno time!!!!











The car made 529whp as max power on thier Mustang Dyno; however, Active Autorwerke sent me this graph as the line look smoother and cleaner. I will be requesting the 529whp graph some time this week. I REPEAT I DON’T HAVE THE 529WHP DYNO GRAPH AS ACTIVE ONLY SENT ME THIS ONE, I WILL BE REQUESTING IT SOMETIME THIS WEEK lol.



Please be aware the car was dynoed in a Mustang Dyno. After doing some research I was able to find that they read anywhere from 10% to 15% lower than Dynojet dynamometer. What that means is that:

-@10% = 583whp
-@12% = 594whp
-@ 15%= 610whp

The car feels JUST LIKE STOCK but with a lot more power at WOT. Fuel consumption still at an average of 13.5 MPG (yes, I have a heavy foot), which translate to 280 miles per tank. I have put about 900 miles on the car tracking everything.

At WOT the car is a beast. No traction 1st or second gear as shown in this video. I WOTed (if that’s a word lol) at 20 MPH and you can hear and see the car jump and getting stopped by traction control. I have done a WOT run with no driving assistant and the car just go nuts on 1st and 2nd gear.



Conclusion, I would recommend this to anyone who is looking for a simple and reliable upgrade that wont compromise too much. Installation is fair simple and YES you can feel the difference. Dyno doesn’t lie.

[PREDATOR 007]

How much?

[luis_hp64]

Is on their website. I believe it was around $950.

[apexlocator]

Good numbers OP. As long as the car runs smooth it was a good upgrade. Was your tuner able to adjust parameters like AFR, timing,etc? When I had my car flash tuned, the tuner said these cars run pig rich from factory. In fact, before my tune, i would fill up at ~220 miles, but now I can stretch to almost 300 miles after he tuned the fuel delivery; just normal driving and the occasional WOT in 3rd.


edit: just checked my mileage info. its not anywhere near 300 miles (dont know why I thought that). Its closer to 260 miles for a fillup now.

[apexlocator]

Also,

I had a 91' DA9 also; my first modding project. Threw a turbo on it and had fun for a couple years before the motor seized.

[luis_hp64]

Originally Posted by apexlocator

Good numbers OP. As long as the car runs smooth it was a good upgrade. Was your tuner able to adjust parameters like AFR, timing,etc? When I had my car flash tuned, the tuner said these cars run pig rich from factory. In fact, before my tune, i would fill up at ~220 miles, but now I can stretch to almost 300 miles after he tuned the fuel delivery; just normal driving and the occasional WOT in 3rd.

The car runs just like stock with a lot of extra power at WOT. The piggyback comes already preset to run 93 octane gas. If i am not mistaken, what the piggyback does is turn up the boost and the computer adjust the amount of gas to compensate the extra boost and create the right mixture.

I eventually want to do a full tune by flashing the ECU. I was just worried about warranty for the next few thousand miles as the car is new and i don't even know if i got a lemon. lol