Remapped my Mazda 5 2.0L ECU and Tranny

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Mazda 5
The Mazda 5 is a good family hauler, but engine and transmission are born to be laggy and not responsive. There are almost no aftermarket support on either 2.5 or 2.0 engine, some people here put intake or muffler and call it a day. I have tried both, they lose too much low-end torque, which is worse if you carry a family of 4-6 with AC turned on.

Tuning chip is what the car needs, but I can see there is no market for it. Most owners and chip makers just don't care the 5, I guess.

I found this local tuning company called AMS who will do custom remap for almost any vehicle (even semi truck), and I have been following their FB posts for awhile. They ask for US640 to remap both ECU and tranny computer, which isn't cheap. Spoke with the owner a couple times, he alleged he owned a Mazda 5, exactly the same model I am driving for a week or so, I was promised a custom remap will wake the car up or else he will refund the money.

This morning I went to his shop. He asked me what kind of tuning I want. I said give me the best out of it, but no messing the accelerator (pedalbox etc), and he said alright no problem. 1hr and we went out to test drive a couple times before putting the car on the dyno.

Engine noise = definitely quieter both inside or standing outside, I will do oil change tomorrow and see if better result comes out.
Exhaust note = tone is so much more solid at any RPM, it went from axle-back fart can to something decent. There is still drone on the hwy, but it is much sweeter sound.
Tranny = Bang Bang Bang, the best thing they did is to fix the shifting. It is now very responsive and shift to the right gear at the right time. I have a smile on my face the whole day.
Power = It is a NA 4 banger, never expected it get a lot out of it. The stock mapping feels like it only has 120hp. The new mapping gained about 15whp at the peak, which should be around 16xhp at the crank. With the tranny remap, it finally feels like a 16xhp car. I am putting back the stock airbox as the reading shows it makes no benefit but losing a lot of low-end torque. I went from 2.5in to 2.75in pipe and 3in cone, the engine just can't suck that much air.


Verdict:
A lot of people believe, oh I want the max HP gain from the mod, but they forget about the overall power curve. I drive my car mainly in the city, the remap gives me a healthy gain mostly at the low-end to 4.5krpm. The car reacts quicker, which I love about it.


What makes the Mazda 5 sluggish?
- wider or heavier wheels
- hot air or cold air intake
- exhaust
- thicker engine oil
- pedalbox (it will make your throttle opens quicker, but the transmission computer won't work too well with it)
 
Engine tune is nice. OEM tune is on the safe side b/c the same tune is used in different climates/conditions. Is your final tune running on regular or premium gas?


There are a few known vendors that know Mazdas well and can be done for less. Most tuners can pretty much tune any car if they have the software. Comes down to how much control you want; you can even have multiple tune files that you can upload on the fly.


http://dynotronicstuning.3dcartstores.com/MazdaEdit_c_856.html
(hit or miss on response time)
 
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