For starters "yes" I know that the CZ Stage 1.1 is still being worked on and "yes" I do have the "M" flash. However what it is that REALY PISSES me off is that I waited "3" months to get a $600.00 paper weight OK e-nuff of that let me explain. From 1000-4500RPM it feels like I'm pulling a 3000lbs. trailer with boat on it .It bucks, jerks, back fires and idles like **** now don't get me wrong I'm not someone who just trashes a product for know reason ,I do have many years of working on and modding car of all natures I mean ya the car realy comes alive at 7000rpm but who cruzes around town at that RPM it may give a few more HP in the higher RPM range but it KILLS the low end HELL the lower RPM range is were the RX-8 needs the help not the top end. I did inspect my coils to see if that was the problem but they were all fine the car runs great with the stock pcu runing the show.

I must admit I was having second thoughts after hearing many others who had install the Stage 1 and had the same kind of problems, but I just blew it off hoping it was going to be different on my 8 this was not the case . I look at it this way if CZ is still "fine tuning" the unit then it's NOT ready to be sold. Well that's just my $.02. I will be sending it back Monday for full refund. Sorry guys I was hoping I was going to have somthing better to report :o

 

damn, its always a bummer to hear negative feedback about THE ONE product that currently has the most potential for an increase in horsepower, hope canzoomer fixes the "kinks". guess ill waste my money on looks for now instead of performance, cause lets face it, theres not alot of aftermarket performance products out there, and quite frankly, im starting to lose hope

 

If you would take the time to do a little research you would realize the problem isn't the Stage 1 tuning -- it is your MAF sensor. The poor design of Mazda's MAF sensor is resulting in a wide range of readings that are affecting a small percentage of RX-8's -- I believe that CZ has been looking at an aftermarket MAF sensor to solve the problem.

 

What is a MAF sensor?

 

Mass Air Flow. Buy or borrow the Stage 1.X tuning kit, and tweak your air/fuel and ignition advance maps - you CAN solve the problem.

 

This may be true "BUT" why should I have to buy/ borrow somthing else to make my stage 1.1 work, if you ask me for $600.00 the "X" tuning kit should be included with the stage 1.1 if thats what it takes to make it work. I just wish CZ would have put more time in testing maybe there wouldn't be all these problems, the CZ unit has been out know for nearly a year and I have yet to see REAL dyno #"s just a bunch of G-tech crap this means nothing to me. I LOVE my 8 but what is up with aftermarket on this car it's like nothing I'v ever seen just a hole lot of vends throwing out BS saying "I'll post photos& HP ratings tomarrow" but then they fall of the face of the earth, I know this is off subject but what gives

 

Dude, if you're that pissed, send it back. They'll give you your money back, no question.

OR, you could decide to do something about it yourself, with the tuning kit. It's not hard. Yes, one would hope it would work perfectly right out of the box, but as has been mentioned before, there is some variances in our RX-8s. You have a fringe one, like I do... but a few hours of tuning with the kit and I can now feel every pony of those additional 30 HP. Maurice has spent thousands of hours tuning this thing to work with most cars - which it does, regardless of what you hear here - but it is impossible to make it run perfectly with ALL cars. That has to fall to the user in a few cases. Congrats, you're one of those cases.

The '8 is a tough nut to crack. Mazda did a damn good job of tweaking it before it got to our shores. AND, it's only been for sale here for almost exactly a year. It always takes the aftermarket at least 1-2 years when a significant new model comes out before they catch up.

 

I was reading this thread last night when it got posted. Sorry about your bad experience with the CZ 1.1. I still want to try this out; it seems to be worth the money . IMO, any fault that comes with the part isn't always that of the manufacturer's. Before you send it back, try tuning it one more time. I'm sure you feel like you got suckered into buying the CZ. I say, give it a chance. You can still make it work . Like Omicron said, this car takes at least 1-2 years to have at least a decent aftermarket following. If your thirst for power exceeds your patience, then maybe the RX-8 isn't for you.

 

hey omi...i also have the 1.1 and am happy with the improvements...i did not tune the unit though and wonder if you think that i (read "all") units would benefit from the additional time and money.

 

Omicron: Let's just say, theoretically, that I tried the CZ 1.1 for a few weeks and did not notice any improvement--it felt just like stock, no better, no worse--so I sold it.

Now let's say I have the M flash and an RB exhaust, and might consider trying the CZ again. Based upon my initial experience, would you say that I probably have one of the "bad" MAFs? Is there any way to tell without buying another CZ unit?

Thanks.

 

there is a way to test it to see which part of the "range" you are in. i have an email in to rx-freind concerning this. ill try him again and see if i can get the info.

 

Hmmm, actually this sounds like the burned-out ignition coil issue. Do a search on "ignition coil" and you'll see quite a few posts.

 

man...no need to get all hostile...it doesn't matter what car you get...take for instance at my old shop...i used to own a 95 300ZX...i swapped motors in it, took it all apart, tuned it, raced it (10.2 1/4m), and went through many many many parts by different vendors with it...the majority of the cars that came into my shop were 300Z's, 2nd was Eclipse's and Supras...not a single car even if it's the same year N/A or TT, you could put the same vendors parts on it to have two identical twins but they NEVER tune the same...you have a BASE to go by but each engine is different...that is why you need to TUNE your car...it's not guaranteed to run OTB...you have to take the difference in your environment and your cars characteristics into play and tweak it yourself...if I lived near you I'd be happy to help...but please don't get mad at Canz because what works on one car is never going to work exactly the same on another car even if it's the same model, year, engine, whatever...

sorry about your problems..hope everything works out...

 

Omi, could you elaborate on the best way to go about tuning the CZ1.1? Polak and I worked on his a bit and I felt like it was a bit of a guessing game. There are a lot of rpm/TPS combinations and advance settings you can play with. How do you know where to start and how to create your optimum A/F curve?

 

For all the questions y'all are asking, Check out this thread.

 

Man you have to realize that when you start tweaking stuff you open yourself to this. You have to be patient and work past this stuff to get the end result. If you keep pluggin away odds are better for the payoff. It got so high tech that everyone needs to be more knowlegable just to understand what they are buying. Not like the old days when the HEI was the big ****. Hang in there

 

Its not as complicated as it seems. You could ask CZ what would be a good "base line" setting and take it from there. Its not much different then tuning at the dragstrip with the old cars. Just like finding the right jets for the Holley carb that work with the "total advance" from the HEI. Your looking for power with the combinations you choose. Change a setting and take a short blast. Richen here lean there timing, timing, timing. Write down everything you do and CHECK YOUR SPARK PLUGS after each run. Thats the long way but you will gain so much knowledge. Thats what I'm gonna do when/if I decide to blow more cash on this thing

 

Seems to me this guy is just out to bash canzoomer....that's uncool.

 

I'm experiencing the exact same symptoms that RX10000RPM describes here.

I sent back my unit for a HW/SW update and while it was out had the dealer reflash my PCM to M. When I got the CZ-1 back and installed it, I have very sluggish response in the lower RPM range which is quite noticable in 1st and 2nd gear. If I turn the CZ-1 off, the symptom disappears.

I'm waiting to hear back from Maurice about what I can do to get this tuned properly for my car.

 

For the time being untill it gets worked out why doesnt CZ build in a switch so that his map doesn't come into play until after 7000 rpm???
not what your paying for but at least drivable. When he gets the problem solved he just redoes the old ones to some new spec.
This will keep his clients happy and avoid all the bad rap.
No manufacturer wants you to have problems and I'm sure he will go out of his way to keep old buyers happy.

 

I didn't know there was a 300ZX in the country that would do a 10.2 1/4 mile. Although you don't specify seconds, or miles. Maybe that's supposed to be 1/4 meter

 

Lol

 

Ouch

 

After reading all the posts about the CZ piggyback, I think I will wait until the bugs are ironed out.

I know a lot of people will continue to buy the chip who need the performance now but for me this is one of those items I can wait on when they get more reliable.

I am wondering where Mazda is now creating a new flash? Does anyone know if there is going to be a N flash anytime soon or did the M address all the issues?

Dean

 

RX Tuner magazine just published a huge article (by Polak and Canzoomer) on the Canzoomer unit and explains in detail the reason people see variation in performance from car to car in the unit. What it boils down to is that the MAF sensor output voltage will vary from car to car at the same throttle setting and speed. This means the unit will be tuned well for some cars and not for others. It looks like what we will have to start doing with any unit we purchase or reprogram is tune our cars individually with the software and a CANscan tool they are developing that will log output data from the MAF sensor to figure out where your car falls in the voltage variation band.