I took my car out today for about 100 miles and I am going to really enjoy the ASR device. I hadn't driven the car in about a month, so it was great all around.

The sound from the speakers was probably always there, but I always kept the fuse out so I never heard it. I typically drive with paddles in higher RPM range. With the valves closed, the sound from the speakers is really noticeable when pressing the active exhaust button inside. I won't be doing that with the valves closed, it is just more prominent.

The only downside was having to pay additional fees.... probably associated with tariffs to get the device delivered. It was around $38 and I had to pay it directly to UPS before they would deliver. I am impressed that the device was at my door in 3 days! That beats most in-country shipping for me.

My car is a P450 so the idea of an ECU remap to move from 450hp to 600hp is very intriguing to me. I need to build a relationship with my service manager to see how they view certain modifications. I haven't been there but once and that was to replace the trim around my windows. For now, the P450 is plenty fast...I just don't want to take advantage of the power if it's mechanically capable. I may do an axle-back as well. I need to get more miles on the car to see it's going to be the keeper that I hope it will be.

 

Yeah, it was the same for me…The shipping of the ASR was super fast..Trying to remember if I only had to settle on my provincial taxes with UPS, or if there were additional customs charges above that…I was happy to pay whatever in the end given the great shipping and the quality of the product itself.

I understand where you are coming from with the ECU upgrade path. That is the reason I went with the R, as I was quite certain I would never want for more…That’s an understatement, it’s way more than I need, so I will never mess with tuning personally. I really wanted to avoid tuning, potential warranty concerns, etc.

Whenever I end up getting this axel back installed over the winter here in my garage, and get it out in the road in the spring, I will certainly post a thread giving my impressions. Based on some comments from Thunderdump and others I’m expecting it to be pretty epic…

Cheers

 

Are you guys buying the cheaper unit using the remote control, or the more expensive one which integrates with the OEM exhaust button? Is the install the same for both?

Sounds like the module is the right thing to do to protect the solenoid, but I'd never drive with the valves closed so remote control can sit in the glovebox.

 

The more expensive one is more complex and requires you to actually splice into the wiring harness of the car. No thanks for me. It is NOT plug and play. There is not enough it does extra to justify the huge cost for me, especially when you can achieve a similar integrated feel by programming to the Homelink.

You still need control of the unit if you want to be able to go open full or back to stock behaviour, the closed all the time mode aside. Recommend programming it to the homelink, so clean.

 

Thanks for the very detailed summary. Can I ask for clarify on the above point, does it not defeat the entire point of the module if you have to run it in stock mode to initiate a burn cycle, or did you mean to ensure it's 100% same functionality as OEM setup burn? As I mentioned above, I would never run in the car in standard mode, so worried it won't be effective.

Also, what scan tool do you have? I've heard reports of many which say they have the functionality, but doesn't work on the F-Type.

 

Thanks, definitely don't fancy splicing the wiring.

I don't have the Homelink button on my P450

 

Okay, so I see more why you were considering it. The other thing it apparently has is a way to cleanly remember the setting around whether the auto start stop stuff for the engine is enabled, but I have read here on the forum at one point there are ways to hack that and have it remain off all the time without needing this product to do it.

Other than this feature and the inherent integration it brings for the switchgear around the gearshift area, it doesn’t do a lot more. I just could not get my head around the idea of splicing into the wiring harness. The cheaper one can be removed and nobody would know it was there. If someone ever had a massive electrical problem the dealer will certainly be looking at the wiring harness…Once they know you spliced the harness you’d be screwed to state the obvious…It wouldn’t matter if the splice had anything to do with your problems or not…

Cheers

 

(1) SCAN TOOL:
I’ll start with the easier one…The scan tool…So, if you’ve read that PSA fuse 15 thread you’ll see my drama with trying to identify a workable scan tool. I went and paid a whole bunch of cash for a really nice TopDon. They told me 5 ways from Sunday that it would work for being able to read the GPF status and run regen cycles against it. They agreed to refund me before purchasing if it did not work. Sure enough it did not work…lol…I think it will eventually, but there was some really bad bug, and they were too open ended for my liking as to when it would be addressed…Very non-committal for timeline…I said no thanks and got my money back. It’s probably for the best, as the ongoing update cost for the unit was quite high. It was a quite high end device.

You will notice in the fuse 15 PSA thread that Otofix comes up as one that supposedly does the GPF functions for sure. There is some certainty with that one, as a forum member in the thread confirmed his does. He has a high end unit with expensive updates, but apparently their lower end units can do it too (but still have update costs that will add up). I’m 99% certain the mid level Autel devices will do it, because Otofix is basically the same thing running the same software, but they too have expensive updates.

Where I ended up landing was with a reasonably cheap Foxwell unit that apparently can do GPF functions. I contacted them directly, and their support is telling me it will do it. It is a reasonably entry level unit for them, but apparently it can do it, and the updates are free.

It is their NT710 unit —>

https://www.foxwelldiag.com/products...48390371770650

I decided on this one in the fall, but I didn’t see the point in picking it up until this spring when my car comes out of winter hibernation. Then I’ll have lots of time to confirm it for sure works, or if it doesn’t. Foxwell will apparently take the unit back no questions asked within 2 weeks, so that should give me lots of time to asses it etc…

I have the Icarsoft LRV3 one, but it can’t do the GPF stuff. It’s good to have a couple different devices anyway I think, and both are cheap to buy with no update costs. These scan tools are a racket. I think it’s best to stick to free update ones for regular joes like me if at all possible.

—————

(2)
OTHER CONCERN:
Your ASR unit, when in its full open valves mode, will still fool the ECU into thinking it has control of the valves, so it will initiate a burn cycle that will run. The cycle will not be prevented to run like would happen if pulling fuse 15. For some cars like some BMWs whose exhausts do not run as hot as the F-type, apparently despite being able to initiate regens the cycles can intermittently fail and give error codes. This intermittent failing is apparently a function of lower temps in the exhaust systems (relative to cars like the F-type that run hotter), combined with the fact that the ECU does not truly have control of the valves to optimize the burn (close valves to make it hotter, or whatever it does etc). Some times the burn works and does not throw a code, and some times it does. I was told that for the F-type these sorts of intermittent regen cycle failures have not been reported by customers, and they put it down to the really high natural temperatures operating in the exhaust (i.e.: Making the fact that the ECU doesn’t have true control over the F-type’s back valves to “optimize” the burn less practically problematic, it’s sorta inherently optimal if you will, etc.). This is what I got from one of these valve controller vendors. It was not ASR, but one that sold one very similar. It makes some sense to me.

All this said, even if we know our use of this ASR will not impede regen initiation, and even if it’s true that lack of true back valve control by the ECU won’t cause an insufficient burn cycle for the F-type to occur (as described above), none of this matters if you’re not doing consistent highway speed and all that other criteria that needs to be met for the ECU to even consider initiating a cycle. Like you, I feel that generally my driving habits do not typically meet this criteria (perhaps on occasion). This is why I have decided to be very intentional about performing regen cycles, by either manually doing it with a scan tool, or making a point of driving it on the highway. Even if I have some evidence that the F-type will initiate and succeed at a burn with the ASR active (so long as I meet the highway driving and other criteria), in my mind I might as well take the extra step of putting my ASR inactive if I’m being intentional about things. I’m already going out of my way to manually burn the GPF off, or go for a long highway-like drive for that purpose, so in my mind why not just put the ASR in its inactive mode (i.e.: Where I know the ECU then WILL have true active control to open and close the back exhaust valves as it wants). In theory it doesn’t need that true full control over the back valves based on the info I have, but why not just do it anyway to be sure (i.e: Treat it as a part of taking the time to be intentional about things, doesn’t cost anything).

Know what I mean? Does this make it a bit clearer? This is my logic and thinking on the whole matter.

With all this said, if I had absolute certainty that the supposed mystery solenoid failure stuff wasn’t a thing/risk (which I don’t), one way of thinking could be to ride with the fuse 15 out (or claws out mode) generally, and then only put the fuse back in when you are about to be intentional about things and go for a highway ride to run a regen cycle, or manually run one with a scan tool. This could logically work too, but the downsides of this are —>

- I still have the risk of the possible solenoid failure problem on the table that nobody truly seems to understand, but that I seemed to be getting related codes for on my Icarsoft when I was running Claws out mode.
- I will be engaging in the less than ideal practice of pulling fuses that are intended to be there. Bad form generally speaking, adding risk in and of itself.
- I won’t have the slick polished function of the ASR to enjoy.

In any case, hopefully I did a better job of conveying things here ;-o

Cheers

 

Which axle back from VAP did you select? I may do the same.....if I can hold on to the car. The LC 500 and the Emira are the only other cars I would consider as replacements and they're not depreciating enough for me at all.

A local shop has offered to customize a lightweight replacement muffler for me next month, but I've got to see some of their work before I commit.

Decisions..... decisions.

Looking forward to your review.

 

I had considered the LC, but it just doesn’t have the same aggressive vibe as these F-types in my view. It is considerably down on performance, both in power and handling compared to an R. Here in Canada a well equipped LC was essentially the same price as I paid for my R. I also read some less than great things about the transmissions in those things, doing weird hunting etc...The ZF in these F-types is a safer bet if ya ask me, very mature. All this said, I do really like the LC on the whole.

The Emira. I loosely considered one of those too. The closest dealer to me was 2+ hours away, and at the time there were lots of problems being reported in the forums about them. I do appreciate them though. Great look.

There’s only one VAP exhaust that I know of, this one: I got the Valvetronic race/tour, polished tips, electric actuated of course for these newer F-types —>

https://www.velocityap.com/product/j...g-sound-level/

VAP is trying to sort out some shipping issues for me right now. Not a huge deal really, as my car won’t be back on the road until May, so should be lots of time to get it installed here in my garage before then…

Yeah, I will give my impressions of the exhaust in the spring for sure. I’m expecting it to be a game changer based on some feedback I’ve received from a few people on the forum here with the same exhaust. They speak very highly of the sound and build quality.

 

Just wanted to post a quick UPDATE here, as I can’t seem to update the original post…For whatever the reason that original link posted above for the product on ASR’s website is no longer necessarily going to the right place exactly.

It’s definitely an RX1 that this guide is for of course, but it’s best to go from the main page on their website (https://asr-component.com) and select “Choose your vehicle”…Step through the options, and then it will present the right variant options to choose from.

Someone pointed it out to me that the link presented was a bit confusing now…

Cheers

 

So I installed the RX1 gizmo today and it works just as advertised. The ASR installation instructions were not great and only reference the vert, so having this install guide was indispensable. I'm not 100% confident the GPF will do a full regeneration, so will use in default mode for highway driving.

 

Really glad it went smoothly for ya, and that this info helped. It seems a few people have followed this now and felt the instructions were clear and complete, so that’s always good to hear. We want these things to be useful everyone. So far that seems to be what the feedback is confirming.

I love this ASR product. I would encourage anyone wanting a valve controller to go with this one. It does what it is supposed to, and if you have Homelink and integrate it with that, it’s just perfect.

And, as I stated above, I too plan to revert to stock any time I’m looking to consciously perform a GPF regen. Despite the info I have saying this is not strictly necessary, it just makes sense to me. The functionality is there to readily go back to stock behaviour so why wouldn’t I? No brainer.

Enjoy your new toy my friend ;-0

Cheers

 

1) @DMeister #salute for all your dedication in sharing info to the community
2) @DMeister are you planning to pull ASR Valve Cont (RX1?) unit before servicing at dealer? IOW, not leave it up to chance that they note it?

 

Hi there,

Personally, if I were going into the dealer for routine maintenance (which I won’t because I do my own), or pretty much anything else where I did not have any strong belief that they would be pulling paneling apart in the trunk area, there’s no way I would remove the device. I would just set the device in the mode where the car behaves completely stock and not worry about. The device throws no codes, and it is not detectable with their equipment.

If I was dealing with some huge electrical problem or something, and I knew they would be opening that area to inspect the wiring harness or something, well yeah…Then I would take the effort of removing it, assuming I’m trying to avoid warranty questions etc…

I think that all that’s needed is a little common sense for the situation and you’d be fine. This would be my approach. Just make sure that if you do install it the wires are hidden as much as possible…i.e.: That they would have to work for it to see the device, and that they could not just casually stumble upon it when opening just the small access panel for looking at the battery only.

Welcome to the forum!

Best of luck

 

I feel precisely the same. I’ve serviced my RRS and my FPace at the local dealer, and never felt “great” about the experience. Just don’t want to end up in anything petty.

Appreciate the response.

 

I just had the alignment done on my car yesterday and when I sat down with the service writer, we went over what was, and wasn't stock. Main things noted were that all the suspension parts they would need to touch were factory or factory equivalent and that it has a tune and VAP supercharger pulley setup. They would do the alignment even on non-stock suspension, but they wouldn't guarantee the "book price" in case non-stock suspension made alignment harder. The tune/pulleys was important as there is a software update for the car -- H422 : FUEL VAPOUR PURGE​. That was declined, of course. So it really depends on the local dealer and how friendly they are to car people.

 

Yeah true, there are 2 considerations:

1) Whether they’ll deny warranty.
2) Whether they refuse to even work on the car due to upgrades, which does happen for sure. That’s where independents will be your friend. They’re not as snooty ;-o

 

Well.... I didn't start modifying mine till it was out of warranty, specifically to avoid that problem. In your case, that is something to consider.

 

I wish @DMeister was in my garage right now! Geez