R23 OB F200 ECU Flash Upgrade Results

[Craigmconrad]

Third year on a 2020 R23, reading all the post about upgrading to the 250 or even the 300. Priced them both with a trade and figured it wasn't the right time yet to do. I explored NIZPRO, who advertises ECU Flashing for the F200, claims and increase of 34 HP, 12% increase in torque and 15% increase in fuel efficiency. So for $824.00, I shipped overnight to Rogue Custom Marine, who returned the ECU the following day. The owner, Sean, did a fantastic job of setting the expectations, stating it would not turn the 200 into a 250. Today, I spent 5 hrs running the boat and observed the following improvements; Increase of Max RPM of 200 (now 5825). RPM 4800, cruise 24 kts, 2.6 NMPG, an increase of 0.5. The biggest takeaway was the increase in the NMPG, before i would normally get 2.1 maybe 2.2 at cruise, now it's a solid 2.6.

Boat conditions ; Bottom Paint (slime buildup, no barnacles), Autoglide w/ drop fins, 60 gallons fuel, 14 gallons of water, and waste tank 1/2 full. Just me, but I weigh 270 lbs, average gear on board to include a 60 lb portable generator.

- Craig

 

[Brian98133]

I've been jonesing to do this, but was hoping to get some real-world results before biting the bullet. So thank you for sharing your experience!

I see you are getting about .5 nmpg better after the upgrade. Not as much as I'd hoped, but not shabby either. With the 17% increase in HP and 12% in torque, is your hole-shot noticeably better? I'm just over you, at 299.72 lbs :mrgreen: , and I certainly notice that the F200 seems bogged down when punching up out of the hole.

 

[Craigmconrad]

I've been jonesing to do this, but was hoping to get some real-world results before biting the bullet. So thank you for sharing your experience!

I see you are getting about .5 nmpg better after the upgrade. Not as much as I'd hoped, but not shabby either. With the 17% increase in HP and 12% in torque, is your hole-shot noticeably better? I'm just over you, at 299.72 lbs :mrgreen: , and I certainly notice that the F200 seems bogged down when punching up out of the hole.

Honestly, I haven't had a problem with the hole shot since adding the autoglide and drop fins. I'm not real aggressive, i just pop it up to 5000 rpm and pull it back to maintain 4700-4900 depending on sea state.

 

[CruisingElvinRay]

I wonder what in the fuel/air ratio curve is being changed to enable that performance. Slightly leaning the mixture in the higher rpm range?


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[az9133bm]

The sea trial of our 2017 R23 F200 ECU flash revealed similar results as Craig's. We appreciate the improved gas mileage the most. The before and after pictures were taken in almost the same boat conditions (slightly more fuel onboard in the "after").

 

[Rocky Lou]

I'm not sure I get the math on fuel savings for my twin 300s. For the past 5 years, I purchased about 700 gallons per year @$5/g or $3500. If I save 15%, I'm saving $525/year. Even if I get a Channel Surfing discount, it sounds like several years to break even. While I travel far offshore at times, most boating is done at trolling speed where my consumption is relatively low. I didn't consider engine hours since I could be idling or at WOT. Do I have that right?

 

[az9133bm]

Our primary reason for the ECU upgrade was to improve range. As you can see, our results add a substantial margin (25%). Our secondary reason for the ECU upgrade was to get as much punch out of a four cylinder 200 HP engine on a 7,000# boat. Likely, twin V6 300's will never struggle, but our little F200 seems less burdened now. Notwithstanding the role prop pitch plays in a boat's performance, our 14.5x13 standard Yamaha prop creates a "happy" cruise at 5,000 rpm where before we needed 5,200. This is subjective, of course, but you can hear/feel when the right RPM meets the right boat speed. In our case, the engine is quieter and the boat seems settled at 5,000 RPM. Notice that at 5,000 RPM we burn less than 10 gph.

 

[Rocky Lou]

Our primary reason for the ECU upgrade was to improve range. As you can see, our results add a substantial margin (25%). Our secondary reason for the ECU upgrade was to get as much punch out of a four cylinder 200 HP engine on a 7,000# boat. Likely, twin V6 300's will never struggle, but the our little F200 seems less burdened now. Notwithstanding the role prop pitch plays in a boat's performance, our 14.5x13 standard Yamaha prop creates a "happy" cruise at 5,000 rpm where before we needed 5,200. This is subjective, of course, but you can hear/feel when the right RPM meets the right boat speed. In our case, the engine is quieter and the boat seems settled at 5,000 RPM. Notice that at 5,000 RPM we burn less than 10 gph.
View attachment 26907

Makes sense. I solved my performance problems, after working on them for years, with PowerTech OFS5 16s with extensions. Not only do I get 30% better fuel economy at cruise, I can plane at 3K RPM vs. almost 4K RPMs with SS2s. Clearly, each of our boats are very different as are our objectives. The C302c LE has a generator along with 300g of fuel mostly aft, in addition to an engine pod with two 300hp outboards...needless to say, it's extremely stern heavy. My only interest at this point is better fuel economy and, if I'm doing the math right, I won't pay off the Nizpros for 4-5 years...I might be repowering by then.

 

[Mgmiller3]

Well, I think I am going to jump on this trend as well- 2017 R23 owner with an F200 under 200 hours. Off to Alaska in May and a planned 700+ miles on the boat, if the .5mpg gains at cruising speeds hold true, I will save $351 on fuel at an average 2.5mpg opposed to 2mpg. Just messaged Rogue Customs on how to move forward

 

[Mike and Sarah]

Just remember you will need to run at least 89 octane fuel with these tunes.
The only one that can continue to run 87 octane is the 300 eco tune.
Only a couple places to get 89 in puget sound and trips to Canada and Alaska you never know what you will get.

 

[Mgmiller3]

Just remember you will need to run at least 89 octane fuel with these tunes.
The only one that can continue to run 87 octane is the 300 eco tune.
Only a couple places to get 89 in puget sound and trips to Canada and Alaska you never know what you will get.

I always run at least 89 as that was the recommened fuel for in manual. Typically just a day use boater accept for a few trips annually. May need to look for some outboard safe octane booster to have on board in the event I am limited on options somewhere. Thanks for the message. Currently refueling in Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg. So I will research the fuel points

 

[Submariner]

I always run at least 89 as that was the recommened fuel for in manual. Typically just a day use boater accept for a few trips annually. May need to look for some outboard safe octane booster to have on board in the event I am limited on options somewhere. Thanks for the message. Currently refueling in Ketchikan, Wrangell and Petersburg. So I will research the fuel points

I worked behind the scenes with Rogue Custom Marine trying Boostane, specifically. NizPro did some pretty intense testing of boostane and found it to be more harmful for the engine than helpful and recommended against it's use. NizPro decided to then come out with their Eco Tune, specific to 87 octane, for folks like me who can't get anything better than 87 octane in Puget Sound/San Juan Islands.

I found the fuel docks in SE Alaska to have 89 octane that I visited.

 

[Submariner]

Makes sense. I solved my performance problems, after working on them for years, with PowerTech OFS5 16s with extensions. Not only do I get 30% better fuel economy at cruise, I can plane at 3K RPM vs. almost 4K RPMs with SS2s. Clearly, each of our boats are very different as are our objectives. The C302c LE has a generator along with 300g of fuel mostly aft, in addition to an engine pod with two 300hp outboards...needless to say, it's extremely stern heavy. My only interest at this point is better fuel economy and, if I'm doing the math right, I won't pay off the Nizpros for 4-5 years...I might be repowering by then.

I'm seeing 10-12% improvement on my F300 with the NizPro Eco tune (specific to 87 octane). This is above what the PowerTech SCE5-15 Channel Surfing prop gave me. That took me from 1.9mpg to 2.1mpg under the most perfect of conditions. The prop improved my mid range, hole shot, and reverse thrust, while maintaining my upper end speeds. I only lost 1mph off WOT going from the 3 blade to the 5 blade PowerTech prop. The NizPro tune is a fuel efficiency improvement mostly for the upper end cruising (3800 RPM and above).

My WOT used to be 39mph at 27.2gph. With the Eco Tune, I'm at 39mph at 24.2gph. My WOT is now at 1.6mpg. Unbelievable.