2005 Corolla XRS 6: R9K reflash review

Demonstration of launch control and a couple pulls after after installing the reflash. I apologize for poor quality, I’m just a guy with his phone on the way to work. But you get the idea. Launch at 0:00 and decent pull at 4:25. Rest is conjecture.

[@lomfmur]

The lift engagement is even more subtle once you get it tuned with an exhaust (2.5" is optimal) and the lift's at 5800

[@JackStrop]

Believe it or not, you are still relevant today, I have the matrix XRS with 126,000 miles, I ran a can of BG44k and the car is alive again! Do you think this car is as dependable today as it was in 2006?? Great video!

[@gray25xt]

Mine was very dependable, only issue is the common oil leak on these 2zz engines, it's a design flaw but it's not a reliability issue. Mine was bulletproof, I didn't keep it long as I had a friend who wanted it more than me, but it's a great car.

[@akhaqan]

Nice job, thanks for sharing. So the improvement only shows up when the valve lift happens, nothing for lower rpm? I have kept Hondas and Toyotas too. I like the sound of a Honda engine more than Toyota, especially at high revs, Toyota's sound rough & struggling but that's a subjective opinion. Does this tuner offer any reflash to improve fuel economy and change the transmission shift points for automatics e.g. fuel shut off during coast down right upto 5 mph instead of 25 mph, target rpm of 1500 for most driving through early shifting etc.

[@gray25xt]

Like I mentioned in the review video, there is both a promise of and noticed improvement throughout the entire rev range. Not sure about your questions, you would have to look into it yourself but I doubt it.

[@akhaqan]

@@gray25xt If the reflash is changing only the lift point & redline, how is it showing improvement throughout the rev range?

[@gray25xt]

@@akhaqan I specifically shared in the video that it does more than change the lift point and red line. I specifically stated twice that it increased power throughout the entire rpm range.

[@akhaqan]

@@gray25xt Must have skipped that part, thanks

[@tonyedward6909]

I'm new to the 2006 xrs what speed mph to achieve lift without reflash?

[@greg_jkl6312]

single cam?

[@xJADD]

how many miles you have on it? i found one but is reaching the 200kmiles

[@victorarreola]

Mines at 214k and is running like a dream

[@GPMAX01]

How do you like the performance increase? Is it tangible?

[@gray25xt]

Clearly you didn’t watch the review.

[@GPMAX01]

@@gray25xt well clearly you were right. Re-watched it and missed an important segment around 3-4minutes. Not sure why that happened but indeed this seems like a great addition. Plans to try other tunes?

[@gray25xt]

@@GPMAX01 No, just this. Not wanting to go crazy on this car, just wanted a small increase since it's cheap and well recommended by others. To go further I'd need more hardware, won't happen. IMHO after a ton of research and talking to all 3 tuners mentioned i believe R9K is the best for me.

[@tkflex2332]

Wow!

[@Carguylogan]

You're hitting the limiter at 8,200 just like stock. You can see it in the video. I had R9K do my reflash with lift at 5,700 rpm and redline at 8,600. I have before and after videos and there is no difference, even taking the engine up to 8,600 rpm every gear so it enters the next gear a little closer to the powerband. It's just too small a difference to have any affect on the car's performance unfortunately.

[@gray25xt]

You are right and wrong. There is a torque difference because lift engages earlier. If you did the 5700 lift point without the proper hardware on the car it will bog and not feel faster. Mine is set optimally so it doesn't bog. The car is quicker because it stays in lift much longer (mine is 2300 rpms vs. 1400 stock). Plus you can stay in lift between 1-2 and 2-3 shifts now so the torque maintains whereas on stock tune it dips since you leave lift. I shifted early because I was holding a camera in one hand and couldn't drive it optimally.

[@Carguylogan]

@@gray25xt When shifting at 8,600 rpm the engine never goes down to 5,700 rpm between gears though. It enters second gear at 6,000 rpm and third gear at 6,500 rpm. And it's still slower. Even timing just the 6,500-8,000 rpm sweep in any gear its the same as or slower than before with the stock ECU. The ECU just doesn't make a difference on a stock car. I went thru this on an Integra I had back in the day as well. Limiter was 8,200 and I had it bumped to 9,000 because the engine had ARP rod bolts and more. Had an aftermarket intake manifold, big intake pipe, long tube header and no cats and still, it was not any faster shifting at 8,500 vs 8,200. You need cams, motor work and full exhaust to be able to make power up there.

[@gray25xt]

@@Carguylogan I am sure my car is quicker with the reflash. Out of curiosity what hardware supporting mods do you have in addition to your reflash with lift set at 5700rpms?

[@Carguylogan]

@@gray25xt Just an air intake. R9k knew exactly what I had when he made the tune. I agree 5700 is early but it doesn't drop that low between gears so its irrelevant. "Knowing" the car is quicker is not valid. Hard data is valid. Get a Dragy GPS unit and test with that. I have one.

[@gray25xt]

@@Carguylogan I hate to tell you this but the reason your car feels not faster is because your lift is set too low. This is common knowledge with 2zz engines and the reason Toyota set lift so high from the factory. I found this data on many places while researching before ordering my tune. This includes talking with tuners (including MWR and r9k), posts on toyotanation, and several youtube channels that feature 2zz engines and tuning. The truth is that if you drop the lift point lower than 6200 without hardware upgrades (intake and header and larger diameter exhaust) the car will bog because there isn't enough flow to handle what the lift cam is trying to accomplish.

[@hardbu11et11]

Nice! Do u know if R9K can work with a Toyota matrix xr 2005?

[@gray25xt]

No, I suggest check their website

[@Carguylogan]

They make one for the 05-06 Matrix XRS, yes.

[@DarkLinkRevolution]

@@Carguylogan XR is a different trim than the XRS. 1zzfe AWD, not 2zzge.

[@Carguylogan]

@@DarkLinkRevolution I know, I have one. I didn't see that he said XR, thought he was asking about an XRS. Didn't imagine anyone would ask about tuning the XR lol