Earlier this year, RIVA Racing released its MaptunerX, a hand-held ECU reprogrammer that replaces nearly a decade’s worth of conventional tuning wherein a performance enthusiast needed to disconnect, remove and ship their watercraft’s ECU to a programmer who would (in most cases) drill into the case in order to manually wipe the ECU’s brain and upload a new program. If and when this was done correctly, the ECU would need to be shipped back and reinstalled, tested and proven whether the new tune corresponded with the enthusiast’s set up (be it stock or in various stages of modification).
This process took weeks if not months, and for many, often required hours of back-and-forth on the phone with the programmer in hopes that the modified prop pitch, increased airflow from a cold air kit, and other improvements made to the ski’s powertrain. And that was if you were taking the “cheap route.” For those with the pocketbook, a brand new ECU – be it from MoTec or ViPec – came preprogrammed with one or several tunes for quite the hefty sum, upwards to $3,000. For the layman, either of these simply weren’t viable options, either in regards to cost or downtime. Understanding this, and listening to their customers, RIVA introduced their hand-held tuner, the MaptunerX, to undo all of this.
Sold by itself, the MaptunerX is staggeringly affordable ($399.95); but that’s without the tuning license ($549.95 – $599.95) and MaptunerX cable that is specific to your vehicle. Thankfully, RIVA Racing sells the entire bundle required to tune a vehicle for an affordable package price ranging from $921.35 – $1,011.60, still a fraction of what a reflash or a new ECU would cost just a year prior. And as one of The Watercraft Journal‘s Top 10 picks for shopping for the jet skier in your life (which is very likely you), the MaptunerX is quickly becoming one of the single-most influential tools in the performance aftermarket. Tuners and enthusiasts are able to quickly upload new tunes, adjust tunes or reverse their modifications with a few simple presses of the MaptunerX’s touch screen.
The video below is a tad long (over 7 minutes) but not only showcases the MaptunerX’s capabilities, but also exactly demonstrates in real time the top speed gains on both the RXP-X/RXT-X 300 Sea-Doos and the SVHO-powered Yamahas (GP, FZ and FX). There’s also a teaser at the end for RIVA’s 350-horsepower special edition GP1800R, going on sale next month. It’s worth sitting down and watching all the way through. Enjoy:
