Drove another 355 today, same spec as mine and.....

The VTEC controller is inside the 5.2 ecu and can't be replaced separately

 

If your that concerned about the difference between the two cars, the first thing I would do is get the codes read to see if there are any faults showing on your car, then get a compression and leak-down test carried out, and if that's all okay then take it to a reputable rolling road to see if there are any issues with the engine mapping.

You may possibly have an slight, and as yet undetected issue with your car, but it could also just as easily be that the other car may simply have a "tighter" engine than yours due to differences in how the cars have been run in from new and driven since and so it is feeling a little bit "crisper", or as others have suggested, due to the tyres that the cars are on giving slightly different levels of grip in acceleration and cornering.

It also shouldn't be under-estimated just how two "identical" cars can feel quite different and yet in reality their performance is nigh on the same.

At the moment you are comparing the cars using the old "arse-dyno" method, but these dyno's can be notoriously unreliable as they are always set up to the individual drivers personal setting. The problem is usually due to the placebo parameter setting being off.

The two cars could actually have the same performance, but because the other car is not the one you are used to driving day in and day out, even though they're the same model, it can still feel different and so subconsciously you think it feels better.


Here's something to bear in mind:

A few years ago I got chatting to a guy who worked for Maranello Concessionaires in the UK, whose job was the collection and delivery of customer cars (which made Me very jealous of him! - What a chore having to drive Ferrari's every day for a living!), and this is what he told Me:

"When you drive as many Ferrari's as I do, the one thing that still surprises you is that they all feel different - no two cars ever feel the same, even if they're the same model, from the same year or whatever. They all have their own personalities and quirks, and they all drive slightly differently. Some feel faster than others, some feel like they have more grip than others and some just feel slightly better than others.


The one thing they do all have in common though, is that regardless of which model you're driving, they all feel special in their own way, and you don't get that with cars such as BMW or Mercedes or whatever."

When I told him how lucky he was to be able to drive Ferrari's all day he did say:

"It doesn't pay masses of money to be honest, but I enjoy coming to work every day. No two days are the same and I always have a big smile on My face! You'd think that you would become quite blasé about driving them all the time but that just doesn't happen because they're all so different!"

(By then My jealousy was off the scale! - I wanted to be that guy! )

 

These cars have VTEC?

 

It is dual VVTI, my mistake , I'm not an auto tech !

 

Ok I just came into the garage where is the obd1 port I can't find it on my 1995 1996 gts. Want to hook up my scanner and delete this rev limiter.

 

I said it behaved LIKE a VTEC Engine, while this other car was stronger all the way through the rev range. Both cars have tubi exhausts, same specs, both are 6 spd, mine is a 99 and the other car is a 97.

Thanks folks for all the inputs, I'll definently have all of the suggestions checked out.
I did my major about 2.5 years ago, when I purchased the car. So I'll have a look at the other options that don't requires an engine out service, before pulling the engine out.