Quote:

Haha, gold!

You've hit the nail on the head there. In general, the average drive of a street driven car with aftermarket ecu doesn't give two ####s about his load and o2 sensors mapped against rpm so it's really how much you are prepared to pay for what you need.

There's no doubt that Motec and Autronic are possibly the best you can buy, and I would certainly buy one if I could justify the extra cost on top of a Microtec that would do the job.

This thread could go on for days!

Call me biased but I think your a fool if you dont go for the most expensive biggest name brand ecu you can get. Just think, once you have your fuel and ignition maps set up for good load, idle, rpm and temp reference points, you can use the extra auxilary inputs and outputs for doing mad things like making your wipers go on at 5000rpm or have your windows go up and down when you are running over 8 psi boost. You could even use your brake pedal switch as an input to tell the ecu to send a pulse to your interior lights so they flash on and off so you think your at a disco all while just waiting at an intersection. Is that madness or what?
With all seriousness, unless you have a need for the extras that the expensive top line computers offer, you are wasteing your money. Having said that, nowdays even the top line big name ECUs are very competetively priced to be within the same price range of the not so big name brands. And like I have said before, most ECU manufacturers can supply you with a computer that meets all your engine fuel, ignition and auxilary needs, you just have to request it. Then again some people like to spend the extra money for extras they dont have any use for, plus you get mad stickers for your car.

As for tuners. Unless you have a 10 year old computer that has limited ref points, your car can be tuned to run like original if not better. All computers are programmed differently but if your tuner doesnt know how to read or set up an XXmap, his dyno and gas analysier wont be of much use ( with this making the tuner the same)
You will also find that most people who say xx brand ecu are bad because of such and such, have never had them tuned properly. They are either tuned buy mates who say they know what to do, or they arent tuned at all and rely on the ECUs base map to operate.

Cheers Steve

i would like to know what tuning problems you have had with a microtech, if any.

a lot australias most powerful and fastest cars run microtechs.

i can mention a couple of quick & powerful ca18det's with them aswell.

I have worked with most of the brands at one time or another and I do not sell any of them;

I prefer (in order) -

Motec M4
Autronic SMC
Wolf 3D
Haltech
Microtech

You get what you pay for and anything less will always be a compromise.
You might save at purchase time but you pay through the life of the vehicle with tuning problems

microtechs are well worth their money and more. i had one on my vl turbo and it never had a problem and never went out of tune as a lot of people may suggest.

the lastest versions, the LT series, laptop programmable, is what i will be using the the ca18. reason being they are more programmable than the previous hansdet only versions, MT series. can map a variety or mixture timing/boost/air fuel ratio/revs/fuel at once, just like the more expensive computers mentioned by other people. and i know a tunerthat will setup it up like factory, cold start, cruise and full load maps.

have seen then used on rotarties, skylines, supras, 200sx's (installed by myself), and they all work a charm.

go the Microtech for sure. the cost is always nice aswell to spend on other go fast goodies.

and for extra $$$ you can get a dash just like the legendary Motec's, the only other brand to offer this product.

I have heard from a couple of people that the latest generation of Microtech gear is actually pretty good. Having said that, if it were my money, I would spend the extra $600-$700 and buy a Haltech as I have seen these units run all manner of engines very capably.
Once you have decided on your ecu talk to several tuners in your area and go with the one that has tuned your type of motor before. At the end of the day you could buy a Motec M800 but if the guy tuning it is a goose it'll still run terribly.
Regards Matty

Il be running WOLF 3D alot of people bag this computer and try and tell me not to get it but i had 1 on my Skyline and it never missed a beat and ran so smooth.
They are not to exspensive and are rated very high when it comes to tuneability and accesories.
The new wolf also comes with built in lamda metre and i got some extras such as boost controller and turbo timer.
Cheers Luke

I'm a sceptical bastard and if you ask me....a tuner will tell u to buy brand XX because thats what they sell..

Asking people who have brand XX computer already installed in their car is a better way to go.

I have extremely little knowledge on computers.. but having done a little bit of research the Haltech does seem like a good unit..It has plenty of auxillary inputs and outputs, plenty of maps and plenty of compensation maps. It does cost more than the cheaper engine managment systems such as : ems, microtech, wolf, hawk etc but at the end of the day...better spend a few more dollars and have a sweet runnin car than a car which runs worse than a carbied car.

Yeah, wattage has a good point. Talk to a bunch of local tuners and see what they like tuning, its more important that they know how to talk to the ecus to set up the maps. I could tell you the best tuners in brisso for the different ecus.

You are in Newcastle, Ill find out the name of an awesome tuner. He built one of my mates cars. I know him but not the name of his shop. Ill get back to you.

mely