dennis blackstone

im looking for 300-330....with a good amount of reliability....im running a bnr stage 2...stock injectors...walboro...fmic...i baby it untilli get a fuel management and injectors...i would like to keep stock ignition system

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

figure out who might be tuning the car, then see what they are comfortable tuning, last thing you want is to rely on some douchebag for tuning or end up with a car no one likes to tune

dennis blackstone

thanks so much for all your help forum members when i choose one ill do a detailed write up of my install and dyno run ....by the way any one dabble with the wolf 3d

any one have any idea in whats involved in wiring a power fc

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

I have a wolf in my car, Wayne is a fantastic person to deal with, and you can get a plug in for your stock harness ( remember I happen to have one if you need it )

dennis blackstone

sorry for all the questions but whats involved in installing a wolf 3d...i hear the cas has to be adapted

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

it doesnt have to be.

also, stock injectors will not get you 300 wheel hp.

270 and thats pushing em.

HOZZMANRX7

iTrader: (43)

Absolutley NOT the case with the Haltech Platinum. I'm running 306whp in my S5 TurboVert and the car behaves like stock including when I turn on the AC.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

im not sure what you mean by adapted, but it is no less involved then any other set up.

Are you planning stock wiring or using a new harness?

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

short answer is, he doesnt know what the hell he wants. he wants a plug and play unit. no tuning anywhere. plug it in, and drive away.

i say if you wanna be cheap and easy, get the frigging rtek. have fun with that palm pilot and slider bars.

ps, invest in a good o2 sensor kit. i suggest tech edge.

the problem is, anything you do with the ecu will in fact need a tune. weather you wanna go with the stock crap (and i do mean crap. have fun buying a tps or something when that **** goes out, or trying to diagnose it) then go for it. you might as well pick up a book, and start reading because you are the fast track to blowing something up. take a step back for a seccond, and think logically.

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

fixed! needs a bigger fuel pump too

RotaryEvolution

iTrader: (30)

you can buy it with the wideband input and logging feature but it is about a $500 upgrade with the sensor, or you can use an innovate or other wideband that has a narrowband emulated output to log the narrowband signal which is now your wideband. i'm beginning to not be a huge fan of the microtech because they nickel and dime you on everything that the other EMS' come standard with now, but they are solid and easy to manage.

dennis blackstone

im not going to run the stock injectors..that just what i have in the car now..i not boosting untill i get the right set up

dennis blackstone

your rihgt sircygnus i dont now what i want ...its like buying a house or car....its called research..everyone needs a little help sometimes without being bashed

MaczPayne

iTrader: (5)

I've been dissatisfied with Microtech ever since they promised 32x32 maps, save to disk, etc, etc, for years and never delivered.

dennis blackstone

hows the performance otherwise

rob im plan on using a new harness...but if my stock can do the job ill use that

j9fd3s

iTrader: (3)

yeah, the problem is that you have to learn how each computer system works and then learn how to install the one you choose, and then tune the car. when what we really want is to just tune the car.

in the honda world almost everyone runs hondata, cause its the stock ecu made tunable. its super simple and works really well. closest thing the rx7 has, in north america is the rtek.

if you want to learn how to install something more complex, more power to you, you will learn a LOT. it does take a long time however, unless you have someone install and or tune it for you

dennis blackstone

what i first did was go to each ecu bourd and read what some members had to say about there issues and performance...but every bourd said there particular standalone is best ....so i thought i would come to a un bias general bourd like this ... ive installed a apexi safc ...and i know thats not going to cut it with a bigger turbo bnr stage 2 ,so i stopped boosting so i would not blow the motor ..and wanted to do the right thing ,and get a better injectors and engine management system to handle it ,what ever i had to pay to get a reliable runnig rx7 i would pay ...in the 300-330hp range

so i came here to ask members how there doing with there set up it could kinda help me move in the right direction....theres plentifull tuners in the east coast

and usually you go with what they offer
but most of the time there trying to piush there product

Hybrid G

iTrader: (4)

yeah i feel your predicament, i was in the same situation 1 yr ago i just stuck with the major units and choose what i thought had the most features eg aux ports etc to run other stuff like water injection, bac, electric fan, lauch control etc.

I aslo choose to replace my harness since it is 20+yrs old......tired tracing eletrical ghost... that how i came up with either the micortech or haltech i went haltech...more support..ment easier to find solutions to my problems

hybrid

SirCygnus

iTrader: (1)

its not bashing. i was in the same damn boat. but you know, i just jumped head first into it.

drove a 1990 gxl. swapped the engine at 125k miles. still ran, and put in a new t2 unit. i didnt know what i was doing, but you know what? all my answers where here on the board. so i went and got a haltech. it had a hacked up harness, but i made it work, and 3 years later, its still going. on a hacked up harness, with electrical tape everywhere and a bnr stage 1 turbo. all used.

good thing i looked into the future. got big *** injectors, all SS fuel line, twin fuel pumps, you name it, i have it.

recently i just purchased a haltech platinum sport2k, and have a new turbo going out to bnr for a full upgrade with all the trimmings.

why? because i did it a good, simple, and fast way that got my foot in the door when it comes to tuning and learning about engine management systems. but low and behold, i have a sport 2000, and soon a bnr with all the trimmings. everything else, is accounted for. even the methanol injection.

you just gotta take it slow, and have the desire to learn and grow your experience with cars. sure, 330 hp is easy as pie to get to. it doesn't take much. wiring is simple. downloading the basemap is simple. buying the books on turbocharging and rotary engine modifications is simple. sitting in the car and taking the time isnt, because its all on you. once you get started, you cant stop and going full tilt the proper way, will leave you with one less thing to modify when you want to upgrade.

right now, honestly and truly, the haltech software is a piece of CAKE to learn.

MaczPayne

iTrader: (5)

Despite how much I dislike MicroTech and their lies, their LT8s is damned bulletproof in my car. Wiring was typical, the manual was easy to read, car fired up first try.

Good for a race car, not so good for a street car. I really wish I had the BAC option

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

if you read the reviews you will see what people think of their tuners.

I will push Wolf because we are lucky to have Wayne in our area who is just great to deal with all around.

I think you need to stop asking everyone on this board and start talking to the local shops and customers and make a decision from there

Furb

iTrader: (2)

Here in holland there are virtually no real tuners for rotary.. there was a guy who mapped my stock ecu, but he got fired and then disappeared.
i then chose the powerFC because in the UK there is a lot of support for this. Closest one is 525km and a trip under the Englisch Channel, but at least its running decent.

Doesnt really matter what system you use, in the end you will get used to anything. Most important is indeed the support. some people i know bought the greddy e-manage, but sold it again due to lack of tuners.

D Walker

iTrader: (1)

You will notice I said that the Platinum series was supposed to be better. But since you brought it up-

I have MULTIPLE AEM EMS customers who do not even own laptops, and have absolutely no desire to even plug into the AEM. In fact I just did a Subaru STI, bored, cammed (big effin cams too) big turbo, etc. for a DEALERSHIP and the car starts, runs, and drives like it has the OEM ECU in it.

Having been around EFI and "standalones" before there was such a term, having worked with virtually every single box out there including several not around anymore, let me give you my honest OPINION on several of what we use for what-

Street cars- AEM EMS. Period. It plugs in without the need for jumper harnesses, has superior customer support, and they dont have to "call Australia" or wherever when there is an issue. FAR superior idle, knock, and variable valve controls, and they always work. Admittedly this wasnt the case about 8-10 years ago when they were new, as the software was a bit buggy and they occasionally had issues with eeprom failure. Personally, I have not had an eeprom failure in an AEM in years, and thats after handling many, many AEM cars.

Occasional track/ street cars- Still AEM, but if you have the coin, MOTEC. MOTEC is not nec cheap, and it offends me that these days they still charge you to "unlock" areas of thier ecu such as logging etc, BUT, they do not fail and they are possibly the most proven ecu on the market today. And honestly you can pick up a MOTEC M4 or M8 for a very reasonable price these days, and even an M400/600 isnt THAT bad considering all it will do.

Track-only cars- MOTEC, PECTEL, DTA, GEMS, and yes, even AEM. AEM is not the first choice because while it will do a perfectly accdeptable job and in fact I DO use them in track cars, I think at this point MOTEC is really the way to go, with the others listed pretty much on the same level. I used to think the AEM wasnt hardened enough to take the abuse of a track car, but I had one on a hillclimb customers car for several years and it was literally the most reliable, easy to start car in its class and despite several fairly impressive crashes the AEM kept on tickin like a Timex, which changed my mind.


Last words- any tuner should be able to tune any ecu. If they are only able to tune a specific ecu well, then they are not a tuner and are simply tweeking basemaps to sorta fit your applications. It is understandable for a tuner to push what they sell, or to prefer one ecu over the other, but it is absolute **** for one to not be able to tune a car using any given ECU. As mentioned earlier, the list of ECU's I have run across in my time would likely confuse and scare you, some since way back in 1989- DOS based systems baby yeah!- anywho, just a few> ACCEL DFI, FAST, HOLLEY, Weber-Marelli, Wolf, Motec, SpeedPro, DTA, Pectel, Zytec, Haltec, Omni, Electramotive, GEMS, PROEFI, VIPEC, AEM, Autronic, and the list goes on. Never have run up against an ECU I could not dial in, nor have I ever charged a customer for any learning curve I might have figuring out an ecu's quirks such as idle control, boost control, etc. Although maybe I should have.

Also, when choosing a tuner listen very carefully how the speak of others work. If for example they talk about how they re-tuned a car so and so across town did and that idiot did not even set up this or that feature or the timing maps made no sense or whatever you should seriously consider walking away. As a tuner working on an ecu it is literally impossible to critique another tuners calibration file as you have absolutely no way of knowing what conditions the car was tuned under, such as fuel, boost, cars condition at the time, customers stated goals or, more likely, budget- a tuner just cannot tell. I have heard it all- too much timing, surprised the thing still runs, didnt set up this or that feature right, knock control weird- you name it.

Anywho, thats my nickels worth on this subject.

Rob XX 7

iTrader: (8)

D walker- very good write up!

Regarding tuners and "other" ECUs- what about a software issue? If they do not have the software or the latest software for a given ECU?

D Walker

iTrader: (1)

Well there is a two-edged sword, or a multiple one depending on who is doing what.

First, if you own an ECU you need to have a copy or access to the software to tune it or any hardware nec. to tune it. I have seen guys come in with ECU's that require "chipped" cables or dongles, yet they dont own and cannot provide the needed hardware or coded software. USUALLY but not always this is because the tuner who sold them the product kept it for themselves or figured if they did not provide it the customer was then locked into using them.

On the other hand, I personally keep a copy of any software that comes my way, and if someone contacts me about tuning a software I havent seen for a while I go look around to see if theres a newer copy or an update.

I also use this as a measuring stick as to how I pick and choose an ECU. Software and updates should be free and easily available to the tuning public. Years ago I needed a copy of some crap software, Accel or Holly, cant remember which, and the bastards wanted somethig like $295 for it! I could not justify charging the customer for this so I just had him bring me by his discs (3.5" floppy! 5 or 6 of them!) burned them to disc (CD)and tuned the damned car.

I also dislike gadgetry like goofy "chipped" cables, dongles, and other BS. I was at the track once and a guy there needed to do some minor tweeking and logging and had left his cable at home, like 400 miles away! He couldnt even adjust the idle control or pull a single log. Just use hardware that you can buy at a computer store for crying out loud! If you want to "protect" the ECU tune then enable a password protect mechanism like MOTEC, DTA, etc. use.