hey just a quick question, well i am getting a computer for my car and i was going for the mircotech lt10s and just the other day was talking to a guy here in town about it and he said about megasquirt. Now the megasquirt fully installed and tuned is going to be half the price of the mircotech fully installed and tuned. i wanna know is it going to better and is it worth it. I know the mircotech is a very good computer but dont know too much about the megasquirt so what do you reakon.

 

the megasquirt has some advantages. like closed loop wideband compensation. definable fuel tables. knock corrections. unfortunately i have a microtech which does not have these features but microtech users make due. i am considering changing to a different system, but i'm not fed up with it enough to fully jump ship.
On another note, the microtech is easier to use in a sense. i have used both but haven't used the megasquirt on a rotary. the megasquirt requires the user to be somewhat knowledgeable in computers. the microtech does have the advantage of coming with a base map, which makes things easier to start up. the microtech also comes pre-configured for rotaries' crank pick up. whereas megasquirts need to be put together, by adding conditioners and diodes unless you buy a plug and play unit.
Both have advantages and disadvantages.

 

thanks for that. still they both sound good i will have to have a think

 

The decision should not be based on price.

The advantage of the Microtech is that it is a factory built ECU that comes with a warranty. It comes pre-configured for the car and is rock solid. I've never seen a Microtech fail or suffer from engine noise.

However it is an incredibly limited ECU compared to most others on the market, including the 'Squirt. No closed loop, no 3D timing tables, limited datalogging, no saving maps to disk, limited auxiliary options, etc. There may be some stuff I am forgetting. And there is the moral issue of Microtech promising all of us LT8 owners a software upgrade for about 6 years and not delivering.

The Megasquirt is a very versatile ECU which runs the rotary very well. HOWEVER it is a truly DIY ECU meaning that YOU are responsible for making it work. Even if you buy a prebuilt unit you will still need to modify it to run the car. You will need to build a VR conditioning circuit and add pullup resistors to the LEDs (to run the coils). If you intend to control an e-fan, a small circuit will need to built. The Megasquirt is more prone to ignition noise but this is largely negated by using quality shielded cable and good grounds.

 

This is absolutely critical. The problem is, people who have never messed around with standalones much get attracted to them because they are cheaper. And then they get in over their head. I was one of those people. I didn't understand Megasquirt until long after I had initially given up on it. Support from tuners for the Megasquirt is limited compared to the big 3: Haltech, Microtech, Power FC. There's nothing inherently wrong with it, but you have to deal with the tuning aspect and the hardware aspect (electrical noise, physically adding in stuff to the board, etc).

 

looks like a mircotech they way to go

 

The better answer would be to go with something your tuner prefers. If you are the tuner, then it's entirely up to your preference.

 

I think you should look at Haltechs. Same price as the Microtechs but they have the features you expect (3D timing tables, save to disk, configurable I/O, etc.).

I'm not bashing Microtech really, as I am basically happy with mine. It's mainly that their software is left in the '90s while all other ECUs have continually advanced. Not being able to save maps to disk is just asinine.

 

I wished I had closed loop and Save to disk

 

I replaced my Microtech LT-8 with a Megasquirt because of it's limitations. I'm pretty happy with the Megasquirt (building it was actually fun for me), but if I could go back in time and do it all over again then I probably would have saved up more money and gone with a Haltech.
-John

 

microtech 100%%% i dnt know why people fight about it there is no question 100%% microtech

 

what about Rtek 2.1 chips? those feature you discribe( 3d mapping, save to disk, closed loop) are all included in something that is also plug and play. i never hear people recommend them, and i was wondering why not?

 

^^It's not a traditional "stand alone" it doesn't have AFM elimination yet, soon hopefully. I just wish there was somewhere to tune my car within 5 hours.

 

Have you not read any of the posts in this thread?

The reasons a person would not want to use a Microtech is:

1. No closed loop
2. No 3D timing tables
3. Very limited I/O. For example, I'd sure like to be able to run my BAC valve. Oh wait, I can't without first sending the ECU back to the manufacturer in Oz for an "upgrade"!
4. Poor datalogging
5. No saving maps to disk
6. Configuration locked to whatever engine it is set up for at the factory
7. Dishonest manufacturer: no updates to LT8s for many years even though we have been continually promised
8. Antiquated computer software

All of these things are not limitations to any of the other major ECUs on the market.

Then again, the reason a person would want to use a Microtech (and this is a big one) is:

1. Rock solid reliability and immunity to ignition noise

That is the one thing that keeps me away from moving to a Megasquirt on my car.

 

My opinion, If you have never dealt with a standalone or hardly done any wiring squirt is not for you. Microtech is a nice unit but as people say it's stuck back in the day. couple months ago ordered lt-16 i figured maybe something might be better. Today im goign to pick up haltech 6x for a 4g63 and ill be messing around with that. I never got to mess with haltech but from what ive seen and read i like it so far over my michrotech. Before you get any kind of standalone do your homework on the unit and see what it's about and all the features and make sure you have an idea of what the features do.

 

like Aaron stated price should not decide for you. The squirt is "capable" of a lot of things, if you have the time to learn an modify the unit. things might not work and YOU will have to be able to diag the problem. once you figure it out it is a great computer for a great price.
i didn't buy a haltech due to other users having problems with signal noise and didn't like hearing that. so i got a microtech and i'm satisfied with how easy it was to get up and started. that was the major selling point for me, i didn't have months to figure out how megasquirt works. i only messed around with tuning a couple of my friends megasquirts. i didn't know how to put it together and didn't want to be bothered since i read posts of people having trouble with theirs.
IF you can live with the microtech's shortcomings then go for it. personally now after having been around more systems i would go for a more advanced system like HKS V pro, or Power FC. unfortunately the V-pro cant be tuned by yourself which sucks.

 

yeah the price isnt really an issue and i would much rather get something that is going to work, be user friendly and last, not something thats not these

 

has anyone here had much to do with the new link g4 units?ive wired a few up to different cars(non rotary)but once they were wired up it was really user friendly for first start up without base maps(tho they have units base mapped for 13bt)and they can run pwm for varible valve timming etc,they have loads of configrable inputs and outputs,unsure of the price tho,just a thought!!

 

as MaczPayne stated, the ecu you want to get depends on your tuner, if your tuner likes and is more familiar with microtechs then buy a microtech. bottom line

 

I'm using the stock shielded CAS wire in my custom harness and never had any issues with ignition noise.

what about the microtech makes it so immune to the noise?

 

maybe the microtech just ignores the crank sensor fluctuations. i know from 96 hondas had crank fluctuation sensors for that purpose but microtechs don't have that. The microtech's flying lead does have the CAS wires separated and shielded, which if you were getting signal interference you could route it away from other frequencies.

 

Re: The noise issues:

We've recently gotten those worked out too. Most if not all of the noise was coming in over the 2nd trigger (G) wires. If you build an lm1815 circuit correctly (no RC timing circuit on pin 14, and a .01 uF capacitor across g+ and g-) cars that previously had noise issues no longer do.

I myself had noise stutters at 4000 rpm, as did eage8 and Jerry@diyautotune until we made those modifications. Now I can rev to the redline without a single issue, as can eage8 and Jerry.

The car we megasquirted (DIYautotune and I) for Grassroots Motorsports revs fine with no noise issues.

I'm even using an MS on the 20v 4age with the stock cam angle sensor, which is notorious for having crosstalk between Ne and G sensors due to sharing a common ground. I have no noise issues there either.

It was all just a matter of finding time to solve the issues unfortunately.

And James and I listen to feature requests, and put out frequent updates; often adding more features. To that point, very soon I'll be adding another staged injection mode for those having trouble getting their setups to stage smoothly.

Ken

 

I set up my Megasquirts with double shielded microphone cable (with a current drain) and have also not had noise issues. It is mainly a function of how well the car is wired in the first place. Crappy old wiring and connectors is going to cause noise on any ECU.

I'm not quite sure what Microtech does. My guess is that they predict the triggers in software in a different thread and then compare it to the actual signal from the CAS to isolate noise. At least that's how I would do it, but I'm not a embedded programmer. Whatever they do, I rarely see noise issues on Microtechs. Even if the wiring is aweful (think speaker wire and masking tape) they seem to run well.


The noise is more of an issue for those without the knowledge to wire things properly, I agree. I've always built them with the R/C circuit on pin 14 though and not had problems. I always put the 0.01uF capacitor across G as well.

 

And not being able to fire the coils atdc except through a cludge fix. Very ghetto imo

 

We do that and other things in software to filter noise, although I'm not using the noise filtering features since I don't need them. We don't really use "triggers" though. We use every tooth on the wheel to schedule timing, which makes timing more accurate, especially during acceleration.

I used to do it that way, but I've found it works better with pin 14 grounded.

Ken