I hate to ask this again, but my earlier thread was lost in the crash...As you can see by my mods below, I have a lot of stuff that would seem to necessitate an ECU (Downpipe, Cat-Back, Intake, street port). I made some inquirys out there and these were my results.

Before I did my exhaust and intake I was running 11.5 lbs of boost max. Then I put on the cat back and started hitting 12.5 to 13lbs at 5000+rpm. I am having my intake put on today, and I am not sure what the boost readings will be after installation. So I made some phone calls about what to do for an ECU.

#1. I called Pettit Racing, Cam said that as long as I am running under 15lbs. of boost, the factory ECU is good enough. So he said basically not to worry about it.

#2. I called M2 Performance, they said that the ECU they sell is NOT designed for ported motors, and would not function correctly. So they told me to call Pettit.

#3. I called G-Force, They said they have a chipset, but could not guarantee it's performance with a ported motor either. And I have heard many tell me that the G-Force is not refined enough for this car.

#4. Lastly, I considered the Apexi Power FC, of which I see many on the forum boasting about, and apparantly have had success with. But, two places that sold the Apexi told me that with the stock turbo set-up, the PFC is overkill. Although it has tunability, I am not the type of person who will constanly change tuning parameters, I would simply like a plug in unit that will simply keep my engine from blowing up.

BUT, That does not mean I would not go with the Power FC either, maybe it is in fact the best...I don't know. The ECU is the last thing I have been studying.

So, I guess I would like to have some of your opinions, and most importantly. If I stay OFF the high boost, will I be OK untill I get an ECU upgrade. As I said I dont know what my boost will be after I get it back with the new M2 intake. But something tells me it may increase. The fact is, I won't be able to afford an intercooler or ECU for about a year or so. But I still want to drive my car without risk of blowing up my engine. And if I have to keep it under 5K rpm, I can do that. Please advise Mr. Mahtab...

Thank You.

 

I like Mr. Mahtab's questions.....unfortunately that's because i have similar (not same - no ported motor) questions......comments anyone.....HELP!!

I find it interesting that they told you the PFC was overkill w/ stock turbos....I was thinking of going PFC based on all the posts elsewhere but like you I'm not going to be messing much with the maps etc.

 

I'm in the same boat as well. I just purchased M2's downpipe, SS dual tip catback, and their intake. If it's necessary to protect the engine I won't install the intake until I get an ECU upgrade.

 

I have M2's stage 2 ecu with mods below running 12psi max. I'd probably choose to go with Pettits unlimited ecu or the power FC.

Personally I'm thinking about going Power FC soon.

 

i have the g-force unlimited ECU.....it works great
and everyone who has it loves it
it runs pretty rich, but thats kind of a safeguard and i dont have a TON of mods....so thats the other reason for the richness

i have m2 intake, cb, hf cat, dp, ported motor

runs fine....i keep it below 13 with a profec b though cause im running stock IC

i plan on going pfc soon just to be able to tune in between tx and co (altitude) and the flexibility of going single soon.

hope that helps......oh and by the way, im selling the g-force within the next month

 

The Apex unti is far from overkill. Actaully its designed for exactly what you need. It has tunability but also is available with base maps so you dont need to tune it on a dyno before you can use it. Also it has a 16 bit microprocessor so it seems to run in the car much better and smother even at stock boost pressures. the Remapped ECUs are ok but they dont offer the versatility of the PFC. I wouldnt worry about buying a commander if you dont plan to ever change the maps or add any mods that would make it needed. You can run the PFC on a stock motor or a modded motor or even a single turbo set up. Its a great ECu to buy for the person who wants something simple yet has the ability to grow with you when you mod your car or even single turbo applications. You dont have to be anyone special to install it either. It retains all the stock sensors and wiring. Just plug and go. I think the PFC is perfect for street applications. Very High HP cars that need extreme precise tuning should use a higher line ECU like the Motec or Tec unit.

 

Well it would seem to be the ECU of choice here...BUT is there still a problem with the air conditioning not functioning correctly with the PFC installed? I read a couple if times that the air will lose it's efficiancy with R1 models. Anybody know whether this is still the case?

 

Anybody?

 

I just bought a tricked out 93 R1 with the PFC installed and spent the weekend cutting the wires at the ECU to make the A/C work.
It bypasses the ECU completely and you have to control the A/C manually. At traffic stops I punch the A/C button to cut it off and then wait till cruising before punching it back in. I'm sure it can be controlled more sophisticatedly, but, hey, I'm brand new to this!

It is so fine to drive a real car again!

bp

 

I second that. The G-Force unlimited ECU works great for me as well. I have a street ported, intake, DP, CB and run 12 psi. of boost. Many...many people who have used the G-Force also state that it is set to run richer than some of the other ECU's. I find it to run extremeley smooth and it is a world of a difference over stock ecu (of course). Check Steve Cirian's site. It reviews all of the ECU's. It is lightning in a world of thunder. Check it out.

 

BTW, the guy that sold the G-Force to me had upgraded his twins to a single turbo and was running 13 psi. with no problems. He said he was hanging with his buddies '96 911 Twin Turbo Porche!! He is a well known member of the Rx-7 list.

 

I've got a few mods and am a bit puzzled.

I have a PFS intake, PFS intecooler, DP, hi-flow cat, PFS cat back. Most of this done before I bought the car by someone who obviously like dPFS - it all works too .

With the new cat I see spikes on the 2nd turbo of as much as 14+PSI. I see no fuel cut off - ever. I saw 13PSI before the cat easily. My boost patern is whacky though since the first turbo isn't boosting fully. When th esecond comes on the clutch tends to slip a bit as well, it's a pretty hard whack!

You'll note I've listed no fuel mods. I ASSume the ECU is stock but with no observed fuel cut is hat poissible? I've got a PFS purple fo rit w/no keypad and old firmware that I'll update ASAP. The purple is NO installed and has quesitonable settings in it. Will the purple be enough? What should I limit my boost to? Will the purple handle this? I ASSume that when Peter hands over the revised box that it will be setup for me somewhat, yes? I'm considering the laptop software to use with the purple - good idea? I've considered selling the purple and getting an APEX PFC but with NO datalogging capability and no tuners near me that hav experience with it that I'm aware of this doesn't seem like a good solution.

Advice please! I'm NO rotary "expert" (nor do I wish to be) and am simply looking for a quick street car that's not going to leave me stranded. I'm pulling 20inches of vacuum, engine seems healthy with an occasional "check engine" light. Need to pull the codes but I suspect an intermittant sensor somewhere. (sigh)

TIA!