I know the ecu question is been asked about a billion times and I have searched and would of found my answer if I had a manual. But I do not and have an automatic, and switching to a manual is out of the question. All the mods I plan on doing are downpipe mid pipe, catback, intake and a new intercooler. Plus all the reliability mods. I know I read the auto tranny can not hold more than 300 whp? Right or wrong? Also what type of aftermarket ecu is available since I have an automatic. Because I can not use a manual ecu? Right or wrong, I read that on this forum somewhere? I know since I am doing these mods I will be unable to to keep stock ecu. So than would a piggyback ecu work for what I want or would I have to go to standalone type of ecu? With these mods am I going to have to beef up the auto tranny or am I going to be fine? Also plan on doing 4.33 gears also. My car only has 35k miles so I do not plan on replacing the turbos untill they go. Any feedback would be great appreciated. Thank you for your time.

 

the best option for an automatic in the ECU department is the Peter Farrel PMS. its a piggy back unit that a lot of auto owners have had good luck with.

 

thank you dubcaps, I wanted to know that too!!

 

If possible like answers on other questiosn asked. Like how much tranny whp can hold. If the mods im doing will be fine with the stock tranny and aftermarket ecu.

 

There have been a few auto trannys last above 325whp, but that is pretty much the limit without modifying it. The more hp, the less it's going to last.

 

You can run a Power FC on an auto too.

 

i heard that you had the run the Power FC parallel to the stock ECU or something b/c of the separate computer to control the auto tranny.

you should be fine with all the bolt ons. hell i think a couple of people are running single turbos on auto trannies, but i have no idea if they've strengthened the tranny itself.

 

No, there's no "running parallel" needed, just plug it in for the stock ECU. The only thing you lose is the Hold function.

 

Stay away from the PFS PMS piggy back system.
Better known as the purple motor eater.
They have fuelcut issues and etc.
its a 8+year old technology.. like buying a
commadore 64 in 2004..

 

without the hold function you practically lose any ability to launch hard or even decently.Then the car really sucks.I should know.I have a dreaded auto as well.If you can afford to have it swapped to a manuall do so.The upgrade path is much easier.Plus do you know that in order to upgrade to a front mount intercooler you also need a better cooling radiator right.Well guess what our auto fd's come with a radiator that has a secondary transmission cooler in the bottom of the radiator.I **** you not.So then you have to buy a 600 dollar radiator.Big pain in the ***.

But if you dont want a manuall for anything in the world then you can run the pfc but partially lose the hold function.Without hold you cannot hold 1st gear.But if you put it all the way down to 1 it will upshift for you to second and then hold it in second untill you put it in 2.At that point it changes to third gear.when you go to 3 it will go into 4th gear.So you really only lose the ability to hold 1st gear.But thats the most important one.

 

As for the radiator, you can buy an after market one and buy an extra cooler(not much) to run the tranny oil lines to.

 

Found that out when I bought a Koyo radiator. Oil cooler works fine. I'm upgrading my ecu to a microtech LTx12s.

 

thats right, you lose the hold feature with the PFC. sorry about that. i think the guy at www.iluvmyrx7.com ran a haltec parallel to the stock ECU.

 

Is this with all ecus that i loose the hold feature. Or does the microtech x12 still allow me to use the hold feature. Or am I gonna have to run something parallel to the ecu?

 

Hold's really no big deal. The concern you should have would be "am I supplying the engine with enough fuel for the air I am putting in it" My view is, the first upgrade you should put on any FD is a standalone, Apex most likely. First gear shifts at 6500 anyway, do you really need to stress it another K? Probably another reason you can slap a nice single set up on an auto, you don't stress the transmission.

 

what transmission are you talking about.Mine automatically shifts at like 4000 no matter how hard I push the car.This is of course without the hold button.

 

mine will shift upwards of that if im in 1st and have it WOT

 

As for the pfs pmc fuel cut problem, they found that it was reading the knock sensor too sensitively, so they moved the position of the sensor to the alternater bracket and it solved the problem. If I remember right pfc's don't even use the knock sensor at all, I could be wrong though. Also as long as you get the pfs pmc tuned by someone who knows what they are doing you'll be fine. The people who have problems with them eating motors probably just plugged them in and set the boost to 15psi without adjusting fuel. Also the hold function is retained so everything works as it should. Also a good thing about this system is that you can get one for less than half the price of a pfc. Just get one with the "pink" software. Thats the latest software. Hope this helps.

 

well guys.after talking to the guys at rx7store and seeing that its only 1 grand to do the swap if you supply the parts I think I am going to go with this route.
I just hate the initiall lag too much on the auto fd.

 

Couldn't a race-type auto tranny w/ a high-stall torque converter that could be fitted in place to the stock unit? Seems that could be a less costly route yielding a great end result that could stand up to some high-powered engine mods.

I don't know enough about auto FD's except that the tranny is the weak link.