i greeted the new millennium by ditching my Pettit modded OE ECU and saying hello to the wonderful newly introduced Apexi Power FC/Datalogit.

WOW, to actually be able to see the fuel and ignition maps. 400 fun cells with which to play. thanks to the Datalogit, four additional inputs. two EGTs, digital fuel pressure and AFRs.

Logging!

Tuning!

many of us remember, after a run, sitting in the car doing math for each cell to adjust the fuel. the Power FC/Datalogit combo transformed the FD. even 25 years later it's not a bad option.
of course tech moves on at Moore's Law speed. while the Power FC was capable of commanding our motors it certainly was not capable of saving them.

sometime in 2012 i decided that a dual purpose properly set up FD was capable of running 200 mph in the mile. i had been running the motor i had built at 500 rwhp for the prior 4 years. one of our members had just clocked 196.. he was running a built 550 rwhp V8 in his FD. i figured that a 575 rwhp 13 BREW would get it done w a stronger trans (T56), better turbo (GT4094R) and... a better ECU.

i surveyed the 2012 ECU landscape...

primary options were.. Haltech E6, Motec and ViPEC-Link.

Haltech, at that time was thought to have some sort of errant spark problem and a significant amount of irons were breaking. Motech was the professional tool of choice. it was expensive and then you had to buy additional modules to do this and that. ViPEC-Link was initially an unknown to me. I did know of Ray Hall who was associated w ViPEC. he was a global turbo guru. as i looked at the ViPEC-Link line i quickly realized that they did everything (and i mean everything) that Motec did but there were no add-ons necessary and the price was friendly. the more i looked the more i liked. i bought their top of the line ViPEC V88. it was a wire in.

fortunately the install job's primary challenge was simply the work. ViPEC provided a 150 page booklet (large print, lots of pictures) that took all the head scratching out of the job. a side benefit was, of course, i learned lots about how things worked. fun. (of course today Link offers plug-ins as well as wire-ins.)

a look at contemporary ECUs reveals a blizzard of features... no matter what you will be doing w your FD you will never use them all.

what is still truly a shock to me is how many of the contemporary features we oogle over today were on my 2012 V88.

while a fuel pump fuse shortened my mile attempt to just under 3/8 of a mile and 164 mph the prior week i did run 205 on the dyno... yes, i know not the same but it was an experience sitting in the passenger seat watching my laptop while at over 8600 in fifth. speed is reported on the right near the bottom. 330 KPH/205 MPH.

here's the ViPEC-Link log from 2013. BTW, this was w my CPR Low Drag turbo manifold.
l


18 seconds in 5th at 575+ with the hammer down. a happy motor. i do hope to finally prove my concept at the upcoming Texas Mile late this March.

ViPEC was merged into Link and eventually (2020) i upgraded to the Link G5 Extreme. it was a simple plug in to my ViPEC harness and spoke the same language with a few more words. almost like an automatic transmission shifting gears. i did find Evans Performance Academy and signed up for Jeffery's course... somewhere around 55 on point presentations lasting approx 45 minutes each. "A" for content, "A" for presentation, "A" for value. i am a big fan. you want answers, you get answers. Jeffrey also has a forum for subscribers/owners. post a question, get the answer from Jeffrey pronto.

here's a link to a Jeffrey's shortened video re Link's proprietary (awesome) Knock Control system


often, my engine build clients ask me for advice on various aspects of their build. i recommend Link so that i can provide them w my map and help them get tuned. i speak Link. while Link is currently rapidly growing in the USA, for a few years dealers were hard to find so last year i became one. i believe Link should have a significant share of the FD market. lack of strong marketing, IMO, has been the issue, not the product.

i haven't spent much time looking at other ECUs. my Link marketing thrust will simply dwell on what Link offers however i do have an interesting story. i acquired a new motor client a few years ago. since he lived less than 4 hours from me he delivered his motor and spent time looking over my setup. he decided he wanted to pretty much copy my build. he even tracked down one of my rare production Low Drag turbo manifolds. this person has a heavy right foot and an EFR9180. he has put a lot of miles on his FD w his foot on the floor. he is also extremely studious/methodical as to what is going on. kind of figures as he is a software Engineer. (way over my head).

we exchanged logs. i would do a run and send him a Link log. he would do a run and send me a Haltech (Elite 2500) log.

after getting to know my Link from the logs/maps he bought a Link Extreme and has it wired in and just about ready to fire. to be honest, i don't know the "why" of it but i know him to be a highly thoughtful person.

so that's the background on why i am a Link dealer. i believe that Link deserves to be onboard our wonderful cars and want to make it happen.

i invite you to look into Link. i think you will like what you see. the Link G5 architecture/software is very friendly-easy to work with. Link has available tech help 6 days a week.

just pick up the phone and dial 510-288-2953

or visit the support page and chat https://linkecu.com/software-support/tech-support/

or email tech@linkecu.com

or post to the wonderful Link Forum https://forums.linkecu.com/forum/32-g4x/ post a question, wake up the next morning and you will be almost always looking at high level response. (Link is in New Zealand so while you are asleep they are working to answer your question.)

and of course you have me, i am pretty much always around and available.

while Link is currently not a vogue item on our board you will find the brand is waay bigger than you might think globally both for rotary and piston.

the rotary enterprise that i hold in the highest esteem (as in number ONE) is Green Brothers.

while they have their share of sub 7 second builds they have zillions of turbo'd road racing rotaries. there's little that challenges the turbo'd rotary like road racing with the attendant heat build. when Richard Green speaks i listen... and learn. Green Brothers are and always have been 100% Link. find them on Facebook

"but i don't know any Link tuners."

it is 2025. tuning has changed. (tuners aren't going to tell you). ECUs self tune. it is relatively simple to enter your name rank and serial number and off you go. actually that would be injector specs and a few other things. if i sell you an ecu you of course get Link's starter map as well as my map and advice. you are up and running. you then drive the car while logging. after you have the log you go to the Map Mixture feature and press calculate. done. welcome to 2025. any issues, call/email/chat w Link, call, text or email me, post on the Link forum or post on Jeffery Evans forum.

of course there's zillions of additional things you can do... boost by gear, zero timing if various bad things happen (saved my motor once when my fuel pump fell off the connection to the line at 26 psi. i have the log)

i love the Math Channel... you can write any equation you wish and log the product. for instance i wanted to know the difference between my front and rear EGTs. i wrote a simple equation Front minus Rear and now have a line graph of the net. you are pretty much ,limited by you own imagination.

i enjoy setting the log speed for almost 200 parameters. for instance, i log RPMs at 1000 (!) data points per second. the result clearly shows any misfires.

there is even a Virtual Fuel Tank! the ECU tracks how much fuel used since your fillup.

you can endlessly deep dive and manage pretty much everything....or you can tune it and forget it.

one sticky issue is that Link doesn't currently run the external oil pump. this could be a deal breaker for some but don't include me. on the 200+ 13BREWs i have built i have removed the external drive and only premix. the motor does not like having carbon filled non-2 cycle oil pumped onto the apex seals and coating the rotors. i did a thread on the subject February 2010.

here's a tease on the subject







https://www.rx7club.com/3rd-generati...-motor-887275/



i suggest you visit Link's starter page and navigate around for more specific info as it is well presented.

https://linkecu.com/getting-started/

current retail pricing on the wire-in Extreme is $1845

the wire-in version is priced at $1425

there is an 11% discount currently thru March 24.

please contact me if interested.








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Hi Howard,
Hope you are doing well.
All settle in with the move?

I got my Link ECU from Howard. Still working on collecting other parts for the build.
He is definitely just one call away.
The biggest thing that I am procrastinating is building the main engine wiring harness.


Daniels

 

Hi Howard, glad to see you've pulled the trigger on becoming a Link dealer! Any intel on when the new G5 Neo series wire-in ECUs are going to be released? Link website just says 2025, and I'm looking to upgrade my older G4+ Fury to a G5 Neo-6.

 

^Howard, that's incorrect - Link does have Rotary Oil Metering Pump support built in since at least the G4+ generation, I'm running it with my FD (with the RA OMP adapter, so it feeds 2-stroke lube via a separate gravity tank). It works identical to how Mazda did it - 6 wire drive; OMP stepper drive uses 4 AUX outputs from the Link plus 2x +12VDC power connections; plus one Link Analog input for OMP position feedback. The control mapping can be setup just like OEM, 3D MAP vs RPM adjusts OMP output from 0% - 100%, and it had fail-safes built in too.

 

Those still running sequential have to go with the wire in GX4 ecu, correct?

 

Hi Tim,

"running sequential" my apology as i knew there was something that Link didn't run and thought it was the external oil pump. Pete is correct that the Link does run the external pump. Link does not control the sequential turbo system.

 

My understanding is that none of the current plug & play Link ECUs (G4X/G5) support sequential turbo control for the FD. However, if you go to peruse the Link support forum, you'll find that at least a few folks have had success controlling sequential twin turbos on the Toyota Supra and possibly other platforms with the wired-in Link ECUs (G4X/G5 series). The gist of it is you need to control 2x boost solenoids to independently control one wastegate per turbo. Looks like a PITA to tune, but it is do-able.

 

do you currently have an ACTIVE knock system? you may have a knock sensor(s).... but do you have an ACTIVE knock system enabled?

i do.


Mr Knock said hello on May 18.... OUT OF THE BLUE. , normal knock numbers are around 1.8 yet at 5314, 10.98 AFR, 19.2 psi.... 30 on knock. i never see this and haven't figured it out yet.

take another look at the chart and note the mirror image below the zero line. that is ACTIVE Link knock at work. timing reduced 4 degrees. no more knock. cutting fuel or boost doesn't work as they are slow mo. too many rotor faces get to knock before help arrives.... only reduced timing is the rescue.

if you have active knock you get to do this next time out...



680 rwhp, 430 tq 21.7 psi, 7967 rpm, 10.72 AFR. same Shell E85. different AI. i switched back to 100% methanol 775 cc. 74 F IAT

no other changes but the AI switch.

if the Link hadn't immediately cut timing what might have further developed.

love my G40-1150, Love my Link

sharp eyes may see differing numbers at the top header... they relate to another run from the map rather than the current posted log.

 

if you are considering a Link wire in or PDM you can save 10% until Sep 5. you also get my map and assistance.

 

Howard, does the Link discount include the new wire in G5 Voodoo Neo-4/Neo-6 ECUs? They just released that line of ECUs to the market a few weeks ago. I'll eventually be replacing my older G4+ Fury with the G5 Neo-4, though I'll probably wait until the usual black Friday sales and do the swap over winter hibernation. This way if there are any early production bugs in the Neo's, they should have them identified and worked out by then.

 

" does the Link discount include the new wire in G5 Voodoo Neo-4/Neo-6 ECUs? "

they are included

 

Why should i buy a Link and not a Haltech? (i am curious, not antagonizing)

 

Probably the best reason to opt for a Link over Haltech is warranty coverage and solid customer support - Link provides LIFETIME warranty coverage against material/workmanship defects on its ECUs, while Haltech only offers the typical limited term warranty (1 year I think).

And I can tell you from personal experience they really stand behind their product, Link doesn't care who the original purchaser of the ECU was - they will STILL cover your ECU, even if it was purchased by the car's previous owner! In my case, shortly after purchasing my FD which came with a Link G4+ Fury from its previous owner, and after I re-wired the car, I was having an issue with intermittent spark on one of the coils. I contacted Link and told them I wasn't the original purchaser of the ECU, which I guess was already 2 or 3 years old, and they said no worries, and they went to work troubleshooting the issue with me. After performing a rather exhaustive troubleshooting & remote diagnoses with Link's tech support engineers and mutually ruling out any issues with my recent wiring job, I decided to send my ECU back to Link's USA service center in Michigan for inspection. This cost me nothing except the one-way shipping cost and time. They couldn't replicate the intermittent problem at the US Link facility, so they offered to ship it back to Link HQ in New Zealand on their expense for a more in-depth inspection & test. The Link HQ folks couldn't replicate my intermittent spark issue in their lab either, but since they identified some questionable possibly cold solder joints on the A & B connector header, they decided to fully refurbish my G4+ ECU - it got new ignition driver circuitry, new A & B connector headers and when it was completed, it went thru their full environmental acceptance test procedure before shipping it back to me. This whole cycle took about a month to get my ECU back, but it cost me almost nothing (just shipping to Michigan) and I got essentially a brand new ECU out of it.

Ironically, after I got the ECU back from Link HQ and re-installed it worked great, but within a week or two the same intermittent spark issue occurred again! This time the Link support engineer suggested swapping plug wires to see if the intermittent spark "moves" to a different coil/plug with the swapped wire. We didn't try that before because the Sakebomb wire set I was running was brand new. Sure enough the problem followed the swapped wire - so one of my Sakebomb plug wires was wonky. I replaced the whole set of Sakebomb wires with a set of Magnacore wires and haven't had a problem since!

Another good reason to get a Link, especially if you're a DIY tuner, is their PCLink tuning software probably has the best built-in help resources in the industry - literally can give you help/advice one EVERY setting. Haltech tuning SW has pretty good built-in help, but I find Link's orders of magnitude better.

 

Thats cool The reason Haltech has been the go-to option for me so far (compared to Link) is the sequential control.
But with new rules here, that is no longer a concern. Thanks for the feedback.

How easy is it to set up custom rules in their software, so i can control some of the emission stuff if i want it?

 

^It's pretty easy, as long as you can characterize when & under what conditions you want your emissions device (e.g., a solenoid) to operate. The only emissions stuff I'm running with mine is the fuel vapor/purge solenoid, so I don't have to open air vent the fuel vapor line to eliminate the potential for fuel vapor stink. I used the Mazda FSM info to guide me on how/what conditions to replicate. One of my AUX outputs controls the purge solenoid, and I have it set so that the solenoid is closed/off (no vapor flow to the engine) until the engine reaches operating temperature (e.g., ECT > 180*F), and once that happens, a 3D MAP vs RPM table takes control of the duty cycle of the purge solenoid. I setup that 3D control table so that I get full open vapor purge (about 80% duty cycle to solenoid) when in cruise RPMs under vacuum (e.g., between 2000-4000RPMs and MAP between 0psi and ~13psi) and in the transition regions along these edges, I gradually ramp up the duty cycle from 0 to about 80% in the adjacent cells. That way the sudden introduction of any fuel vapor doesn't upset lambda/AFRs too much, and the closed loop lambda (CLL) control is able to keep actual lambda/AFRs very close to my target lambda/AFRs.

 

Follow-up question:
Is there a reason to not go with the G5 and stick with a G4?

Follow-up to the follow-up:
What would the tipping point be/reason to go with the Neo-6 over the Neo-4?

 

Cost mainly, and whether or not you insist on having PnP wiring, I believe they still make a PnP version of the G4X for the FD - but all of the G5 series (Voodoo Pro, Neo-4 & Neo-6) require you to build a wiring harness for them.

I've recently been deep-diving into that question myself, as I want to upgrade my older G4+ Fury to one of the G5 Neo's. In the end, you'll need to precisely inventory all of your I/O requirements, and plans for any potential future expansion (e.g., adding EGT sensors) and then bounce those requirements against the Neo-4 & Neo-6 installer guides/wiring pin-outs & documentation.

 

when i switched from my wonderful ViPEC V88 (Jan 2021) to the Link Extreme i decided that i ought to broaden my understanding of what was hiding in the box. i stumbled across Jeffrey Evan's Evans Performance Academy. lucky duck me. around 50! 40 minute videos. very very well executed. at the time he had some deal per month. i completely audited/transcribed the whole enchilada and stayed w it on a month to month basis. later i bought the course.

then Link came out w G5 software. i downloaded it into my ECU and have been running on it for a year or so.

recently i mused at how many of the functions we used to use to tune with have been absorbed into our modern ECUs... boost, AFR, Knock...

why not AI?

i revisited Jeffrey's site and found that in the new G5 section, #117 is "Advanced Water Meth Injection." along with 132 other G5 videos... lots of new stuff. so i bought the G5 package.

i doubt i could have ended up w the setup that Jeff constructs without a lot lot of time and luck. having the video it is a no brainer.

no doubt this isn't news to some on the board but i thought i would pass it on.

here's Jeff's schematic, most of us could draw it up and of course the real work is the settings behind the drawing.


..thank you Jeff

 

Link price increase April 1. given what the can do, it is thievery priced ATM.