best ecu for a n/a fc3s
Rotorhead
Joined: Feb 2001
Posts: 9,136
Likes: 39
From: Charlottesville, Virginia, USA
Two general recommendations:
1) If you can afford it, a full standalone EMS is the way to go. It will eliminate your slow stock ECU, your AFM, the stock ECU flooding problem, the 3800rpm hesitation problem, and will let you monitor things like manifold pressure, air/fuel ratio, and intake air temperature without spending extra money on gauges that take up valuable dash space. A fuel computer is the next best solution if you do not need to be able to adjust your timing. I see no purpose in spending any money on a performance chip.
2) See what your local rotary tuners use, and get that. Installing an EMS is not all that difficult, but tuning is a real chore if you don't have an advanced understanding of internal combustion engine theory. Plan on about $500 for professional dyno tuning. A package deal that includes the EMS, installation, and tuning would be best.
Back to your original question about cost-effective NA ECU's:
Two of my friends are using old Wolf3D V3 EMS's on their NA 13B's with excellent results. The downsides are that the old V3 requies modification of the CAS, and the temperature compensation doesn't work very well above 70F. The V4 fixed all of these problems, but it sells for $1,400 new. You can probably get a good used V3 for $500-800.
http://www.redlinerotary.com/
http://www.wolfems.com.au/home
You may also want to look into a Haltech E6K with a 1 bar MAP sensor. Pricing is around $1,100 new. Now that the E11 has superseded the E6K, you may be able to get a good deal on a used E6K. I don't know anybody who has used an E6K on an NA 13B, but I would imagine that it would work well with the 1 bar MAP sensor.
http://www.haltech.com.au/Products/ECUs/ecus.html
Microtech is supposedly working on an NA-friendly version of their LT8. This should also work well, and would sell for under $1,000 new.
http://www.microtechefi.com
1) If you can afford it, a full standalone EMS is the way to go. It will eliminate your slow stock ECU, your AFM, the stock ECU flooding problem, the 3800rpm hesitation problem, and will let you monitor things like manifold pressure, air/fuel ratio, and intake air temperature without spending extra money on gauges that take up valuable dash space. A fuel computer is the next best solution if you do not need to be able to adjust your timing. I see no purpose in spending any money on a performance chip.
2) See what your local rotary tuners use, and get that. Installing an EMS is not all that difficult, but tuning is a real chore if you don't have an advanced understanding of internal combustion engine theory. Plan on about $500 for professional dyno tuning. A package deal that includes the EMS, installation, and tuning would be best.
Back to your original question about cost-effective NA ECU's:
Two of my friends are using old Wolf3D V3 EMS's on their NA 13B's with excellent results. The downsides are that the old V3 requies modification of the CAS, and the temperature compensation doesn't work very well above 70F. The V4 fixed all of these problems, but it sells for $1,400 new. You can probably get a good used V3 for $500-800.
http://www.redlinerotary.com/
http://www.wolfems.com.au/home
You may also want to look into a Haltech E6K with a 1 bar MAP sensor. Pricing is around $1,100 new. Now that the E11 has superseded the E6K, you may be able to get a good deal on a used E6K. I don't know anybody who has used an E6K on an NA 13B, but I would imagine that it would work well with the 1 bar MAP sensor.
http://www.haltech.com.au/Products/ECUs/ecus.html
Microtech is supposedly working on an NA-friendly version of their LT8. This should also work well, and would sell for under $1,000 new.
http://www.microtechefi.com
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mulcryant
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