Okay, I'm looking for recommendations for a single ECU, which would be (hopefully) optimal for several situations. First of all, I'd like one that can handle either a 13b or a 20b, although this isn't crucial; I'll settle for just a 13b compatible one . Secondly, the car it's going in is going to be a multipurpose car; it needs to be tunable with an in-car computer, and preferably, be able to go from one template/map to the next from within the interface. Finally, the more tunable features, the better.
I know, everyone asks "what's the best ECU?", and the answer is 'it depends'. But I'm looking for what, in a hypothetical situation in which the above are the only concerns, people who are experienced on the subject of ECU's would recommend.

 

The Motec M800 or M880 has the most features, can run a 2 or 3-rotor engine with split timing (timing can even be trimmed for each rotor), is tunable from an in-car laptop computer (as is nearly every other EMS), and can store several different maps (much like nearly every other EMS).
http://www.motec.com/

 

Awesome! Thanks a lot for the info, Evil Aviator. I've been trying to learn a bit about ECU's, but I guess I'm dumb or something, 'cause somehow, I kept not finding info about which EMS's are tunable in realtime, or which could store what profiles.
Anyhow, while I have the thread up, I guess I'll add in a less hypothetical question, geared towards my current rx7 project. For this project, I'm looking for something with, again, the most possible tunable features, but, for this project, I'm on a pretty limited budget. So, for a 13b (20b capability is completely uneccessary for this project), what EMS would have the greatest amount of tunability, say, under $2000?
Also, I'd like to reiterate how much I appreciate the info, Evil Aviator. Reading old threads, articles, and whatever else I can find helps somewhat, but there's nothing like being able to ask my own stupid questions, and get answers to set me on track to actually learning about EMS's

 

It's interesting that you bring this up. For some reason, the EMS manufacturers seldom advertise the capabilities that I see people ask about time and time again. The EMS industry probably has the worst marketing of any aftermarket automotive product line. I have even been asked for my input on occasion, and everything I ever said was ignored, lol.

Ah, you want all the tuning in the world but you don't want to pay for it, lol. I hear this a lot, too. Your price range only covers the lower and mid-level EMS products. Also, since you are asking for "the most possible tuning features", I am assuming that you have absolutely no idea what you are doing, so you are just asking for everything. I can help with this by explaining the EMS choosing process:

Flawed EMS Choosing Process (90% of people do this):
1) Spend lots of time researching an EMS on your own, even though you don't really know what to look for.
2) Finally choose one, and buy it through Ebay or some other outlet with NO user support.
3) Download a tuning map, thinking that it will work with your car (lol).
4) Buy a wideband O2 meter because a bunch of teenagers on the internet swear that it will instantly make you into a professional tuner (lol).
5) Make a mess of the wiring, get frustrated with all the tuning jargon in the manual that doesn't make any sense, and try to get help via the internet even though it is almost impossible to troubleshoot and tune an EMS with this method. Maybe even contact the manufacturer in Australia so they can help you on one of the 2 days a year that they actually answer the phone or email.

Proper EMS Choosing Process (This is what the pro racers do, believe it or not):
1) Talk to a professional EMS tuner. Rather than discuss which EMS is the best or what bells and whistles you need, discuss what you want the car to do, and then let the tuner decide how to meet these requirements. Now, there may be physical or financial limitations on what you want vs. what the tuner can produce, but you can negotiate this as necessary.
2) Buy the EMS through the tuner if he can work out a nice purchase/installation/tuning package deal. Some tuners do not sell EMS's, so in that case buy one from an authorized dealer that offers user support. Why do you need user support if you have a tuner? Because you may move out of the area, or your tuner may go out of business, and user support and warranties usually only apply to the original purchaser of the EMS.

These brands of EMS manufacturers make products that are in your price range. Each website has a link to authorized dealers:
http://www.electromotive-inc.com/
http://www.haltech.com.au/
http://www.microtechefi.com/
http://www.wolfems.com.au

 

Oh, don't worry. I'm not planning on buying an ECU without knowing what I'm doing. Basically, I want some suggestions for what I'm interested in with my admittedly non-existant knowledge. I'm going to look into the recommended models, find out what features they do have, how those affect tuning, what can be done with various features, how they work together, etc.
I understand what process pro's use, and why, but I have my reasons for not following that procedure. First of all, I live right in the middle of Pa. This means that all the rotary tuners in Philadelphia/NJ are are almost exactly the same distance from me as places like KD Rotary, and places in southern NY and eastern OH. If I don't already know what I'm talking about, I'm not likely to be able to seperate out which place to go to as effectively as I'd like.
Secondly, the car this EMS is going to go into is going to be highly customized, as I mentioned before, including an in-dash computer, most likely running a shockwave program as a GUI, which will include tasks like running the EMS software (as a laptop normally would), so I will be looking for one with a GUI that can be configured the way I'll want it.
Third, I'm a complete n00b at EMS's. Before I talk to a tuner about what I want the car to do, I want to really understand what I want the car to do, and how I can go about this. I'm not saying I'll assume I know more than the tuner, but I want to be able to give them the best idea possible of what I want, and I feel that I can't do that unless I know my ****.
Now, the reason I'm looking for the EMS with the most features possible within my price range, isn't simply because I figured "hey, if it can be tuned in the most ways possible, that's gotta be the best, right?", although that was a small factor. Mostly, whether it's practical in tuning or no (okay, so it's not, and I know it, but still ), I like the idea that my car could be as finely tuned as possible. Partially, because I'm a geek, but also because this car is going to be kind of a dual purpose vehicle. It's going to be both a track car and a show car, hopefully, and part of what I'd like to show off is a car which is extremely adjustable to different situations, with the most sophisticated possible tunability, and the ability to collect as much data as possible about the engine's performance characteristics, and how they can be altered.
Anyhow, yes, I understand your point, and agree completely. While I don't know much about EMS's yet, I see people do the same basic thing all the time with other things. I'm not planning to do that, I just want to walk into the EMS tuner's shop and know what the hell I'm talking about, so I can make sure I end up with the capabilities I want.

oh, and in response to Yes, you understand completely! I want the best, but I can't afford to pay for the best Honestly, I was hoping to phrase the question so that it came across as more of a "what EMS within this price range best meets this criteria" than that, but I suppose both ways of looking at it are equally true.

 

Well, that's going to be difficult because each EMS has its own way of accomplishing tuning, and it is difficult to compare them. For example, what is better, 32 load bands and 32 rpm bands, or 16 load bands and 64 rpm bands? There is certainly nothing wrong with performing your own research, but just be aware that things like this will come up more often than not, and you will probably find yourself ending up with more questions than answers.

That's a really bad idea unless you just want it for looks. It is gong to be nearly impossible to tune the EMS unless your screen is at least 12". Unless you are a computer guru of astronomical proportions, you aren't going to be able to write any software on your own. Actually, if you are a fairly good programmer and electronics guru, you may want to look into the do-it-yourself Megasquirt fuel computer (no ignition control):
http://www.bgsoflex.com/megasquirt.html

If you just want something that looks good for show, AND is functional, then I would recommend the Microtech or Wolf products that have an optional hand controller. IMO the Wolf hand controller has the most "bling" because the buttons have a red lighting effect (that they never show in the advertising for reasons that are beyond me, lol). The Microtech hand controller isn't quite as flashy, but it has a carbon fiber look that is rather popular right now.

Somebody on this forum made a small dash display for their EMS, but I can't find the link right now. It looked pretty good, but it was too small for tuning.

 

well, I'm planning a 7" touchscreen interface, which will be used for altering settings, not the actual process of tuning. That will be done at a shop, using their equipment. This screen (and computer) will be connected to the EMS for the purpose of monitoring, datalogging, and switching maps. It will be in the car for a lot of other purposes as well, and the interface (likely in shockwave) will be for visual aesthetics and convenience of operation... well, this isn't really the place to go into depth of how the in-car computer is going to be set up or run . Suffice to say that the actual process of tuning won't be using that small screen, the screen is just for ease of use when operating the car.
So no, it won't be all that functional in terms of tuning the EMS, and I know that. In terms of the EMS, it will only be functional day-to-day.
Anyhow, before this turns into 3 pages of me rambling about how I'm planning to set up the in-car computer, I'm just gonna leave it at, suffice to say that the computer set-up isn't already accounted for. If you reeeeallly want all the gory details, I'd be willing to discuss them in a more appropriate forum, and once I start to actually to the install, there'll be a thread, most likely with pictures, but for the sake of this thread, I'll just leave the description of the setup as I've already described it