Powerfc or Microtech (FD3S)?
 

Hi guys, I apologise if this is in the wrong section as I thought I would get the most responses here.

I have done a fair bit of searching, and I haven't found anything yet.

I'm looking at an ecu that is plug and play in a stock sequential car and wont need any modifications to the harness at all as I dont want to tamper with it.

Now I read that a Microtech ecu can't control a sequential car? Is the Microtech plug and play, or do I need to cut up the stock harness? And tuners are readily available for tuning.

I like the Power Fc as it's a plug and play and everything works on the car like stock, eg: aircon, but the problem is here in SA there aren't many tuners that work with it. (Got to drive about 650km)

I have never tuned a car before (got to start somewhere and I am willing to learn, I just rebuilt my own motor) Would it be difficult for me to tune it myself if I have a data logit and a good guide on how to tune the PFC or would it be too risky?

Thanks,
Luke

you pretty much answered your own question there.

If the microtech can't control the stock twins then it won't be plug and plug unless you go single. Even then, you'd have to create your own harness. Out of all the ECUs out there, just FYI, Microtech wouldn't be one of my top 3.

But, what tuners do you have available is the question. If you're not comfortable tuning your own car then build your car to your tuner. If your tuner is really only familiar with say, Haltech, get a Haltech ECU; which is great. Haltech can't control the stock twins either and you'll have to build your own harness as well.

If you want to learn how to tune, having the PFC with a DL really isn't that difficult. The DL software makes it stupid easy. And it's PnP so it's more what you're looking for. The PFC is your only option if you want something PnP.

What are you power goals though? What are you building the car for? if you're looking for a 500 hp monster then you'll need to get rid of the twins and go with a more customizable ECU.

PFC is a good choice and a well proven ecu that work on the FD. Even though it's consider old technology, it works.

Now there is the new Adaptronic that's suppose to be PnP also. I don't have any experience with it, only from what I've read online. At least there is another choice over the pfc.

http://www.adaptronic.com.au/product/esel021/

I would also point you to http://www.adaptronic.com.au plugin ecu. They are very helpful also. And pnp

Good! Now you have another option for PnP.

I've heard really good things about adaptronic and like one of the other guys said, the PFC is actually old tech. Even though it still works well by todays standards as long as you have the DL with it. Alone though, it is really limited.

I know how to tune a powerFC, so I would choose a powerFC. I would choose whatever ecu a tuner in your area knows.

the thing I like about the powerFC is....it's simple.

Having seen both in action on multiple cars, powerfc is far superior.

Microtech is an easy to tune linear ecu. Due to their simplicity and limited adjustability they leave much to be desired if installed in a daily but work well enough for wide open throttle such as a drag car.

Powerfc has greater maping ability and can be very powerful in the right hands.

At the end of the day, you're best to find a good local tuner and purchase what they are most comfortable with. I'm personally running haltech but it's far from plug and play.

Adaptronic plug and play, very easy to tune it will control stock FD or heavy modified, with just adding a wideband you can take advantage of the auto tune at least for the vacuum part of the map.

Had power FC before the Adaptronics and to me the Adaptronic is easier to tune and you don't need to spend another 300.00 to buy the Tunning box like the power FC.

Wow! Thanks for all the replies guys.

Really nothing special. Stock car at the moment, I'm looking for about 350hp with sequential twins and a few bolt ons, a single turbo conversion is planned but only later.

So i guess I'm looking for an ecu that wont need replacing for a single aswell.

This Adaptronic PnP ecu has really got my attention, the fact that it's got a 4bar map sensor and usb for laptops built in is a plus, no extra 400-500$ and by the sound of it, it's fairly easy to tune.

Will this ECU be any good for a single turbo?

Good call on going with an ecu that you won't need to replace in a couple years. (A good rule of thumb, for me, is to keep PFC's under 400whp if possible)

One thing I would def consider also doing is drop the money now on a new harness. Crusty old harnesses can totally cause all kinds of problems! It's better to drop $1,000 on a new harness now, as opposed to 3x-5x that much later on a new engine..

Yes, you can use this for a single turbo setup. One thing when going single turbo keep your idle control valve, for some reason people remove it when going single.

Another PnP option is the AEM Series 1. Or Series 2 w/the PnP patch harness that EB Turbo makes.