ECU information

[ausBA]

Hey guys ,

Im a new member and in some need of advice and help.......

Just finished rebuilding my 1.8 astina and i have a question regarding the current engine management. I have done various mods to the car during the rebuild stage like port and polished head, full exhaust, intake upgraded etc and was wondering if i need to go for a aftermarket ECU and have it tuned.

And also what gains can be expected roughly and if it is really going to be worth while going down this road...

Thanks,

[project.r.racing]

you dont need to change but an aftermarket ecu will allow you to get more gains out of these mods and extra through tuning also. any aftermarket ecu is worth doing.

[ROB-80E]

Generally you'd expect to see gains of 20% with a microtech ECU...going off the mods you have listed. Depening on the extent you want to go to with your car, I'd say go for it.

Might be worth checking this out.
http://www.fordlaser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39717

[ausBA]

So ideally it would be worth my while getting the ecu tuned.....

Can i get my standard ecu tuned with a piggy back ecu or should i go all out and get an aftermarket ecu..... its just that this is a very expensive mod and i dont know how i can get it done cheaply.....

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by ausBA

So ideally it would be worth my while getting the ecu tuned.....

Can i get my standard ecu tuned with a piggy back ecu or should i go all out and get an aftermarket ecu..... its just that this is a very expensive mod and i dont know how i can get it done cheaply.....

A piggyback (like, say the haltech interceptor) is going to cost quite a bit on its own. Things like unichips and whatever make all sorts of assumptions and you wont get hte most out of your money.

for about a grand, you can get a microtech and install it yourself. For a bit extra you can have it installed and tuned professionally...

http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6795

[Nate]

grab the microtech. they are well worth the money. i will suggest tho that you get the hand controller and some form of o2 gauge ... you can pick up a decent one for $100 and it lets you keep a general eye on how rich or lean your engine is running, so say for instance you can only get 91 octane fuel, and your car has been tuend for 98, you can alter overall the A/F mixture to suit. The other option (and this is what i have done) is to fork out the cash for a wideband sensor, they dont come cheap with your average unit around the $600, but you can acurately tune the car yourself safely, providing you can find a mate that is happy to help you do this, and you will never have to pay for a dyno tune again

[LordWorm]

wideband sensor capability is available on the LT10s and LT12s...so the hand controller will give a true reading.. but yeh, $600.

really, you're looking at about $1k for the barest minimum, then you can spend pretty much whatever you want on options (dash units, hand controllers, wideband sensors, coils, igniter box etc).

also bare in mind you can tune the car for economy etc... I'd reckon one would pay for itself in fuel savings in about 2 years, judging by the economy some of the guys with aftermarket computers are getting....doing lots of city driving? ok you dont need that much power, pull some fuel out....save money

[ausBA]

so an aftermarket ecu is the way to go..

ive looked at wolf 3d but there $1395 on there own and its really outta my budget but the microtech is $1095.

Does anyone know where i might be able to find one of these cheap?

[ausBA]

Where would be the best place to go to get the tuning done preferably in sydney area or the gold coast area.

[LordWorm]

click on the link http://www.astinagt.com/forums/showthread.php?t=6795

thats reasonably under retail... $980 for an LT8S...

We called MT and asked if you could option up teh LT8S...you can put the X4 igniter box on one if you have it modified (free, i think..but needs to be done at the MT factory... so you have to ask for it right up front...or have your car off the road for a couple of weeks in the future if you want to do that..

LT8S can't have the factory wideband logging option....but is otherwise more than capable.


edit: with regard to tuning, we can look after that with a twiggy tune... can install as well... pm either myself or twilightprotege and we'll get you a quote...located on northside of brisbane though so might not be handy for you..

aside from that just about -any- place with a dyno should be able to tune it for ya =)

[twilightprotege]

clarification - having the lt8s modified for the x4 igniter box is only free at initial purchase. if it has to go back for the change then there's a fee.

[ROB-80E]

Originally Posted by ROB-80E

Might be worth checking this out.
http://www.fordlaser.com/forum/viewtopic.php?t=39717

Not cheap enough for you???

As for comments like "buy one and install it yourself"...well LOL. That's like telling a Plumber to fix a television. The same goes for the comments of "Tune it yourself". Yeah so what, you have a A/F monitor, that will allow you to get your fuel values right, but how are you going to make any power if your not going to play with timing, pump settings (mircotech function), dwell, injector phase just to name a few? Do you even know what these are and how they effect your engine? There's ALOT more to tuning a car other than just a/f ratios, and well, unless you know how to tune...FORGET IT!

If you want a job done propperly, you get it done by qualified professionals. For the record, yes i have a trade cirt that covers me to install microtechs.

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by ROB-80E

Not cheap enough for you???

As for comments like "buy one and install it yourself"...well LOL. That's like telling a Plumber to fix a television. The same goes for the comments of "Tune it yourself". Yeah so what, you have a A/F monitor, that will allow you to get your fuel values right, but how are you going to make any power if your not going to play with timing, pump settings (mircotech function), dwell, injector phase just to name a few? Do you even know what these are and how they effect your engine? There's ALOT more to tuning a car other than just a/f ratios, and well, unless you know how to tune...FORGET IT!

If you want a job done propperly, you get it done by qualified professionals. For the record, yes i have a trade cirt that covers me to install microtechs.

There are plenty of people who have installed, and successfully tuned their own ECUs....ok get hte basemap done by a pro... but on street tuning can be done with a little know how...

[Nate]

Originally Posted by ROB-80E

Not cheap enough for you???

As for comments like "buy one and install it yourself"...well LOL. That's like telling a Plumber to fix a television. The same goes for the comments of "Tune it yourself". Yeah so what, you have a A/F monitor, that will allow you to get your fuel values right, but how are you going to make any power if your not going to play with timing, pump settings (mircotech function), dwell, injector phase just to name a few? Do you even know what these are and how they effect your engine? There's ALOT more to tuning a car other than just a/f ratios, and well, unless you know how to tune...FORGET IT!

If you want a job done propperly, you get it done by qualified professionals. For the record, yes i have a trade cirt that covers me to install microtechs.

what difficulties would someone that knows how to use a soldering iron and there way around the engine have if they installed in themselves??

[MeFo]

Stupid question, but what does the x4 igniter box do?

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by MeFo

Stupid question, but what does the x4 igniter box do?

Put really simply, facilitates direct ignition... used in conjunction with the bosch coils they have (though I believe other coils will do the job also).

more spark, more kaboom, more zoom zoom basically =)

[twilightprotege]

in other words, you have 1 coil at the moment feeding a disi and that then goes to the spark plugs. the x4 with 4 coils allows you to go for 4 coils and to ditch the disi cap (need to keep the majority of the disi there to allow the ecu to know what the engine is doing). you will need new spark leads with the individual coils.

i think deejayryry started a thread a while ago asking about the advantages of individual coils. i cant remember what it was but the gains on a relatively stock mx5 where very noticeable. 10kw+ i think???

[LordWorm]

yes...what twiggy said
more zoom zoom

[project.r.racing]

add nothing in the low rev limit but up high direct ignition can add up to 7.5% increase, especially on turbo cars where spark fade occurs running high boost.

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by deejayryry

add nothing in the low rev limit but up high direct ignition can add up to 7.5% increase, especially on turbo cars where spark fade occurs running high boost.

There we go...reasonable numbers there =)

Ryan, are you still playing with the idea of DIS for your BA?