dbmk3

just looking thru good old ebay and found this link

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/MegaSquirt-Eng...QQcmdZViewItem

i know people that say its jus cheap and nasty and the car will be screwed if its DIY'd

but on the other hand if u have a good knowledge and base maps to start from its got 2 be sooo much better than mfi???? and with extra features for water injection and 5th inj it should suit very high powered cars


whats your thoughts??

Rick

The system is very good. As you say, it's all in the install and mapping.

JesseT

Why would you use a 5th injector with efi
Can't fault the system. Been happy with it for a few years.

I'd say you can find cheaper sources than 150Ł. Keep in mind you'll need two more transistor outputs to drive the pwm idle valve and the amal valve if you want boost control.

JimmyBoy

iTrader: (1)

There's nothing wrong with megasquirt, yes it's cheap and people often tend to stick there nose's up at it and spend 5x more on something which isnt as good.

Any systems is gonna be crap if it has a bad install / map, it's not just megasquirt.

Also, it has got a huge uerbase and the official forums are very active, so if you ever enounter a problem you are bound to be able to find a solution, and if not then just post a topic and you will get a helpful reply. Not like some ECU manufacturers who are quite happy to price there products at an extortianate amount, but then offer a very poor support service.

Also, because it is open source, it is easy for 3rd party developers to write additional software for it and offer it for free (or a small fee - upto the individual developer) so the system can be continually expanded upon, unlike other manufacturers where they take your money, and then charge a shed load for any update to the software - if there even is ever a software update.

It's also very configurable so is very suitable for us, whether we are using cvh / zvh or zetec, will work with almost any type of engine configuration from a lawnmower to a V12.

As you can tell, I think it's ok! lol

reality

I think a lot of people get blinded by the vast amount of features and the cheap price of megasquirt..

Yes it's very cheap. Yes it does X and Y. Designed by a couple of old farts in their shed, tested by a bunch of know-nothings, spread into the wild by the internet collective conciousness.

The code is very fat now, it's a real hack to do anything. UltraMegaSquirt is supposed to fix this. If it ever comes out. This century.

When your Megasquirt, that was assembled by joe bloggs in his garden shed, decides to shit itself whilst you're at 6000rpm and 2 bar boost, who's going to pay for the pistons you leave down the M6? Nobody is accountable for it, apart from yours truly.

People don't even do simple shit, like apply a varnish (conformal coating) to the PCB of the MS to stop it corroding in the harsh automobile environment.. this is a fundamental thing to do if you want your ECU to last the winter..

This might seem like a massive flame, but I do actually run MS on one of my cars (turbo), and albeit crude, it does work.. so far..

JimmyBoy

iTrader: (1)

My understaning was that the PCB is made from automotive grade materials so would not require a seperate varnish.

With regards to what you are saying about it going tits up and melting a piston (hypothetically) and no one being accountable, do you really think that you would be able to hold any of the "big" ecu manufacturers accountable for the same situation? You would have to go through the nigh on impossible situation of proving that it was actually the ecu at fault that caused your problem, and I would imagine they would try every means possible to not pay up.

Also, you can at least get the simulator to test that the basic functionallity of the board is correct BEFORE you wire it up to your car and it all goes tits up.

reality

Yeah, dream on. The conformal coating on automotive electronics is not just to protect the PCB, it's to ensure good continuity from the components on the board TO the PCB..

Yes, you can plug the stimulator in and woopee, it does what it says on the tin. 3 months down the road after being in a car is a completely different story. Vibration? Humidity? Temperature? These things destroy electronics in cars which is why, for example, OEM's do not solder ANYTHING in a car and all PCB's are coated. It's a hideous environment.


Regarding the accountability comment; sure, it'd be tricky to prove against anyone that their product was at fault (well, until you plug it in and show a bad FET on an injector?).. But at least they have insurance that covers it..

zvhrst

can this system run antilag??

reality

Not out the box...

marky_g

so is it good or bad then???

good if u pay some one an arm and leg to build, fit and map(the price of anyother managment system)

bad if u DIY and no jake shit

JimmyBoy

iTrader: (1)

As previously said, any system is gonna be bad if it installed wrong / mapped badly.

But compare the cost of the megasquirt hardware to any other management system and you will see it is considerablly cheaper, just needs to be installed and mapped properlly, just like any other system.

If you was compotent enough to build / install / map the whole system yourself, then you could have a complete system installed for Ł200 or less. Obviously prices are going to increase when you are going to pay someone to install it / map it for you. The more you can do yourself, the cheaper it will be.

marky_g

oh not bad then