jpfour

Hi, I'm building a mark 6 fiesta ST turbo and seem to have come to a stumbling block on which standalone ECU to choose? i am aware there are many different options and each is only as good as the tuner. setup etc.
I'm not looking to spend the earth and may even buy something second hand
I was wondering what experiences people have had with different ecu's and software etc

features i would like are:

4 cylinder sequential injection

Map based load sites and large tables (200 sites upwards)

ability to calibrate sensors
(although i would consider a DTA P8 which hasn't got that)

wideband lambder input

Idle air control

boost control

inlet air temp correction

there seem to be a lot of manufactures but i was thinking of middle of the road price wise ecus (cant afford a motec lol) not sure if im keen on go tech,
and was considering an emerald k3 but heard mixed reviews about them?

Omex 710 seems a little over priced for its features and the 600 is only batch fired .

DTA pro series looks good S60 i think or a P8?

MBE seem to have some good options but are they locked? and which is good for my application

Adaptronic looks good to but can't find much out about it

or a vipex/haltec from the usa?

i have access to a SECS S8 aswell (would be very very cheap) but don't seem to be able to find much info on it table sizes features etc and i believe it requires an external coil pack driver

any help would be very much appreciated as it seems a bit of a minefield
thanks -James-

tabetha

My choice would be K3, without a doubt, and what I run, with perfect success.
The emerald does batched, semi or fully sequential, will do grouped injector banks, or 8 injectors on 4 cylinder phased in.
Sensors are calibratable, resolution is down to 1% on load speed sites.
Eg my(2wd sapphy) tps buggered on dyno, put on universal one, few presses of pedal and compy keys start to finish fitting get going 30 mins, and cost me £25 for a universal.
The boost control in particular I really like, as it uses TPS pos as well as boost level for control, so is instant at losing boost.
Mine runs like a dream, and will happily do 40mpg+, I also have the fan control on mine, it can control air con fans as well, mine comes on at 95C and off at 92C, sits in traffic all day perfect.
I like the fact it is designed in house, was built in house but they can't keep up with demand, so built at a pukka electronics place, where quality counts, and they are mapped in house, or by agents.
They have been modified to run things like audi 5 cylinder, twin cylinder, a 27 litre rolls royce merlin engined rover sd1, with 24 injectors and two jag dizzies.
Runs coilpack or individual or std coil and points whatever, has masses of trigger patterns that it takes, uses all oe sensors, or aftermarket, can use it to dial in innacurate tacho's via tacho feed adjustment.
It has three maps, mapping costs £280 for all three not each.
Just have a look on the site, they are used extensively on lots of different cars 205/jags v12/lotus the list is endless.
Has been used on lots of different class leading cars too.
Dave has cars trailered over from different countries just for mapping, and if he though you would be better off with a different make ecu he would tell you so, he is that honest and blunt, and has more than enough work.
tabetha

jpfour

Thanks tabetha, i will move the emerald back into serious contention then, the software for it looks pretty good to.

Mark Shead

Both Vipec and Haltec have UK distrubtors and UK stock.

Mark

jpfour

thats good to know, how do pepole rate these?

Mark Shead

Dont know about the Haltec but the Vipec is very good.

Mark

Chip

iTrader: (3)

They work ok for a budget ECU, I find it hard to get enthused about them after mapping on things like autronic SM4 and SMC etc, but if he only wants to spend that sort of money they are a good honest ECU for the money.

Really not a fan of the mapping software on them though, I keep looking at my watch to see if its 1987 again when im using it as it feels like ive stepped back in time

jpfour

Thanks for the info guys, i'm learning lots, mark you have pm i don't mind spending middle of the road money but i can't afford 2.5k's worth of motec. i guess if i was going to use the k3 i would be almost as well using the SECS S8?

jpfour

bump any more to add anyone all input is aprecited

zvhrst

i use K3 on my focus RS mate,
its does everything it says on the tin, simple to use, i have never had a software crash while mapping and for me proves VERY good, (imo of course)

i am runing 8 injectors and using sequential for normal runing but batch fire on secondery injecvtors,
you calibrate sensors which is very easy to do,

i have no idea what chip is on about with it feeling like ur mapping in 1987 coz fr me the only time i feel like that is when using DTA and most of the time when the software crashes and fucks you of!!!! :@

lol,

HAlltech is a good system too, very simple to use etc,

if money isnt an issue tho mate there is only one option..... MOTEC

zvhrst

also to add, i will also be using my K3 to run my ultima cosworth 3 door

as i cant drive both cars at once so wil just swap the ecu and flash the map for whatever i wanna drive lol

zvhrst

also to add again lol

you say ur building a fiesta ST turbo,
is this duratec or zetec?

and what is your actual budget regarding an ECU?

jpfour

Budget isn't fixed as such but i don't really want to spend over 1k.

Engine is a Duratec 2.0L (re-bored to 2.1 forged pistons steel rods all ARP hardware, saph cossie 60 trim T3 with 360 bearing and -31 actator)

only part of my spec not finalised is injectors and ecu lol

got a Duratec MTX75 with Focus rs internals sat on the bench to now

anyways back on topic....

i guess its narrowed down between

vipex, emerald, or a s/h autronic if one comes up

Chip

iTrader: (3)

zvhrst, agreed the DTA makes the emerald look modern in a lot of ways

Chip

iTrader: (3)

For what you are doing there, with a basic 300bhp or so engine, much as i hate to say it, emerald is probably a really good option and is right in your budget and at least it will be knew with a warranty etc.

jpfour

Yeah it is on my budget, a V44 vipec is as well and looking at the software features etc i'm kinda swaying that way mapping costs appear similar think either would be better than a go tech spoke to the guy who did my re-bore he reckoned the mbe ecu's were better than the emerald ones but I'm reasonably confident there isn't much between them.

guess the t3 gave away my target power lol should be plenty fun however,
my main thing is i want to keep it as 'factory' as possible this includes the reliabilty, idle preformance etc

thanks everyone who has contributed so far most constructive comments etc makes a change from some forums lol

-james-

zvhrst

mate ive got a miles better option for you if ur target is only 300bhp,
run an AFM and have it put on dreamscience, u will have miles more reliability this way,

only downside is u will need to source probably a focus RS ecu and loom if you can,


if stand aloneis your thing, then emerald onlycharge £250+vatfor full mapping including the 3 switchable ones,
and theydo mild ALS with a flat shift option, and are also fetching out FULL ALS and launch facilities very soon

jpfour

I'm not entirely sure but i don't think the focus RS ECU supports can bus for my ABS and Dash, I also like the idea of being able to play with the management myself I'm quite keen to learn about it really nice thought tho think there is an RS ecu for sale in the classified section here

capri-rs

if money is no object.why not pectel or liferacing

Chip

iTrader: (3)

Because he isnt aware of them probably, I certainly doubt its based on any technical superiority of MOTEC over LIFE

MOTEC is just more well known, it was in the fast and the furious IIRC

capri-rs

forgot about fast and the furious

jpfour

Lol I know quite a bit about Life racing and Pectel (well there prices anyway ) afraid it wasn't me who said money was no object.... I wish. still considering my options but the choice is narrowing all the time
anyone know a way of spoofing factory map sensors so the factory ecu belives its still running everything? (maybe that should be a seperate post)

thanks -James-

capri-rs

btw have seen a t6m for sale somewhere on the forum.around 1K

zvhrst

nope,
ive used motec and cant fault it,

ive used pectel T2000 but i find it had to in anyway understand why any "ROAD CAR" needs this tbh, but yes pectel is an awsome product,


ive used a few ecu's and looked at specs etc etc, and my option of choise was the emerald as for a fast road/track car it does everything i could need it to tbh,
if i was going motorsport only car then i would ov gone omex or halltech,

the motec/pectel/Sm4 systems imo are only needed for RACE cars

zvhrst

do you mean to make all the dash work etc on your car??

if so... you dont need to do that,
if u need a bit of advice then let me know n i can give u a ring and talk u thru it

zetaboostboy522bhp

pectel t2 ecu is £650 and a custom wiring harness is gonna be around £450 , then you ve got the mapping at around the £200/300 mark and i would personally choose ahmed bajoo . pectel is a great product with many high powered cars 650+bhp cossie from norway running the t2. speak to ian howell at tech@fiestafrenzy.co.uk as he is still selling of the shelf parts and also i am sure hes the only one to run this set up as we had to resolve the flybywire throttle and coil and some other parts as the owner wanted to keep the orginal dash etc. we made a custom wrc style overbriaded wiring harness which simple just clipped in without cutting any of the orginal wiring out so it was like a bolt on kit
hope this helps mate
cheers paul

Raj_FRST

im building a 2.0 zvh and im going to use megaswuirt from m-tecch, comes with a good warranty and tech support. Only costs £440 with loom and if you want them to map it then its £45 per hour. Has all the features as the big boys, anti lag, launch control, boost control, auxiliary options etc. Does batch, semi and full sequential fuelling. I know a lot of people will probably shoot me down with this but every one I have spoke to who actually use it swear by it.

Hope this is of some help

jpfour

Personaly i think the megasquirt is an excelent ecu for the money however it falls short in an couple of areas for me (table sizes mainly even with the ms2 firmware ther still only 12x12) it isn't much of a jump to the k3 really and mapping would end up a similar cost to i think (however this pectel option is looking good if it works with my dash etc)

Mark Shead

What dash? if standard dash then its easy to make everything work.

Mark

zvhrst

drugs??
resoloution is crap,
12x12 mapping grid
it dos NOT do sequential injection,
and it cannot read wideband
and also does not do close loop