s-afc in a BJ

[02-KQ-LASR]

what would the difference be between that model and a Microtech LT8S ?
chicaboo offered me his one, and it seems to do the same thing??

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by 02-KQ-LASR

what would the difference be between that model and a Microtech LT8S ?
chicaboo offered me his one, and it seems to do the same thing??

10S has more inputs and outputs.

8S has 1 input, 1 output, 10S has 2 inputs, 3 outputs....

Aside from that there isn't much difference, save for warrenty and the fact that the 10S is still actively supported by microtech - 8S doesn't get much love from them anymore.

if you get a second hand 8S then decide you want some of the "extras" added, you are up for additional cost for the modification to the ECU - where as you can get those extras for the cost of the extras and no more if you buy the 10S new.

Will all come down to what you want to use it for....

[02-KQ-LASR]

so if i just wana get it tuned to run better, and have more power, better fuel economy etc,
this would do the job?
could the 8s run a turbo setup later on?
or would it only be good for an NA?

[Orion]

If you choose to go turbo in the future it wouldnt matter whether you had the 10s or the 8S. Either one would need to be reconfigured (I would assume at the same or similar cost) to cope with the changes.

[twilightprotege]

also, chicaboo's lt8s wont work with your car. it's designed for the 1.8 and 2L engines, you have the 1.6 which has a different setup, so you'd be up for the cost of sending the unit back to microtech to have it reflashed for your setup.

and to clarrify orion's post, not reconfigured for FI, just retuned.

[Orion]

Originally Posted by twilightprotege

also, chicaboo's lt8s wont work with your car. it's designed for the 1.8 and 2L engines, you have the 1.6 which has a different setup, so you'd be up for the cost of sending the unit back to microtech to have it reflashed for your setup.

and to clarify orion's post, not reconfigured for FI, just retuned.

Ahh, true.

Yeah, I kinda though the base map sensor might be enough for low boost applications.

[twilightprotege]

sure is...up to 20psi

[02-KQ-LASR]

Originally Posted by twilightprotege

also, chicaboo's lt8s wont work with your car. it's designed for the 1.8 and 2L engines, you have the 1.6 which has a different setup, so you'd be up for the cost of sending the unit back to microtech to have it reflashed for your setup.

and to clarrify orion's post, not reconfigured for FI, just retuned.

so my only option is th lt10s?

[marcs_sp20]

You could use gav's LT8s, but it would have to be sent back to microtech to be remapped for a 1.6L application...

[02-KQ-LASR]

prob not worth the hassle..

[marcs_sp20]

Depends on how much Gav wants for it and how much it would cost to get re-mapped by MT...

Twiggy, regarding Gav's LT8S, would that still be a plug n play unit for an sp20 even if his was for the 1.8L? How much do you and wormy charge to install these things?

[Rupewrecht]

Originally Posted by 02-KQ-LASR

prob not worth the hassle..

Don't forget there's plenty of other brands out there that are just as good/arguably better.

Who's going to do the work for you? Clearly it's not going to be Twiggy when you're in SA. Find out what they like to tune with/recommend, rather than just giving them something they may not like to tune on. The guy tuning it (and his ability) is more important than the ECU.

[02-KQ-LASR]

im currently looking into getting martin donnan to do it for me. or if not ill prob get it done at willall racing.(same place martin works)
but im still unsure...

[twilightprotege]

Originally Posted by 02-KQ-LASR

so my only option is th lt10s?

Originally Posted by marcs_sp20

Depends on how much Gav wants for it and how much it would cost to get re-mapped by MT...

Twiggy, regarding Gav's LT8S, would that still be a plug n play unit for an sp20 even if his was for the 1.8L? How much do you and wormy charge to install these things?

it's $350 i think to get an unit remapped, plus post there and back, so i wouldnt pay much for a unit that's not designed for your engine. that said, the lt8s new was about $900 i think, and it is used and quite a few years old, so in reality it shouldnt be sold for any more than half that if it's designed for your engine.

marcs, yep, can be used on the 2L no problemo. email us to discuss requirements about the install.

[02-KQ-LASR]

Originally Posted by Rupewrecht

Don't forget there's plenty of other brands out there that are just as good/arguably better.

Who's going to do the work for you? Clearly it's not going to be Twiggy when you're in SA. Find out what they like to tune with/recommend, rather than just giving them something they may not like to tune on. The guy tuning it (and his ability) is more important than the ECU.

what other choices are there?
what kinda prices would they be?

[RedLineResident]

guys im way off topic, but my questions is quick and simple.

i have a stock ECU and ive noticed my timing is out, (not too advanced, but the oposite - sorry my terminology is rusty) and air/fuel mixture is rich as.

can the stock ECU be tuned at all to aid this?

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by 02-KQ-LASR

what other choices are there?
what kinda prices would they be?

I don't sell them so i don't know if these are the "best" prices out there
but most manufacturers have comparable units.

You are best off doing some research into exactly what is going to do the job for you. Look at the feature sets of the microtech units, Haltech, EMS, Wolf, MoTec, Autronic, Megasquirt (which is a nifty little DIY project), then find a tuner who is experienced in dealing with that particular ECU.

Most tuners will have favorite engine management systems. Its no secret that we chose to use and recommend Microtech's - we use them in our daily driven cars, we race on them and we've never had any problems with them. But I'll be the first to admit that microtech isn't the "be all and end all" - if you find you need features others offer, and you can justify the expense, then by all means go for it.

As Rupe said, the tuner matters most - so find the piece of equipment that works best for your application, then go hunting for a tuner who has a reputation for tuning and installing that specific unit. This will be VERY important for you because your engine is probably not the most common thing that has an ECU installation done on it - so you'll need someone who has experience with nutting out problems that are likely to occur with "first time" installations.

Most tuners can tune just about anything you throw at them, but familiarity with a particular type of software, and understanding of an ECU's particular little quirks is something they will only have with a handful of brands at best. Its understanding those little quirks that will allow the tuner to get the absolute most out of a particular ECU.

I'm more than happy to discuss options with you - whether that be through us or through another dealer.

[DavoAust]

i've heard that megasquirt are great units... if you can DIY and find someone to tune it.

MoTec are great, a cheap MoTec will leave a Microtech for dead, it has all the features but you have to pay for it. On the other hand there are good tuners as they are more common in expensive builds where people are willing to pay for top quality tuners.

microtech.. i've heard a lot of opinions good and bad. more good than bad but i know that microtech unit struggle to do certain things (hence the use of the original ECU is almost every install i've seen). i've never seen a microtech install that could do EVERYTHING for a street car stand alone.

haltech is more uncommon, wolf even more so, although all the opinions i've heard on wolf have been good (apart from finding tuners!)

[LordWorm]

Originally Posted by DavoAust

i've heard that megasquirt are great units... if you can DIY and find someone to tune it.

MoTec are great, a cheap MoTec will leave a Microtech for dead, it has all the features but you have to pay for it. On the other hand there are good tuners as they are more common in expensive builds where people are willing to pay for top quality tuners.

a cheap MoTec will also still cost much more than a microtech well. And some of the "cheap" MoTec's have some critical features locked out - reasons you'd buy one in the first place. MoTec are undoubtedly the best in the business, but they are also very expensive, and from what i've heard/seen, rather difficult to tune and install.

microtech.. i've heard a lot of opinions good and bad. more good than bad but i know that microtech unit struggle to do certain things (hence the use of the original ECU is almost every install i've seen). i've never seen a microtech install that could do EVERYTHING for a street car stand alone.

very few engine management systems will happily control EVERYTHING in a *modern* street car. Digital instrument clusters (most are, even if they "fake" analogue through the use of needle gauges, they usually operate using pulse width modulation generated by an integrated circuit), as well as many other features, some as simple as idle control, are almost always left in control of the stock computer regardless of what unit you chose to use. Performance ECU's exist to control (essentially) 2 things and 2 things only - spark and fuel. The microtech has no problems controlling "everything" that needs controlling in a car with a less integrated engine management system. BG astina's for example have no problem running with the microtech replacing the stock computer wholesale.

Microtech gets a bad wrap, thanks largely to its rather limited programming software and rather peculiar way of tuning temperature corrections and so forth. In the hands of the right tuner, the end result from a fuel and spark point of view is going to be essentially the same as any other ecu. Sure additional tuning resolution, user definable load points, additional inputs and outputs etc are all fine and dandy, but you're still going to need the stock computer driving some things - and there are some other things that the stock ecu is going to be far better at controlling ANYWAY.

Some of the microtech "problems" i've heard of are things such as it "shifting" the tune - people tune for a nice AFR, drive the car hard and the AFR's are out of whack...but then a quick check of their tune and you see that they left the temp corrections pegged at 0% for all temperatures.....whoops....

haltech is more uncommon, wolf even more so, although all the opinions i've heard on wolf have been good (apart from finding tuners!)

Haltech is reasonably common - perhaps not as much as some others, but they have made significant inroads in the import scene and provide a nice feature set. Wolf i have absolutely no direct experience with so i can't comment.


Basically any ecu will tune for roughly (with a fraction of a percent) the same power out of a given engine. All you buy are nice to haves when you spend more money. You buy better tuning software, you buy more features that allow you to live with your investment better - but you also buy more tuning complexity which in turn costs you more every time you tune it. A microtech can be solidly tuned on a dyno in an hour, from scratch.....a couple of hours on the road if theres no dyno around. Less time in the hands of the tuner is more money in your pocket at the end of the day.

[02-KQ-LASR]

what would be the next step after a new ecu then? s there anything i could buy at the same time/ get installed to make it cheaper in the long run?