Link Ecu's ??

[rowan]

Hey anyone here dealt with the standard link ecu's?

Quite good pricing etc, want to use it with a pretty standard blacktop going into a rwd ae85/6 corolla.

Is it worth the shift to link plus or will the link be sufficient?

also anyone here got one for sale? Or can anyone get good deals on them?

cheers

Rowan

[YeMs]

for road or track use? for road use i would go for a link plus because they can b tuned for smoother driving etc

[Bazda]

I hear microtech and wolf 3D are better than a link...

[crnkin]

explain baz, im looking into them atm, what are the new prices like on the wolf or microtech, everyone i know seems to rave over link? exspecially for stock app

[matt dunn]

Hey anyone here dealt with the standard link ecu's?

Quite good pricing etc, want to use it with a pretty standard blacktop going into a rwd ae85/6 corolla.

Is it worth the shift to link plus or will the link be sufficient?

also anyone here got one for sale? Or can anyone get good deals on them?

cheers

Rowan

Yes I run the base model Link in my silvertop Turbo Dx.
It's a race car not a road car.

The LEM's are very well priced now at below $1k.
They will run it fine and do all oyu want.
They need to be setup and tuned properly if you want decent driveability at cruise speeds but they will do it.

A link plus is better but not really necessary unless you are really fussy about driveability or want the extra features that mainly only help turbo cars ie Launch control, a/c stuff, antilag etc etc.

I may have a second hand one for sale later in the year.
I can probably also supply it with a complete loom.

Matt

[rowan]

hmm could be keen keep me in contact, not really bothering with the turbo route but am interested in something good. I have heard it is a few months till the link3 is out, could this be an option?

I would like to try some racing, but primarily it will be an everyday car.

[RedMist]

Rowan, its simply a matter of evaluating your needs and deciding on an ECU that has the features that suit.

Firstly you do realize that you will probably loose HP and drivability on a standard car by going aftermarket?


The Link is a good ECU. Its been very reliable for me in offroad racing. However there are some short comings.
1. The stepper motor control does not work on the toyota idle up. (so cold start will be a pain in the arse). You may find the plus drives this correctly. Investigate it, as it makes a much nicer running car.
2. AC Idle up, same as above, is included in plus.
3. Decel fuel cut, probably not necessary in road conditions, but for full race I need it, but am still running the standard link. Link Plus does not have this feature either.
4. Sequential is only available on plus. If you are forced to run large injectors this may be the way you want to go.

Other than that the units are very good. Easily tuned, and well supported. I looked at both Microtec and Wolf and decided their features were on a par with the standard link and wouldnt offer me any benefit.

As for the plus being better than the LEM for fuel and ignition delivery, it possibly used to be, but they now run the same map sizes and probably run the same fuel / ignition calcs. Other than sequential, which I think in 90% of cases gives no improvement over batch, there is little difference in fuel delivery.

[rowan]

hmmm few good things to think about, the one issue i have is, the engine will be pretty standard at first, but i want to keep my options open for upgrades along the way.

[wanado13's]

I've heard that a downside to links is that settings cannot be stored. i.e if you want to go to the drag strip you would have to set it to that but then you can't just hit a button to go to a stored setting for everyday driving. Can anyone confirm that?

[AE85coupe]

as a side note, mega squirt may be worth a look, very cheap, just alot more work for yourself involved

http://www.megasquirt.info/

[atmosports]

As for what's better out of a wolf,microtech or Link it would come down to the tuner/application involved. Having fitted all 3 of these to toyota's I'd say stay away from the wolf as the only way I've had them work properly on a toyota 20V or 4EFTE is to modify the distributor pickups to get the firing correct. I've yet to have to do this with either a Link/Microtech. Microtech if you get a good tuner(Bob @ Hi Tech Motorsport in Pukekohe knows his shit here) will be quicker to tune, probably quicker to install & will give slightly better results than an LEM V5(well on a glanza it did). Downside with a microtech is it costs more than a Link & microtech can be slow at times supplying but it'd take probably a week to get one. Link has no shortage of tuners out there, though good ones are few & far between. Stay clear of the cowboys installing/selling Links & you should be fine. Link have good technical backup can supply overnight if they have in stock usually & any hassle it's only a phone call/email or worst case a loss of a day or two sending the ecu back to them. If I was doing this I'd go Link LEM V5/Link Plus or else if we had a Haltech in stock I'd go that way.

As for not being able to store you settings on a Link, if you've got a comlink/pc or laptop & the rquired cables you can store your settings to disk & then if you want to change a map to suit the track swap them over & swap them back at the end of the day. They did try to run 2 maps in their ecu's with a switch to change them but I've yet to see one work 100% we usually eneded up with 1/2 one map & 1/2 the other over time. You can do it with wolf but you need to change the memory unit on the ecu to do it from memory. Microtech you can do it with a hand controller or laptop dongle but everyone who has tried has $&#$% it up & had to do a retune.

[matt dunn]

As for not being able to store you settings on a Link, if you've got a comlink/pc or laptop & the rquired cables you can store your settings to disk & then if you want to change a map to suit the track swap them over & swap them back at the end of the day.

Yes it quite easy.
To swap maps on a PC compatable link or linkplus takes about 2 minutes at the most
and I have never had one not load correctly yet.

Matt

[atmosports]

Sorry if the post above isn't all that clear. The only links I've ever had any problems with have been development ones or else we have been the first to install them & been the guinea pig, they have however all worked in the end. I haven't had any problems with the Link software since the very early Linkplus, there have been a few bugs here & there but nothing of any major importance.

I was referring mainly to people trying to store & change microtech maps & $&#$% it up, it's a common occurence, probably once a month. We also get the odd person with a FC-Datalogit who somehow manages to cock up changing over maps in that which is as simple as to do properly.

[suberimakuri]

early link software was arse.
late link plus software seems ok, loads maps ok!.

megasquirt software kicks ass over any link stuff, and includes datalogging anything. But probably too much work for most.

sequential not required, i can idle 4age at perfect afr on 550cc injectors with 2 bank alternating on MS or link plus.

that's my experience so far.

[rowan]

looks like i should be able to get a good price on the ecus when i want want, does anyone have any specs on the g3 links?

[RedMist]

I don't strictly agree with you Karl. I've used the Link software since 2000 and had little problems with it. I pulled up two bugs that were quickly corrected by Link. The new version release isn't as "bling" but appears to do all that the old PC Link was capable of doing. There is a minor fault when bringing up old maps stored in the previous version of PC Link, in the fact that it "0's" fuel 00.

All versions of PC Link datalog, although possibly not as many debug colums as the MS. The Link plus allows selective column datalogging and threshold logging, which I must admit I like.

I do like the MS for things like the ability to add a column at a specific RPM, the continual development, the ability to cheaply expand. However I can't stand it's connectors, the fact that it appears to be difficult to configure for factory sensors (where as I just wired up the Link, and started it) , or the fact that the UMS was promiced January.... two years ago.

[suberimakuri]

you have a lot more experience than me with link software, so I'm not going to say any more

As for MS.
I think the DB connecter is great, easy to pull on/off, never comes loose (you can screw it in), can't break clips, tidy to wire.... etc....

as for UMS, bit of a non-issue, work done with MSnS extra allows you to run factory dizzy and ignitor (as I'm doing).
MS-II supports factory distributor.

As said before, MS is too much work for most. It's an opensource project.


A link would probably be good choice for Rowan.