megasquirt ecu ... good or bad?

[h8wrxs]

looking at a megasquirt ecu on trademe for my evo 2

dont know alot about them but ive heard of them before

does anyone know what theyre like? theyre substantially cheaper than a link or microtech etc

any knowledge would be appreciated

[wde_bdy]

Be wary of the Trade Me ones, most are very old spec. Do a price comparison to http://www.diyautotune.com/ , I would recommends at least and MS-II and if you are buying pre-built then get the V3.57 surface mount board. Tuning is your biggest issue, a lot of workshops either won't touch them or have no experience so take time to get familiar with them at your cost.

Callum

[h8wrxs]

but tuned properly they're still a good ecu?

ill do some research tomorrow and see if anyone around christchurch is willing to tune them/ knows how to tune them


could you also shed any light on the Greddy E-Manage and HKS F-con's?
i know they arent stand alone ecu's but are they a good alternative?


my cars just running bigger turbo, intake, and better exhaust but im about to fit a set of lumpy cams/new valves/ springs/ gears etc etc so im definitely going to need to upgrade the computer to something...

cant justify spending $3k on a link or something similar

[wde_bdy]

Very much a good ECU if spec'd right. It is really a DIY sort of ECU, you should be able to google up a reasonable base map though to get you started and then get it tweaked.

Callum

[h8wrxs]

cheers, i might look a bit more into it

[Elmendorf]

I bought one in from the US for my starlet, swear buy it works very well and does everything a Link can do for a fraction of the price. My reasoning was similar to yours, couldn't justify spending several K on an ecu for a car that I would never get the money back from.

[BlakeNZ]

i know nothing about them , but my tuner told me he is not impressed with them.
If you want a plug and play solution, consider my Haltech E11 v2, for under a grand. You'll find specs on the net. It was Haltech's top computer till about two years ago.

[Lurkin]

depends how much mucking about building it/ how much time you would prefer to spend building it.

I've read quite a bit, trying to make a similar decision. Link seems to be the better option in NZ if you want it to appeal to tuners/ want it to work out of the box.

However, Megasquirt does seem to be the option for those willing to learn/ have a bit of knowledge etc. just a more time extensive choice. I note I found cheaper examples on ebay.com.au... tardme is exactly that.

From memory, iOnic may be the person to ask...

[QikStarlie]

ive done a few. but gone back to link now. wire in and it just works no drama. ms is ok if you dont mind messing around. triggers can be a pain in the ass. but shouldn't have as much hassle with evo stuff since it runs hall not vr. if you get lucky and it all works sweet, all good. but it can be a pain to remedy issues if not. getting a straight plan english answer out of the online manuals, sometimes doesn't happen. tuning software is ok once you figure it out, the way some of it is labeled can be annoying alot of it is abbreviated, eg: rather than saying "warm up enrichment" all you get is "wue" which is probably half the reason tuners dont like it.

if using a standard ms, the loom plugs are horrible imo, old stye printer db plugs

also as others said, there is a big difference between ms1 ms2 and ms3
ms1 is like g1 link tech. ms3 is more like g3/4 stuff (on paper) ms2 is somewhere in the middle.
im not sure about prices now, but by the time i brought all the ms3 stuff and looms it ended up being over 1k and had to assemble main board on top of that.

[iamawesome]

I was looking at these a few weeks ago, goy quoted 750 with a base map for a 1jz and he had a tune on file for one making 300 kw too, seemed like a better option than a link at that price

[strx7]

cant justify spending $3k on a link or something similar

when it comes to ecu's you get EXACTLY what you pay for. pay alot expect alot, pay 5/8ths, expect f*** all.

[Mr Ree]

I can give you some insight on the emanage ultimate, but Im not sure if you were wanting into on that or the Blue?

Will you need to alter ignition timing or just fuel?

I have found the ultimate a great compromise, rather than going full stand alone. It has pretty much all of the features of a full standalone but the benefits of a piggy back too.

The data logging feature is awesome, and was a godsend during initial set up and road tuning. It has many other neat features like rev and speed limit removal, launch control, and spare sub inj maps to utilise for boost control etc

There are some very well priced ones on TM at the moment, so have a look

[tsoob]

link.

[wde_bdy]

cant justify spending $3k on a link or something similar

when it comes to ecu's you get EXACTLY what you pay for. pay alot expect alot, pay 5/8ths, expect f*** all.

Depends what you want to achieve with it though. All out race car, yes spend the $$$ to get the results. Budgets scale back from there and you also have other factors, I went a pre-assembled MS-II for my 4K-E (now 7K-E) because I wanted to learn how to tune it and do it for myself. Basically a practice run for injecting my V8, get to play around at a low cost and getting an understanding of how an ECU actually works. Waste of time putting a $3K ECU into a little s Starlet anyway.

Callum

[Mr Revhead]

I've looked at them a couple of times, is say they are as good as you are. Or as good as you can learn to be.
If you are like wdebdy and have a bit of a clue and want to learn more its a good idea.
If you just want it to work with minimal fuss or effort then you should talk to nzefi in chch about a link.

[whynot]

I have played with both the mega squirt and link ecus now and for ease of setup and wiring I would say the link is slightly better as it is a package where the ms is more a kit set and a bit more diy knowledge is required. Tuning wise I had no issues with either. the larger map size on the link is nice but you can work around it on the ms and both will run a 4age fine from what I have seen

[strx7]

Depends what you want to achieve with it though. All out race car, yes spend the $$$ to get the results.

Callum

actually its the other way around. if it is PURELY a road car, you need factory like driveability, and cheap ecu's wont provide that. A race car doesn't need around town 50kph drivabiltiy, for a race car, a locked dizzy and a suckthru carby will provide A result, but isn't ideal. Trying to street that kinda set up is another story all together........

[fevil]

If you want to think outside the square MegaSquirt will do it a hell of a lot cheaper than the others units but knowledge has to be gained.
20v BT PNP Microsquirt V2.2.
As far as tuning goes the recommend software will do most of that for you if a wide band sensor is fitted.

[dnalunchie]

I had a "non common" wolf 3d ecu in a levin once, took it to 2 different tuners and they couldnt sort it properly. Finally brought a G3 link and after 3 hours on the dyno had a perfectly tuned factory feeling car.

Could buy one of the smaller atom links they are only 1.5k.

Still very good to use apparently

[strx7]

I had a "non common" wolf 3d ecu in a levin once, took it to 2 different tuners and they couldnt sort it properly. Finally brought a G3 link and after 3 hours on the dyno had a perfectly tuned factory feeling car.

yip you will get a better result from a poor ecu with a tuner that knows them inside out and back to front, than a good ecu with a tuner that doesn't know their way around them.