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Which Ecu?

sly033

By sly033,
in Australian Capital Territory

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a20089 Veteran

a20089

Posted
Posted
I am wondering what ECU people recommend for an R33 Series II Skyline?

I have seen the Apexi Power FC and Motech's as replacement computers, and I have also read about the piggy back units - which is better?

I'm no expert but from reading these forums the power FC is in limited supply, Motech are not the best, piggy back units only do half the job. I was considering Haltech or Aultronic (spelling) when I purchased the Power FC.

What does your tuner say? He will likely be the one using it. What modifications have you done or will you do?

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W1ngnut Proficient

W1ngnut

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As with most ECU upgrades, it is generally better to ask what your tuner is most familiar with.

I used a PowerFC on the Subaru and it worked very well without missing a beat. As a20089 asked, what modifications do you have? It also depends on your budget and what you are looking to get out of it. I personally would pick a standalone ECU over a Piggyback unit, however, i've never used a piggyback unit.

Haltech make awesome ECU's but I am not sure on what tuners in Canberra work with these.

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sly033 Explorer

sly033

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I'm no expert but from reading these forums the power FC is in limited supply, Motech are not the best, piggy back units only do half the job. I was considering Haltech or Aultronic (spelling) when I purchased the Power FC.

What does your tuner say? He will likely be the one using it. What modifications have you done or will you do?

I have just started taking it to Autotech so I'm not sure what what they recommend - maybe I should call and ask them! :ermm:

Th car has FMIC, high flow air filter, 3" exhaust with high flow cat, manual (under bonnet) turbosmart boost controller, high flow fuel pump...

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R32_Matt Rising Star

R32_Matt

Posted
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autotech are also haltech dealers if i remember correctly.

trojan had no trouble tuning my haltech and dave at gas tune knows them very well too

they can all tune power fc's too, but may not have the support if it has problems in the future ie: need to get fixed or car wont work

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Bullet32 Veteran

Bullet32

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Power FC is probably the best plug and play replacement computer for Skylines / Silvias etc.

Most tuners around will have the FC tune program aswell.

I use the PFC for my RB25DET and its been perfect... Never had an issue.

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sly033 Explorer

sly033

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That was only because I turned the boost up without having it re-tuned - it screwed with the mixtures.

My bad :rolleyes:

Does the Power FC hand contoller also act as an electronic Boost Controller? Or should I invest in a Power AFC(?) for that?

What sort of cost should I be looking at for a Power FC to suit a R33 skyline, I have seen them with controller for $1540 on ebay..

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Bullet32 Veteran

Bullet32

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For boost control through the PFC you need to buy the add on boost solenoid kit, which will set you back about $500 - $600 on top of the cost of the FC itself, which should cost around $1,000 from Nengun.com

Be careful which FC you get though because I think (and I could be wrong) there are 2 different types for RB25DET, one is for non VCT (early models) and the other for VCT (later models).

Make sure you shop around, there might be someone on these forums that will sell one fairly cheap.

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GeeTR Grand Master

GeeTR

Posted
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You still haven't mentioned mods, or future mods so....

Stick with a PFC or signal bending piggy back unless you know your going to want double the rwkw's down the road; then you could possibly convince yourself to spend the $2400 for plug-in Haltech E11 & $500 tune or Autronic SM4 (even more $$)

Motech are not the best

They're up there :rofl:

Before you spend $350min on the Apexi Boost Control kit, consider checking the costs of other full fledged, multi featured EBC's

With a handful of breathing mods, you still cant go past a PFC for cost and ease of use. Yes, there are 1000hp/9sec crazy cars running PFC's, but at that level, it would be easier to justify spending the $3k on Auttronic/Motec/Haltch etc etc.

PS: Your going to find a lot more information in the Forced Induction Performance area, then the small local CBR section

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Scooby Veteran

Scooby

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PFC is probably best bang for the buck / easiest in many ways. Anything else that is good is at least twice the price plus installation. Ed at Autotech tunes PFCs and has the good software to do it with. Plus he's a safe tuner.

Only other close option is Nistune, where they remap your stock ecu and the tuning software is very similar to a PFC. Not sure if they do R33 GTSt, google the PLMS site and it should tell you. AFAIK it's the only proper ecu remap system about, and costs $500 to install a new flashable board in your ecu and supply laptop programming software.

Cheers

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widebody32 Community Regular

widebody32

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Pete at autotec is a Autronic dealer and as for price on them they are only between $2000 and 2400 retail for a SM4 which is arguably the best computer on the market ,if it was a toss up between this and a haltech then go for the Autronic as it is so much more advanced than the Haltech and costs are the same.

On top of this you will need to have it wired in for both the Autronic and haltech with a cost of about $1000 unless you can wire it yourself like a friend and i did on my car.

If you can get a power fc then they are also very good for most applications but they are not being made any more for the gtst so you may have trouble.

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race_snooze Grand Master

race_snooze

Posted
Posted (edited)

like has been said... mods please future and present this will tell what you really need!!!! if you only want small mods then a safcII is your best bet and bang for buck. Or even a re map. I have seen good things done with unichip these days too. If your chasing big big HP then autronic is your go. Another option is to wire in a 32 ECU and get Ceffiy to remap it for you.

For general HP gains with injectors, turbo, fuel pump, IC, then go a PowerFC or microtech I know a lot of people dont like them with skylines but if tuned right they are fine even a LINK ecu from New Zealand are a good thing and they are plug in too...

Oh the Microtech are plug in as well these days

Edited by race_snooze
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widebody32 Community Regular

widebody32

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Although plenty of people use the SAFC with ok results, i would not suggest this as they only modify your existing air flow signal and are really only a band aid same goes for unichip, also it will cost you about $500 for either one. If you are after fuel economy and drive it every day then the microtech is not the computer for you, these are a great ecu for drags but are very poor at controlling cruise mixtures with limited plots available(just look at any microtech car and you will see black bumpers on most).A microtech will set you back $1100 to 1300 for an ltx 10 or 12 so for 900 to 1000 the power fc is the better option.

As stated if you are only doing minor mods then go the power fc and if you are planning good mods or just want something that runs flawlessly then go for a haltech or autronic or even link.

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