Computers.... What To Chose These Days?

[sydney.jj]

people, try to grab some lessons here rather than hunting Google with huge amount of infor that un-organised. nowadays, got too many computers on the market, Apexi...Haltech..Motec...microtech..EMS...etc. are the Apexi getting old or Haltech too new? Maybe too expensive for Motec ? so what is suit for us and why?

Running a 33 GTR with build motor, going to find a computer that is reliable and practical. so, based on ur own experience, please share ur idea here and we all can learn, thanks.

[zebra]

Ask who ever will be tuning your car. No point gettting an M880 + CDI etc if your tuner cant use it.

A Computer is only ever as good as the guy imputting the numbers

[Willis]

If i went all out i think i would get a powerFC

[Pezhead]

Good advice from Zebra there. First and foremost of you get a great computer but the tuner doesn't do a good job then makes no difference how much you spent on it or what features it has.

Also consider the support. Several are local but what's the support like, consider the same with those made overseas.

Lot of opinions but most dedicated good ones will do the job.

[MBS206]

I use and love the Adaptronic ecus. Locally made, with awesome support.

Once setup any tuner can tune it. For skylines it's a matter of picking it in a drop down and its basically setup.

[zebra]

Matty - Check facebook re: your e420

[sydney.jj]

great answers , thanks people. but be honestly been to couple of workshops and getting various of feedbacks.... i’d say choosing the right and honest people is the way to go.

hard to make bucks but way too easy to spend. eh...

[Galois]

Find a tuner recommended on here, mrc and unigroup tend to get good reps from what ive read, just have a quick search. Then give them all a call. If the most recommended tuners all suggest the ecu then you're set, if not read about them and go with their choice.

[vcool]

Heard la lot from CRD, they are promoting the haltech I think, but Haven't used one before, so can't really say anything. But apexi has been in the market for decades, so lot of tuners handles them pretty well.

[scathing]

The PowerFC has been around for ages, so yes tuners know them pretty well but by the same token their features are pretty sparse compared to modern ECUs. My personal opinion is that they're fine for cars with just bolt-ons (or maybe a small snail upgrade) but that's it. If you've gone to all the expense of putting fancy aftermarket internals into an engine, then a more modern ECU is the way to go.

As for what computer to choose, I'm with the advice above. Find some tuners you trust, and see what they like tuning on. Ask them what specific features of that ECU make it their preference (and do your own research), and then decide what features you want vs the service of the tuner. The best ECU in the world still needs a tuner, but some tuners might choose ECUs that don't have all the features you want because most of their customers don't ask for it.

For example I want to run multiple maps I can switch between on the fly, which is something a PowerFC isn't going to offer. Some people might want a certain number of "extra" inputs or outputs, or telemetry, etc.

[Blankx]

motec !!! love them ever since, but price tag would have scared lot of people to start with. m48, m600,m800… good tuners can cook them with the best source tasty !! did went with power fc but since time goes by, their functionality has just limited with the up coming age.

for sure, go with the experienced tuner who familar with their choice, then the way u go.

[SECURITY]

Ask who ever will be tuning your car. No point gettting an M880 + CDI etc if your tuner cant use it.

A Computer is only ever as good as the guy imputting the numbers

^^ this guy knows.

you need to ring up whoever is going to tune your car and find out which ECU they prefer. you also need to tell them your target HP as well as the intended use of the car.

that said, i havent gone to a tuner who didnt like the vi-pec ecu. there is lots and lots of online support for them and R&D is always continuing. its great for beginners as the help file is VERY informative, the software is free and is continually being updated as the developers find better ways to run the ECU.