bspeed

I know, everybody hates Power FC. I want it because my car is daily driven and the power fc has the best stability (starts in bad weather, doesn't lose data) over all systems in it's price point.

That said, I am trying to research the difference between Datalogit and the Power Excel software.

Unfortunately, nobody across all the platforms this edu was made for has any answers. I know the Datalogit is a better option than the Power Commander software which is essentially the laptop version of the hand controller.

1. Has anyone used datalogit? To what success?
2. Have they also seen/used the power excel software? How do they compare?

Thank you.

bspeed

Nobody? Nothing?

Turbokraft

Evans Tuning is a Power F/C dealer/tuner and certainly one of the best tuners in the US. In the past Jeff has been very responsive to email questions. I have tuned several Nissans with Datalogit and it works well enough. I have no experience with Power Excel as no one but their dealers is allowed to use it.

DVDr

iTrader: (2)

Power excel software is much better than datalogit ( power excel has a few more options and is native to the ecu), but that being said.

I haven't seen any individual in about 10 years with the power excel software. ( only shops that tune/sell the power FC have licenses ) .

As for datalogit, it works very well. I have used it on a b16 , a few 13bs ( rx7 ) and sr20s .

Works well.

Great software, but many many better options for the price now a days. But if you already have it, purchase the datalogit and enjoy.

The hand controller is neat for viewing your sensors, and mini adjustments if needed.

bspeed

Thanks guys, I will contact Evans Tuning.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

Becareful.. the power excel software only works with the newer series Power FCs. When they changed over to the new processor a few years ago, the Datalogit could read but not change the files. The older files are in a .hdl format, while the newer ones are in an .hdx format.

Call Apex'i and give them the part number for your particular Power FC, then you'll know which one YOU can use if you want to make adjustments.. If evans is a dealer, he'll have the correct software to tune both the .hdl and .hdx formats.

And no, not everyone hates Power FC. I've been using it 10 years, and got the newer one for my other civic that we're converting to turbocharger.

bspeed

Shodan, your previous writings about PowerFC were some of the ones I used in making my decision to move forward with the Apexi product. Ultimately the reliability at price-point was the biggest sell for me over features and expansion. Especially since my application is for a daily driven, NA, pump-gas, HPDE car.

I will follow up with Apex on the software version re: .hdl vs .hdx

If I am reading you correctly, I am confined to Apex software exclusively on the new version (the handheld, commander and excel).

Thank you.

theYBLEGAL

Not to like, throw hate into this thread or anything, but just wondering what systems you are comparing to and what problems you know they have?

It was around -4F the other day, and my Demon 2/Neptune setup started my car fine and idled right between 14.7 and 15 the whole warm up. I'm a daily turbo b16. Northwest Indiana sees quite the range of temperatures...100F can be seen in summer.

Just wondering is all... actually never heard of Power FC before...

Sorry I'm thinking if it's soldered into the ECU properly, you won't have bad connections, and no loss in reliability. I think cold weather starts depends on the tuner. Cold weather tuning is a time consuming process, and most tuners won't do it.

But I've had no problems with reliability/cold weather/hot weather on either my Crome setup that I self tuned, or my new Neptune setup, also self tuned. Seems just as reliable as Crome in that it runs the engine every time, but more predictable in the department of settings changes.

Looks like Shodan got his system in 2004. That's quite a while ago too. I'd love to know what you know, what I don't. Always learning...

bspeed

The primary difference is the age of the board. The last (installed)obd1 ECU was made 1995. Apexi uses a brand new Honda(nissan,mazda...etc) ECU and modifies it. If you could buy a new Honda ECU they are $600 alone.

I am less worried about the solder work than I am about data being lost, which I have heard of happening more than once and from more sources than HT (crome,ectune,neptune). With that said, those cases are few and far between.

AK47GR

Power fc is very easy in handling and for me is in top5 ecu's...

bspeed

PFC's single biggest downfall is the exclusivity of tuners with full access. Not the tuner's fault, but Apex'i wants it that way. If the tuning software was more readily available I imagine they would be much much more popular and sold more units, hell they might not have declared bankruptcy back in the day! haha

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

But this is Honda, and the U.S. which has a serious demand for the "DIY-er. Which is why it was never popular with the Honda crowd. If you couldn't put a moates demon or emulator or rom burner and go to your local guy, or "shade tree" tuner, the American honda performance public wasn't interested, because anything else was considered "over budget" or "too expensive" to deal with. (The exception is AEM's "Plug-n-Play" which was similar to the Power FC concept.. the first versioning, however, in 2003 was anything but "plug-n-play")

For the other platforms that Power FC is still popular (mainly the RB25, RB26DETT, 4G63 Evolution, and especially the 13B REW twin rotary), people are still getting these units left and right. They just trust their tuner without hesitation to be able to work with the software. That usually means that those that tune Power FC for a Honda will also be the main tuner for these other platforms I just listed as well. This is one reason why I kept my power FC, because All I wanted to do was access the software and save the data to my archive in case something happened to the car itself. not to tune with. My tuner deals with all of the above platforms, and though is a bit of a drive, is well worth it.

The "bankruptcy" you described is just a restructuring of the organization. (like a Chapter 11, not like a Chapter 7 or 13) Only the entire conglomerate was restructuring, not specifically the performance arm. But in 2006-2007 All of the traditional Japanese tuning facilities were doing the same thing at the time (GReddy, HKS, Signal Auto, TEIN, etc), to even see if it made sense to continue in the North American market. But you still have to remember, that these are not traditional businesses like in the U.S.. Apex Integration actually subsidizes their performance branch to conglomerate companies that are industrialists.

For example. They manufacture diesel particulate filter systems that are used on Japan's public buses. They own a technology division that was one of the first to introduce security systems that are controlled by mobile phones, and have just been contracted for several conglomerates that introduce technology solutions to Home security applications.

So, Apex'i never just "sold parts". The racing they still do in GT300 series class JGTC and Formula Nippon class is still VERY much alive today.

I'll still keep my power FC for my other car. For the Time Attack DC2 I'm switching to Haltech Pro 1000. And, my tuner knows how to tune with it ..

Morning win.

bspeed

Shodan, I agree with your statement to a degree as I am in the DIY contingent.

dc2 specR

Hi i also got a power FC from a friend for a great price. Its for a b16B Type R and my engine is a b18c Type R.
I understand that you need to reset (initialize) the PFC to re learn the b18c engine. Is there any tuner/shop that sells a
tune for the PFC? For example first il let him know my engine set up,gas octane rating etc etc before he sells/sends me
my "Tune". Thanks

bspeed

Hate to tell you man, I tried and tried to find out more about this EMS. It is very capable, but NO ONE tunes it due to the ridiculous buy in from APEXi.

I paid for a Hondata s300 and before my guy ordered it, I had him get me a Haltech Elite 1500 instead so I can run a true Flex Fuel setup.

TheShodan

iTrader: (14)

No. You can't get tunes like you would from like hondata.

PowerFC already comes with a startup NA tune do that the car can run properly to whichever power FC tuner is available. I have that same edu and it starts right up.

Depending upon the year of your FC, you couldn't load anything anyway unless you have either the power excel software/hardware, or FC datalogit from New Zealand.

dc2 specR

Thanks for the advice