THEhomelessONE

It seems that a Kpro setup is about $1000 for 02-04 wiring, $1100 for 05-06 wiring and AEM EMS-4 is around $600. AEM plug and play is like $1,500 but for 02-04 harness. I don't care about smog, it's for a track car. Not sure what I'm missing but why wouldn't someone go with AEM? Tried searching but most stickys are almost 10 years old and only talk about going Kpro.

Second part I'm pretty blank on is the wiring. Benefit to Kpro and Series 2 AEM is basically plug and play. Still need about $1k in engine and adapter harnesses if you want to go with new wires. Does anyone make an engine harnesses for the EMS-4 for guys like me with no wiring finesse?

Way I see it, why would I pay $1,200 for Kpro or $1,500 for AEM when I'd still need a new engine harness at $700 and chassis harness at $300? If someone makes a K engine harness for the EMS-4 that's the way to go IMO. I know you can get a stock 02-04 used harness, but damn they're going for $400 used, I'd rather pay the extra $300 for a high quality new harness. 05-06 harnesses are about $200 used but I guess you get a bastardized Kpro or something?

So Kpro with used harnesses $1400 for 02-04 and $1300 for 05-06. AEM PNP $1900 with used harness. If someone makes a pnp engine harness for the EMS-4 would seem like that would be the way to go. I must be missing something, makes too much sense to have an EMS-4 K swap harness but I haven't found one for sale. Want to go k24a2 in my 89 CRX HF but need a solid cost breakdown before I start.

JRCivic1

What year and model chassis are you putting a "K" series engine into ? Stand alone systems DO NOT provide the original OBD-2 style diagnostic system, so WHEN (not IF, it is a race car) you have problems, how will you diagnose the problem ? You have already stated that you are uncomfortable with wiring... I fail to see how no diagnostic system will improve your ability to repair your race car when it breaks.

All you have been focused on is PRICE... the CHEAPEST route is NEVER the right path.

My suspicion is you are way off on the price once you provide the chassis/engine combination information that I have asked above.

Dublocivic

^^That
Racecars are not cheap, look more toward what function you need the engine management to perform, compare them understanding what one does better than the other. Make sure you know what aux sensors want to run and what management unit handles those inputs etc..
KproV4 can be had for around ~700usd with you providing the PRB ecu. The conversion harness for the prb into your chassis is ~200.00. This will provide you with an OBD2 diagnostics port for the crx. Kpro works well, Im sure AEM works well too however, when I looked into both, there is much more support and documentation on the Kpro. I think with your limited wiring and troubleshooting experience, you should opt for Kpro and read through the documentation to fully understand how to load your base maps and initial startup. Oh and if you don't have one, go buy a nice multimeter and learn how to use it. Even with plug and play, you will need it to make sure additional wiring is squared away.

Understand which platform provides what you need specifically. If the AEM is a must be sure to make good friends with AEM tech support and get smart regarding general electronic principals.

THEhomelessONE

Thanks for the responses. I assumed AEM would be able to throw codes if it detected issues but I don't know for certain. Would think it would have as many fail-safes as a regular ECM. If that's the case that's a huge advantage to Kpro. I'm not trying to be cheap, just trying to understand why, for a few hundred more, or potentially less with custom EMS-4 engine harness, people aren't going with AEM. Yeah chassis harness adapters are between 150-300 depending on quality so I was trying not to include that in the costs. It's an 89 CRX HF wanting to go K24A2.

JRCivic1

No AEM system has OBD-2 diagnostic engine codes. There are subroutines that allow protective measures (fail-safes), but to know that these functions worked, you would have to analyze data to discover it. The KPro still functions as an original computer with all of the OEM functionality... it is just tuneable as well. I think it is the best choice for what you are trying to do... regardless of the price. The EMS-4 is limited in capability compared to the V2 or Infinity systems, so it really cannot be compared to the KPro or more expensive systems from AEM. You would also need a complete custom ECU to engine harness since the AEM-4 has a unique plug design. Then, integrating it with your chassis becomes another matter all together. In the end, I don't think you would save much money over running KPro.

Did I mention you should go KPro ?

THEhomelessONE

Haha thanks guys, what I wanted to hear. I'll go KPro.