Adi Radoncic

Guys,

For this next year I'm looking into buying a standalone of some sort just because I'm tired of messing around with my FMU and Tuning Issues.
Sure I have made some good power out of it but I just think that its definitely time for a standalone reason being that you can tune the car a lot better and also datalog and see how your car is really doing...

I have considered getting a haltech and I think that the system was good for its time period but just out dated now, plus you have to wire up the hole thing yourself and than you also have to mess with Good but Old DOS O/S which is also outdated but still used (I'm sure everybody knows that)

But anyways tell me some positive points and some negative points about the system you know what you like about it and what you don't like about it...
How easy or hard it is to tune with it and If you would recommend another system that might be better...

Thanks guys I appriciate it a lot...

Adi

PrecisionH23a

The AEM EMS is a true standalone engine management system, it is bad *** and has so much to offer. However, they take a while to tune. My tuner is a genious, and he said they can take 6 to 8 hours to properly tune and thats IF it comes with a base map that allows the car to even start. Im sure there are tuners out there that know this system better then my tuner probably, but if you do go aem find a tuner that knows the system so you dont pay rediculous amounts of money tuning it. If you are keeping your car as a daily driver, you might want to look into hondata, it is one hell of a bad *** engine management system. Hondata is a little less complicated and has so much to offer... Hopefully the AEM guys will post up some personal experience with the system so you are guided in a good direction.

Type-ARR

tuning was a bitch.....so I went with hondata and sold the EMS.

SiRkid

id say ease of use for a street car.. HONDATA CANNOT be beat right now!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
BUT if you dont mind learning(if YOU are going to tune) on your car and really how things work..The AEM is really a top notch system. It can provide SOO much. It really is a great system especially if your obd2(on extra money to spend on another ecu andharness) You can control everything in almost any way you can think of!
It all depends on what YOU want!!! make a list of things you want... research your options...see which one fits the criteria the most... and make your purchase and have hours of fun with it! because although we do this in quest of the best performance.. you should be having funwhile doing it and if you know your product you will have tonnes-o-fun


[Modified by SiRkid, 4:30 AM 10/9/2002]

Anubyss

I tried the AEM EMS and had it tuned several times. It still was not good. I finally ended up switching to S200. I am sure the hardware is tops but no one around me had hands on experience tuning it and it was, simply put, getting very costly to have it tuned. I wish I had gone the way of Hondata to begin with. This would have saved me at least $1500 on tuning costs.

This is not to discourage you in any way but just stating a simple experience that I went through. If you have a tuner that is good, then by all means, give it a try. Just make sure he is damn good though. You can also try tuning it yourself if you are that type of person.

Adi Radoncic

First of all I would like to say thanks for the interesting replys you guys.

But on the other note I'm definitely looking for a system that I can Learn to Start the car up with, tune it my self and use the thing right...

But I just need it to work right for me, also I'm not really concerned about street driving sence 95% of the time the car will be used as a track car and 5% will actually be street use..

I see a lot of you guys support honata and I do too but I just don't think that the system is not really what I'm looking for. If there wasn't aem ems I would go with hondata in a hartbeat...

Adi

Adi Radoncic

I fergot to ask this really quick, what comes with the Aem Ems system when you receive it from Aem?

Adi

ekb18c

You get the ecu, a disk and you can print out the manual on aem's site.

After reading your post, I recommend that you go with hondata!! 95% street, you should go with hondata. It's simple yet effective! Try to learn aem will take you a lot of time and money. Hondata comes with everything you need to run up to 11.3 psi.

HTH

DIRep972

iTrader: (1)

dont rule out the hondata man. We plugged it into my car and on the basemap in open loop and 20 pulls on the dyno + all the spilt gas when i changed the injectors and pump, I still got 20mpg. hehe, took 3 hours on the dyno and a total of 20 runs to tune from 7-13psi. could have done it in 15 and 2 hours but we wasted alot of time. Put in the chip, closed up the ECU, switched it into closed loop and im getting 27-28mpg on 550's. I still giggle when I think about the fact that my car runs like stock on 550's haha.

I just realized u dont really care about streetability. AEM is probably best bang for the buck when it comes to a race car on a budget. It will be the best system for DIY tuner street cars as well once they get the closed loop and deaccel set up.

As for AEM. falcon and Art have been playing with it for awhile, doing lots of street tuning and some dyno and have managed to get things set up pretty damn good between their two cars. but joe is a very smart guy and I dont think I would be able to do what he does, AEM is definitly not for someone who is computer illiterate. It would probably help u more then anything if u could actually see someone tune with it, then u could decide if thats what u wanted.


[Modified by DIRep972, 3:04 AM 10/10/2002]

PrecisionH23a

You also get a base map that probably wont work

A quick note, the hondata uses the stock map sensor up to 11.3psi, if you want to go above it simply use the gm 3 bar map sensor

falcongsr

didnt read everyones posts but yeah aem ems is a lot more complicated than hondata and the PRODUCT IS NOT MATURE AT THIS TIME... its drivable but not all the features of stock ecu, or typical engine mgmt system are not fully implemented. i will reiterate that the system has a lot of potential and i dont regret getting it ....yet. new version of software/firmware is sposed to be here any minute dont hold your breath though. its a little cheaper than hondata 4b for obd2 systems, so if u like complicated **** and want a price advantage over hondata with an obd2 car then its a viable option. late!

Adi Radoncic

ekb18c, Thanks for letting me know what comes with the system, but on the other note I will definitley have to go with the GM 3 bar map sensor because I'm running 15psi right now and from here on it only goes up...

Chris, Sounds like you have had really good luck with the hondata system but most of your driving is done on the street and I hardly drive my car...
But as far as figuring out the software part of the standalone system I think I can manage becuause I just love messing with ****...

GudeH23A I definitely think that the base map won't work with the 440's.. So "True that" for your comment.

Joe in your post you sead that a new version of software is sopposed to come out here pritty soon but my question is if aem is going to upgrade the systems that are already out there at all or what are going to do about that???
Right now I'm looking to buy a used aem ems from someone just because I don't feel like throwing down $1200+ for a brand new system....
So what do you think about that....

Adi

1

Software...not hardware

SiRkid

ehehe..yeah..software..new..Id say AEM is for you..you can spend hours reading their cd and just screwing around with stuff..i love it!
Canuk SiR and myself got our cars running REALLY REALLY well with actually very little effort*cough*converted hondata maps *cough*
its a great system and for you..mostly race..id say its a no brainer

philo

I got one of the first AEM units out and still dont have it running as well as i had my hondata running the first day. That's no bullshit either. I've pretty much given up on it for now, so if anyone is looking for a cheap one let me know.

Adi Radoncic

philo,

How cheep and what part number....

Adi

tony1

It all comes down to the tuner. I have used the ems many times with great success. It is much more complicated but is very versatile. The hondata is great for someone who isn't much of a tuner. Hell, Motec is very difficult if not impossible to tune if you don't know what you are doing. Does that make Hondata better???

uglyasscivic

For a street car I would do hondata, period. The problem with street cars mixed with systems like AEM, Speedpro, is they take alot of time to tune for fuel economy, throttle response and other things related to street cars. I can usually tune WOT in about 40-50 min's and screw around for another 1-2 hours getting the decel, idle and cruise maps where I would like.

People say hondata is a pain in the *** because the emulator, chip burning, bla, bla, bla, but you walk away happy the second you get your car with a perfect driving car

falcongsr

yup. since i am a dork i like tweaking all the crap in the aem ems.

and yeah newgsr you will actually upgrade the firmware (the software that the computer in the actual ems box runs on) and the software on the laptop. firmware will be version 0.89 and software will be ver 3.15. notice that firmware is version 0.89 which means its not mature software. that sucks for the people who are boosting already and needed a drop in solution comparable to hondata. its just not there yet. if 0.89 is really all they say it is then it could be pretty damn close.

Adi Radoncic

Well I hope that I'm gona be happy with it because I just purchased an Aem Ems from a fellow honda-techer (SmoothVTEC, thanks Rob ) but anywyas have they said what the release date is gona be for the non hardware, non software but firmware Joe??

Adi


[Modified by newgsr, 1:03 AM 10/10/2002]

falcongsr

8 weeks ago they said 2 weeks. 2 weeks ago they said 2 days. yesterday they said it was close. its typical of any software release. i am kinda glad they are holding off and not releasing junk. but i can afford to wait at the moment.

BLKdragLS

I've had my EMS for about a month now, and I have my car running great. Me and a friend of mine have managed to tune our cars fine with the help of fjo wide band O2 sensors.

My sugestion is get the AEM if:

1.) you are willing to research the how the EMS works (there is so much to learn) it's like going to school.
2.) Like to spend time tuning.

On the bright side, AEM is developing an automapping feature, which will auto tune the car based on a/f, weather temp, altitude, ect.

boostedsol

AEM=

riceboy

Joe What features is the 0.89 "rumored" to have compared to the current software?

EDIT-Other than the decel and closed loop, are there any other serious "problems" for the EMS right now?


[Modified by riceboy, 8:36 AM 10/10/2002]

Arturbo

From the EMS engineer from the AEM message board:
Here is a short list of the improvements:
AEMPro 3.15
Totally new menu structure. much simplified. dare I say "User Friendly"? ** this is a huge improvement **
Automapping for Fuel Map. PC Based. Yes, it actually works.
Waaayyyyyy more stable. nuf said.
Text based I/O selections, no more pin/channels to muddle through. ** this is huge also **
Lap beacon insert hotkey during logging

V0.89
Internal logger vehicle speed and load qualifiers added.
2 step rev limiter vehicle speed threshold added
Hi Idle operation fixed
DFCO function fixed and programmable throttle threshold added
Minimum vehicle speed added for proper 0 speed display
Added a dMAP accel table and dMAP is now calculated "instantly"
Much more robust "In System Programming" with a recovery tool available
O2 feedback calculation/limits improved
Fixed T1 Swap T2 Bug
Fixed "Lightning Bolt" button bug in trim control dialog box
Variable Anti-Lag added for you road racers out there
RPM based tables for Proportional and Integral gains for O2 Feedback


art