I'm just curious how you guys think Hondata (Stage 4b) stacks up against some of those other "real" stand alone systems? (DFI, AEM EMS, Motec, etc..) ... I plan on running the Hondata in my car, but I'm curious exactly how it stacks up against the other stuff.

Thanks!
--Joe

 

I think its a good product, but some people think its not as good as say a DFI or speed pro, Personally, I am using the new windows based DFI Gen7. I think the first question You should ask yourself is what type of boost U wanna run and what is your setup

 

Heres what I have so far:

B16 Shortblock:
Resurfaced Deck
Benson Sleeves
Micropolished/Chanfered crank
Balanced/Blue Printed
Crower Rods
Arias Pistons
New clearanced bearings with thrust washers


VTEC Head from a 95 Delsol:
Resurfaced
Deburred combustion chambers
New valve stem seals
3 angle valve job
Custom grind Web cams (setup for forced induction)
Completely ported/polished
Stainless Steel undercut and swirl polished (intake & exhaust) valves
Titanium retainers / high rev springs

Turbo kit/injector size is undecided at this point - but whatever it ends up being, its going to be running a max of 24psi at the track - Probably around 15psi on the street. Basically looking to make 450hp-ish with it.

--Joe

 

For a daily driven car, it's great. But for all out race, there are better choices. Hondata is limited when it comes to boost, as it only has 3 boost tuning points. That can be somewhat restrictive when you are running high boost, and makes tuning difficult and somewhat dangerous. But for 95% of you, it's more than you'll ever need.

 

How about the Zdyne SECU..
http://www.zdyne.com/

 

that's a very nice setup you've got. I'd look into the speed pro at this point in time. I'm personally holding out for the AEM unit coming out in feb. It looks like it has a lot of potential to compete with the higher end stand alones.

 

Just curious... What would the DISADVANTAGES be of running one of the other engine management systems? <Speedpro, DFI, etc?> ... I'm pretty sure that some of them will make stuff like your stock gauges stop working, since it does not use the stock ECU anymore, and stuff like that... How about idle quality/driveability? I live in Wisconsin, and this IS going to be an everyday driver (Including the long cold winters).... So, I need something thats going to give me the most bang for my buck, without making the car into something I wouldn't want to drive daily...

Thanks.. Yeh, it is a pretty sweet setup so far.. I can't wait till this beast is on the road... Prolly gunna scare me

--Joe

 

no you can still run all your gauges, depends how you wire it in, do you splice into stock harness right where it is terminated for the ECU or do you run the harness it comes with whereby no guages

 

Three boost tuning points? Obviously you dont have one, or havent taken the time to look very closely. With the 3bar map sensor you get 6 tuning points which are fully interpollated.

This is a very capable ECU at almost any performance level and is about as indepth as any non-racetech would ever want to get.

 

What's it looking at price wise on that AEM Stand alone? Are they going to make any for the 94-97 Accord Applications?

 

actually I do have one, thanks, but I haven't installed mine yet. I have tuned others, but not with a 3 bar installed, hence the error. One is entitled to make a mistake every now and then, yes?

 

the zdyne has 11 boost tuning points, is mine better ?

 

I think Hondata is good for your daily driver, and weekend racer. Its cheap and plug and play. But if you want to get serious with boost, it would be better to run a REAL standalone ECU. Hondata isnt a stand alone ecu. Its a piggy back system. New DFI(windows based) is very good from what i have heard. I never saw it or tested it so I can approve or dissaprove. Haltech is good also. Go and ask alot of people what they run at the track. Most will tell you they run Haltech. Most pro's run Haltech, dfi, speedpro, or motec, but then again they are PRO's and they have the money to back it up. If you dont have that much captial then Hondata is the way to go. How much does hondata cost anyways? With install and tune? Haltech runs about $2,400 installed and tuned with dyno time, which is pretty decent. So you have to make up your mind, to see if you are serious or not.

 

If i'm not mistaken. Hondata doesn't simply alter stock inputs/outpus like GReddy blue boxes or AFC's, it comletley rewrites Honda's fuel/timing maps, making it a true standalone since it operates out of the "normal" range, and it's completley interactive like any other standalone, letting you alter god knows how many different information inputs. Wouldn't this be a standalone?

 

i used Haltech and it is definitely the way to go. the price may be a little more than something like Hondata, but it is definitely worth it if you want the real deal and are into tuning your car. i guess some people don't wanna spend that much time tuning cars so they get Hondata, spend some dyno time, and that's that.

DFI is definitely good too. James who used to work at ECP had that in his low 12 second SEDAN. what a weird setup. b16 block and gsr head... interesting but it was a beast.

 

I don't know what you guys are talking about. If you install it yourself, the Haltech is cheaper than the Hondata.
http://www.hondaprelude.to/articles/inst-e6k.html

I would still get the Hondata is you're real worried about emmissions and crap like that. Your gauges and cruise control and stuff not engine related work fine with a standalone. The only thing you might worry about is it doesn't control some emmisions items like EGR valve, EVAP cannister purge, and crud like that.

 

For a daily-driven car, you can't beat Hondata. Period. Anyone that believes otherwise is either wrong or lying to themselves.

For racing purposes maybe not the best.

 

Sorry, wasnt trying to be rude, just correcting you.

Hondata is a full standalone not piggyback, all logic is in ECU. Blue box is just for interface.

The tuning point are fully interpolated. I can't think why anyone would need more than that. Six values is more than enough for any <30psi application.

The hondata is designed to maintain streetabilty with idle control, a/c cutoff and lots of driveabilty improvements over stock ecu. It is not a full race ECU, so if you have a full race car, looks else where.

Using datalogging alone I tuned mine with 5% of max HP, with very little experience with system. I'm not saying it is any better than other P-ECU's, but mine works great.

 

Hey Colin,
I have to disagree with you here, the Hondata ECU IS a stand alone unit. It is definately not a piggy back, what is it piggy backing to? it is a unit that was once a stock ecu converted to a stand alone. I heard Onefastb18c made over 500whp using that system and ran in the 9s or 10s. Could someone confirm this?

 

yes i heard he made a 10.79 or so at around 139mph

 

Well its a funny thing because why would you need an interface for a standalone ecu? Hondata is full programable but my question is why would you need to interface with the stock ecu. I know hondata uses its own map sensor and other wiring. This is confusing!! If its a standalone then i stand corrected. Anyone wanna share the light with me?

 

Hondata is an ECU,not a controlling unit. Just like the Z-DYne.

It's a Stock ecu, that's modded to allow a Laptop to tell it what to do. It will run without the laptop, and it is the only computer in the car, therefore it is a STANDALONE.

 

Okay guys so question. What about someone that doesnt have boost, yet is trying to get the most out of there car. THen it seems like the Hondata setup would be the most likely route to go. Since it has expandability and doesnt cost as much as a DFI setup. Especially if you are not looking to make an all out race car.

Comments, questions?

 

"Well its a funny thing because why would you need an interface for a standalone ecu? Hondata is full programable but my question is why would you need to interface with the stock ecu. I know hondata uses its own map sensor and other wiring. This is confusing!! If its a standalone then i stand corrected. Anyone wanna share the light with me?"

Doug didnt want to have to modify case of stock ecu so he put com port connector in an external box. If you have a dremmel and feel like doing it you can make it a "real stand alone". I personally like having connector on my glove box.

Hondata uses stock MAP sensor for upto 12psi. It only needs 3bar sensor for high boost aps.

Hondata only need harness adapter if you are not using your original ecu.

Hope that cleared it all up.

 

It is fully upgradeable and you can have someone else burn chips for you if you dont want to buy the stage 4. I dont anyone else has stuff starting at $225