Just wanted to share our experiences to date with the Autronic SM2 in the race CRX.
We finally got everything all wired up and installed and the engine fired up immediately on the base map....just like we were told it would.
From there we had our tuner, Ben at Strader Performance Engineering take over. We spent several hours on several different dynos to dial in the combination. I was really impressed with the level of sophistication the Autronic has brought to our program. It handles everything we do in one package............fueling, ignition, multiple maps for boost control, two-step rev limiter, anti-lag for staging, free unlimited data logging, vtec control.........and on and on.
We also loved how easy it was to data log the info during dyno runs, then go back and make changes as we felt them needed..........the Autronic was really cool in that you could choose what things you wanted to log, and how many times per second to log them!
We were very thankful for some of the safety features of the unit also, as we found out that the "overboost protection" works very well. It lets you call out how much boost over the set limit you want to allow and how much time to allow it for....like 1 or 2 seconds or whatever......then it engages the rev limiter..........this function saved us bigtime when a fitting broke on our wastegate control solenoid and we pegged the boost gauge!
We also have a switch that allows us to run a certain amount of boost for 1st and 2nd gears, then crank it up for 3rd and 4th! It works great! Plus we can egage the two step rev limiter and special Autronic anti-lag switch to build as much or as little boost as we like for staging! This will really help our set-up at different tracks and conditions! The two step does not shoot ducks or pop like a firecracker but is smooth and easy on the engine. You'll have to ask Ben how he does that.
For more info, check out http://www.dynospeed.com

 

Sounds cool

 

Good stuff to heat Earl, I've been doing a little talking with Mike about it and I am gonna intergrate it into my car for the season and get Ben out here to help me get this thing going.

 

ben gives excellent customer service over the phone. unlike other tuners i've dealt with he knows exactly what i'm talking about when i have a complicated question.

out of the motec, speed pro, and autronic smc i've used, autronic has the best balance of features and ease of use. speed pro is easier, but lacks key features that autronic and motec incorporate into their system. the motec was a pain in the **** to setup, and the software harder to use than both the autronic and speed pro, but it also runs the smoothest due to its high res ref sensor.

the only thing i wish the autronic would do is interface with the motec wideband. even though the analog output on the plm is user adjustable, the syncronization between the autronic and plm is off by .2 in a/f ratio.

Another thing the motec has over the autronic is gear based compensation. this really helps out when you're running alpha-n (throttle body angle based load) on ITB's. When i was tuning the autronic on an ITB car, the motor when tuned in third gear would run slightly richer in the lower gears and slightly leaner in the higher gears because of differing load. if autronic had gear compensation then this could be remedied. but all in all, the autronic is extremely nice and you can't really go wrong with either the motec or the autronic.

Earl, is there a new windows software coming out for the autronic? i read somewhere that the implimentation of the wideband will be different than how it currently is. maybe that will solve my plm problem.

btw, they are both for sale if anyone is interested. thanks

 

tghe autronic is made by one half of the parties who originally designed the motec, hence its abilities

can also contorl independant ignition firign sequence etc.

SMC will do for most users tho

 

First, thanks for the kind words. I always try to honestly answer any questions that our customers have, and if I don't know the answer I try not to BS my way through it.

Second, on that ITB car, if you use the Autronic mapping function called "Throttle/pressure" mapping, you'll find it will eliminate that 3rd gear problem.
This method of mapping uses Alpha-N based fuel calculations with manifold pressure override that happens behind the scenes in the software, plus the ignition timing is mapped based on MAP with throttle position override in the background.

This is by far the most sophisticated method for mapping an engine I have yet to come across..........we've even done some wildly cammed ITB twin turbo engines with this method and they ran beautifully. Keep in mind that its not the gear you are in that is truly affecting the fuel curve, but rather the change in load or "manifold pressure" that happens in a slightly longer or shorter gear.

When using throttle position only for calibration, it is definately possible to get a slight variance in A/F's while tuning an ITB engine, but if you use a pressure signal to back it up, the ecu will know exactly what the change in load or "Volumetric efficiency" is and can compensate for it in real time rather than use a generic correction factor based on gear ratio! In this respect the Autronic literally blows away the Motec............that is one point I can honestly say the Autronic beats the pants off the Motec!

3rd, Autronic will be releasing the true windows version of the software very soon. We have been beta testing it for quite some time now, and it is many times better than the previous versions, especially in the data logging and display funtions. Plus the Auto-tune function just keeps getting better!
Once it is released, we will upgrade our existing customers for free, so there is no problem with someone buying a unit now and worrying that it'll be outdated soon.

Thanks again to Mike and Earl for their diehard support of us and our products.................go team Laskey!

 

Looking at the Autronic this weekend I am sold. I like it alot and easy to navigate. It was easier than my AEM EMS.

art

 

Another Honda-Tech bandwagon is now rolling eh Art

 

Damn, just once I want to see Ben get stumped on a problem or question

 

Just hope it's not on your car.

 

Caerful Earl, don't wanna give me a big ego or anything!
-Ben

 

oh yea! that would work! that totally skipped my mind. thanks ben

 

Anytime.........that's what i'm here for!

 

Come on Earl, If I give all our tricks away now, noboddy will want to attend out upcoming class, right?