just wanting your guys opinions on what is the best device for tuning a turbo civic for reliablitly

 

i used emanage allready and my b16 went skyhigh

 

you have a few choices. A few of the most common are Hondata s300, crome and neptune. My preference is Hondata, but it is mostly about your budget.

 

Hondata, eCtune, Neptune are the best engine management solutions on the market & for the money. Go ahead and check them all out

 

well i was very interested in hondata but i am hearing alot of people going chrome or uberdata

 

I'm not exactly neutral in this matter, so rather than recommend a specific tuning aid, I'm going to list what features I consider must-haves on a turbo car, and why. Many of the options I've seen mentioned in this thread are available both with and without some of the options, particularly #3.

1. You've got to be able to edit your spark advance table, and not just some simple blanket rule to pull X amount of timing. If you have a piggyback device that just modifies the MAP sensor signal, you'll be stuck with an adjustment to fuel also causing it to change your spark map, and if that puts you in an area where your timing is too advanced, your only option is to back off your timing. Getting a lousy timing curve can hurt power, drivability, and reliability. A device that pulls X amount of timing for Y amount of boost is workable, but not ideal. It's best if you can edit the complete spark table.

2. It needs to support a MAP sensor that can read at least the amount of boost you are planning to run.

3. Real time tuning and data logging will make your tuning go a lot faster. If you can tweak your fuel and spark while the engine is running on a dyno and personally watch the changes, tuning will go a lot faster. With dyno time running over $100 an hour, the extra cost of real time tuning can pay off in terms of less tuning time.

4. If you won't be tuning it yourself, it helps if the guy you'll hire to tune it is familiar with the system.

There's a lot of viable options out there, some of which alter the stock ECU and some of them replace it altogether. And there are also a couple tuning "solutions" I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole. It depends on what features you need (depending on your specifics, you may need a couple things I haven't listed, like nitrous control) and your budget.


Modified by MadScientistMatt at 4:01 PM 10/12/2008

 

^^ Best response of this thread. Time to do some research and talk to your potential tuner, hollywod96ex

 

thats another problem i dont know were to take the car to because i dont know were the closest place is to me i live in the main eastern part of ky

 

You may have to go to Pennsylvania. Check out Jeff Evans Tuning.

http://www.evans-tuning.com/

 

iwas hoping some were in tenn. or va or wv though first before i started looking farther

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by TheShodan &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">You may have to go to Pennsylvania. Check out Jeff Evans Tuning.

http://www.evans-tuning.com/
</TD></TR></TABLE>

i wish i lived within a driving distance from this guy! hear nothing but amazing things.

 

NEPTUNE is by far the best choice if you are on a budget. crome and ectune are good, but they are time-bombed, meaning that you are forced to update the software occasionally. neptune isn't. I used crome and found that the timing maps are a little off, which is never a good thing when boosting. haven't used ectune, but have heard that it's about the same. crome also doesn't allow you to do realtime updates while the car is running. neptune does. you can actually be driving the car, make a change with neptune and it will make the change without upsetting the car at all. crome forces you to shut the car off, make your changes, cycle the key, then restart the car. and neptune has the BEST customer support, period. crome... well, you can send John Cui an email and he may get back to you in a week or a month.
ultimately, it's your choice (and your money) but I will never use anything else but NEPTUNE...

Happy tuning

 

were do i find neptune

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by hollywood96ex &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">were do i find neptune
</TD></TR></TABLE>

http://www.hrtuning.com
If your looking for neptune rtp http://www.neptunertp.com

 

v-afc 2. duh

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by LSTEG96 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">v-afc 2. duh</TD></TR></TABLE>

C'mon, guy...

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by quickhondaz &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> I used crome and found that the timing maps are a little off, which is never a good thing when boosting. haven't used ectune, but have heard that it's about the same. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I have done lots of tests, comparing Hondata S-Pro, AEM EMS, Haltech E6X, ECTune, Neptune RTP, Crome and a common E-manage Blue strictly on ignition timing tests to gauge their accuracy. I spent a whole week testing this just for my own benefit... You can only do this with a load-brake dyno (ie: Dynapack, DynoDynamics, etc), with a guy standing near the engine bay with timing light, and HP/TQ readouts on the dyno screen in realtime to verify timing changes.

ECTune runs the engine almost dead on with its numeric values in the software from 25 ATDC to 40 BTDC. Beyond that, it loses its accuracy. Let's just say the only other system that managed to run the engine in the same fashion was the AEM EMS and Haltech. Most systems won't need such wide control of timing because its way out of its useful range, but I can assure you that ECTune is the best in my book for now.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by Tony the Tiger &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

I have done lots of tests, comparing Hondata S-Pro, AEM EMS, Haltech E6X, ECTune, Neptune RTP, Crome and a common E-manage Blue strictly on ignition timing tests to gauge their accuracy. I spent a whole week testing this just for my own benefit... You can only do this with a load-brake dyno (ie: Dynapack, DynoDynamics, etc), with a guy standing near the engine bay with timing light, and HP/TQ readouts on the dyno screen in realtime to verify timing changes.

ECTune runs the engine almost dead on with its numeric values in the software from 25 ATDC to 40 BTDC. Beyond that, it loses its accuracy. Let's just say the only other system that managed to run the engine in the same fashion was the AEM EMS and Haltech. Most systems won't need such wide control of timing because its way out of its useful range, but I can assure you that ECTune is the best in my book for now.</TD></TR></TABLE>

up for tony and his testing. when i come to canada in 09 im making a trip to see you.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by tony413 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">

up for tony and his testing. when i come to canada in 09 im making a trip to see you. </TD></TR></TABLE>

I forgot to mention, this was actually done on the exact same car.. I had the opportunity to install all these systems onto a stock B18C5.. All the OBD-I chipped systems were easy, and so was AEM EMS.. The only nuisance was finding a custom plug & play harness from my friend for the Haltech, and then wiring up the E-manage blue + fuel/timing harness temporarily.

 

Hell I am not really in driving distance. I am driving 458 mi – about 7 hours 38 mins just one way to get tuned by him.

My vote is for eCtune

 

Hondata s300 No complants here

 

all will work. its just a matter of preference. specially if the setup is just low hp to mild. its really just a matter of budget. and the tool is just as competent as the user.

just stay away from piggy backs. though emanage is a good piggyback. you can use oem ecu hacks like crome/ hondata/ ectne.

 

Twin sidedraft blow-through carburators & mechanical advanced 'points' distirbutor. Because its oldskool JDM, y0! (fo' real, too!)

Best Value = eCtune
Best overall = eCtune
Most acceptance at shops = Hondata
Most exclusive (in a bad way) = Neptune (I've had more sex partners than they have licensed tuners )
Cheapest = Crome Free
Most expensive w/unique features (but not the most) = AEM

Best for you = the system your tuner knows the best. Guesswork always takes longer, and generally has poor results.

 

looking to get my car tune for 400-450hp range should i stick with my hondata s200 or let the tuner tune with his crome program? does crome still have the timing issue problem?

 

yes it does.

but since youre dynoing it. the tuning issue is not a problem at all. its just a representation of a number. you will know where it will make power. but lets not get into that and turn this topic into crome timing issue.

s200 works well. i just dont like the blue box.