hey im about to turbo my car the only thing i dont have is a way to do my ems or just a management system because im running obd2 since my accord is a ex from 1996 ive been referred to apexi vafc i think its called?

 

look into hondata. the vafc is a hack and will cause more headaches than its worth. the vafc is called a piggyback and is not what you want. a true ems would be aem,hondata etc.

 

If you need to stay OBD2 for emissions reasons you could look into the AEM F/IC. It's not a stand alone, it is what people refer to as a "hack". I haven't heard anything bad about it though. It has gone through a few revisions that remedy the issues that the other "Hacks" have had.

If you don't need to worry about OBD type emissions testing get a chipped OBD1 ECU, ROM editor (eCtune or Neptune) & conversion harness. Or have it tuned by a reputable tuner & don't bother wasting your time downloading and buying a ROM Editor. As for stand alone EMS solutions like the AEM or Motech EMS's, they are a wee bit on the pricey side.

In the end it would be best to talk to whomever is tuning your car.

 

Thanks guys well I would like to tune it myself but I'd be a first timer haha but as far for a dyno pull I guess I would need a new ems and as ghost kindly stated that's very pricey so I'm not sure yet

 

vafc is a hack because it lies to the computer to make adjustments.

if you want to add fuel it tells the computer that there is a lean condition and the ecm adds fuel and pulls timing. and visa versa. it does little for power and imo is a waste of time and money ( i had one years ago)

 

thanks for the input im still undecided on what to get but since i read into it more and like your experiences im gettin off the idea of a piggy back deal but im just gonna find a tuner and ask them what i should do once i find somewhere to tune my car

 

Shop around if you can. It's not like you can't do it yourself if you have the budget. The hardware required to tune properly isn't cheap, however, it can be done. I've done it myself. Maybe not a 400+ whp race car but I have tuned a few circle track cars & street cars with the hardware I have......$1000 + software ($150) = $1150 is approx. what I spent 3 years ago to street tune my car. Now I'm looking into renting my local tuners dyno for the day @ $300. = Me being able to tune my own car for under 2k. Not to mention I have the hardware to tune more cars if I want too.

 

dang thats awsome yeah i wouldnt mind getting my hands on a aem ems 2 but jeez a lil over 1000$ Yikes sucks im only 19 and go to school and on top of that dont have a job anymore so yeah im just taking my time but surely at least it will come out right to what I'm thinking.

 

If you are handy with electronics you could go the MegaSquirt II route. I have just pre-ordered an MSIII unit for my build. The chipped OEM Honda ECU has a boat load of potential, but it does not have a few of the components that I am looking for. The MegaSquirt offers a coil over plug programming, dual & multi-stage injector setups, true low impedance injector drivers and pretty much everything else the Honda ECU has.

DIY Autotune

You can get a MegaSquirt II for $400-$415 for an assembled unit. It's even cheaper if you put it together yourself. $247 - $253 for the MegaSquirt II DIY Kit.