Thinking about getting one of these systems. just wondering if any of my fellow type r people can give me any insight to which is better, easier to tune, and any other info. thanks

 

Looks like the AEM EMS might be the best wrt being a complete package, no need to rely on a "Commander" like the Power FC or the "burner" etc., that you'd need with the Hondata.

Seems to have lots of additional features as well.

But don't take anyone's word, do some research on your own and make a decision as to whether you want someone else to have control over your car, or if you think you can handle it yourself (with just supplemental help from a "tuner" to get you started).

 

depends on your budget, but with prices aside, AEM EMS owns both of them. if you guys want an AEM EMS let me know, i can get them to you out the door, with dyno tuning, for $1200. can't beat it. PM me if interested

 

If I ever needed a standalone, I'd probably go with the AEM EMS.

 

I'm thinking of switching to the AEM EMS from the Hondata, but there are so many other things I'd like to change as well ... first things first.

On the other hand .... hehe

 

 

chassis dyno too, if you want bigger numbers goto a roller dyno, want accurate numbers, goto a chassis dyno

 

I dont have any experience with the Greddy or Hondata systems.

I love the EMS, and its limits are endless and always being improved upon. AEM has a good following of "beta testers" that work on bugs and continually help improve it. It seems to be very big with supra owners. Its come a long way since when I first got it. However, many are misinformed by thinking that its "plug and play" in terms of plugging it in, and starting you car with the provided maps. Its not nearly that simple and takes some finesse to get things going, especially if your car is heavily modded. Ive been working with mine since July and Im still not where I want to be. Yes, you can do it yourself if you have a laptop and wideband, however there is A LOT TO LEARN, especially if you arent familiar with EFI tuning. I could go on all night but for the most part it is worth every penny. But can be VERY frustrating at times.

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by RTW DC2 &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">I dont have any experience with the Greddy or Hondata systems.
</TD></TR></TABLE>

GReddy?

 

APEXi PowerFC, not Greddy.


Modified by JMS JT at 7:41 AM 11/22/2003

 

It really depends on what you have done or plan to do to your car. All are good systems with different customers in mind. My personal preference is the AEM EMS, but I like to constantly change and upgrade my motor and I also have a good knowledge of how to tune a car.

What ever you do, make sure that if you don't know what you are doing to please have a professional tuner tune your car. You could do alot of damage without the proper knowledge.

 

i have heard a lot of horror stories about the EMS...my vote's on hondata, but if you know what you're doing Power FC will save you about $200

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by 98cwitr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">i have heard a lot of horror stories about the EMS...my vote's on hondata, but if you know what you're doing Power FC will save you about $200 </TD></TR></TABLE>
I have heard horror stories about child-proof caps too. You put anything in the hands of the inept and they are bound to screw something up.

The AEM is the most comprehensive tuning engine management of the three mentioned. If you don't understand even the basics of tuning an engine then leave it for a professional as I stated above.

 

well i knew a guy with an s2000 (lots of NA mods) and he went out and bought the EMS...he tried for weeks to get it tuned right (on a dyno with the staff helping) but couldnt get it to lean out...he set the a/f setting all the way lean and it still puffed black smoke from 6,000-9,000 rpms. He called AEM to get some advice, they kept giving him different setting but to no avail. He finally got fed up with it and bought a v-afc2 (all he could afford, dyno time is expensive). jm2c

 

well i knew a guy with an s2000 (lots of NA mods) and he went out and bought the EMS...he tried for weeks to get it tuned right (on a dyno with the staff helping) but couldnt get it to lean out...he set the a/f setting all the way lean and it still puffed black smoke from 6,000-9,000 rpms. He called AEM to get some advice, they kept giving him different setting but to no avail. He finally got fed up with it and bought a v-afc2 (all he could afford, dyno time is expensive). jm2c


Only a trained professional should "tune" the EMS..

One wrong key stroke and...............

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CXr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> well i knew a guy with an s2000 (lots of NA mods) and he went out and bought the EMS...he tried for weeks to get it tuned right (on a dyno with the staff helping) but couldnt get it to lean out...he set the a/f setting all the way lean and it still puffed black smoke from 6,000-9,000 rpms. He called AEM to get some advice, they kept giving him different setting but to no avail. He finally got fed up with it and bought a v-afc2 (all he could afford, dyno time is expensive). jm2c

Only a trained professional should "tune" the EMS..

One wrong key stroke and...............</TD></TR></TABLE> i do agree

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by B18CXr &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote"> well i knew a guy with an s2000 (lots of NA mods) and he went out and bought the EMS...he tried for weeks to get it tuned right (on a dyno with the staff helping) but couldnt get it to lean out...he set the a/f setting all the way lean and it still puffed black smoke from 6,000-9,000 rpms. He called AEM to get some advice, they kept giving him different setting but to no avail. He finally got fed up with it and bought a v-afc2 (all he could afford, dyno time is expensive). jm2c


Only a trained professional should "tune" the EMS..

One wrong key stroke and...............</TD></TR></TABLE>
Thanks Yack, you beat me to it......

 

ok seems like everyone is leaning toward the aem now. so another question is where is a good tunner for the aem in the bay area?

 

if you really care about your car, your best option is to have Sean from torquefreaks.com tune your car. He's one of their betatesters, and one *if not the best* tuners with that system. He's up in Portland, but you could fly him down or go up there, I'm going up there on the sixth... Do not trust DSR, DNR or any other place around here, they'll take forever and not do a good job

 

<TABLE WIDTH="90%" CELLSPACING=0 CELLPADDING=0 ALIGN=CENTER><TR><TD>Quote, originally posted by zygspeed &raquo;</TD></TR><TR><TD CLASS="quote">Looks like the AEM EMS might be the best wrt being a complete package, no need to rely on a "Commander" like the Power FC or the "burner" etc., that you'd need with the Hondata.

Seems to have lots of additional features as well.

But don't take anyone's word, do some research on your own and make a decision as to whether you want someone else to have control over your car, or if you think you can handle it yourself (with just supplemental help from a "tuner" to get you started). </TD></TR></TABLE>


correction: PFC doesn't rely on the commander. The commander is used only for real time corrections on the fly...everything is pretty much done by either a power excel shop or by Datalogit software.

But everything else mentioned here is right on....do the research and choose whats right for you

 

I think you are getting great information here. All 3 systems will do a great job. I have used the Hondata and the Power FC with Datalogit and both have their strengths and weaknesses. I have only heard good things about the AEM system when someone competent is operating it so sounds like it si a matter of need vs want vs money.

 

<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">

GReddy? </TD></TR></TABLE>

Dont know why I said GReddy lol

Ill restate that the EMS is great and can do just about ANYTHING you want it to. The problem comes with KNOWING what exactly you need to do.

People dont realize that if you change one map, it may change another map automatically and totally screw things up. You have to know what maps work together and what maps dont. The new version 1.03 has a "wizard" and it brings up all the maps associated with certain kinds of tuning.

Another problem that comes with this kind of tuning is if you want things to be perfect, it takes a lot of time to get it dialed in (accel, decel, throttle response, etc, etc) and some tuners will only spend so much time on your car. This has been my problem. I was able to get it tuned WOT on a dyno and about a half hour on the street and it drives ok, but I still have little quirky stuff that needs to be corrected and my tuner basically says thats the best he can do because he doesnt want to spend the time on it. So Im left trying to learn it myself, or maybe heading down to see Jack.

As far as the guy with the S2000 is concerned, if he cant get it to lean out, then he may have O2 feedback enabled. If thats enabled, you can make changes all day long to the raw fuel table, but O2 feedback is going to compensate and just add fuel again. I learned this the hard way Its things like this that are very frustrating at times.

I had Sean from TQfreaks check out my car. Even he had problems getting it dialed in. I wont get too deep into it, but Sean does know his stuff. However, he is more geared towards Supra tuning. Tuning a Supra and an all motor Type R are not the same things. We couldnt even get my car updated to the new version 1.03

I love the EMS, and its fun to learn new things and try them out and see them work (like setting my CEL as a shift light haha). There is just so much stuff you can do, and a lot to learn, and it can be overwhelming sometimes.

 

Well I am glad you stuck with the AEM and you finally decided to take my advise and plug your laptop in and try to learn it yourself.
Unfortunately, it is really the best way to get your car the way you want it. Yeah I think the only way to get the maps perfect is to spend many hours tuning it on the street (which most tuners just don;t have the time to do) ..... or else several solid hours on a load capable dyno like Yacks.

 

Yeah, Ive stuck with it. I havent done too much with it lately though. My craptop sucks so the on screen display doesnt work too well, and I dont have an external display yet so probably after xmas Ill play with it some more.

Christian what display are you using? I was looking at the FJO, but AEM's should be out around xmas and it looks pretty nice as well.

 

Your talking 02 sensors I take it? I have the older Tech edge w/ display. Which I have hard-wired and calibrated into the AEM. I bought two O2 sensors originally and still using the first one.
If I was to do it now, I would look at the AEM or the new Techedge. The cheap O2 sensors on these units are quite appealing.