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The mkiv Supra Owners Club

ECU's


Markie

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Hi all,

 

Sorry for this silly question, still learning.. But I have read alot of people havinf these HKS ECU or APEX ones.. What is the difference between these and the standard ECU?

 

I thought the standard ones settings can just be adjusted, so just wondering if someone has some info on this.. Or have I been lazy again and there is in fact a thread already explaining this..

 

Many Thanks,

 

Markie.

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Go faster brum brum.

Full customisable (is that a word ?) and lots of extras above stock ecu.

Sometimes nice mapping (tuning) software and lovely graphs.

Its like doing the garden, yes you could let nature take its course - or you could bring some accelerated order to the proceedings ;)

 

And for a technical answer, ask just about anyone else on this BBS. lol :)

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Any idea on what is the best one is out there for the VVT-i's?

 

I am wondering about whats involved in getting/installing one. Ohh I should mention price aswell, dont want to get interested in getting one when they are silly money.

 

Anyone installed one of this upgraded ECU's? I would welcome feedback on them..

 

Many Thanks Guys,

 

Markie.

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What's your goal with the car? What's your budget?

The VVTi has less options readily available and fully tested.

I'm currently getting a GReddy eManage piggyback ECU (fueling and timing control) working on a VVTi. This is the budget approach. It's £400 for the unit + mapping + WB02 sensor + all other incidental costs.

 

The MAP ECU is another piggyback at your disposal - far simpler to setup for the VVTi but it's also not got as many features.

 

Top of the range would be the Autronic SM4 or something like that which is a complete replacement ECU. Think the bill for that will start at £2k.

 

I don't know about the HKS ECU's so can't advise on them - all I do know is that you would be limited to just a couple of tuners in the UK (inc TDI who's stuff I see you have already).

 

Don't know if the Apex'i Power FC will work on a VVTi.

 

As far as I know - The AEM/GEMS plug and play replacement ECU is not compatible, at least not as a full replacement ECU...but it probably could be used as an expensive piggyback.

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First of all, the stock ECU is not adjustable or remappable. There are several approaches to ECU upgrades:-

 

1. Stanalone replacement. These are replacement ECUs that are fully mappable and have loads of extra features. They are generic though, so you must create a set of maps from scratch (or from a base map which the installer has) which takes a fair bit of time and therefore money. They are also quite expensive. Examples are AEM, Autronic etc.

 

2. Piggy back. These attach to the standard ECU and intercept the signals going to and from it. That allows you to make changes to the standard maps. They are less flexible because you are dealing with changes to a base map which you don't know rather than setting absolute values for things. But, they need less setup as you have the standard map to fall back on, and cheaper. Example would be the Emanage.

 

3. Modified original ECUs/piggy backs. These are mods that have been made to the original ECU, complete replacements or piggy backs that have pre-defined maps for the Supra programmed in. These maps will handle extra boost or whatever that the standard ECU map doesn't cater for. Examples are Mines, one of the HKS FCON things (can't remember which is which now). You can't reprogramme them yourself though.

 

HTH.

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Honey Hell!!

 

What a choice..

 

Do these options give good return on the power side then?

 

Looking at it, I think I will save for the total replacement, providing it gives me more options for future moding and good increase in power.

 

Would these also benifit then the air/fuel mixture. I am guessing they would?

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  • 5 years later...
well the ECU won't benefit you on it's own without bigger injectors etc

 

 

I wouldnt agree with you on this mate.

 

A std ecu has a generic file on it which can not possibly from factory give every engine the same optimisation.

 

Eaven tho every engine is built to the same spec on the bench they will never be optimised on the same map ..

 

This said you could not gain the same results fitting a piggy back as you could a full stand alone.

 

I have always said a stand alone ecu mod is a safe and sensible way to start you project or built ..

 

:)

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