Home made Turbo kits.

[DubSteve]

I would say if the car is custom then yes a standalone system would be the way to go, but if your car is stock then a chip would be the way I reckon just for a little something extra.

I have to agree with Golf Houso though a standalone in a NA would probably bring out all its potential

[Golf Houso]

Please... keep me updated Peter Jones
Oh and if you ask nicely on the Tex' people will share their tunes with you

A chip is good on a stock car as Steve said, but if you want to make the most out of the mods, particularly on an uncommon or custom set up, it seems standalone is the only option.

I want to assemble my own MegaSquirt ecu for my 2.0. They're a bargain if you happen to have good electronic and micro processor skills.

I'm still researching the options here.

Pete

[DubSteve]

A chip is good on a stock car as Steve said, but if you want to make the most out of the mods, particularly on an uncommon or custom set up, it seems standalone is the only option.

Don't forget though in saying that a chip can do a bit to other than just give you a little lift it can perform better for your buck.

I have a chip with cams, headers, and porting programs incorporated into it pre by the manufacturer. This was a good option at the time so I went for it.

I know of another VR not on the forums just finished a 15g engine rebuild as a daily running 280 cams. Hes about to put a standalone in there but for now hes running off the stock comp and it moves reallly well!!!

[Peter Jones]

Please... keep me updated Peter Jones
Oh and if you ask nicely on the Tex' people will share their tunes with you

Oh I will, don't worry about that. I'm not one to trumpet stuff I might do (Unlike some others around here ) but you'll read all about it here when it's under way.

I like the MegaSquirt approach to things and the open source nature of the system, it seems very flexible. I need to decide on the rest of the induction approach for the motor but I'm swaying towards forced induction at the moment and watching the turbo vs supercharger debate with interest.

It looks to me regardless of the induction type Fuel injection is the way to go. MegaSquirt is probably the most complex option, but I work with far more complex electronic systems here at work every day and I'm well tooled up for this stuff.

Pete

[Golf Houso]

Don't forget though in saying that a chip can do a bit to other than just give you a little lift it can perform better for your buck.

I have a chip with cams, headers, and porting programs incorporated into it pre by the manufacturer. This was a good option at the time so I went for it.

I know of another VR not on the forums just finished a 15g engine rebuild as a daily running 280 cams. Hes about to put a standalone in there but for now hes running off the stock comp and it moves reallly well!!!

Thats right, the performance of the mods are greater than the sum of their parts, he probably is moving well, but imagine how much better he will be moving when he puts the standalone in

I look forward to reading about your build Mr. Jones. And if it ends up going well, I might just end up buying a mk1 or doing something equally brash and going all out! But yeah... megasquirt is great, if you can get a tune or tuner that is

[BL33SU]

zzzZZZZZ TUTUTTUTUT

[DubSteve]

Thats right, the performance of the mods are greater than the sum of their parts, he probably is moving well, but imagine how much better he will be moving when he puts the standalone in

Thats right he was going to get it installed in the next couple of days so very eagerly excited to see this thing move!

When the time comes to go FI I'm still contemplaiting running standalone or running the chip that is provided at the time I'm still looking at different SC kits however I have narrowed it down to 2 one being the VF kit and the other being the BahnBrenner one. However thats for another thread and another day

[Golf Houso]

zzzZZZZZ TUTUTTUTUT

Shhhssssshh I'll make a midnight club thread soon...

[Valver.]

Well, thats in the circumstances where it isn't tuned properly, find the right tuner and you will never have a problem. And if you do end up having a problem, you can just come back for free to upload the tune. Do you have that level of support from a chip manufacturer?

No way. No matter who tunes your car, it will never, ever - not even close - run like a factory tuned ECU, which has been tested from below minus temps, to soaring heat, tuned in all possible driving conditions, and on engine and chassis dynos, honed over years at a total cost of a few hundred million dollars.

If you can find a chip that simply edits the existing maps to handle boost pressure, big cam overlap or whatever it may be, then that is far and away a better option.

I've tried both a few times now, and driven plenty of cars in similar circumstances and aftermarket ECUs are **** compared to stock ones. No honest tuner anywhere in the world will claim to get a factory-esque car for a $5k ECU install. It just isn't possible.

A perfect example is the Motec Australia Gallardo (the previous one), which they insisted on murdering with a new ECU. It never ran the same, and this was tuned by the best aftermarket ECU manufacturer in the world...

And anyway, who the hell would pay thousands for a new ECU in a Mk5 GTI, for example, when for about a grand you can get a GIAC flash, which has had far more RnD thrown at it in multiple countries of the world.

[Preen59]

No way. No matter who tunes your car, it will never, ever - not even close - run like a factory tuned ECU, which has been tested from below minus temps, to soaring heat, tuned in all possible driving conditions, and on engine and chassis dynos, honed over years at a total cost of a few hundred million dollars.

If you can find a chip that simply edits the existing maps to handle boost pressure, big cam overlap or whatever it may be, then that is far and away a better option.

I've tried both a few times now, and driven plenty of cars in similar circumstances and aftermarket ECUs are **** compared to stock ones. No honest tuner anywhere in the world will claim to get a factory-esque car for a $5k ECU install. It just isn't possible.

A perfect example is the Motec Australia Gallardo (the previous one), which they insisted on murdering with a new ECU. It never ran the same, and this was tuned by the best aftermarket ECU manufacturer in the world...

And anyway, who the hell would pay thousands for a new ECU in a Mk5 GTI, for example, when for about a grand you can get a GIAC flash, which has had far more RnD thrown at it in multiple countries of the world.

Exactly. Why do you think no one ever uses a stand alone ECU on a standard engine to improve the performance of it? HMMMM....

The only time you would use an aftermarket ECU is if you standard engine management won't work with the equipment you are going to use. And for a street car with minimal modifications, the factory ECU will have enough scope to work with that engine.