need one of the above ,
who can recommend either of the two.

 

i think the pfc is cheaper, and the simtec has more add ons you can have.

what are your mods/goals?

 

so far ive just fitted a fmic & vf23 (only had a td04 on) ,blitz exhaust&induction
with a few more mods would like to see 330-380 max
had a wrx with 331

 

If you can justify the extra cost of the simek then it's a no brainer.
Simtek is Maf less and you can have anti lag and launch control.
The PFC is AFAIK not made anymore.

I'm saving up for a simtek....

 

Simtek is the way forward.

 

Personally, dont bother with launch control/antilag. Anti lag is just for noise(showing off) and launch control needs to be set up for different road/track surfaces, else your car will bog down or spin wheels too much.

Yes I have a Simtek

Andy

 

For your goal of 380bhp, I'd say go for the PF and commander. Do you really need all the extras of the Simtek?

Pound for pound the PF and Commander is an excellant bit of kit at a great cost.

Yes the Simtek is better, but you'll only get the benifit if you plan on doing track days, or taking the car to 400bhp+.

I've got the PF and Commander, I've had my car mapped to 330bhp and now I can forget about. Simply great bit of kit.

 

simtek all the way, eliminates the need for maf, which on later model classics is very weak, dont think there is massive price difference between the two, im going down the simtek track.

 

https://www.scoobynet.com/private-sa...ml#post7965697

 

The dual maps feature is very handy, as well as being able to prgram the CEL light for various alarms. The Simtec also is smoooooth around town some would argue better than the original ECU!! I don't think BHP tagets should deter you from a Simtec i'm only running about 322 on mine but its nice to lose the MAF.

 

Power FC.

Pick one up from ebay brand new for £360, i did.

And what do you need with anit lag? Turn up the over run on your power fc if you wont pops and bangs.

I think most of the top tunners use power fc in there own car's too

 

not anymore

 

Andy F is still using his Apexis for the moment but has a SimTek being built for his rather special requirements...
Bob Rawle recently swapped his Motec for a SimTek and has commented publicly about how much better the car drives..
My own car will be on SimTek as are most of our customers drag and hillclimb cars which compete at a local level ...
Apexi has had its day and the extra cost of the SimTek is only a couple of tanks full of petrol by the time you have had either fitted and mapped...

 

When i was looking for an ECU, i would have defo bought an Apexi PFC if they had ever made the d-jetro model available for Impreza's, as it turns out they never did but made it for every other marque you can mention Nissan, Mitsubishi etc.. It beats me as to why they didn't, with this you can lose the MAF and then with the additional harness that it comes with and all the sensors your ready to go. Anyway more than happy with the Simtec now and i dont have a large green t-shirt stuck to my dashboard

having said that i did hear that they are working on a protocol for AIM guages to display engine data etc much like the Apexi

 

i think simtek sounds best could get it done next week too,
there is only about £100 difference between the two of them + the maf is gone.
somebody mentioned the dastek any views on that one

 

what about hydra has all the goodies too

 

PFC!

That's what I've got, had no problems what so ever with it. Obviously you'll get the commander handset as well which saves p!ss farting about and overall it's just good lol.

 

was running Apexi on both cars.. but switched the higher power one to a SimTek.. considering switching the other one too

Simon

 

Couple of simtek questions chaps..

If you change the air intake does the car need to be remapped like with a MAF/ecutek car ?

Are subsequent remaps cheaper than the initial one - even if from a different mapper ?

Do you still need an AVCR, any benefit from keeping it on if already fitted ?

Can the original ecu be sold on with ecutek licence ?

 

Depends on how radically you change the intake system , and whether or not your new design has similar flow characteristics...
I have seen some very poorly thought out intake systems on Imprezas , one such system when swapped for a better setup raised boost by .3 bar and gained 50hp with no other changes....

Will depend on the mapper , we charge £60 an hour for subsequent remaps on our own SimTeks , changing mapper will require you to purchase your own software and dongle for the new mapper to be able to access it (Unless access can be agreed with the previous mapper ) .... I have recently allowed Andy F to access one of our ecus for a customer who lives in Scotland to have a Scottimax map done for map 2...

You do not require an external boost controller as the SimTek has very good gear based control , and a very good closed loop system , a 3 port solenoid would be favourable though...

Yes the original ecu and licence can be sold on...

 

also other stand alone systems like autronics and motec etc, although they are a bit mor money

 

power fc here and i think its a great bit of kit, it cost me 700 all in to get the ecu, commander and have it mapped, the simtek would have been another 400 for me and at the time i had no spare cash....the apexi does everything its supposed to and the commander is a very handy tool for monitoring things like boost, injector duty cycle and knock, plus its wired to the CEL light to flash early if it had a bad batch of fuel, you can also run a sensor check on the voltages for the MAF etc and will give an early indication if one is on the way out

personally i have no need for anti lag or launch control, but andy did map in extra fuel on over-run so it pops and bangs nicely with a few flames when the exhaust is hot

overall i think it is a good system and the cold start and idle is now smoother than the standard ecu, cant fault it to date and i like the fact the commander tells you what going on.

if u want the anti-lag/launch control and to go mafless then go simtek if u have the extra cash but for my level of tuning the apexi does the job and does it well :-)

 

I thought the vf23 would be flat out at 340bhp ,
i have the apexi and its great,like someone mentioned mine is set up via the aircon button to pop and bang and it really does

 

i no the vf 23 is not the biggest turbo by far but for the moment it will do.
as for the ecu ,still split between the two of them,could do with one pretty soon.
anybody?

 

The Apexi is a step up once you have a few mods and it is generally a cheaper option than the Simtek. However, you get what you pay for and like I said 18 months ago, the Simtek is in a different league and compares well with GEMS, Motec and anything else on the market at a couple of price levels above where the Simtek is pitched.
I had an Apexi Power FC and was impressed with the smoothness compared to the Link it replaced (6 row) but it did not produce the power that the Link can produce. The Simtek was just as smooth as the Apexi, picked up more power and that car is now 422 bhp on one of my own TD05-06 20Gs on V-Power plus NF. I was happy enough with the first Simtek to put a second one on my STi 3 Wagon which is 371 bhp at present.
I am toying with the idea of fitting a Simtek to my STi 6 Wagon currently running a Motec M800.
If you can justify the money, just as someone already said, go for the Simtek but if funds are tight the Apexi will give you a leg up the ladder.

 

I'm glad the ECU I sold you is being put to good use and all is well with it

 

I would have one tomorrow... but nobody seems to want to sell the mapping software with the ecu to allow self mapping

So for the time being i'll stick with my Apexi, for the cost and ease of use its brilliant and allows for practically all of my planned future upgrades. ( 2.5 block / bigger injectors etc.. )

I think you have to ask yourself, do i REALLY need the extra features? and do i REALLY need to go mafless? - if yes, then its the one to get!

 

been thinking about this long & hard now and maybe the simtek is a bit o,t,t,
for my needs , im not going for big power or track days,just possibly the odd r.w.y.b.
the power fc then it is ,do any of you guys no of or have one for sale

 

when you guys are on about anti-lag on the simtek, is it real anti-lag (ie need to buy/fit a throttle kicker) or just the pretend neg timing pops and bangs?

why/how is it possible to get more power out of the simtek as apposed to the apexi? (or are we just talking a few horses)

 

apexi fitted great bit of kit the car runs smoother, idles better and gives you hands on engine parameters info. as for the maf the commander gives a nice big readout on mv voltage spot early sign of trouble.