Fulham71

I currently have an MY 01 with PPP which was Rolling roaded at 265bhp with 244 lbs of torque
I have changed the back box & remved the centre section
Now I have decided that it might be time to replace the ECU to give some added smoothness

Has anyone got experience of the change I am considering Ie from MY01 PPP to one of the above as I want to know which one to go for !
I need the car to be totally reliable & safe & I am considering a total decat at the same time

ADVICE PLEASE !

and no I dont want to change it to an 03 or STi7 as IM not keen on a 6 speed box !

[Edited by Fulham71 - 10/17/2002 8:20:57 PM]

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Nothing wrong with 6 speed boxes especially when they can take more power than the 5 speed box you already have
But for the mods you have id say go for the ECUTEK, if your planning on bigger mods in the future then go for a Link or the GEMS, the Motec is really the daddy of them all but probably not worth the cash unless you want 380+BHP

Tony

DrEvil

MOTEC mate for the following reasons:

1 - already proven and in the right hands can reliably mapped
2 - you've got to much cash to burn and the motec will help there!

braceman

I went the Link route on my MY01 and I never regret it.
The car was measured at 270bhp, the boost builds up smoothly and no problems occured the last 8k.
I am moving on a bigger turbo, VF29, in a couple of weeks in order to break the 300 barrier.
Cheers

Kostas

PS: I also run the Link set-up with a 3 port solenoid for better boost control, that what I was told.

Nezz10

My vote goes to Link.

Bob rules.

mutant_matt

Unless you want/need the extra features of the aftermarket ECUs, it doesn't really seem worth changing it now that EcuTek are mapping the WRX MY01/02.

If you want Bob to map your car, I understand as well as mapping Motec and Links, he now also does the EcuTek too.

I don't see the point in replacing the hardware (the ECU) at some cost when in many (most?) cases, a software re-map is all you need. You get to keep the select monitor functionality and your dealer never need know....

Just IMHO.

Matt

polarbearit

Is it really worth doing? What will you get with the decat and remap, perhaps 10-20 extra BHP. I'd either not bother with the decat or do a bit more and go for a bigger turbo and uprated I/C...

T5NYW

iTrader: (4)

you could go for an STi7 MY02 or My03 and struggle with the Six speed box and a resticted PPP 300bhp and 300lbs torque just to tide you over till you can get something quicker

Tony

mutant_matt

Just re-read your question. I notice you have a PPP but the original downpipe. A friend of mine has a WRX with PPP and full decat and he got 273 on PE's rollers not so long ago.

Why don't you firstly add a downpipe which should not only give you a little extra power but should improve the drivablity a little and make it a little more responsive, which on the road counts for a lot.

If you still want more then you could sell the PPP ECU (swap it for a standard ECU + some cash) as there seems to be little point in remapping a PPP ECU when it's worth some money by itself. Get the now standard ECU remapped and that is probably as far as you can go without replacing the turbo, FMIC, up-pipe, headers etc.etc.

Matt

Fulham71

I am totally confused as to what to do now !
Any more opinions would be very much appreciated !

Deep Singh

Fulham why d'ont you mail Bob Rawle on www.brdevelopments.com.He deals in Link/Ecutek and Motec and should be able to advice on your particular requirements

David_Wallis

sort the breathing out then fueling etc.. (well both at same time really)

Full Decat.. Big turbo.. port and polish headers.. big **** off air filter...and hmm

how about a pectel?

David

Fulham71

Was hoping that someone had gone from a PPP to something else ????
No one ?

Caronte

Hi Fulham,
I was considering a Tek 2 too.. The fact is that the oe motherboards are often better built than the aftermarket, especially the Link ( if you have a picture of the internals you will be VERY dissatisfied by the components quality). The motec is betteron this but it requires to be mapped by somebody who is very good at it, and you're likely to find some problems in the day-to-day city traffic. It alllows much more parameters to be controlled, most of them you will never use ( manual fans , lauch control, bang , ecc).
I have a 01 PPP+full decat + wastegate + dumpvalve. I've got a spike in the turbo pressure @4000 rpm of about 1.4 bars that lasts only for a second. The car is huge fun as it bahave like an old turbo (poor accel. below 4000 , an explosion afterwards). I was little concerned by the reliability ( since i have to keep the car for at least 70000 miles). Tek 2 (or better i would like a tek 3) could be a valid option. But first I need to do a Dyno to check the output.

Andrea

SecretAgentMan

...so the pure look of components on the ECU board is a reason NOT to buy it?

That's the most stupid thing I've read in a long time (sorry).

The link works VERY well...extremely well even, do I give a flyin' **** if it happens to look a tad cheap compared to a stock ECU?

FFS

/J

Running a link for 2 yrs now...and got my mere MY00 to do 12.72@110 in the quarter - it's prolly still crap as it looks cheap. Whatever...

CraigH

Jerry,

That's why your time was so slow then!

Caronte

Yes it is a good reason; actually the most stupid things is to believe that if you do 12 secs or whatever it is the time , then your ecu is Good..

SecretAgentMan

Well it must be pure crap since my car only puts out about 340 horsies at the crank...



/J

SecretAgentMan

From here on I'll buy the things that looks pretty, and forget performance and facts.

Thank you for enlightening me Caronte.



/J

CraigH

Caronte....

So the Link components don't look very good - have they EVER failed? If they have it's certainly not a large number. Probably similar to oem ECU's.

So the components don't look as good as oem - and? What the hell has that got to do with the price of dogfood? I suppose the fact it allows better control of ignition/fuelling/boost isn't important?

Caronte

would you buy an advertised Pentium IV for then realizing it has a 486 inside, for the price of a Pentium IV?
I wouldn't. Performance wise , It may be showing all hp you need, but when it comes to monitoring parameters, what's the processing speed to correct errors? only fast CPU's can manage fast frequency data.

Bearing in mind that engineers of the Subaru spent years of reserch to build and map the ECU. They're not the first to arrive!

That's why TeK 2 seems a valid product. The ECU is the same, the original code has been cracked. Now it's only a matter of correcting it in the best possible way to match everyone's individual modifications.

I wouldn't personally buy a Link, neither a Motec. But everyone is free to do what he belives are his necessities.

Having said that, I hope you enjoy your investment as much as I do.

Andrea

ptholt

'Bearing in mind that engineers of the Subaru spent years of reserch to build and map the ECU.'

That may be the case, but it was also to make the car appeal to a mass audience not necessarily tune it for better performance etc. Which is why all the high power cars i've seen have been running after market ecu's.........

Caronte

not necessary. it depends how much you alter the engine. Race cars need different maps because they are completely different..A WRC behaves like a diesel engine and the engine is completely modified. A road car can be modified heavily too, then a different ECU could be the case but then again I wouldn't reccomend a Link. I would buy a professional one bearing in mind that it was not created for city conditions.

It's all a matter of HOW MUCH the car has to be modified and HOW LONG it has to last.

Andrea

SecretAgentMan

...so now the Link isn't a professional item... *lmao*

And how much hands on experience have you got with it? Or would it be limited to looking at them on the net?



If it works (as it obviously does) why wouldn't it be a perfectly good choice for a high powered car?

And my car actually drives better than my old OE ECU did...in town and on the highway.

Got better mileage as well..

And the fact that power has increased somewhat.

It all adds up to the simple fact that the link looks cheap, therefore it must be crap.

I can see what you mean.



/J

CraigH

I ran a GEMs ECU.

Like Jerry, the car was MUCH nicer to drive than with the stock one - fuel economy was vastly better - starting and idling was as good, just different.

With regard to ECU CPU speeds, I doubt that the difference between an oem or aftermarket (cheaper side such as Link)is much different in the time it actually takes to relay sensor information. Subaru ECUs are hardly the last word in cutting edge automotive technology are they?

It's also strange that these "inferior" ECU's do a very good job (when mapped properly of course) in ironing out any potential issues inherant in the standard item.

So you can make your car safer, more economical and more powerful/torquey - and the downside is the inside looks cheap. I must've missed the point

carlos_hiraoka

it is all about the way it "looks" ..... BTW Jerry since you have fitted the LINK ECU have you ever had any MAF related problems (I don't seem to find one on my engine ) ?

Carlos H.

CraigH

You gotta admit MAFs look nice - I've got 4 used as door stops

carlos_hiraoka

I have found the MAF on my engine ..... although it has been slightly modified (no hot wire or film inside anymore ), it's main use right now is to hold a cone type air filter, and the previous one is used to hold pencils

Carlos H.

Caronte

cool

A demonstration of mental eruditism.

A democratic forum of flexible and mostly passionate people.

A sad representation of the level of the average impreza driver.

A way to prove that below 18 drivers exist.

An incentive to create another forum.

Another way of showing openmindness to the rest of the world and forget about the segregation the water brings to those that appreciate mushrooms

carlos_hiraoka

HOW LONG ????? Well my totally stock STi ver. 4 with stock JECS ECU only lasted 6 months (running SUL), I guess this was due to the "years of research"

Carlos H.