Ex_Pug

I've been looking into alternatives to the PPP, one of which I've never heard mentioned on this board since I've been looking, and that is the Level 2 engine management conversion offered by Graham Goode. It boasts a 50bhp hike from the "additional circuitry" on the standard ECU in conjunction with water injection. Does anyone have any experience with this set up, personal or otherwise?

The other option I most like the look of is the Link. Is there anywhere in particular that I can go to find out about what is possible with this ECU?

I don't want huge power figures just for the sake of it, Torque is more important to me really, so if anyone has any more pointers I'd be gratefull.

The car in question btw is a UK MY00 Turbo.

Many thanks.

john banks

Graham Goode's ECU options for the MY99/00 I believe are those of http://www.ecutek.co.uk and the ECU is reflashed with this technique. Other suppliers of Ecutek mapping in the UK are Bob Rawle http://www.brdevelopments.com, Ecutek themselves/Power Engineering and myself.

Bob Rawle can also sort you out with a Link ECU.

There are advantages and disadvantages to the various systems and you would do well to take you time and do some research into what you want.

P20SPD

iTrader: (1)

John being the honest man that he his, said it quite clearly. "TAKE YOUR TIME" to decide what YOU want, not what the tuner wants. Trust me, i took 2 months to decide, and at the expense off a tek2, before i fully decided (although some would say differently)

Steven

TonyBurns

iTrader: (3)

Pug,
depending on what you want to do in the future to your car is dependant on what ecu you should be purchasing now.
If you want minor mods like exhaust, filter etc then take the ecutek route, if your going for BIG power mods like FMIC, bigger turbo etc then pick an ecu like a link, Motec or GEMS as it will be cheaper in the long run.
Im not saying that the ecutek cant handle these mods but the above 3 will give you a wider range and not limit you to the limited memory available or the capacity of the standard ecu.

Tony

Tim Bomford

Email DC911 on 22b.com and he will give you his opinion on it. Put me off anyway......

Tim

Tim Bomford

Put me off the GGR one I should add!

Tim

R19KET

There are a lot of people on this bbs with re-mapped cars. I have only come across two guys running the GGR offering, and both ditched it.

IMO, the Ecutek is still in it's infancy, ant the tuners are still learning about the system, and how to get the best from it, if they are "custom mapping". I'm sure it won't be long, before it's out there, compeating with the Links/Gems, etc'.

For those wanting a Tek1~Tek2, basic re-flash, it works very well.

The Link is probably the easiest to get power out of. It may be considered "basic" by some, and to be fair, compared to the Motec, and similar, it is, but the results speak for themselves, and I've yet to see a Motec'd, or Gems car get the better of a Link'd car, when they have like for like mod's, running up to circa 1.4bar.

It's also the cheapest of the "replacement" ECU's.

For those people who are aiming at running 1.5bar +, and looking towards 400bhp, IMO, they should be looking at the Motec, Gems, Pectel.

In all cases, I'd be more concerned about WHO'S mapping the car, than the system they are using.

Mark.

Ex_Pug

Thankyou all very much for taking the time to reply. I've been reading the BRD and ECUTEK sites with interest. The hard thing to decide really, is what exactly I will want from the car. Having thought that 160bhp from a torquey 8v 205 GTi would be enough, I found myself wanting more not too much further down the road.

I'm thinking at the moment that I'm not likely to ever want more than 280bhp, but to be honest, I don't even know what 280 feels like... just seems like a good number. Is an engine likely to be just as torquey at or near this level of power? I really want a super quick road car that I don't allways have to thrash to get the most out of. It'd be nice to have that silly grin factor brought on by a kick in the pants with a brush of the throttle on boost.

If it means being flexible and allowing for possible madness in the future, above and beyound the capacity of the standard turbo, I'd rather spend a little more initially on a Link, as was suggested. For the moment though, I don't anticipate more than exhaust and induction kit to supplement the ECU for a while yet.

Am I right in thinking that the problems normally associated with replacing the standard air box with an induction kit are avoided with a Link ECU? Please forgive the daft questions, still only just over a month into Scooby ownership.

madou

Ex_Pug

Link does not use MAF. One option is to replace standard airbox and MAF with a cone fitted directly to turbo inlet ( ie ) Pipercross PX700 series

Welcome to the slippery slope :-)

Ex_Pug

Have been reading the ecutek web site in more depth, TEK2 seems like great value for money all things considered. I was also interested to read about the comparisons between the OEM units. Wanting to find out which ECU I have (but think I can probably guess anyway), I attempted to remove the screws holding down the metal plate in the passenger footwell with a screwdriver. I don't know how they did them up, but I was buggered if i could undo them with my screwdriver. Not one of them. Need more leverage perhaps.

It'd be a shame not to be able to make the most of an induction kit. The K&N on the 205 sounds excellent. Plus the novelty of whooshes from the turbo is yet to wear off, wouldn't mind hearing a little more.

john banks

Use a 10mm hex socket and ratchet handle and you'll shift them fine

Depending on what rolling road you are talking about, 280 bhp is pushing it a bit for the standard turbo. 265 - 270 BHP is perhaps more realistic on the standard turbo, and to get substantially more you need to change it. Sticking with the standard turbo you can benefit from more power across the whole range a true win/win situation as long as you don't go too far with it in which case it can get very dangerous if you are thrapping the nuts off a tiny turbo to make it go. Beyond that you are trading bottom end for better midrange and top end by fitting bigger turbos.

Go over 300 BHP and gearbox issues are more likely.

Just my personal feelings on a few turbos which I have either had or mapped:

TD04L (standard) - good boost by 2500 RPM, but dying from 5000 RPM. Personally I stick to 1.25 bar maximum on these.
TD04L hybrid £500 good boost 300 RPM later but holding longer. Reasonable to run 1.3 bar.
VF24/28/29 - good boost by 3200 RPM can hold all the way to 7000 RPM - reasonablel again for 1.3 bar.
VF23 - good boost by 3400 RPM easily holding to the top many run at 1.4 bar
Various VF hyrbids which can give the sort of power of the next one up but with little/no extra lag. I run mine at 1.5 bar and it gives the sort of spool up of a VF28. However, I needed a frount mounted intercooler to go this high on the boost safely.

A few others - no personal experience of:
VF22 - fragile compressor wheel so not ideal for high boost applications
Beyond that there are big Garrett turbos, which many feel work best with increased capacity (2.2, 2.5 litre).

As well as later onset of boost with a bigger turbo they have more lag which is the time from flooring it to getting your boost. But they do run cooler for the same airflow.

Ex_Pug

Hmm... food for thought. Thankyou very much indeed.

stanmo

iTrader: (1)

Being quite curious about the Tek range of chip mods, I was confused as to what it is, reading the PE page.

For a 99/00 UK model, it seems as if it's a reprogramming of the original ECU in situ; however reading all the posts on this forum, it looks like a drop in replacement.

Can it be both ?

I can't imagine doing anything else to my car apart from downpipe, mid-section and bb, and perhaps equal length header, so a reprogrammed ECU is likely to minimise GBH on the earholes from my better half.

Ex_Pug

The ECUTEK site states that the ECUs are swapped... you send your original unit back to them, or pay an extra £300. This is the mail order arrangement though, if you went somewhere in person, I guess it might be possible to get your existing box adjusted. Am I right in thinking that the new ECU you get sent would be a re-mapped job from someone elses car which had been sent in in exchang, or have I got the wrong end of the stick?