apinto

Hi,

i´m after an aftermarket engine management system.

Of course my first thought was to the Link. Talking to a prep in the UK he mentioned the Autronic systems.

Question is: does anyone uses Autronic ECU? If so, can you compare them with link systems?

Thanks for your help.

wrrjones

Autronic all the way compaird to the link the link is deffinatly second rate and very basic .. but price range wise if you are looking at Autronic then you are allso looking at Motec which i prefer to autronic...

but forget link .. might as well got for a Apexi power fc ..

chris

apinto

Thanks for your reply. But tell me, does the apexi power fc allows you to bypass the air flow meter and o2 sensor? what tuner imports those in the uk?

Thanks.

wrrjones

hi

the fc is maf based whers as the motec or autrionic can be ether map or maf based as with the link but the link is so basic ... chris

all use lambda for closed loop but you can buy pass it .. i dont use std lambda for mapping at all ... it gets disconected...

chris

megrac

Link will be releasing there new g3 "40mhz" link in a few months and the spec sheet looks very much like that of a motec or autronic but will cost nealy the same.
I'm in the same boat and think i have made my mind up with the autronic sm4.
My personal felling is the plugin links(6row) are fine upto and around 330hp and don't seem to cause much problems at that point, then the link plus is good for a bit more but still suffers the same fate.
Do it once and do it right, it'll save you money in the long run.

harvey

iTrader: (48)

I use a six row Link on MY 95 WRX Wagon around 400bhp. I am using that as I wanted to delete the MAF which was important at the time. That may be less of a consideration now and so the ApexiPower FC would be a choice with more refinement.
The Link has no temperature compensation which would be nice.
On the STi MY 00 Wagon, I used a 10 row Link with temperature compensation and it was a capable system. 585 bhp.
On the new engine which has some additional features and 600+ bhp Bob Rawle is fitting a Motec M800.

Bob Rawle

Motec M400 ... no question. (800 is even better but only if you need all the extra's) Link does a good job within its limitations, the V5 link is actually very good if you use all its capability. With care the 6 row can also do a good enough job as Harvey mentions, its ideal for first time mapper experience.

Can't comment on Autronic but as its similar to Motec I would stick with Motec, Power FC, again no comment's yet.

bob

apinto

Thanks for all the reply´s guy´s.

That leaves me with a single question: for a light prep car (intake,exhaust) my best buy would be...?

wrrjones: if the apexi fc is maf based, it not suits me them. I´m looking to get the maf sensor out of my engine bay as soon as possible....don´t like those things...always failing

Many thanks people.

David_Wallis

That is absolute bollox.

Neither Autronic nor Motec are MAF based.

I use an Autronic SM2 with a 1.94 chip

David

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

Can't speak for Autronic but Chris is right about the MoTec.... you have the option of which type to use for the Load point, MAP, MAF, TPS etc.

Or at least i though you did.

Tony.

Pavlo

Autronic is cheaper than Motec, but perhaps not quite as fully featured. What effect this will have will depend on your spec and what you need.

For a lightly tuned car, I would say stay with the MAF and go with an ECUTEK or Power FC (PFC from 93-00 only). Despite what you may think the MAF is not a restrictive item, more an inconvenience in terms of fitting the pipe work around it.

The Autronic is available as a plug in unit for 93-04 with boards available for the latest fly by wire cars shortly (could well be done already).

For a Subaru the Autronic will give you 95% of what the motec does in features (the other 5% you won't be interested in anyway) for less money.

The Ecuteck, Power Fc, Autronic, Link and Motec are only going to be as good as the person mapping them, don't skimp here.

Paul

David MY99

í'm with Pavlo on this for what it's worth

David_Wallis

toneLoc,

Ive never seen a motec with a MAF but ill stand corrected.

Autronic Does not, and can do Map, TPS, etc..

Can even do turboshaftspeed input and EGBP out of the box.

David

harvey

iTrader: (48)

Apinto: I am not sure what MY car you have but if getting rid of the MAF is important then go for a Link. It is a cost effective solution and like Bob Rawle said, ideal for first time mapping experience.

Tone Loc

iTrader: (1)

David,

Don't suppose you have a .cal file you could send me do you.... doesn't matter what the map is or what state of tune.

Tony.

apinto

Harvey: thanks mate. My car is a MY97 and i´m starting to think that the link is my best option indeed.

Well can´t really trust the MAF sensor ´cause it´s been proved around many impreza forums that this little devil can cause heavy detonation when failing. As i´m not sure of the accuracy of the knock and lambda link to detect detonation and perform correct reading of fuel/air mix i´m going for the ECU.

Thanks again people.

john banks

I feel that removing a MAF sensor - unless you have to - is going to produce more issues than it solves. They really are the best way of accurately fuelling an engine for daily driver duties anyway. Knock and lambda link are enough to tell you if it has failed which I don't think it commonly does on MY97.

apinto

Well John, thing is, i´ve bought an APS induction kit for my car. I´ve it running with no probs on my car for at least 3 months. Now the MAF failed and i don´t know if it is related with the APS intake. I don´t feel safe buying another MAF with all the talk surrounding misconception of the APS intake so i´m going for the ECU.
But now you say it brings more probs than expected. I respect your opinion from what i´ve read, so if you can help me on wich direction i should be going it would be great.

And for what is worth...APS intake...yes or no?

john banks

Opinions on this differ, but I've found the APS CAK on my MY00 with the standard MAF has been great. I have not found that it limits power up to 450 BHP, and it keeps the induction temperatures in check. However, there are respected people that dislike the APS CAK. What I like is that it extends the range of the MAF sensor quite nicely, obviously needs to be mapped for because of this, and I did not have any MAF failures on my car. I changed the MAF a few years back when the double green dot thing was talked about, and ran this until recently.

I now run a PowerFC without a MAF sensor using a box I made, but it is hardly for public consumption as it has some custom electronics. I only run this because I have a ported shroud 4" inlet that doesn't work well with a MAF sensor. Blow through MAF is another option that has been tried by some and can work well.

If you can run a MAF, I would and would get a PowerFC put on it.

But there are many opinions on this topic...