I've got a PPP'd 54 plate (05 model) STI and its time for an performance upgrade as the brakes and suspension mods are done. I've bought a 3" pulse extraction exhaust and the Tracktive ceramic coated manifold and up pipe, which is waiting to be fitted.

I was just going to fit these and get a ECU remap but I'm considering a standalone ECU such as Simtek, Hydra, etc instead of a current ECU remap.

The reason for considering the standalone ECU now is to reduce the overall cost of my future planned stage 2 mods (turbo, injectors, etc).

I'm guessing supply, fit and set-up for a standalone ECU is approx £1400.

Any advice and recommendations of ECU's would be great .

 

best ecu bar none out there is solris, but will be £1500+some, for £1400 then simtek is about your only option

 

The newage ecu is very capable, Duncan (Dynamix) is running his a car at 540bhp and 603 lb/ft on the standard ecu. So I would save the money and put it towards something else.

Banny

 

Here's another vote for the OEM Denso ECU

I'm not quite sure if the 05 ECU does in gear boost control but you always fix that with an AVCR

Shaun

 

05 STi doesn't have in gear boost comp available in the standard code.
So running/operating code would have to be modified to allow it to be mapped in.
ECUTEK may of worked around this, but Opensource mapping does not have the access.

IIRC it's only on the WRX 2003>.

 

Would there be enough room on the ECU for a Megarom or is that only the later JDM's ?

Shaun

 

The Megarom is JDM only as far as I know. I know some of the ROM's have Per Gear Boost target values and Per Gear Wastegate comp., but tbh it's not a huge issue here, I'd stick with the OEM ECU, you're not after anything that it can't cater for.

 

Quite a bold statement that one! Care to explain why the Solaris or Simtek are any better than a Hydra?

 

i hadn't considered hydra tbh, i thought it was over the £1500+ mark as well so if not i stand corrected. as far as y better, it has all the same features and more on board proccessing power.

 

Tidgy,
The Hydra ECU is £695 for the ECU. It has enough processing power to cope with my spec, so should be absolutely fine for the OP.

Wolfie28,
Give Richard Bulmer a call at Tracktive Solutions regarding the Hydra ECU if you want further information.

 

fair enough, how much is fitting and mapping though? does it come with a loom for the car or is that extra?

 

simtek my vote

 

speak to steve simpson @teg sport will give ya good price and mapping is great explains whats going on
gazza

 

Tidgy,
That includes the loom and iirc it is circa £500 on top to fit and map.

 

05 STi has in gear boost compensation, wastegate compensation and many other nice features as do many more models than your statement suggests.

From an end user perspective I would say the Solaris if you need full datalogging, Simtek if not. There are more options such as Autronic, Gems, Hydra etc. but I would ask the opinion of your chosen 'mapper'; they will be best placed to advise.

 

Many thanks for the input/opinions folks . I'll speak to the specialist in the New Year and see what he recommends.

 

check your figures tidge.

• E1S96 - Covers MY93-MY96 Series 1 RRP £ 800
• E1S97 - Covers MY97-MY98 Series 4 RRP £ 800
• E1S99 - Covers MY99-MY00 Series 5 RRP £ 895
• E1S02 - Covers MY01-MY06 ‘Newage’ Non Drive By Wire RRP £1050

The SimTek ECU range are only available ‘installed and mapped’. This is included in the RRP. All prices exclude VAT.

Those are the figures taken from the Simtek website.

 

It may well have but as I stated above the OpenSource mapping applications (you will know what I mean) currently do not have access/defintions for the STi models wastegate per gear comp, only WRX. Unless of course the latest version has found/enabled these functions.

 

It has in some of the ROM's I've seen.

 

and the ones I have seen.

If controlled properly there should be no reason why the std ecu will not do a great job.

The 05+ 32 bit ecu does have extra facilities in Open Source mapping that arent available through std ecutek such as flat throttle shifting & launch control - there are swings and roundabouts.

However, I have now switched to Solaris and it is a much smoother drive than trying to push that far on the std ecu. I don't think you would notice this until well over 400bhp but there are advantages to switching ecu to a proper aftermarket one.

To answer Shaun's point about the differences between Hydra, Simtek and Solaris. I don't think many (or even any) have tried all three on their cars apart from the long established mappers in the community, but I did analyse the pro's and con's of each and decide which would be best for my needs before i made the move... Solaris was the answer for me.

Wolfie - be aware that if you are moving away from the OE ecu to 'some' aftermarket ecu's then you are losing some very important engine safety features such as knock control. I reckon this is quite a big point for a road car where you would need to go back to the mapper to understand/investigate why each time DET/knock happens.

 

Whilst not necessary to suit your intended mods, the £650 for an Ecutek re-map would be wasted at the next stage when you do swap ecu's. My car is a "keeper", so I'm probably heading for a Simtek next.

Or do I pay out for an AVCR boost controller and a re-map ?

I've spent £1000 on two maps over two years, and next time will make it £1350... but I didn't have the budget to jump to an aftermarket ecu AND do the turbo swap, etc. Currently limited to 1.55 bar (boost) as the std ecu can't manage any more.

Think about your plans !

Goos Luck too.

dunx

 

The standard ECU can go above 1.55 bar, no problems. I think by going over that limit you may lose the fuel cut over boosting feature, someone will confirm.

 

Duncan - Did your move include which one you could get the best deal on?! Also regarding Knock Control..... were you not aware that the Hydra does in fact have KC as your statement above suggests it does not?

Wolfie,
All joking apart, I suggest the single biggest "bit" is the mapper, regardless of chosen path imo. OK you can not polish a turd, but I suspect people appreciate what I am saying. To further back that up, a couple of "respected" tuners suggested that a certain ECU was not good and it was impossible to get it to run right on a car. Strange that, since mine hums along very very nicely even on virtual 1150cc hosepipes. More behind the scenes bull****.

Get the ECU that meets your needs now and potentially in the future..... second from that, make sure you find someone that actually knows your engine and how to map effectively and reliably.

Good Luck.

 

I wasnt aware of that Shaun but I have to be honest and say that the software looked a little dated and I couldnt see a way to select more than one cell or interpolate between them. It may have been just me. From a driveability point of view I am sure it works perfectly as your car shows.

'Deals' were note part of the decision process. I would never run anything that wasnt the right thing just because I got a deal on it.