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skorpioskorpio · 05-01-2014, 01:28 PM

So as crazy as some of this stuff may seem the one part that still gives me pause is the ECU. After reading and reading and reading, then calling and finding out I've totally misunderstood what I was reading, now I'm looking at an ECU that seems to actually do what the docs seem to indicate it does. I was planning on using the AEM Series II, then the AEM Infinity 6h, then maybe the full featured Infinity 8, but they are closed up and I can't do what I want with any of them, Holley Dominator and FAST xfi 2.0 were the same. So I started looking at some higher end stuff, the problem is the price tag, it's a holy crap moment.

So I'm now considering going with a MoTeC M600, it's a whole other thing. Open definable message logging and message output over CAN, you can add expanders to increase I/O, is very oriented towards the type of induction limitations I have (no MAP or MAF or stable vacuum source) and can do most of it's air/fuel adjustment based on closed loop Lambda monitoring of the exhaust. I can't even bring myself to say what this magic box costs in a public forum, but lets just say if you bought 2 of the top of the line boxes from Holley or AEM or FAST it would cost you less than an M600 and if you wanted the M800 (the 8 cyl box) you could buy all 3.

The MoTeC is a pretty special animal though, not that it does it out of the box, but it can be made to do some stuff that really makes you re-evaluate what you thought you knew about ECUs. They have hooks for GPS mapping and can adjust your engine management to change as you go around a track, they have add ons to manage power so you can essentially eliminate your fuse block and regulate, limit and manage power via software, they have out of vehicle remote monitoring that allows a crew to tweek your vehicle as you are driving it, way out there stuff, really expensive stuff.

There also seems to be no deals on the MoTeC, pretty much the same cost no matter where you go. The unterminated harness cost is just silly, so I'll have to build my own from scratch, which is OK. Even though you can define the CAN message format, what the gauges I was going to use understand is apparently *not* standard CAN but some variation of CAN used by OEM ECUs that is typically sent over ODBII, not really CAN. This means I'll probably need double senders for almost everything I have a gauge for, what a PITA.

Also a hindsight moment, apparently if I had ordered my Moser axles with the lobes for antilock brakes, with the sensors the MoTeC can use those for launch control, may re-address that sometime down the road, we'll see.

05-01-2014, 01:28 PM	#121
skorpioskorpio Registered User Join Date: Nov 2010 Location: Los Angeles, CA Posts: 1,018	Re: Project Madera: A Jimmy GT So as crazy as some of this stuff may seem the one part that still gives me pause is the ECU. After reading and reading and reading, then calling and finding out I've totally misunderstood what I was reading, now I'm looking at an ECU that seems to actually do what the docs seem to indicate it does. I was planning on using the AEM Series II, then the AEM Infinity 6h, then maybe the full featured Infinity 8, but they are closed up and I can't do what I want with any of them, Holley Dominator and FAST xfi 2.0 were the same. So I started looking at some higher end stuff, the problem is the price tag, it's a holy crap moment. So I'm now considering going with a MoTeC M600, it's a whole other thing. Open definable message logging and message output over CAN, you can add expanders to increase I/O, is very oriented towards the type of induction limitations I have (no MAP or MAF or stable vacuum source) and can do most of it's air/fuel adjustment based on closed loop Lambda monitoring of the exhaust. I can't even bring myself to say what this magic box costs in a public forum, but lets just say if you bought 2 of the top of the line boxes from Holley or AEM or FAST it would cost you less than an M600 and if you wanted the M800 (the 8 cyl box) you could buy all 3. The MoTeC is a pretty special animal though, not that it does it out of the box, but it can be made to do some stuff that really makes you re-evaluate what you thought you knew about ECUs. They have hooks for GPS mapping and can adjust your engine management to change as you go around a track, they have add ons to manage power so you can essentially eliminate your fuse block and regulate, limit and manage power via software, they have out of vehicle remote monitoring that allows a crew to tweek your vehicle as you are driving it, way out there stuff, really expensive stuff. There also seems to be no deals on the MoTeC, pretty much the same cost no matter where you go. The unterminated harness cost is just silly, so I'll have to build my own from scratch, which is OK. Even though you can define the CAN message format, what the gauges I was going to use understand is apparently not standard CAN but some variation of CAN used by OEM ECUs that is typically sent over ODBII, not really CAN. This means I'll probably need double senders for almost everything I have a gauge for, what a PITA. Also a hindsight moment, apparently if I had ordered my Moser axles with the lobes for antilock brakes, with the sensors the MoTeC can use those for launch control, may re-address that sometime down the road, we'll see.