Mapped Ignition

[thenick]

Hi all,

Now I know that there are a fair few of these posts flying around at the moment so I will try and avoid repeating whats already been said!

I am currently looking into fitting the Omex 710 system to my Chim 450, I have already changed the trumpets and induction and figured that before I change the heads and decat the car to compliment the cherry bomb exhaust I should change the ignition. I am looking to upgrade a fair bit more after this so i'm thinking a solid ecu would be a good starting point. My question is which of the rivals to the 710 are worth looking at? I am aware of Emerald, Megasquirt and a couple of others but am unsure of the price difference and pros and cons of each. I reckon the 710 will cost around 1200 with coilpacks and RR setup if I fit it myself but have heard that this is one of the more expensive routes - is it worth the extra for Omex?

Following this, before I take the plunge I would really like to have a look at the system in person and see how it changes the characteristics of the engine. I understand it will improve smoothness, reduce shunting, improve economy slightly and change the power delivery slightly but its quite hard to imagine the difference from reading about it! So has anyone around Birmingham city or Caterham, Surrey (jun 6 M25) had this fitted, (ideally to a 450) that wouldn't mind taking me out for a blast and a chat about the upgrade? I'm sure there's a pint in it for good measure if it helps!

Nick

[Graham]

I cant really help with a blat around the road, as its a race car, but we run an emerald on the tuscan.

origionally we still used the distributor as the crank sensor with the ignition leads comming from it but with the advance locked and controlled with the ecu ( within the sweep of the rotor arm)


the last time we mapped of that ecu, going from a standard ignition map to tweeking it we found 30bhp on the top of a tuned 5ltr motor!!!! something we wouldnt have been able to do with fuel mapping only... I was gob smacked that ignition could make such a difference.


We've now had a little upgrade with throttle bodies and a new ecu with proper crank sensor and coil packs...

I'll let you know how it goes, hopefully mapping tomorrow

I doubt you'd get as dramatic changes on a road spec car but i'd hope for more power and economy..


I've been quite happy with the emeralds and i like the software the only difficulty can be getting hold of them some times !!!!
cheers

G

[CaptiV8ed]

Nick,

I have been down this route before when I had my westfield. Mapped ignition is deffo the way to go. But in this case, do you not think it is worth going the whole hog and having the ecu control fueling too? I had an MBE ignition only system in the westy as I was running carbs. I have been looking into this and have had a fairly pleasant suprise from Emerald ECUs. There isn't a great deal of difference in price between an ignition only ecu and a full house one. The emerald one can use your old loom, throttle pot, injectors and if you make an adpater, it'll plug in as a replacement to your current ecu. You'll still need a coil pack and you'll need a crank trigger wheel, but they're not big bucks. Distributors in this day and age are just wrong!

Changing to mapped ignition transformed my Westy, and I believe it would do this same to a chim. But leaving the old ECU in place for the fueling means you'll have to get get that remapped seperately and it's £££££££££.

Also, watch out for some ECUs as not all of them can handle 8 cylinders.