LS aftermarket ECU options

[craig7l]

after livng with a gm plug and play and piggy back ecu on a LS376 engine which got me through IVA i think its time to swap out for a full aftermarket option. I have race logic launch/traction control so thats not required in my shopping list

just wondering what options there are for LS engines with drive by wire (as dont fancy swapping pedal back to cable)

thanks

[Steve_D]

You don't say why you feel the need to change.
What is wrong with the GM ECU or its functionality?

Steve

[craig7l]

well my current set up got my LS376/480 through IVA..just... back in march. which was the quickest most convienient way to go at the time and it worked....

reasons now:
inconvienience and restrictions of efilive
tuning and fine mapping gmecu and piggy back
unsightly wiring of piggy back ontop of gmplug and play
never ending improvements to my car

[Gulf LS3]

have to agree Craig....

im just sorting a DTA 80 PRO to run with my supercharged LSX im making a loom to run the 2 bar map sensor but there are compromises with this route....

you cant run the fly by wire ( maybe in the future)
you cant run the knocks

but its easy to map and if done well should achieve excellent road manners with good cruising economy

The standard Gm kit is fine for standard engines but struggles if you start moving away from that. Marks car only has the hot cam and it simply did not like the mid engine installation etc. We have installed a hot aftermarket cam in a otherwise stock LS2 and we achieved amazing results with no running problems, so i think its important to spec parts with lots of consideration. The mapping process on the E67(on my blown motor) was ridiculous and i think i could still be mapping now (2 weeks later) too much guessing for me.

[Gulf LS3]

there is a good chance we will be able to run fly by wire soon, i will keep you posted if you are interested?
Traction control is also fairly easy to incorporate with some wheel speed sensors (hall effect)

That may be useful with 800+bhp

738 has a lot to answer for!!!!

Edited by Gulf LS3 on Wednesday 28th July 18:40

[Boosted LS1]

I'd suggest a DTA as well. It seems like very good value for money and does what most people need.

[craig7l]

thanks kyle... but how long away is "future" for drive by wire...?

as i have a bit of downtime on another "upgrade" i was looking at doing something in the next week or two.... another suggestion was gems x25....?

http://www.gems.co.uk/?content=pages&id=X25

[ROWDYRENAULT]

Craig: When I originaly set up my LS1 I used a Motec LS ECU. At the time the motor had a FAST brand 90 mm intake and manifold on it. When I changed over to I.R with a Kinsler setup I also incorporated a Motec 800 ECU. The 800 has traction control and is sequentail. Anyway if you would like to try the Motec LS unit its for sale for $1250 PM me with any intrest. Lee

[Gulf LS3]

craig7l said:

thanks kyle... but how long away is "future" for drive by wire...?

as i have a bit of downtime on another "upgrade" i was looking at doing something in the next week or two.... another suggestion was gems x25....?

http://www.gems.co.uk/?content=pages&id=X25

Hi Craig

Alan at DTA has already got Fly by wire running but is not completely happy with it so a few modifications are planned

Spatz is also running the DTA in Germany on his Ultima LS7 and he is very pleased with it.

[GTRCLIVE]

I Have a DTA S80Pro, but have since regretted buying it as I now really want this unit....

http://adaptronic.com.au/products/e1280s.html

It allows you to wright code in a Ladder stile logic into the firmware, so I can use the ECU to drive stuff like proportional G load driven active wings etc
Also has a optional more OEM stile VE Air Flow tables which takes more mapping but does provide a better mapped engine. Basically its a more advanced system. Thanks Crafty for the link btw..

[harry b]

If we're about ECU's I can recommend this one:

http://www.obr.uk.com/efi_engine_mngt.html

I used it before and will use it on my new engine for the Ultima too.
Main feature, it is reliable, race-bread, and programming is real-time.

Most ecu's don't do it real-time (apart from Motec) in words, before changes come active you make on the laptop or control box, you need to write it to the ecu's eprom. this is just tedious when you fiddle around with the last tiny modifications.

Best thing about it, it's not as expensive as it looks, and it has fly-by-wire with the needed hardware for it to run in closed loop.

Edited by harry b on Friday 30th July 07:14

[Boosted LS1]

^ Looks very interesting. What sort of prices are they then, just roughly?

[738 driver]

That sounds like a great piece of kit, perfect all rounder for an LS/Ultima combo....but just how expensive is 'not too expensive' Harry?

[CanAm Dave]

harry b said:

Most ecu's don't do it real-time (apart from Motec) in words, before changes come active you make on the laptop or control box, you need to write it to the ecu's eprom. this is just tedious when you fiddle around with the last tiny modifications.

Not true Harry! Most ECUs are adjusted in real time. I've used DTA which does and my Ult runs the Holley commander system and that also is tuned real time. I can't think of many that don't.

Dave

[harry b]

738 driver said:

That sounds like a great piece of kit, perfect all rounder for an LS/Ultima combo....but just how expensive is 'not too expensive' Harry?

Don't know exactly, but depending on version around GBP1200-GBP2200

[harry b]

CanAm Dave said:

harry b said:

Most ecu's don't do it real-time (apart from Motec) in words, before changes come active you make on the laptop or control box, you need to write it to the ecu's eprom. this is just tedious when you fiddle around with the last tiny modifications.

Not true Harry! Most ECUs are adjusted in real time. I've used DTA which does and my Ult runs the Holley commander system and that also is tuned real time. I can't think of many that don't.

Dave

Hi Dave,
I speak not of my personal hands on experience, but you mention DTA, and I used it once, but my dynoshop wasn't happy with the thing, mumbling something about amateur and indirect action. The dynoshop I use is used to work on CR6 and other exotic stuff.

I asked him, and what you say is true, but it doesn't write data to the ecu in realtime. During dyno with the laptop the modifications for the ecu are done in memory, and to become final effective you need to write them to the ECU. Hope this corrects it.

Edited by harry b on Friday 30th July 11:48

[Gulf LS3]

harry b said:

If we're about ECU's I can recommend this one:

http://www.obr.uk.com/efi_engine_mngt.html

I used it before and will use it on my new engine for the Ultima too.
Main feature, it is reliable, race-bread, and programming is real-time.

Most ecu's don't do it real-time (apart from Motec) in words, before changes come active you make on the laptop or control box, you need to write it to the ecu's eprom. this is just tedious when you fiddle around with the last tiny modifications.

Best thing about it, it's not as expensive as it looks, and it has fly-by-wire with the needed hardware for it to run in closed loop.

Edited by harry b on Friday 30th July 07:14

i will stick with the DTA its nice to have some product support if we are struggling! too many of the parts we use are US sourced with little or no support.

[spatz]

good decision, if you want my map, send me a mail, i have integrated lambda sensors from innovate motorsports with the ability to turn closed loop on/off from cockpit

[Gulf LS3]

awesome thanks Spatz, its for my supercharged monster but it will get me running..... im running the innovates as well, do you run 2? Why would you not want to run in closed loop all the time?

[spatz]

i run 2 and i have one instrument with a switch that allow me to select either row of cylinders the ecu however is checking both sensors all the time.
map - it is on my other computer will mail you tomorrow
i think that closed loop might be good to see the lambda close to 1 but the engine supplier in general made it a little richer and above 4500 rpm it is disabled anyway.
maybe somebody can convince me that lambda 1 is the choice for lower revs ? and at what revs it is recommended to run a richer map to cool the engine better. I was told that the GM ECU is going as low as 0.67 at max revs !

Edited by spatz on Sunday 1st August 17:28