Which ECU for a supercharged 450?

[Blues]

I was an early adopter for the supercharger conversion, and had the SC Power kit fitted by Racing Green back in 2008. We retained the 14CUX which I believe was mapped as well as it could be, and away we went. The bottom end was always a little rich, and top end a little leaner than perfect, but the car performed superbly, showing a very respectable 425 bhp at Surrey Rolling Road. I had it tested for detonation, and everything was fine, however I still used octane boost with V Power to help.

I was delighted with every aspect of the car and its performance until 20k miles later in July last year when everything went pop. The exact cause was never pinpointed, but a total rebuild was carried needed, and I'm now thinking about the future.

I don't believe that detonation caused the pop, more likely cylinder head gasket, but I want to eliminate the possibility of detonation being a factor for the future. Should I invest in a more sophisticated ECU that can be mapped much more accurately, and if so what should I choose, and who should I go to get it done? I see Emerald, Omex, Megasquirt... just names to me I'm afraid.

I don't want to spend a fortune on an all singing all dancing piece of kit, just something that will give me confidence that my newly built engine is more protected.

I hope all of this makes sense, as I really am a numpty when it comes to this clever stuff

Thanks for your help

[OleVix]

http://www.extraefi.co.uk/RV8_Kits.html

A complete efi kit which controls fuel and spark is what you need... Will probably run you 1000-1500 fitted.
Result will be quicker response, higher mpg, correct fueling on all rpm...

[haircutmike]

Was it broken pistons?

[Blues]

haircutmike said:

Was it broken pistons?

amongst other things

[hiltonig]

They are all much of a muchness, price wise

megasquirt cheap and prob best value
emerald £500 ish
Omex £700 ish
dta £900 ish
Motec £ lots

On you car its worth ditching the lucas system and the dizzy but you will need a trigger wheel fitted whilst its on the rebuild stage. Some like the DTA and Motec will give you traction control,you need to find someone that will do the conversion and stick with it until its running 100%, starts and stops when hot, starts easy when cold. Whilst you can get the car mapped its not a complete drive in drive out, there will be some after tweaking that has to be done. I have had two different systems on the car and whilst it was good I did have some issues which made it a pain. In the end I went the full hog and went Motec as I have good local support.

[Blues]

Thanks Nigel, useful info there.
I'm not bothered about traction control etc, I just want to get the fuelling sorted to have it running with the correct mix at all ranges of the rev counter. Improved mpg would be a side bonus, but again its not the key objective.

[Alexdaredevilz]

I suppose in theory any ecu is as good as its mapper/map whether it be a £200 or £2000 system

[Simon says]

Alexdaredevilz said:

I suppose in theory any ecu is as good as its mapper/map whether it be a £200 or £2000 system

Good point Alex and often over looked

[MPoxon]

I would have a chat with Mark Adams.

[450Nick]

I shouldn't think an all singing all dancing ECU is necessary on a road car. Usually the more money you pay, the more inputs and processing power your gain. This isn't really required on a road car, as you don't need to be monitoring/datalogging every system on the car as well as oil cooler temps, fluid pressures and all that jazz. Really you just want something with a decent number of sites on the ignition and fuel maps so you can get a decent resolution on the fuel map and ultimately a smoother drive, and maybe if you're pushing the boat out; knock control.

I believe the new generation of Emeralds are meant to be a pretty good starting point. I run a K3 on my supercharged Chim and it does the job very well indeed - and has the benefit of being by far the easiest ECU to work with visually. If you ever want to get in there and have a look at the setup yourself, Emerald is the one you want.

I would say that the Motec/DTA systems are going a bit far for a road car, the all singing models will cost you a fortune for not a lot of gain that you'll notice. If you're looking for something sturdy and with more protection than the Emerald/Omex systems then I'd look at the Syvecs range. I have one of these for my Tuscan Challenge car and they are a very well engineered piece of kit for a lot less money than the Motec level of ECUs. An S6 would do the job very nicely and can incorporate knock control, dual lambdas, quick processor, and a whole load of other stuff.

Personally I'd still go for the Emerald K6 on a road car, but if you really want to beef up the protection then I'd go Syvecs S6.