Standalone choices?

[DrRich 1]

Beginning to think about going standalone, after finding it so difficult to work with Motronic 3.8.1 on my VR6. It's a pain having to pull the chip (disconnecting battery for safety, so having to 'relearn' settings) every time I want to tweak a tune. Also, there's no decent documentation I can find so it's been a slow, self-taught learning process to work out how the car 'thinks'...

So, standalone seems a sensible option - configurable, flashable through a USB/serial port, perhaps multiple maps, even 'self-learning' from a wideband in some cases.

I've looked around and come down to 3 options - Megasquirt, DTA and Emerald.

Megasquirt seems a nice idea - cheap, self-build, open and a decent user base for maps etc, but just seems a little 'amateur' to me.

DTA (I think it would be S80) looks really good but is obviously expensive. That's not a deal-breaker (overtime here I come!) but is it value for money or not?

For some reason I keep thinking about Emerald K6; reasonable price, good kit, British firm, not too far to Norfolk for help/dyno tuning/advice, and there just seems something very 'honest' about Walker and his website.

So, I throw it open to you guys. What do you think?

I'm looking for something that can handle boost (only a bit on the Rotrex at the moment, but planning for the future...), that is reasonably easily to wire up and connect (although I'm not too scared of car electrics, just no expert) and that will let me 'tinker' easily - I'll probably never 'finish' fiddling and messing about even when it's seems perfect!

All this at an appropriate price, by which I mean as the price goes up, so does the flexibility and degree of control over the engine.

Thoughts welcome!

[Daverse 175]

I'm in a similar position myself, and will hopefully soon be getting a new ecu. To be honest after much deliberating I've decided to go for a dta s60 after speaking to vince at stealth, and reading reviews online, it seems to be the most straightforward to me. just a bit pricey though

[MaidenVR6 26]

The best standalone should be the one thats nearest where you live, and with people you trust...

[DrRich 1]

Thanks fellas. I think Emerald is probably still my favourite at the moment and is not too far away when I need a tune and some help.

Cheers for replying

[matty.vrt 120]

I had a emerald and it was crap went back to C2 motorsports EPROM. I'm sure Paul parky did the same.

[lowvr 0]

i looked into this too:

I ruled the dta off my list as i found it too expensive:

Imo as a minimum, to tune a vr6 with f/i well, the ecu must be capable sequential fuel injection across 6 cylinders as you will want to tune the cylinders nearest the exhaust manifolds to run richer ...amongst other tuning trickery to keep the engine safe at the higher levels of boost and consequently imcreased temperatures.

i beleive with dta that means s80 as a minimum which is quite expensive! + the loom+ tune

omex need to be minimum 710 which look to be an amazing unit with many other features. Lots of tuners for it also ...however non that particularly stand out (yet to find someone as im sure there is)

half looms are cheap and bespoke looms are not extortionate. Uses majority of vw sensors but will also need your map sensor

Megasquirt is cool as it is tailored to your needs:

everything you need to know is on this site: http://www.extraefi.co.uk/MS_All_products.htm

well priced too and he recommends a mobile tuner if it needs mapping

ms3 is the way to go if using megasquirt and then bolt on all the bits you needs.

emerald k3 seems the most complete and well priced too me.

i like the fact that inhouse mapping is an option.

i also love the 3 switchable maps concept and the ability to add options

[MaidenVR6 26]

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