OK,

So would an h22a need the AEM EMS for a set of stage 2 Crower cams, valves and valvesprings? The bottom end is stock. I'm looking to redline around 8,000.

That's all I'm doing at this point, but boost is somewhere down the road. I'd rather get the EMS later on, if it's not absolutely neccesary now...

Thoughts?

 

Alright, two thoughts here:

1.) It's not absolutely necessary, but without something to tune you're going to be stuck at the limits of the stock ECU.

2.) If you plan on getting one later, the earlier you get it, the more familiar and comfortable you can and will be with it when you have to really start tuning on it later.

The EMS is a very nice system now that the majority of the kinks are out, and just about anyone can look over your maps for you with the software installed.

 

Ask your tuner what he is most comfortable with.
-PHiZ

 

One other thing: if you're planning on boost, I wouldn't necessarily go with hot normally aspirated cams.

What does "boost somewhere down the road" mean? A few months from now, a few years from now?

 

I think you should get a standalone ECM, regardless of the manufacturer. I promote AEM because I have one and it works very well for me, when it's actually in my car. Cams aren't a minor add-on. They need more and air fuel to see their potential, and they need it at different intervals than your stock cams. Your current maps give you fuel to match your stock cams curves, and most likely won't be sufficient to compensate for the new cams. Piggyback computers are a bandaid.

 

I'm planning on boosting it in quite some time.. Three years or more, so I don't mind having a completely different set up right now. I know that NA cams are going to have different profiles than turbo cams... I'm still looking at the turbo parts list you gave me like a year or two ago...

I would boost right now, but I know I'd want to maximize the system and would rebuild the engine and end up spending my student loan and a selling a kidney...

I don't have a regular tuner anymore. The last guy sold his shop. There's one that I've been talking to and he prefers Greddy Emanage and has been trying to get me to pick up one of those, but I've heard that they're just OK and not amazing, especially when compared to the EMS.

 

The GReddy e-Manage is kind of an over glorified piggyback. With some addons it can be pretty versatile but I'm kind of indifferent about it. It's still essentially a piggyback. However for a relatively mild n/a setup it should do ya just fine and can run turbos with reasonable success as well. It's not as versatile as an AEM but if your guy says he can get it to work with your setup I would at least consider it.

 

:doh: How did I miss that one, gonna have to work on my reading comprehension skills.

Good solid levelheaded advice, as we've all come to know and love.

Rock on!

-PHiZ

 

i have to agree the emanage is still just a piggy back, but i think it should be very capable for the state of tune he is at now. As long as its mated to an obd1 p13, you should be fine. I think the obd2 ecus dont really like piggy backs as much, cuz they basically detune the piggy back in no time. Though I really have no experience messing around with obd2 so i wouldnt know for sure.

I've used the emanage before and was able to tune out 200whp out of a stock h22 with skank 2 cams, stock IM and header too. And the user interface is really easy to understand. so any average joe with a brain should be able to get some decent results with this unit.

The thing you have to consider with the EMS is, your gonna need alot more time to set it up, cuz as far as the base maps they give you for H22s, they suck big time. You really gotta sit down and basically start from scratch with the fuel and ignition maps just to get your car to run ok. And there is alot more learning involved with the EMS as well. so if you plan to tune it yourself, be prepared for alot of askign questions and searching for info, . I spent countless nights messing with the EMS figuring it all out, and I am not even half way through with figuring out all the functions,

What you really have to ask yourself is, how feasible is it for you to get the EMS realisitcally. If its in ur relative near future, don't waste your time and money with the greddy emanage. Cuz not only will u waste the money buyig the emange, but ur gonna have to hack up ur harness to install it and then uninstall it later.

If I were in your position, I would get an EMS if i had enough money to play with, including the costs of the ems itself and dyno time to set it up.

If I were on a lower budget, i wouldn't think twice about grabbing the emanage and dyno tuning it. Just make sure to get all the optional harnesses with it, like the fuel one and the ignition one.

But ulitimately, EMS ownz j00

 

The main thing an OBD2 ECU will un-tune is ignition timing. That's mostly what its learning capability is in regards to.