-red97rum-
20+ Year Contributor
- 1,099
- 42
- Aug 29, 2002
-
Upland,
California
Ok, so all bullshit between forums put aside, both ECMLink and Jackal are capable of making some serious power. It's annoying how every post containing the words Jackal and ECMLink starts Drama. Couldn't the last few moderator's posts have been PM's between you guys? It really had nothing to do with the capabilities of either tuning solution... I understand your frustration but how do you exepct the thread to stay on topic when the BS drama keeps getting brought to attention?
Really Standard235? Are you Effin kidding me? How are people not going to take that the wrong way?
I'm not going to list their individual functions. Go see their WIKI pages for that. DS-MAP's Jackal Wiki Page | ECM Link's Wiki
My take:
Jackal is cheaper but at the same time isn't quite as feature rich. It's maintained by a guy on his spare time basically. You have to take initiative to learn about how to tune your car with it and how VE works. DS-MAP.net really helped me in that department. The available support on the dsmap forums is getting better and better every week.
ECMLink costs a little more money but is definitely more user friendly, has an awesome logging tool, gives you access to the ECMLink board and has more of an "official" line of support since ECMLink is a company.
Personally, I decided to figure out how to use Jackal and I really liked the idea of running SD. Keep in mind SD wasn't offered from ECMLink at that time. I actually planned to go with ECMLink until I found out about Jackal SD software. I was already running an Eprom chip from Jeff O with a SAFC & MAFT. So the way I figured it, I was setup for Jackal already, minus an ostrich and two gm sensors. Then I scored my Ostrich emulator, 3 bar map and IAT all together used for $215 shipped. I got a killer deal from another member on the Ds-Map forum who was getting out of the DSM scene. Then I sold my SAFC for $175 and sold MAFT setup for $125. I still lost money in the end because I paid full price the SAFC and MAFT like 4 years ago but it's all good, I got good use out them. Basically I didn't have the cash to get a full blown ECMLink setup and the parts to run Jackal all kind of fell into place. I'm very happy with the results I've had using Jackal thus far and my goals for the car will probably never warrant switching to a different system. Now there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to building your VE table but it gets easier once you get the hang of it. Plus most of the guys over at Ds-Map will go out of their way to help you understand. The logger in Jackal is pretty basic but still provides you all the information you need in order to tune the car. I really like ECMLink's logger though, it's a very polished app and well thought out. Will that help me get a better tune? Probably not, but it does make it easier/faster so I can appreciate that. There really isn't a clear answer to this thread's topic (which should be DS-Map vs ECMLink) as it really comes down to what the end user prefers. In my case i chose Jackal.
*Edit* TurboGlenn, How did you know I eat my wings with a 12mm wrench? You're crazy man! XD
Really Standard235? Are you Effin kidding me? How are people not going to take that the wrong way?
I'm not going to list their individual functions. Go see their WIKI pages for that. DS-MAP's Jackal Wiki Page | ECM Link's Wiki
My take:
Jackal is cheaper but at the same time isn't quite as feature rich. It's maintained by a guy on his spare time basically. You have to take initiative to learn about how to tune your car with it and how VE works. DS-MAP.net really helped me in that department. The available support on the dsmap forums is getting better and better every week.
ECMLink costs a little more money but is definitely more user friendly, has an awesome logging tool, gives you access to the ECMLink board and has more of an "official" line of support since ECMLink is a company.
Personally, I decided to figure out how to use Jackal and I really liked the idea of running SD. Keep in mind SD wasn't offered from ECMLink at that time. I actually planned to go with ECMLink until I found out about Jackal SD software. I was already running an Eprom chip from Jeff O with a SAFC & MAFT. So the way I figured it, I was setup for Jackal already, minus an ostrich and two gm sensors. Then I scored my Ostrich emulator, 3 bar map and IAT all together used for $215 shipped. I got a killer deal from another member on the Ds-Map forum who was getting out of the DSM scene. Then I sold my SAFC for $175 and sold MAFT setup for $125. I still lost money in the end because I paid full price the SAFC and MAFT like 4 years ago but it's all good, I got good use out them. Basically I didn't have the cash to get a full blown ECMLink setup and the parts to run Jackal all kind of fell into place. I'm very happy with the results I've had using Jackal thus far and my goals for the car will probably never warrant switching to a different system. Now there is a bit of a learning curve when it comes to building your VE table but it gets easier once you get the hang of it. Plus most of the guys over at Ds-Map will go out of their way to help you understand. The logger in Jackal is pretty basic but still provides you all the information you need in order to tune the car. I really like ECMLink's logger though, it's a very polished app and well thought out. Will that help me get a better tune? Probably not, but it does make it easier/faster so I can appreciate that. There really isn't a clear answer to this thread's topic (which should be DS-Map vs ECMLink) as it really comes down to what the end user prefers. In my case i chose Jackal.
*Edit* TurboGlenn, How did you know I eat my wings with a 12mm wrench? You're crazy man! XD
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