A friend of mine purchased a fully built 91 Tsi. Stock bottom end built top end 272s jmf smim cage fuel cell parachute dynoed 522hp on race gas. Built built reputable local speed shop.
The car is street legal but are bones as far as wiring. He was running a haltech , not sure which one, with an msd box and something happened and the haltech got fried . The stock harness was cut and hacked, non usable if I go dsmlink. Car has necessary basic sensors.
I am familiar with link, have v3 on my 98 and love it.
My dilemma is this, do I ? A) stay with haltech or B) get stock Ecu , harness and link?.

I realize I will be rewiring everything from the ecu to the engine compartment no matter which option I choose. I think it's a non Mitsubishi tps and I've read haltech doesn't monitor knock. Other than that I haven't dug into it.
I am leaning towards link because of the familiarity and user friendliness. But am I on the verge of needing more than link can provide? I am an electrician, not afraid of wires. Which will be more work , wiring and tuning? Which will be a better choice with room to grow if 522hp isn't breaking stuff fast enough? Thanks

There's always the AEM EMS 4 with harness

Stick with your Haltech. If you are having an issue with your unit, email me at [email protected] and I will be happy to assist you in any way that I can.

Thanks,
Adam

+1 for the Haltech.

Two votes for haltech. Can u list benefits vs dsmlink or aem to support ## opinion. I understand im in the upper echelon in respect to power. Is this where I outgrow link on this vehicle? Looking for some experienced input. Thanks.

I haven't used haltech in a long time but I used e6k unit on a few cars and used an e6x for a minute. Haltech used to be the best for the money by a long shot. The older systems are a little harder to setup for a novice but they have the most reliable ignition on the planet in my opinion. I sold my e6k for 100 dollars less than I paid for it after 8 years of use cause people used to want them so bad after the x came out. I guess haltech is back in the USA which is awesome. If that guy can't help you try Alamo.

Depending on how old your haltech is you might need to switch tps to run link if you switch.
I saw haltech is coming out with a new elite system too.

You can Try running a Ostrich 2.0. Not as good as a Haltech as you still use the stock ecu but over on dsmecu.com they have come a long way at offering a free tunning suite that will put link on its knees when you compare them in few area's. Some are some things that link has of course but its a third the price of link with some really cool things now and coming in the future.

You can't beat links simplicity though

There are people in the 8's running link fyi.

522 is by no means an "upper echelon" for power. Guys have made over 1000whp with link so you're nowhere close to any kind of restriction by using link to tune.

chrisverneuil said:

You can Try running a Ostrich 2.0. Not as good as a Haltech as you still use the stock ecu but over on dsmecu.com they have come a long way at offering a free tunning suite that will put link on its knees when you compare them in few area's. Some are some things that link has of course but its a third the price of link with some really cool things now and coming in the future.

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In what ways does it put link on its knees?

Have you contacted [email protected]? They have always had good support for me.

The OP only gave two options. AEM or Ostrich are not options.

You already have a Haltech. See if they can fix it economically.

Nothing wrong with ECMLink, I run it in my 300hp DD and do my own tuning. ECMLink can handle the job, but you already own a Haltech.

I also have a Haltech for my 700hp race car. To be honest, I have the race car professionally tuned. Too much at stake. Most pro tuners are familiar with Haltech. That is my reasoning.

link hands down very user friendly I love it in my 520hp DD

You can make horsepower with ANY ECU. That is easy, heck, people have been making horsepower with fuel lines, check valves, screws and screwdrivers for YEARS! Horsepower is easy, its ease of tuning, the ability to gather data about what the engine is doing, transient throttle areas, control where the factory ECU falls short, and features that the factory ECU can never offer. People go 8's on ECM link because they don't want to spend the money on something designed for what they are doing, not because ECM link is the best tool for the application.

#EndRant

Adam

No, guys go 8's on ECMLink just to prove that you can do it! Every single guy running 8's has the money to buy just about any tuning device on the market but the ones that have stuck with link did so just to show everybody that it wasn't a limitation.

It appears the OP isn`t serious. It looks like he never contacted Haltech, and hasn`t posted in his own thread for 3 weeks.

u2slow said:

It appears the OP isn`t serious. It looks like he never contacted Haltech, and hasn`t posted in his own thread for 3 weeks.

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He probably just bought the car with it and has no clue what he has. He didn't even list a model when he posted the thread.

I would say AEM EMS for a couple of reasons.

1. He can use the stock dsm wiring harness (for simplicity)
2. He can use all of his non-dsm sensors that may be on the car already (as mentioned about the tps)

3. EMS is really easy to use as long as you take your time.