I've been out of the game for some time now. I just restored my old car and now want to finally get it to its peak potential. I've seen a few people talk about the potential of piggyback setups, but when I was building my car in the late 2000's you couldn't do a whole lot with them. has this changed or should I look at a standalone?
If so what would you recommend?

I would like someone who is able to clarify what the differences between the options are and pro/con kind of thing. I read a lot of people say link+ but I am green when it comes to this subject. On this site I see a lot of people say go with ecmlink who people who are already using it and are happy with it.

Is it just a different format to achieve the same goal?

Bang for buck....ECMLlink.
If your pockets are loaded AEM, Haltech etc are great systems its just the fact you have to learn them and the tech support for those systems will come from them although we have some members running aftermarket ECUs with great success.
EcmLink is a easy to run program even if you don't know diddly squat about tuning. If your car won't run, you'll figure out here by asking questions or on ECMLinks website. You have all kinds of options, some are deeper in learning than others.
I, personally, would like to learn HP Tuners for the muscle cars I could tune. I have watched but the interface is different and I would have to play with it to understand it....gladly.
Marty

The higher end units have so many inputs for any sensor you need to run and many more is the difference. With Link we have some input limits but doesnt keep some from making 5, 6 or 700hp with it. Good luck

Since the OP is asking this in the 420a engine management specific sub forum, it should be noted that the only options that will work for them are standalones that will require wiring. Correct me if I'm wrong but AFAIK, there's no plug-n-play for the 2G nonturbos.

Aw crap I thought this was a new thread. Did not realize it was the 420a one. My question was a for 4g63 haha

No worries here. Anyway I think Marty answered your question pretty well.

As for the OP, I am not a 420a guy, but from what I understand Megasquirt is the most popular choice due mainly to price and the community knowledge base of it's users.

Personally, I would only want a 420a car in order to Evo 4-9 swap it or to donate parts to a 4g63 car.

Yes I can confirm megasquirt is your only option. The 420a can only use piggy back systems for tuning.

609DSM said:

Yes I can confirm megasquirt is your only option. The 420a can only use piggy back systems for tuning.

Click to expand...

Well I shouldn't say only but it is the most highly recommended for going turbo or high HP n/t

Standalone such as Link Ecu, Haltech, AEM, etc would work for your car also, they are more powerful as far as processing and have a ton more configurable inputs and outputs but also require you to be able to wire them in and learn to use them.

As said above almost all modern standalones could run it but you would have to wire them yourself.

You would have to wire them all yourself, including Megasquirt. I think MS's biggest draw is that it supports the 420A crank trigger pattern natively, so you don't have to install an external crank trigger. Plus there's a lot of community support.