General Evo 8 ECU vs Flashed 98/99 ECU

[97gst_spyder]

I was reading everything on both the Flashed 98-99 ecus and aobut using an Evo 8 ecu in our dsm's. Now are there any important Pro vs Cons with either setup?

Also, If this has been posted again please give me a link to the other thread.

Thanks,
Chris

 

[jeff24680]

No I believe this is the first of its kind.


I have been using EcuFlash on my H8 ecu for my 99 GSX, I will start off by saying that not only has this allowed by to gain measurable performance gains from my modestly modded car, it has also allowed me to gain VAST knowledge of the DSM ecu and and how our engine works.

With that being said let me add that the learning curve for someone not familiar with or lacking either.

1. Computer Software and Installation
2. Drivers for Computer Hardware
3. Patience
4. Basic Understanding of the DSM Engine\ECU

Might have a difficult time starting out, now with that being said also there is more than enough information contained within 3 specific threads here to get you going with either option

Obviously installing and Evo 8 ECU into your car has a steeper learning curve then simply plugging in a cable installing some software and off you go.

From my understanding there is much more configuration and options available for the Evo8 ECU's how many of them carry over to the DSM someone else will have to fill in.

I could not be happier however with what I have been able to do to my car. All my mods in my profile were done in one shot and when I started the car backup it felt good but not the big jump I was expecting being that I just spent close to 5000. After spending another <250$ (25$ for EvoScan, 180$ Tactrix 2.0 Cable) and taking some time to read, and some help from some amazing members (Ceddy comes to mind). My car has never felt better, I am running increased timing, launch control with AntiLag, leaner fuel trims, no knock, I have my CEL as a knock light(great for warning of knock), I have boost cut disabled, I have Evo8 injectors(you can go as high as 1600cc), plenty of support from the community, and an overall sense of wow I did this.

This is just to name few of the many options available.


Links

Threads:

• http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/tuning-engine-management/347070-ceddymod-v1-ecuflash.html
• http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/tuning-engine-management/338754-first-flashed-dsm-ecu-98-99-flashing-faq.html
• http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/tuning-engine-management/311214-evoscan-ecuflash-tuning.html
• http://www.dsmtuners.com/forums/tuning-engine-management/321515-evo-8-ecu-2g-works.html?highlight=evo+ecu

EvoScan:

• www.limitless.co.nz

Tactrix:

• Tactrix

EcuFlash:

• http://www.openecu.org/index.php?title=EcuFlash

 

[mike96]

i was using the evo8 ecu in my 96 eclipse, and it will be in my 96 talon once i get it put back together. from what i have read biggest pro would be the ease of install (depending on what year car you have, obviously installing a 98 ecu in a 98 model car is a piece of cake) is it simply plug and play. 95-97 cars the install would probably be about the same between the evo8 and 98-99 ecu. aside from that, the biggest difference is that the evo8 ecu has a couple of extra outputs that the 98-99 ecu does not (unless Ceddy has found something that he is not telling anyone about yet), specifically intercooler spray and fuel pump reduction control. i was planning on adding in the extra wiring so that i can make use of the intercooler spray, and at the moment there is no control options for the fuel pump reduction so nothing can be moded as of yet. but there seems to be some increase interest in the evo forums to figure out how to control that function for whatever you may want (NOS, Meth...).

i guess it really comes down to how easy you want to the install to be.

 

[Hubbard 0]

I've ran both in my car and when people ask me about what to do or what's best I will almost always point them towards the 98/99 DSM ecu. For starters, it just plugs right in. With the Evo setup you're required to either buy a path harness to switch some wires or take apart the harness to switch wires.

Then with basic tuning, the Evo setup requires a bunch of initial configurations just to get the car running. You have to disable the immobilizer, change MAF size and Scaling and there are multiple CELs you'll get due to equipment the Evo has that the DSM does not. The DSM ecu is just plug in and go. Then flashing modded files to the ecu is more complicated with the Evo ecu. It requires a more complicated procedure and changing .xml file information. For the DSM, it's just flashing over the one and only file.

Then comes the "modifications". The only benefit to the Evo ecu that I can tell is that it has been developed over a lot longer time and therefore it has more capabilities like running speed density. The DSM ecu isn't really that far behind if you can live without some minor options. If you want to compare exactly what more you'll get out of the Evo ecu, head over to evolutionm.net, go to their EcuFlash section and read up on the latest TephraMod thread and compare that to the CeddyMod thread here on Tuners.

 

[the_mork]

I've ran both in my car and when people ask me about what to do or what's best I will almost always point them towards the 98/99 DSM ecu. For starters, it just plugs right in. With the Evo setup you're required to either buy a path harness to switch some wires or take apart the harness to switch wires.

Then with basic tuning, the Evo setup requires a bunch of initial configurations just to get the car running. You have to disable the immobilizer, change MAF size and Scaling and there are multiple CELs you'll get due to equipment the Evo has that the DSM does not. The DSM ecu is just plug in and go. Then flashing modded files to the ecu is more complicated with the Evo ecu. It requires a more complicated procedure and changing .xml file information. For the DSM, it's just flashing over the one and only file.

This is not really true. Those initial configurations are now well documented and take very little time to do, as well the modifications for the xml files are exactly the same between the ecus. The only difference used to be that Ceddy had a nicer package of files that you could just drop in, and now that is the case for both ecus so xml configuration is now very minimal and only necessary for very special things or mods in development. Also, using the 96530006 rom there are no CELs, and the installation is a total of swapping about four wires and snipping one. I could do the install in only 5 minutes more than it would take to install a 2gb ecu.

That said, the differences from the evo8 ecu and the H8 ecu are in the grand scheme of things minor. Right now the three big differences that really attract people are that the evo8 ecu has speed density and ecu boost control which is incredibly cool for FWD or overpowered AWD cars that want to run lower boost in low gears and higher boost as they get going. This is controlled by gear and RPM so it is incredibly adjustable and the price of the boost controller goes from free (hacked off FPRs or EGRs) to about $50 for a GM 3port BCS so it ends up being less than or a similar price to a manual boost controller. Thirdly DMA/livemapping allows the evo8 ecu to stream data to a laptop much like dsmlink so that logging becomes incredibly fast and livemapping allows the user to edit tables in the RAM so that they can be changed on the fly without shutting the car off.

What it comes down to at this point is that the evo8 ecu is still more advanced than the H8 ecu and will be for some time. Ceddy has done amazing work and has done a significant amount of catching up to the point where for many people the two systems are equivalent but at this time there is a significant lack of developers working on this ecu and Ceddy can only do so much.

In the end my suggestion is that if you have a 98/99 then I wouldn't switch but if you have a 95-97 and you need to switch the ecu out either way then by all means the evo8 ecu for the time being can do more for less money (cheaper ecu, cheaper cable).