going standalone info and advice

[oren hughbanks]

So I want to get away from AFC setup, and I know everyone raves about link. I would love a link setup and I cruise the classifieds religiously in search of a used setup. A good friend of mine who I trust greatly, told me not to go with link. I guess it was just his personal experience with it, but he recommends going full blown AEM ems. I don't have a huge amount with standalone systems. I like the idea of getting rid of all the stupid factory 1g maps. AEM. Looks like a good solid unit but it's very expensive also
My question is, does anyone have experience with greddy ultimate emanage? I have a few friends who run that, but I don't know of any DSMs that do. You can find older emanage blues, for about half the cost of a AEM. I know it's not pinned for a dsm harness but could u repin it? Or make a jumper harness? Any ideas or thoughts

 

[oren hughbanks]

Thanks for all your replys, this is just the info I was looking for. It's good to hear from other people who have different setups other than link. With link how hard is it to adjust your timing to keep knock at bay? I only have 91 up here no access to E85. I'm sure with 91 I'll have to run fairly mild timing? Not as aggressive as the factory setting? Are the logs from link fairly easy to read?

 

[jbeaton9292]

Very easy to read just go on ecmlink website and they have videos you can watch and changing the timing is as simple as going into the timing spreadsheet and know where you want to be based on load (rpm) and boost level follow it across till they meet type your new number and smooth out the table around there so there is no crazy jump between numbers

The spreadsheets are even color cordnated so shows green yellow red so you have an idea on safe zones or if its agress ect. Very easy to tune anyone can do it yet its a very affective program and runs very smooth

 

[CrackedDSM]

99% of the people that are going to tell you to go Link over AEM EMS don't even tune their own cars, and think "tuning is hard ". Don't let fanboys sway you one way or another. Talk to unbiased people(as in people in real life with proven setups, not a biased forum full of link users), look at the results, and figure out what YOU want to do, and not what other people tell you to do. AEM EMS is worth it. ECMLink is only easier to use because of it's massive, impressive support. As someone who taught himself how to tune and use a product with a massive learning curve(TunerPro via Ostrich, and later AEM EMS) I was not only proud to have something more powerful than Link will ever be, but also proud that I knew I could do something 99% of DSMers couldn't even dream of doing without someone walking them through it step by step.


Do what you want to do, and take what everyone is saying with a grain or two of salt. Anything that's not Link is lynched by the fanboy mob here in the DSM world, so naturally you're going to get a shit ton of "NOLINKFORLIFE!!!"

 

[95talongirl]

I run DSMlink V3 in my car, and I love it for the simplicity. It's very user friendly. Great starting point for those looking for a tuning solution that's simple and effective.

I also love the full-blown aftermarket standalone, options, too. They can do some really awesome things, like the issue with knock sensors. However, as you can see, there's a steeper learning curve with them. If you have the time and patience, then go for it. I am sure once you get the hang of it, it's not hard. Kind-of like how Photohop can be overwhelming with all the things it can do at first. But once you learn the layout of the program and work with it a while, it becomes super easy. The haltech with the CAN-bus is very interesting. That would come in handy with modern engine swaps and making modern clusters and such work with it. I like that!

 

[oren hughbanks]

Wow CrackedDsm shot across the bow of link users! haha that's what I want to hear! You AEM guys are coming out of the woodwork now. I didn't know this thread would get this much of a response.
I definitely don't want this thread to get biased. I'm sorry to have started any kind of argument on here. I know some of my goals might seem a little odd to the more wise dsmers of the forum but I am still learning. I honestly spend most of days on this forum cruising different build journals , and trying to get a good look at other people's builds. I am a firm believer in " built not bought" , and I want to do whatever I can myself, I just feel like it builds your relationship with your dsm.

The only reason I am still leaning towards AEM, Is that I can get still get them cheaper a used link for a 1ga. Do any of you AEM guys have a log u can post so in can see what they look like? It Dosent have to be current

 

[jbeaton9292]

Crackeddsm once you learn link you can tune any of the other systems for the most part a friend of mine gurentee is prolly one of the better street tuners around he has tuned many many many cars not only dsm but anything be it megasquirt aem greddy safc vafc evoscan ostrich all of it and he is good at what he does and says link is the best in his opinon simply because well its simple and it has such a huge fan base becayse it does what its supposed to and does it extremly well and there isnt anything those standalones can do that link cant for the basic tunner tell me something extremly important a standalone has over link

Link is going to continue to grow because of the fanbase and new products will continue to pop up from them and they offer you a cheap upgrade when new software comes out let me know when aem alows you to upgrade for the simple price difference not gonna happen i bought aem originaly i used it on a differant car as well to see how it works and honestly its nothing special to spend an extra 1k dollars on over link

 

[Technoklipz]

I ran AEM ems from 2006 until this year. AEM is great but has a steep learning curve. I am using link now and it is much easier to use. You can still do mostly everything with link but there are other functions I wish I had back. I still have my AEM and probably won't get rid of it until I know I don't want to use it again. It's all about how much money you want to spend and what your experience as a tuner is. Good luck!

 

[jbeaton9292]

I agree with the last post as i said in the begining aem is a great product but the cost of link and what can be done with it and how fast its growing is second to none

 

[oren hughbanks]

The way I'm looking at it. I'f I'm going to spend that amount of money, I want the best I can get. I want to be able to build around this ecu. Even if I don't use all the functions it has, I don't want to worry about burned out diodes, resistors, and 20+ year old chips. Cause I'm keeping my car for a long time who knows what it will turn into. Link seems solid, and so does the AEM

 

[jbeaton9292]

The way I'm looking at it. I'f I'm going to spend that amount of money, I want the best I can get. I want to be able to build around this ecu. Even if I don't use all the functions it has, I don't want to worry about burned out diodes, resistors, and 20+ year old chips. Cause I'm keeping my car for a long time who knows what it will turn into. Link seems solid, and so does the AEM

Sounds like your stuck on the ecu being "old" well dont go link then its a rebuilt ecu you didnt go to the mitsu dealer and ask if you can get a brand new engine never used did you? If your that worried about it buy a new one im sure a dealer will sell a new ecu but now your paying what aem will cost.

As far as being the best like i said before link is second to none in terms of cost reliability and support. Think about it my 90 awd i built was an original eprom and still original caps and everything never had an issue. So once you replace the caps regardless of condition should last a very long time.

 

[bryanwheat]

The way I'm looking at it. I'f I'm going to spend that amount of money, I want the best I can get. I want to be able to build around this ecu. Even if I don't use all the functions it has, I don't want to worry about burned out diodes, resistors, and 20+ year old chips. Cause I'm keeping my car for a long time who knows what it will turn into. Link seems solid, and so does the AEM

The nice thing is that you don't have to worry about burnt diodes or resistors because the stock ecu's don't have any problems with those. The only issue that the stock ecu's have is capacitors, which should be replaced when the ecu is socketed. I think you are really over thinking this. It seems that you are thinking that there is just going to be something about link that will hold you back. There isn't, you are really underestimating what it is capable of doing. Link will be able to deliver more than you ever need, and they are constantly adding upgrades to it. Do you want something that if you have an issue you can actually free help, or something that tech support is scarce? I see multiple blown engines in your future if you decide to learn to tune with your own car using aem.

 

[bmxfelon420]

I dont think aem is bad in any way at all, just not worth its cost if you dont need the extra features. As for any technical issues, ecmtuning repairs ecus for very good prices.

 

[Mello]

If it was me I wouldn't think twice. No emissions; AEM all the way. This is a no brainer. Some folk thoughts don't make sense to me sometimes. We all want a "race car" but then want an "easy" ECU that tunes it's self automatically. Most link users don't really tune & haven't used a full standalone; therefore don't know what their giving up or leave on the table. For a DD link does everything one most have but they don't get any of the fringe benefits. Tuning isn't really hard but will take time to learn the scheme used in EFI systems. Once you've got it down it take about 4 hours to get a really good tune, except for cold start up. Cold start up takes a while because you only have 1 chance to adjust between each full cool down like once each morning. Winter gives more cold start opportunities per day.

 

[bryanwheat]

As far as being the best like i said before link is second to none in terms of cost reliability and support.

This is about the best line in this whole thread. Best doesn't always equal more un needed options, or more expensive. Best is what is going to be best for the application, user friendly, and have the best support.

 

[jbeaton9292]

If it was me I wouldn't think twice. No emissions; AEM all the way. This is a no brainer. Some folk thoughts don't make sense to me sometimes. We all want a "race car" but then want an "easy" ECU that tunes it's self automatically. Most link users don't really tune & haven't used a full standalone; therefore don't know what their giving up or leave on the table. For a DD link does everything one most have but they don't get any of the fringe benefits. Tuning isn't really hard but will take time to learn the scheme used in EFI systems. Once you've got it down it take about 4 hours to get a really good tune, except for cold start up. Cold start up takes a while because you only have 1 chance to adjust between each full cool down like once each morning. Winter gives more cold start opportunities per day.

Yes what more can you ask for a very easy way to tune. Sounds simple to me! I can promise you that 2 cars same setup one with link one with aem the guy with link can make as much if not more power to the ground as aem user

 

[bryanwheat]

If it was me I wouldn't think twice. No emissions; AEM all the way. This is a no brainer. Some folk thoughts don't make sense to me sometimes. We all want a "race car" but then want an "easy" ECU that tunes it's self automatically. Most link users don't really tune & haven't used a full standalone; therefore don't know what their giving up or leave on the table. For a DD link does everything one most have but they don't get any of the fringe benefits. Tuning isn't really hard but will take time to learn the scheme used in EFI systems. Once you've got it down it take about 4 hours to get a really good tune, except for cold start up. Cold start up takes a while because you only have 1 chance to adjust between each full cool down like once each morning. Winter gives more cold start opportunities per day.

Can you explain what it is that we are leaving on the table by using link instead of aem? What does the ecu do, it delivers fuel and spark to the engine. If you are achieving optimal a/f ratio's, and optimal spark than why wouldn't you want something that is able to achieve that with less hassle? Seems pretty simple to me. It isn't like people are installing link and just not able to get it dialed in with the options that it has. What more is there is than getting the proper amount of fuel into the cylinders, and the plugs to fire at the right time, and what specifically about link will prevent you from doing this?

 

[jbeaton9292]

For what its worth im possibly the best case of non biased input as i dont run aem or link im using an safc and have used aem and link. I paid 700 for aem v1 when v2 first came out and i traded it with my 24t cas for easierstart up straight up for link v3 full and i fell i won in that deal by alot!

 

[bryanwheat]

For what its worth im possibly the best case of non biased input as i dont run aem or link im using an safc and have used aem and link. I paid 700 for aem v1 when v2 first came out and i traded it with my 24t cas for easierstart up straight up for link v3 full and i fell i won in that deal by alot!

I have played with v1 years ago, and some megasquirt, but i have the v2 software open in front of me and it is pretty complex and there are a bunch of fine tuning options, options to change fuel and spark settings between cylinders, calibrate each sensor and how they effect fuel and spark, at startup, and idle, options for egt feedback, advanced boost control, safety parameters, auto trans controls, staged injectors and nitrous controls. To utilize most of these extra features and fine tune everthing you would have to have 4 separate o2 sensors, 4 separate knock sensors, 4 separate egt sensors, just to be able to know what settings to make between each cylinder. There is just so many extra's fine tuning settings to really optimize this setup for the possibility of any gain in hp vs cost in paying someone to tune this perfectly. I could see 9 out of 10 people making less power and having worse drivability just by not being able to dial everything in just right. I would say if you were competitively drag racing for big money where you had to pull every single bit of power out that you could and had a highly experienced tuner than this would be a good idea, but for 95 percent of people out there this is extremely overkill. Some of the features like the advanced boost control, nitrous controls and auto trans controls are nice features as are the staged injectors, but again, aren't going to be needed for most.

 

[Technoklipz]

If you have an experienced tuner and the money and want AEM then go for it. If you don't have both then stay simple and go with link. You can find an eprom ecu here and pay for V3 and still save around $500-1000. Link as stated has many users and most are willing to help if you need it on the forums. Free help versus paying someone close to $300 to retune the car each time you change a component or do an upgrade. Your choice! When I bought AEM I had an experienced tuner talk me into it but since then they passed on and I had no one to help with tuning my car. Thus the reason for switching to link. You can't go wrong with a chipped ecu versus a full blown standalone. If you really want to get technical, I started tuning with a datalogger and SAFC with burned chip for which injectors, full pump, etc. I had installed on the car in the beginning. Not many people now can say that they did that now with all the new options available.

 

[bryanwheat]

If you have an experienced tuner and the money and want AEM then go for it. If you don't have both then stay simple and go with link. You can find an eprom ecu here and pay for V3 and still save around $500-1000. Link as stated has many users and most are willing to help if you need it on the forums. Free help versus paying someone close to $300 to retune the car each time you change a component or do an upgrade. Your choice! When I bought AEM I had an experienced tuner talk me into it but since then they passed on and I had no one to help with tuning my car. Thus the reason for switching to link. You can't go wrong with a chipped ecu versus a full blown standalone. If you really want to get technical, I started tuning with a datalogger and SAFC with burned chip for which injectors, full pump, etc. I had installed on the car in the beginning. Not many people now can say that they did that now with all the new options available.

I still burn my own chips. It is nice having a few programs to do that with. When i started burning chips all i had was a small guide to help tell where each function was located in the hex code, and a basic understanding how to modify it to make changes. That was very time consuming, but it got the job done.

 

[oren hughbanks]

Man me and a few friends use to burn chips down his dad's wood shop late at night on Fridays and play guitar and PlayStation one........ wait I think I'm talking about a different kind of burning