What's the best logger setup available?

[SubversionX]

I know that the prime cut of choice would be DSMLink; however, I'm a little financially constrained (aka. married), and my tuning options are limited, and I know that I should go DSMLink, but at this point it's not within my means, nor am I looking to make a powerhorse ride; Just a fun DD and side project. I have a 97 ECU and an Evo III 4G63T, Neo SAFC controller, and a WBO2 setup, and am only looking for a logging tool to use from my laptop. The best program I've seen is EvoScan, but was wondering if there were any similar programs that people have used that parallel these performances? Is it necessary to buy one of their OBDII cables from their website, or can I buy something similar from a local electronics store? Totally new to tuning, so any advice would be greatly appreciated. Thanks!

 

[dsmbooster]

Have you checked Ebay? I have seen great deals on full package deals on there. Whole set ups well under 100 smackers! I would just take a peek and see if they might work for you? Even comes with the pda palm logger tool!

 

[SubversionX]

My hopes were to be able to download EvoScan and use a generic OBDII cable from a local shop, at this point. Relatively cheaper than buying an eBay setup for $100. I'm also running Ubuntu on my laptop; does anyone have any experience with installing a scanner tool onto a linux distro OS?

 

[Absit]

You can buy EvoScan for $25 and get the Vag-Com 409.1 cable for around $10 shipped, or buy the package for $50+shipping. I have no experience with EvoScan on *nix, but most emulators should be able to handle it, you may consider dual booting.

Package
http://www.dsmchips.com/viewproduct.php?id=22

 

[SubversionX]

Wow; that looks like a pretty good deal. It says that 95-97 ECUs are logged a lot slower; does anyone have any idea exactly what the speed of this sample rate would be?

I've got the Wine emulator running right now. I've got an HP Pavilion dv5 that I bought for $100 without an OS, but it looks like it would probably be best to run a dual partition like you said.

 

[Absit]

If I remember right the 97 is fine, I remember the 95/96 logging 5-10 samples/sec. If it is that slow on the 97 the only way around it is a new ECU. My 95 logged 7 samples/sec, my 98 150+.

 

[SubversionX]

If I remember right the 97 is fine, I remember the 95/96 logging 5-10 samples/sec. If it is that slow on the 97 the only way around it is a new ECU. My 95 logged 7 samples/sec, my 98 150+.

Right on, that doesn't sound too bad at all. Are there any extra precautionary peripherals that I should be aware of? Or does the kit from Keydiver pretty much cover all of it? Thanks for all your help!

 

[Absit]

The cable is the only physical part you need. Install ECUFlash as well because it should have all the FTDI drivers you need. That is a good reason to dual boot.

 

[SubversionX]

Right, it would definitely be easier to just install windows in regards to those drivers. I thought it wasn't possible to flash a 97 ECU? Or am I wrong?

 

[Absit]

You can not flash a '97 ECU, and you can not flash with that cable. I suggested ECUFlash for the drivers that come with it, and because eventually you may want to swap a flashable ECU in, so why not have it handy to learn on?

 

[SubversionX]

poop.

Is there a cable I can buy at a local shop or a best buy? What exactly should I be looking for? Or should I just buy it online? I'd prefer to just download the software and get the cable from a local spot and get right to logging; The referred item on DSMChips.com is out of stock at the moment...

 

[Absit]

Get one off eBay, it's extremely unlikely you'll find one locally.

 

[eclipsemf]

i have the obdII cable with an eprom ecu and a data burner, would all i need to log is evo scan on my computer and then will i be good? hopefully you dont mind me jumping in I am also new to tunning and logging thanks in advance!

 

[knochgoon24]

Get the VAG cable off eBay and buy EvoScan off the site.

You can log fine with the 97 ECU. You can't flash it though.

I don't think EvoScan runs properly on Wine. Something about the way the drivers are setup. I have run EvoScan on XP, Vista, and Win7 though without issues. I actually ran it on an Asus EEE 701 SD with it's 900MHz processor and 265MB ram. It ran just fine.

 

[knochgoon24]

i have the obdII cable with an eprom ecu and a data burner, would all i need to log is evo scan on my computer and then will i be good? hopefully you dont mind me jumping in I am also new to tunning and logging thanks in advance!

Don't even waste you money buying EvoScan. The 95-96 ecu can only be logged at ~ 6 samples / second. Complete waste.

Just save up and buy ECMLink Lite or download a free OBDII logger. I used to use wOBD with ok results.

 

[eclipsemf]

alright cool thanks for the help!

 

[Absit]

Don't even waste you money buying EvoScan. The 95-96 ecu can only be logged at ~ 6 samples / second. Complete waste.

Just save up and buy ECMLink Lite or download a free OBDII logger. I used to use wOBD with ok results.

Oh hey, except OBD loggers won't show you important stuff like KNOCK.

 

[knochgoon24]

Oh hey, except OBD loggers won't show you important stuff like KNOCK.

Because logging knock with 5 samples / second is really going to help. If you log TPS, RPM, Ignition timing, Load , and Knock, you'll only get a knock reading once per second. Not much of a help. Just save your money.

You would get results that would be about the same accuracy as the old way of logging the ignition timing and looking for deviations from what the timing maps say. Then you'd know you were knocking and pulling timing. An OBDII logger will do that.

If you actually are tuning with something like an SAFC, plus the cost of EvoScan and a cable, you'd be half way to the price of ECMLink Lite. Piggybacks used to be great, but now you can actually get a full tuning package for the price those piggybacks used to be.

 

[Absit]

That's why you log knock alone, or with one other option. Logging knock alone is more useful than OBD2.