thewrench said:
Install, to tune a standalone for NA, what gauges do you need? Anything other than an Air/fuel? BTW, his plan is almost identical to mine.
Thanks,
James T
You don't need them to "tune" it...but you don't really need them either for forced induction, meaning the car will still run without them...the gauges are used for monitering important things...17psi of boost and you better have an A/F gauge to moniter what is happening with the mixture...
The biggest annoyance for some is the laptop issue...That in itself will double the standalones cost if you don't already own one...and most standalones require one to tune...Systems such as Link Plus 2's have a $75 trim module option, that allows you to adjust timing and fuel mapping on the fly without a notebook computer...But they only make changes to an excisting map, and are generally only used to retard timing and add more fuel when a detonation problem occurs...
Remember though that if you have the standalone tuned properly by a knowledgeable tech, t is pretty much done until you add more mods...If it is done right with proof on a dyno you can pretty much leave it alone...and the tech will use the shops laptop to tune it, so you don't really have to purchase one...Most modern controllers have the resolution to deal with all kinds of conditions and climates, and can be regarded as a "set it and forget it" type of mod after proper tuning is complete...
Andy pretty much answered it already...A lot of stand alones have data logging LCDs that will display basically anything related to the triggering and mixture, as well as every other sensors output to the ECU...Almost every standalone does this internally, but most people don't won't to have a laptop powered up and sitting on the passenger seat to watch what is happening...Motec has a cool looking one that looks similar to the AFC-II's LCD...
But again some don't have that option, and you can get whatever gauges you want to moniter things...A/F gauges are a little on the overkill side, but if you are running extremely high compression (which I hope you will be if you spend the money on the standalone)...a lean mixture can be just as bad as with 20psi of boost...So you still need to keep an eye on things...same with oil pressure and water/engine temp...
The mapping issues are different from controller to controller...There are a few guys (Braden is one of them) on this board that can help with base mapping a Haltech E6X...and a lot of the time base mapping, referring to simply getting the car running and at least driveable, is the easiest part...Fine tuning it for optimum power is more time consuming... Also a lot of members are familiar with other companies software as well...The manuals included usually supply enough information to get the car running until you can get it to the performance shop...
but if you plunk down 1 grand for a standalone you are set pretty much...10.5:1 mazdaspeed pistons are dirt cheap, and with the standalone and pistons you could give the FS a lot more punch than stock...Then just hang the various bolt-ons off of it, while making the head spin a bigger set of cams...you will be much happier with the car...Everyone bitches how NA is so expensive, in which it is to get turbo like gains...But I know you can get more whp than an MSP for less than an entry level turbo kit if you can install this s*** yourself...but the standalone is key, with high compression and no programmable engine controller you are basically building a grenade...that will run like s*** before it "grenades"...
