VEMS firmware versions

[a4kquattro]

Let's hope the VEMS developers will enable the link between the VEMS round gauge and the VEMS ECU by using the RS-232 serial cables. Actually I presumed this would be available from the beginning as it seemed such a straight forward use-case.

Is anyone working on this, or can I find out how to request this feature?

yes, supported in 1.1.44+

[Jamo]

they dont have the MAT/IAT table.I think that is the most vital issue. Cause you can specify on what IATs your engine will retard timing. If you have tuned it properly to avoid knock at all times, older vems firmwares have a generic mat retard scaling which cannot be altered.But if the engine does not knock say even with 40C IAT, you will still get retarded timing, while on the latest firmwares you can specify that.

on the other hand you cannot cure that with overtiming the engine anyway, cause you might still get knock with low iat as well.

1.1.44 has the 2 accel enrichment table and the audi trigger. I found that the accel enrichment was not that important anyway,cause the 1.1.27 works fine

the gear boost looks promicing though!

So some of the newer versions dont have the functionality of the older versions

Now as you know I work in the software business and that is just barmby unless there are no controlled releases and versions are simultaneously released? ???

[A80Avant]

i didnt understand that last sentence.... what do you mean?

All the new versions have something added in and something changed.

For example on 1.1.27 you can change the coolant bins. On 1.1.44 you cant.
On all megatune versions you had the option of 12x12 or 16x14 version tables.

On vems tune you get specific size tables and dont have a choise. When i asked about making the tables bigger (16x14 or 16x16 as motronic has) so that you can have more accuracy, i was told that since VEMS interpolates from one bin to the other, larger tables are not required. So the only table that has 16x14 is the VE, and the rest are smaller. (lamda: 8x8, spark 12x12 etc)

I think for me that will be the most tricky thing,transforming my current tables to the smaler ones, as i do like to use a few bins for idle to control it better for example.Other than that i think its all a matter of getting used to the enviroment. Id say the best version to start is 1.1.27 though.Its proven that it is stable,and you have experienced vems users and tuners to help out. If everyone else is still experimenting on the latest versions, you may end up without a running engine for a while, or even worse!!!

[GazzaG60]

with it being open source so to speak there are many adaptations to suit the individual. what usually is the issue is the chip can only hold so many command sets as you know so some features are removed to enable others.

im on 1.1.23rc. no issues. im still 12x12 but plan a move very soon to a newer firmware. having spoken to peter he has offered to help as its a pig to upgrade some firmwares. eg went from 1.1.23 to 1.1.44 and megatune wont connect to ecu says ??? try vemstune and its alive. not familiar with vemstune and to be honest never disliked megatune.

i would'nt worry too much about the firmware jamo. its not like othyer software where patches usually dont remove things but imporve things. you can turn a perfectly good running car into 5 pots of petrol with a vems firmware update believe me.

[A80Avant]

oh another couple of nice safety features that i like on 1.1.62 are the EGT/Boost reduction and fuel/EGT increase.

so there is an option to reduce boost if EGTs go higher than specified OR/AND increase fuel if EGTs go higher

[Jamo]

So if you create a map on one version does it not automatically get converted correctly on upgrade to the new version?

[A80Avant]

hmm that is something that i cannot confirm. Vemstune has a .msq option possibly to read old firmwares but i doubt that you will able to do much with that.

not a big prolem though as if you have both softwares open you can just copy all settings from one to the other. The problem will occur if 1.1.62 is actually reading something different than what the old version did, esp. with trigger settings. Marc is working on that though.

Vemstune comes with a base map anyway,but it needs to be adjusted to everyones I5 individually

[Bram]

yes, supported in 1.1.44+

excellent! Another reason to upgrade to a new VEMS firmware then. Do I also need to adjust the software of the VEMS round gauge itself? Or is it P&P?

[Bram]

oh another couple of nice safety features that i like on 1.1.62 are the EGT/Boost reduction and fuel/EGT increase.

so there is an option to reduce boost if EGTs go higher than specified OR/AND increase fuel if EGTs go higher

That feature would be helpful for my setup. When is the release of 1.1.62 to be expected? somewhere in the coming months? I hope the upgrade goes smooth, so I don't have to adjust any of the tuning parameters

[A80Avant]

1.1.62 is already out and downloadable from vems website.however i am too worried in doing something like that on my own before marc has fully tested it.

also because of the new tables im afraid you will probably need to retune the car.

[a4kquattro]

1.1.62 is already out and downloadable from vems website.however i am too worried in doing something like that on my own before marc has fully tested it.

also because of the new tables im afraid you will probably need to retune the car.

Correct, 1.1.62 is out and available and works, but what I am trying to do is provide a smooth upgrade path for my customers. As has been mentioned, if a firmware upgrade is not done correctly things can go south in a hurry...

Bram: even in a perfect world where I am able to map the upgrade as smoothly as possible I would still highly recommend a double and tripple check on your tuning (sending me a log file should be sufficient) when the time comes.

[a4kquattro]

excellent! Another reason to upgrade to a new VEMS firmware then. Do I also need to adjust the software of the VEMS round gauge itself? Or is it P&P?

I'm not sure on the VEMS round software, I think with it wired up it will pick up the settings automatically but I will test for you (I have a vems round test gauge here that I will play with). How it works: the serial output on your VEMS gets hooked up to the serial input on the vems round. A 'chirp' is sent over the serial line that feeds a data stream to the vems round for all the relevant data (egt and lambda). The same feature is used by aftermarket dashes as well, such as the AIM MXL.

[Jamo]

1.1.62 is already out and downloadable from vems website.however i am too worried in doing something like that on my own before marc has fully tested it.

also because of the new tables im afraid you will probably need to retune the car.

bingo so if you upgrade you have to retune!

Wondering whether to go 1.1.62 from the off then

[A80Avant]

jamo, if you plan to handle stuff on your own, then here is what you have to do.

if you start with a map of 16x14 tables, all you have to do is remodel the spark map to 12x12 and lamda to 8x8. the VE table is still 16x14.

then the new tables is just trial and error. Where your spark advance/retard will happen is where the knock will appear. what EGTs you want boost to be lowered, is your choise. How MAT will effect fueling is something that you can determine. If you dont want to customise them, you can just leave them untouched and your engine will still work fine.

for those who will always rely on a tuner to fix things, well they will have to ask them to do the change for them.

I dont see any trouble going from one to the other firmware. My only issue is installing the firmware to the ECU and succesfully communicating with it.

1.1.62 will take a while before Marc or others confirm it's stability.

[Bram]

Correct, 1.1.62 is out and available and works, but what I am trying to do is provide a smooth upgrade path for my customers. As has been mentioned, if a firmware upgrade is not done correctly things can go south in a hurry...

Bram: even in a perfect world where I am able to map the upgrade as smoothly as possible I would still highly recommend a double and tripple check on your tuning (sending me a log file should be sufficient) when the time comes.

OK, that sounds great. I will wait for your confirmation to start testing it if it has passed your test protocols. Thanks Marc!