Tuning stock Motronic ECU in urS4

[Jcarrick]

But don't get me wrong, loaded dyno tuning is by far better than street tuning and far more accurate. I just want to make minor adjust on the street for stuff like cruise AFR, etc.

[Jcarrick]

I will be intially have it tuned by a tuner (probably 034motorsports). But I want to be able to make minor adjustments myself. I am fully aware that you can blow stuff up if you do it wrong. And I know a lot of people who get pretty awesome tunes from just street tuning it. I agree, if you want it absolutely perfect and want to get the most hp/tq numbers out of it your going to need a dyno. But you can defintely get a good street tune with a AFR gauge, EGT, and knock sensor as well as everything your ECU has to offer. Just my opinion

[prj]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm thinking I'm gonna go more along the lines of VEMS instead of reflashing the Motronic. I would like to be able to tune it myself when I put different parts in it instead of having to take it back to the tuner every time, you know?

Unless you own or have access to a load-bearing dyno, it won't make a difference.
You can't get the car running well in transients by only tuning on the street.

The tuner is there to tune your engine. It's not important what ECU management you use, as long as he can tune it.

You are not going to be able to get your car to run 100% without racking up lots of dyno time. And this is not considering the fact, that you might destroy your engine in the process.

Don't get me wrong, I like aftermarket ECU's, I just don't like when people buy them because they don't want to go to a tuner. You should be buying it for eliminating the MAF flow restriction, for the launch control, for the antilag system. Not because you "don't want to pay the tuner". It will be more expensive to install an aftermarket system and tune it yourself, and most likely you will not get a good result.
There is MUCH more to tuning ICE's than being able to change parameters in an engine control system.

[Jamo]

The only difference is I paid for car to be tuned at the 1st stage, this was because I sold my OEM ecu and I needed to be able to use the car straight away plus I got tuning tips from the off Repo.

Since then I counted I've had 39 maps and upgrades through 8 different firmware versions!

The last three I used 1.1.70, 1.1.74 and 1.1.81 had release status from VEMS

http://www.vems.hu/wiki/index.php?page=GenBoard%2FUnderDevelopment%2FFirmwareChanges

[Jcarrick]

It's the main reason I did the swap, because my build was staged and I couldn't afford to remap at each stage.

I've enjoyed the learning experience and probably because I work with technology for a living I'm also interested what's the latest things coming up in the pipeline

That's the same way I'm doing mine, stages. It just doesn't make sense to pay for a remap each time. Plus I want to improve my tuning skills by doing most of it myself. I'm hoping to order VEMS within the next few months..

[Jamo]

It's the main reason I did the swap, because my build was staged and I couldn't afford to remap at each stage.

I've enjoyed the learning experience and probably because I work with technology for a living I'm also interested what's the latest things coming up in the pipeline

[GazzaG60]

vems is one of the easier tunes shall we say i feel.

from a vems prospective 1.1.27 is seen by many as the defacto minimum firmware to have a good platform. i run 1.1.23 still and have no issues.

jamo has dangled the carrot of extra features 1 too many times now though so i will be going 1.1.81 soon.

[Jcarrick]

Thanks for the info guys. I'm thinking I'm gonna go more along the lines of VEMS instead of reflashing the Motronic. I would like to be able to tune it myself when I put different parts in it instead of having to take it back to the tuner every time, you know?

[prj]

Motronic is no different than any other ECU. Be it VEMS, Autronic, Vipec, Tatech or whatever else.
Every ECU, when you install it into a modified car, needs re-tuning. This is why it is like Jamo said - you can't just buy an aftermarket ECU (any ECU), stick it in place and hope that it will work perfectly.

With Motronic it is a bit easier to tune, because you have a very good base from which to start modifying.
For 500whp, you will need a MAF conversion, if you want to keep the stock ECU.

PM me, I think I can help you with a local tuner, should be only around 260 miles away from you.

[Jamo]

RS200 We don't have problems with VEMS, you need to set it up correctly pure and simple. Any aftermarket ecu is going to be the same. The problem is most people thin they can swap the ecu and that's it your done.

It's a great ecu especially now with the latest firmware. The main problem has been a lot of older users have been scared to upgrade their firmwares and have been stuck on 1.1.27 and not helped move the firmware forwards. A lot of the issues are no longer in firmwares 1.1.74 or 1.1.81 those are the only two firmwares to be running IMO.

[Jcarrick]

Ya, I have noticed that a lot of people have problems with VEMS, but I also know a lot who are doing great with it.

The only I've heard of that you mentioned was Vi-pec that a guy on Motorgeek is running.

The car is gonna put down +/-500awhp with a holset turbo and a bunch of other goodies including H-Beam rods. I would prefer to have something I can tune aside from just a reflash.

How good is the support on those EMS's you mentioned? That's what I do like about VEMS, there's plenty of people to help you out!

[rs200]

just take a look on forum , how much people have problem with VEMS... if you asking me? NO WAY...

my choice will be: MoTec ,autronic SM4 (if you can find one) or ViPec v88 .

the custom remap of Motronic is good too (I will do it) . only question is how far you want to go? and what do want from that car? when you find the answer, you will know what to do

[Jcarrick]

Does anyone know a programmable chip or anyway to be able to tune your stock ECU? I've heard that 034Motorsports is coming out with one, but I have yet to see it.

Or would it just be better to go VEMS?