Turtle said:
Different ECU's vary in how well they deal with the sensor signals in order to determine speed/load of the engine - which is then used to lookup in the maps to get the ignition/fueling.
This is true, the good thing with K-Pro here is that the OEM ECU works very well with the OEM sensors as it is designed for them.
Turtle said:
An example being the F20C from the S2000. The properties of the intake manifold design on the F20C result in a tricky map sensor signal. Some ECU's are much better at dealing with that than others. The poorer ones end up struggling to give a consistent load - resulting more cycle to cycle variation and hence lost power. You can sometimes make external tweaks to improve matters but that's beyond the scope of what I'm going to post.
Funny that the S2000 came up here. Now that K-Pro is available for S2000, people are starting to report better startup, idle etc. with K-Pro than AEM what they have used previously. K-Pro in a S2000 does require changing some sensors to other OEM ones, but it clearly seems to work better than the AEM.
(talking again about AEM vs. K-Pro because that's what this thread is about)
Turtle said:
It's not really an issue to worry about for 99% of engine builds. But if you're undertaking a significant build and the tuner suggests a more capable ECU (for example a Motec), don't assume they're after more money - it really can be the case that a better ECU is required to get the most out of the mechanical setup of the proposed engine build.
Exactly, but I have to say I haven't heard of a K-series application that would actually require Motec. Most of the winning teams in the US drag scene run K-Pro. Many CTR rallycars here (stock K20) do run Motec simply because has a very good reputation in the rally scene and there are many known tuners for it. Very expensive though and again doesn't control Honda multiplexer and require additional wiring to control reverse lock-out solenoid and A/C switch.
I guess you guys in the UK don't have to worry about OBD2 checks at MOT, but that's another difference between AEM and K-Pro. Proper OBD2 error codes that relate the problem to a workshop manual are also a good thing when determining a problem in the car. AEM doesn't provide that either.