ECU or POWER COMMANDER

[oldgixxer]

Seriously,what if this tuner melts some parts while he is learning to map your bike? Then you're down for repairs and your not riding. You have a lot invested in your bike,can you help me understand why you would put your trust in someone like that? It just seems like you are taking a huge chance.
WEGO seems a bit much for a 7psi bike,Walter knows his **** so Im sure there is a reason why;are you 100% sure thats exactly what he said when you told him you're only running 7psi/pump gas?

 

[Kevin Jones]

I am considering all of those things. I wouldn't have to if I wasn't mystified by the controversy that surrounds how the elite tuners seem to think you need $1k worth of extra stuff on top of your huge investment to even go there (where as the manufacturer of the turbo kit says it doesn't). This tuning thing is so opinion based, my dad is going through the same sh*t with his Grand National. His is 24lbs boost and I am damn sure his would splat if he got into it and he has called everyone in FL that were recommended from this board in a thread I put on here and doesn't feel confident with any of them. Someone here even recommended a tuner that doesn't even have a dyno? Someone else recommended someone for my tune that when I called said "we are waiting on the Suzuki software". WTF? Were I anywhere even near the panhandle, I would just drive it to Rob. Im thinking about it anyway. I don't know if there is just an established elitist culture around this stuff, or if the information hoarding is intentional, or if I am just critically thinking enough to be paranoid of stupid stuff. Please do not take this rant as anything other than I am stuck in a situation that sucks with limited options.

 

[oldgixxer]

No rant my man,I know what you are going thru. Everyone has a very strong opinion as to whom or what is the best.
I went thru that crap too,until I found the right tuner for me and used whatever he was familiar with(he used both PCV&ECU editor in conjunction). Now I stick with him&whatever he recommends no matter what I read on the forums&no matter who says what.
Hope you get what yer wantin&the bike runs like a F'n beast

 

[Kevin Jones]

Going to Johnny's in Sarasota tmrw. 3 hr drive but I will keep it under 5k. Feels like it will make it but definitely feels like it needs some love. We are going to do it same way your guy does, pc5 and ecu and he is going to walk me through the software and teach me some stuff. Rob says it should be alright and it feels like it will be, I am just going to be puckered up for the first 2 hours prolly.

 

[oldgixxer]

That'll be a fun ride home

 

[Quiksilver]

I was looking at datalogger and came across the log box pro. I'm having some rich spots down low and lean up top. I seen the log box pro can be used to datalog and make changes to the bike. Anyone have any experience with this?

 

[BIG CC RACING]

My 10cents. ECU editor is great for a lot of things but fuel mapping the bike is not one of them. Simply because it takes far far too long in duration. There are 25 throttle load sites in the stock ecu where as a PC5 has 10 & will interpolate those 10 TP's across the whole map. It then has 6 individual gear maps too. You can always dumify the ecu by getting rid of those into one map but its still 2.5 x the work & the downloading is snails pace. ECU hacking is great for everything else.

Those that say they want to map on the ECU are either gonna charge you a whole bunch of money for doing the extra work or they are going to gloss over it without being anywhere near as accurate as the PC5 fuelling would be. The reason its popular with tuners is because of the higher money in their pocket involved rather than buying a power commander for people.

Equally as the customer you think your winning because ok fuelling & not perfect is fine with you until you go to sell your bike & have to pay to revert the map when you take off the exhaust to sell... while the other guy who bought the PC5 is getting over half his PC5 money back anyway via ebay.

 

[POWERHOUSE]

My 10cents. ECU editor is great for a lot of things but fuel mapping the bike is not one of them. Simply because it takes far far too long in duration. There are 25 throttle load sites in the stock ecu where as a PC5 has 10 & will interpolate those 10 TP's across the whole map. It then has 6 individual gear maps too. You can always dumify the ecu by getting rid of those into one map but its still 2.5 x the work & the downloading is snails pace. ECU hacking is great for everything else.

Those that say they want to map on the ECU are either gonna charge you a whole bunch of money for doing the extra work or they are going to gloss over it without being anywhere near as accurate as the PC5 fuelling would be. The reason its popular with tuners is because of the higher money in their pocket involved rather than buying a power commander for people.

This is exactly spot on, I agree with this totally and have been saying this for years. The cheapskates that don't want to do it right and buy a pc usually spew about how great the ecu is for tuning, and it is not. It actually sucks. In fact, a lot of people say a lot of things they know nothing about, even though they have zero dyno or tuning experience. It would take you six hours on the dyno to do the right job and you would be lucky to have all you air/fuel lines straight. With a pc, you can do a better job - a perfect job - in less than an hour with a normally aspirated bike. Less tuning time, less dyno time and stress on the bike. It may seem contrary that the reason is the ecu has more resolution than a powercommander, but that is indeed one of the reasons, along with the multiple maps and downloading the stupid bin file every time you make a change.

Yes, the ecu is great for raising rev limiters, enabling hard cuts, optimizing timing, turning the fans on earlier, etc. We have seen the best gains and the best running bikes with a combination of both . . . IMHO

 

[mjl3truck]

I use the ECU E and stand behind it but do agree with most of what you say as far as tuning goes it being a PITA but for me I'm willing to put up with that so I can get rid of all the multiple boxes and associated wiring that go with a PCV and Q/S.

 

[Lucid]

I think that if you want to add a lot of accessories to the bike, ECU editor is the way to go because it's pretty much unlimited on what you can do with it. (E.g., timing, activating nitrous in various ways, controlling different levels, etc., turbo setups, air shifter setups, editing different limiters and electronics, etc.). If you generally cruise around and hit the track a time or two, PC + flash is probably fine because it's so easy.

However, I think I'd still recommend the ECU editor.

You can flash the ECU with a map from a bike with a similar exhaust, air filter, etc. (Can ask around online or download from BoostbySmith - use at your own risk, though.) To me, that seems largely the same as downloading a canned map from PC. Given that, I went ECU editor + flashing harness (though I had a PCV and took it off), and just downloaded a map with almost my exact mods. Now I have a canned map that I can easily adjust, I can add all the accessories I want, and I can remove limiters and other stuff at will. It also runs MUCH BETTER now than when I just had the PCV with Brock's map.

I got a WEGO III to datalog and get a/f readings, but that's mainly b/c I'll eventually be running a small shot of nitrous. I know some tuners might prefer PC (or only be able to use it), so if you plan on getting a dyno tune keep that in mind. But I think I can get a really good custom map on my own using this setup and A LOT of research. If I were going more than a 40 shot of nitrous or if I were going turbo, I wouldn't touch anything and I would use a dyno tuner.