Aftermarket ECU options these days. Any new developments?

You're not wrong, but you could just as easily cut the OEM harness just before the ECU plug and do the same thing. By the time guys are going to wire in ECU's I don't think they're fussy about maintaining an original harness haha

 

True, but with this you can do all your wiring out of the car, and then just simply plug it into the existing harness. A lot easier than rewiring the whole car. But we know you like to do things the hard way

 

Shane is right. Thats what i did. Also makes it "easier" to revert the car back should it be needed.
Also as you say you want to futureproof... well then look away from most plugins as it will limit your options in case of inputs and outputs and in many cases limits you in choice of triggerpatterns and things that could get very usefull for you down the line.
Make an adapterharness like shane and i say and voila! Your wire in ecu becomes "plugin". I spent a few hours doing mine on the kitchen table.
Also make sure your ecu have a configurable CANbus option so that you may use can-devices from other makers than your ecu. You wont regret it.

 

I'm running Haltech Platinium Pro plugin. Awesome bit of kit

 

Yeah it does take a bit of modification to get it to fit... Been meaning to do a write up on this, took pics, will get to it one day.

 

Why no you need alot of gauges?
In my case, i used to have a few gauge, i have non now. Everything i need to "watch" is looked after by the ecu. It have RPM- and or maplimits setup for coolant temp, oiltemp oilpressure and fuel differential pressure (if the relation between fuelpressure and manifold pressure goes below a set point a limit sets in) and boost limit. I dont need to watch anything really. If any gauges was displaying a problem i would probably never noticed it before it was to late anyway.
IF i want to watch any data anyway i have hardwired an obd2 adapter to the ecu (new links/vipecs are obd2 compatible) so that i can open my prefered android app and look at it on my phone. Anything i want really.
BUT i dont know your project. Maybe you actually need gauges...

Actually someone said the Link G4 will do. I used to have one. Problem with it is the lack of "tables" there are only 12 of them on the G4.
Everything you want to run extra will take a table. Say you want to run (on the VG) individual cylinder knock control that will be 7 tables One for each cylinder and one knock target map. Individual cylinder fueling and ignition is 5 each. (If you need to individualy adjust all 6 your main maps are wrong).
I have two boost target maps and two wastegate dutycycle maps and one ignition idle map. I also run two general purpose RPM limits. This counts (this far) 24. Double the available in the G4. So it wil not "do" it for everyone.
The G4+ got 20 tables available so that was a no go for me. The i88 got 30.
The Emtron and other ecus are not limited with this nonsense at all.

 

im running a adaptronic select pnp in mine and have good success so far, has all the options u have listed

http://www.adaptronic.com.au/product/esel015/

 

Alto its not bad it is getting old and outdated. Left in the dust really.

From the site
Semi sequential injection and wasted spark ignition
Spare 0-5V analogue input
One additional spare aux output
3 spare digital inputs
Spare temperature input

Also got no Canbus

way to few extra inputs/outputs.

Often when it comes to this i hear that wasted spark and semi seq. injection isnt a problem at all. Usually from people that dont have it...
Altho not a "problem" pr say, but not exactly ideal either.
The 1280 is a better choise imho but there is still no CAN and still a lack of spare pins as i see it.

 

Some say it is the (good) shit . I cant say otherwise. Got lot of good usefull functions.
However IF you think a cranktrigger of some sort COULD be something you would consider in the future i suggest you contact them first and ask if it is doable...

 

Fair enough. I just know I wouldnt like to have that limitation in my ECU.
But frankly its not THAT much work. In my case i spent a few hours one night to mock up the sensor bracket. Thats all the mocking i really did. The triggerwheel i got as part of a custom damper from ATI. (Of course it did cost my first born, but hey. I know how to make kids now...)

While on the subject here is a log i made from an RB25DET a guy was tuning before the weekend. This engine got a stock CAS with one of the AEM 24+1 disks in it. Here you can still see timingscatter happen when looking at the bumpy RPM line alone, but it becomes really obvious when looking at the red RPM Rate (of change) line just under it. A log of my car is the other one just for comparision. Not trying to convince you. Just figured while we was on this topic..

 

May i suggest going with an emtron instead of the link or haltech you might have planned on? That is one thing you wouldnt regret doing. They are high end ecus (think motec or syvecs) but without the pricetag.

 

And who is the local dyno operator with Emtron experience?

 

Well if Shanes profile is something to go by he seems to live in the New South Wales. This just happens to be the same area which Insight motorsport is in.
Insight Motorsport also happens to be run by a gentleman called Scott Khuner which happens to be the founder of EMtron...
That would be my choise. Tell Scott Steve in Norway said hi.

http://www.insightmotorsports.com.au/

Now of course being on the other side of the world myself i have no idea of how big this area is and if Insight Motorsport is within your reach.. In that case some of the other from the NSW dealer list might be closer.
https://emtronaustralia.com.au/Pages/Dealers/#australia

 

However if you go with a link or haltech you would be able to benefit from the experience of the other 300ZX racers on this forum who have been using them for years.

in my case LINKs nearly 15 years. However I do like my MOTEC the best but just so pricey.

 

And if you dont you might benefit form a much better equipment.

Although i love link, (have had two of them) ever since they advertised for programers some time back they have been PLAGUED with bugs all over. I dont have one now but i do keep myself in the loop. Everytime they fix one thing something new pops up. Also it is a bit low on power really. All of them run the same 40mhz prosessor. (exept the thunder. That got two of them)

Haltech seems to have a problem with timing accuracy now and have always had it. I have talked to a number of tuners about this and it seems Haltech knows of it but they never admit it, or seem to do anything about it.
My latest conversation about it (less than a week ago actually) revealed that this shop had their shop car on a pro plugin. That car had timingscatter as bad as +-8 degrees (with a crank fitted triggerwheel). Swapped to a better ecu and gained 15kw at the top and 35kw at 5000rpm. Same tuner and same dyno. Imagine the area under the curve here. It transformed the car. They experienced this with other cars aswell. I asked if they tested the elites in the same manner but they had not. However they had customers that had swaped from pro ecus to elite and gained nothing, and THEN to the better ecu in the end...Theese guys dont deal Haltech anymore.
But dont take my word for it. I never had a Haltech in the car. Never liked them. Just passing on parts of one of the talks i`ve had.

Honestly as nice it is to have some experience in a group the z32 isnt a particulary difficult engine that you have to "know" to be able to tune correctly. Have a good quality dyno and you are pretty much there.

Yeah Motec is good but comes with the tag. wouldnt mind a dev package m150 tho..

 

My LS3 has a Haltech Elite which is doing the job OK but I would not go Haltech again as they are not the best value for money around and seem to have some peculiarities. The reason why the question of dyno tuners was mentioned is that race cars have a habit of not staying at the one place all the time so it can be handy if your ECU can be serviced by multiple tuners interstate, plus I've found that relying on one service outlet is not a good idea anyway.

 

Thanks everyone for the ideas, tbh I've never been a fan of Haltech. Would love a Motec, but don't think the budget will extend that far

TBH this discussion probably warrants it's own thread.

Mods can this be split out into it's own thread in the Tech section please.