wemtd Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 I have haltech as that was original setup I got. My unit is now obsolete but I’ve had good experiences with support (Oz office remotely logged into my car to help diagnose a failing ignition module). I think many cat’s have SBD systems. Some folks have good experiences with Typhoon? ECU last time I discussed with them. I’d give some/nominal consideration to tuning ability/interface since we are often engineer-types: (Can you find someone to tune a turboencabulator & can you further modify the settings)? My tuner does what he can and has advised: do this/that to further fine tune cold start settings… where there are limited attempts to set values at 30’F. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 Whatever solution you end up with, I suggest you get something that allows open access at other tuners some time in the future. There is nothing worse than going with something that is proprietary with one dyno tuner. Caterham/SBD's approach to this with the MBE ECU really irritates me. As for Emtron, its a good modern race car tuning system. They are one of two on my short list for the Cosworth Escort replacement ECU. But that has a highly strung YB Cosworth lump powering it with 550hp from a 2L 4 cylinder with traction control, anti-lag, boost detonation control, etc. You have (what should be) a fairly simple 4 cylinder on throttle bodies at a basic level of tune. Is the proposed solution overkill? I'd challenge them on whether something simpler with open source would work just as well. The prices for the basic Emtron unit are quite reasonable - about 40% of what an unlocked MBE ECU costs for a Caterham. A new Pectel ECU would be about the same as the MBE. Of course if you were in the PNW, I'd suggest you enlist @JohnCh for an Emerald ECU as he is always singing the praises of how well his Westfield is tuned. He could also teach you how to fine tune your map settings as he really is an artisan about these things. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted October 9, 2021 Share Posted October 9, 2021 4 hours ago, Croc said: Of course if you were in the PNW, I'd suggest you enlist @JohnCh for an Emerald ECU as he is always singing the praises of how well his Westfield is tuned. He could also teach you how to fine tune your map settings as he really is an artisan about these things. I'll take the bait. I'm far from an artisan. More like not-egregiously-incompetent. I went with Emerald because, at the time, a lot of Westfield and Caterham owners in the UK had gone that route. This meant a large pool for community support to back up Emerald's great direct support. Emerald also has a dyno on site and tunes engines, resulting in a large library of maps they make available to their customers as starter maps which really speeds up the process. From a functionality perspective, the Emerald has a self learning function that allows you to create a target AFR map based on load and rpms and it will adjust fueling to meet those targets as you drive the car. That is not something unique to Emerald, but it's a great feature to consider if you plan to do the map yourself. If @Croc does go for the Emtron, that may be your best option since he or his minions could provide in-person support. -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 9, 2021 Author Share Posted October 9, 2021 5 hours ago, Croc said: Whatever solution you end up with, I suggest you get something that allows open access at other tuners some time in the future. There is nothing worse than going with something that is proprietary with one dyno tuner. Caterham/SBD's approach to this with the MBE ECU really irritates me. As for Emtron, its a good modern race car tuning system. They are one of two on my short list for the Cosworth Escort replacement ECU. But that has a highly strung YB Cosworth lump powering it with 550hp from a 2L 4 cylinder with traction control, anti-lag, boost detonation control, etc. You have (what should be) a fairly simple 4 cylinder on throttle bodies at a basic level of tune. Is the proposed solution overkill? I'd challenge them on whether something simpler with open source would work just as well. The prices for the basic Emtron unit are quite reasonable - about 40% of what an unlocked MBE ECU costs for a Caterham. A new Pectel ECU would be about the same as the MBE. Of course if you were in the PNW, I'd suggest you enlist @JohnCh for an Emerald ECU as he is always singing the praises of how well his Westfield is tuned. He could also teach you how to fine tune your map settings as he really is an artisan about these things. Stuff to think about. The overkill option was particularly recommended when I mentioned of potentially trying to go FI with the Rotrex over the winter. Until then it was a balance of them having to poke around Pectel and while possible it would add up in hours of labor due to limits of system. According to the tuner and my understanding going with a better ECU will be an initial cost but will save on troubleshooting and tuning time in the long term. Don't know what the balance/crossover point is but that's the theory. I'm open to all and other options, but I'd like to do it once as I'm sure the labor on repining will add up. I don't want to change harness if I don't have to. I'm far from electrical expert so I'd rather not get into it. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
ashyers Posted October 11, 2021 Share Posted October 11, 2021 If you decide to give up on the Pectel unit don't bin it, I may be interested. Andy Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 (edited) 22 hours ago, ashyers said: If you decide to give up on the Pectel unit don't bin it, I may be interested. Andy I'd think about it, but fore-warning. I get rid of very few parts... In other news I got hit with a nice case of hindsight being 20/20. I knew that CSR has a different offset but for some reason I expected the CSR cycle wings fit with CSR wing stays on an S3 just fine. Quickly learned thats not the case. Westermann sells appropriate lighter wingstays and I might end up going that route instead of bending what I have now. Still debating. They aren't the cheapest thing on the planet https://westermann-motorsport.com/en/produkte/superlight-cycle-wing-stay-csr-type-wings @SK400 - I assume you got westermann stays too or did you use existing Caterham ones and make them work? Edited October 12, 2021 by Vovchandr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
SK400 Posted October 12, 2021 Share Posted October 12, 2021 Yep - Got the westermann wingstay. saved 1.4 kg of weight from original wingstays. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 12, 2021 Author Share Posted October 12, 2021 1 hour ago, SK400 said: Yep - Got the westermann wingstay. saved 1.4 kg of weight from original wingstays. That explains a bit. I'll likely try to bend these over the winter as there really isn't an existing second market for CSR stays in US, or otherwise also order the aluminum ones. They also lighten the wallet too! How did you end up securing the front/back? I assume you likely glued the back but did you actually use the bolt for the front? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 13, 2021 Author Share Posted October 13, 2021 (edited) Another track year, another set of failing BigHeads fasteners. This time around im going to see if some reinforcement welding can be added in weak failing points at the bends. The glue held fine so far for year 2 and 3, the actual metal fatigues and fails. Glue is so strong it's actually a bear to remove. I refuse to hard mount the fenders. I only imagine that the situation would only cause more trouble in the future and I like the ability to swap over fender mounts as needed due to different tire and wheel sizes (I have high and low fender mounts now) Edited October 13, 2021 by Vovchandr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 15, 2021 Author Share Posted October 15, 2021 Reinforced some of the existing mounts with JB wild as an attempt to make them better. Couldn't have them welded while mounted due to likely damage to CF and wasn't going to remount all of them. Will get replacement units reinforced in meantime. Also discovered that there is always something new to find. My left and right fairing stays are different. Not sure why or how but they have different width spread and aren't interchangeable. Luckily I have new race mounts to make it all work. Race mounts march one side but not the other Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 16, 2021 Author Share Posted October 16, 2021 (edited) For anybody wondering about the pedal difference between early and late pedals, I happen to have both. New is the round one. Old is flat. New sits higher and not sure if it will fit just yet but it certainly seems to provide more travel which is what I'm after. If it doesn't work, I have replacement pedal to bend over further Edited October 16, 2021 by Vovchandr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 (edited) Whatever happened to going somewhere and getting a $600-1000 basic tune? Does that not exist anymore Got the quote from the tuner Quote Emtron SL4 ECU $1,785 Emtron ELC1 Canbus lambda Controller $382.50 Wideband Sensor $125 Emtron 1 Bar Map Sensor $187 Emtron SL Bracket $119 Emtron Connector Kit $102.50 Additional Sensors Recommended - additional fittings might be required and potentially some relays Fuel Pressure / Temp - $150 Oil Pressure / Temp - $150 Connector Kit - $25 Wiring Labor with Documentation estimate - 12-15 hrs @ $139 per hour $1,668 - $2,085 Sensor installation, tune up, pre dyno mechanical estimate - 8hrs @ $139 per hour $1,112 Dyno Tune Charge $1,200 Rough math on the lower end comes out to be $7000+ That figure is NOT in my current ballpark for a tune Edited October 19, 2021 by Vovchandr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
JohnCh Posted October 19, 2021 Share Posted October 19, 2021 13 minutes ago, Vovchandr said: Whatever happened to going somewhere and getting a $600-1000 basic tune? According to the estimate, the dyno tuning charge is only $1200 so just a couple hundred above your high number. Given they are starting from scratch, $1200 is reasonable in the Seattle area, particularly if they are tuning for drivability. Why do they have a line item for a MAP sensor but not a TPS? Aren't you still running the ITBs? -John Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 19, 2021 Author Share Posted October 19, 2021 33 minutes ago, JohnCh said: According to the estimate, the dyno tuning charge is only $1200 so just a couple hundred above your high number. Given they are starting from scratch, $1200 is reasonable in the Seattle area, particularly if they are tuning for drivability. Why do they have a line item for a MAP sensor but not a TPS? Aren't you still running the ITBs? -John It's Dyno tuno cost counting their ECU and familiarity. If they were to try to use my old limited ability Pectel I can only assume it will be much higher considering it doesn't track AFR in the ECU afaik and it will take much longer. Still I can only assume that's cheaper than the total. Not sure why the MAP, maybe to proof the future upgrades such as FI. But yes I currently have the TPS on the ITBs. I know the wideband sensors are the same so I can at least subtract that. 12 to 15 hours to repin the ECU seems excessive? I would expect that price for replacing the entire harness. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 24, 2021 Author Share Posted October 24, 2021 Felt a little out of place today at the last Cars and Coffee of the season Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted October 24, 2021 Share Posted October 24, 2021 Size of the fluid and oil leaks is about the same though.... Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted October 28, 2021 Author Share Posted October 28, 2021 (edited) Search for a tuner is back on. I have a few leads but the current tuner contact said they didn't feel comfortable working with Pectel and I'm not ready to commit to $7k to get a dyno tune and get my timing right Edited October 28, 2021 by Vovchandr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted December 10, 2021 Author Share Posted December 10, 2021 (edited) Finally decided to wash my floor matts out after the Exxon Vladdez accident I had on the track Came out decent Edited December 10, 2021 by Vovchandr Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Croc Posted December 10, 2021 Share Posted December 10, 2021 What happened when you cleaned the driver's seat? Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
Vovchandr Posted December 13, 2021 Author Share Posted December 13, 2021 On 12/10/2021 at 6:04 PM, Croc said: What happened when you cleaned the driver's seat? Never dirty! Always red. Red is best. Link to comment Share on other sites More sharing options...
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