soo i have a dilemma.
my car has pretty much been maxed with on boltons and tweeks. A car that put out 154hp to the wheels from the factory is now making a close to 190-200hp to the wheels. I'ts really not bad with its weight. it aggravates alot of much more expensive cars and gets alot of compliments.

But the problem is i want more. and the major hurdle to that is the fueling and ecu and that leaves me with two options..

make due with my bandaids, install my 330cc injectors to replace my 265's. get a good water/meth kit, a good electronic boost controller, and deal with the gremlins with a grain of salt. its been done multiple times. and i could net approaching around 220whp safely

2nd option is to go ahead and spring for the $1200 adaptronic ecu. $330 for the 600cc injectors. 100-200 for a new(compatible) wideband controller, and whatever for a cheap laptop
driveability would be much improved, bring my revlimit back up from 6500 to 7500 that the normal miata has, and easily squeeze me to 250whp safely on my stock turbo. and i get all the goodies that come with a full ecu like 2step, flatshift, etc

I'd go for the ecu. But it depends on the price of your 1st option. If the price difference isn't too wide go for the extra 30hp and be happy. If you skimp because of a few hundred dollars, at some time, you'll probably think "what coulda"..........

It is all about what you want to spend.

I'd go with the ecu...sounds like the benefits far outweigh the money difference. Driveability and reliability I think should be key if its your DD. Besides, more power and more "toys" are always fun to have

Yea, if the ECU route is what you really want, don't go the other route just because it's cheaper. You'll regret it eventually and probably end up going the ECU route someday anyway.

erod550 wrote:Yea, if the ECU route is what you really want, don't go the other route just because it's cheaper. You'll regret it eventually and probably end up going the ECU route someday anyway.

This.

I can't tell you how many times i'v seen people do the "bandaid" mods and end up months later unhappy and paying more than they needed to in total once they end up with the ECU.

im thinking the same thing.. i want the ecu because its something ill have to buy eventually, but could be put off for 1-2 years while i get a big brake kit, roll bar, my wheels, and good tires

the band-aid method is stuff that i basically need anyway.. watermeth and a good boost controller. and looks to be only 600 bucks for everything. (already have injectors and an o2 modifier) and leaves me money for other mods

and im looking at close to 2k+ for the ecu.
1200 for ecu
300 for injectors,
200 for wideband,
just to get going then additional expenses im expecting...
?? for x amount of dyno tune time.
500 or so for a cheaper laptop
500 later this year for the stage 2 which brings back obd functionality so i can pass my smog without swapping ecu's and injectors

Just get a netbook...they work great from what I hear for in car tuning...so that saves you $200-$300 lol.

How many motors have blown with the "band-aid" solution? To me, and I'm biased because I like to tune, but it's not a risk (blown motor) I'm willing to take. It's kind like putting a band-aid on head wound, IMO, it's not going to get fixed until you address it.

You're going to end-up buying the standalone eventually, so it do it right and buy it now. It's also pretty obvious that's what you want to do, but you're trying to rationalize spending less money.

The ECU will instantly unlock more power, as well as add more much-needed safety to your setup.

Dange wrote:
the band-aid method is stuff that i basically need anyway.. watermeth and a good boost controller. and looks to be only 600 bucks for everything. (already have injectors and an o2 modifier) and leaves me money for other mods

Oh, I thought this was an either/or post. If you have to have the cheaper mods, anyway just get them 1st and make sure you have the funds for later so you can upgrade the ecu the way you want.