Hi guys,
I am a bit of a noob when it comes to Ecu's and their capabilities.
At the moment I am looking for which type will be best suited for me. I don't plan on doing and serious trackdays, just casual road use with the occasional blast here and there.
I am still in build stage but hopefully will be running a 2.0 blacktop with TBs then charger after IVA. The obvious choices are mega squirt or omex from what I have read but I am not sure if these would be under utilised for me? I seen a trade ad for a Pluto system that is priced ok, anyone have any reviews of these?
Thanks for any advice.
Neil

I used an Emerald. I have to say the quality and help from was outstanding. There is a lot of info on their website, and they will supply the ECU pre configured if you let them have your engine details. You would still need to get it on the some rollers to set it up properly but does give you a very good start. They were really helpful and it is easy to make contact with them if you have any questions.

I also used an Emerald ECU after spending months looking at the Megasquirt forums. I would have liked to build my own but knowing nothing about electronics all I was doing was getting confused, the Emerald was easy to fit and wire up following the easy to use instructions and the backup was only a phone call away. Whatever system you go for , new or used, make sure it is user friendly , some like the Weber systems are only dealer programable

What you really need to know is not the cost of the ecu but where you will have it mapped and what they like to map.

A cheap ecu could cost you a lot more in the end if you have to travel to the ends of the earth to get it tweaked.

So if the only person that will tune your ecu of choice is 300 miles away and you have to have a day of work each time, rent a trailer, fuel, lunch and so on.
If you ask your nearest tuner what he will map paying more could save you loads.

To add a charger you will need a plenum. There is little point of having a plenum and throttle bodies.

Thanks for the info, I hadn't considered tuners. Will have to search who's where locally.
My thoughts are to use tbs to get through the IVA then retrofit a charger setup. I don't think I'd get through testing with charger installed?

The ECU does not know or care if you drive like miss daisie or Lewis Hamilton, it only delivers fuel and spark in the required quantities subject to how it's set up
The Pluto ECU sounds like a cheap thing off eBay and I've never heard of it
Stick with the known ones, Megasquirt is a bit more involved and some rolling roads don't touch it, others specialise in a particular type.
Megasquirt, Emerald, Omex tend to be the most used on this site.
There is a good thread on using the standard Ford ECU but that's for a standard engine

May I suggest that you make a bit of a short list and contact each supplier to inquire about, setup, who in your area they would suggest for the rolling road, etc. You will soon get an idea of what they are like. I too looked at Megasquirt, but found the set up and build to complicated for me, not knocking them as I know they can and do give excellent results in the right hands. I bit of time spent now would be a good investment.

Ah well if you just want to get it through iva then the oem ecu can be had for a tenner and won't need mapping.

A charged zetec will go through iva provided you have a cat and its mapped to meet it and not just max horse power.

If I can get it through with a suitable map then that's even better.
Great information, cheers guys.

I can come and have chat if that's ok? Really want to have a look at your build!

Steve

Sure no problem welcome anytime, not much to see at at the moment. A dirty garage, Chassis done, diff, driveshaft, box and prop in. Back end rolling now on with the front and running in brake/fuel lines.
Engine has always been a difficult choice but committed to 2.0 blacktop now. Also got a eaton m45 charger but need to get my head around the configuration.

Have a look here for ideas on the charger.

http://www.locostbuilders.co.uk/viewthread.php?tid=195525

Awesome link! Inlet looks at work of art.

We've mapped most of the popular aftermarket ECUs and In our opinion megasquirt wins hands down.

www.facebook.com/baileyperformance

www.baileyperformance.co.uk

We can offer any help required during your project, mapping £250/day