Apexi Power FC replacement engine management system

[Anonymous]

i have the chance of gettin a hold of the apexi power FC system
what good does this do if any?
does this increase my power?
cheers

[markiii]

possibly, depends on who's tuning it.

also depends on your mods.

bear in mind that as it replaces the ecu your odbII port will no longer work which means any warranty stuff will liekly be voided on teh engine.

[Anonymous]

ive got a apexi power intake kit
if my warranty will  be void i think i'll just leave it
does it add any more power at all?

[aaronjb]

does it add any more power at all?

If you get it dyno tuned by someone who a) knows how to tune a modern EFI car, and b) knows how to work the A'pexi gear then yes, you should yield more or less the same results as using any mappable ECU (Unichip, Dastek etc) on a fairly basic engine - IMHO the extra options of going with a full aftermarket ECU only come into play if you're turbocharging and/or radically altering the engine (bore/stroke, cams etc).

Trying to remember.. but doesn't the PowerFC need a 'Commander' module to fully program it?

[Anonymous]

im not sure thers on e sellin on e bay for £300 quid
i wasnt sure what good it would have done

[markiii]

it can add power Martin got 22bhp with a unichip and similar mods to yours.

the problem with a complete replacement is that while a dealer won't notice a piggyback, they will find it a little strange that your diagnostics port doesn't work  :-) :-) :-)

[Anonymous]

It is easy to swap it out if you have to take the car in for service.  All connectors are the same.  If you want to check OBDII codes you can swap them.  Unike a piggyback, there are no wiring changes.  You can either use the FC Commander or the FC Datalogit to program.

FC Datalogit also gives you the ability to download/upload entire maps (to/from Power FC and to/from computer/internet), but requires a laptop in the car to do that.  I suppose you could sit in your garage and program it with a desktop PC, but that would not work for datalogging as you drive.  The FC Datalogit connects to a serial port (there may also be a USB version... I forget).  There is a guy on SpyderChat (where I am mostly) with the username Kingspyder who has this setup with his turbo.  The Datalogit is from a New Zealand company.  They reverse-engineered a Power Excel or some such thing.  

I have the Power FC with Commander and have not really tuned it.  All I did was adjust the timing across the board for US 93 octane gas vs Japanese 100 octane (subtracting 3 degrees for all RPMs and loads).  Well, I also changed my idle speed and rev limit.

I really can't say how much an improvement it is (my car is NA with intake, header, exhaust mods), but I am satisfied.  Guessing: 8-10HP.  Don't quote me, obviously.  Just a guess.

Note: Power FC does not work with SMT.  SMT requires a different ECM/ECU.

[Tem]

"This is the only real replacement ecu option for these cars."

So NOT true  s:twisted: :twisted: s:twisted:  

Aaron, also remember that you need to buy the Commander or Datalogit to be able to make it work with UK gas without knocking. The stock settings will most likely cause knock, so might not be a good idea to just plug it in.

[aaronjb]

Aaron, also remember...

Damn it's confusing with two Aaron's in the same thread  s:D s:D

[Anonymous]

I've recently installed a wideband O2 sensor ( PLX device ) in my MR2 with PPE Header,PPE cat,PPEintake,TPS mufller and Power FC and Commander. I use Shell V-Power ( Optimax in England 99 RON) and i can say there is a lot of detonation with stock ing map and the inj maps are very,very rich. As Beanie said, it's necessary to take off until 3-4 degree of advance between 3200-6800 revs. With Power-FC it is possible to disable cloosed-loop operation so that long-term adjustment don't alter W.O.T mixture. Even though that, i am reading  A/F ratio between 13-13.5 at part throttle and 10.5-11.00 at W.O.T with stock PFC maps and stock intake and 13.5/14 and 12.5/13 respectively with CAI intake. I don't know how i could change the basic maps that are hidden. Is it necessary to buy NZ-Logit software?  Can i reduce injection values connected with air-flow measures?

[kanujunkie]

ive got a apexi power intake kit
if my warranty will  be void i think i'll just leave it
does it add any more power at all?

your warranty is already void as far as the engine goes mate. Mr.T does not support a warranty on an engine with the Apexi intake fitted!   s:x :x s:x

[Anonymous]

I don't know how i could change the basic maps that are hidden. Is it necessary to buy NZ-Logit software?  Can i reduce injection values connected with air-flow measures?

I have heard that you can change the base maps using the Datalogit... and this is the only way you can.  Send them email and verify.

I need to modify my airflow settings.  There are around 6 airflow values (I think in Volts) and they are all preset to 100%.  Kingspyder (on SC) told me recently that you can change these if you have a CAI.  My car is running very rich at WOT.  There is no telling what I'll get if I can get the A/F ratio right.  My gut tells me there is more power to be had through tuning.

There are injector maps and even a VVT-i map, but I really don't know what to change in them.  Someone said to leave the VVT-i map alone.  I'll pretty much have to get a Datalogit to satisfy the inner nerd.

[Anonymous]

At part throttle A/F ratio is rich ( 13.5,13.8 ). I have reduced AirFlow % to 95% on all 6 instead of 100%. At WOT also is rich ( until A/F ratio 12). It is necessary to lean inj maps from 5000 to 6800 of a 1% point. Remember i have PPE header and intake...

[Anonymous]

What value should my O2 sensors read at WOT to indicate ideal A/F ratio?   This is on the "etc" menu, sensor check (a number between .00 and .99 is the range I think).

[Anonymous]

What value should my O2 sensors read at what to indicate ideal A/F ratio?   This is on the "etc" menu, sensor check (a number between .00 and .99 is the range I think).

Under ETC menu, go to O2 volt readings. Indeed it's impossible to calibrate accurately A/F values with them . See these two diagrams :
http://www.plxdevices.com/M-Series_logging_productinfo.htm

When your narrowband O2 sensor read 0.92 volt, A/F ratio may be all values from 14:1 to 10:1 while the target is to reach 13:1-13.5:1 at W.O.T. that is possible only with a wideband sensor. However, if you disable cloosed loop in Function select under ETC menu, you can begin to adjust A/F ratio at light and part throttle playing with airflow %. The values should be about 0.5 v (=A/F 14.7) as near as possible.
Read this article, it's interesting:    http://www.hondata.com/techwidebandtuning.html

[Anonymous]

What value should my O2 sensors read at what to indicate ideal A/F ratio?   This is on the "etc" menu, sensor check (a number between .00 and .99 is the range I think).

Well the reading your getting is a voltage, i assume the FC isn't altering these to a different reading so your looking for a min of 0.48 volts for Stoich, or 14.7 parts of air to 1 part of fuel. This is the ratio for the optimum burning of air and fuel, so any lower is lean, more is rich.

A table of voltages that relate to amount of air to fuel is

0.1 = 17.1
0.2 = 16.5
0.3 = 16.1
0.4 = 15.4
0.5 = 14.9
0.6 = 14.4
0.7 = 13.8
0.8 = 13.2
0.9 = 12.7
0.985 = 12.1

On a forced induction car on WOT the O2 should be about 0.88v so on a NA anywhere between 0.48v and 0.88 should be your range of testing.

[Anonymous]

your warranty is already void as far as the engine goes mate. Mr.T does not support a warranty on an engine with the Apexi intake fitted!   s:x :x s:x

Really?; I'm not aware of any engine warranty claim having been refused on the grounds of an Apexi (or any other) intake. On the contrary, I know at least one member who's had an engine replaced with an aftermarket intake fitted...

[Anonymous]

I've recently installed a wideband O2 sensor ( PLX device ) in my MR2 with PPE Header,PPE cat,PPEintake,TPS mufller and Power FC and Commander. I use Shell V-Power ( Optimax in England 99 RON) and i can say there is a lot of detonation with stock ing map and the inj maps are very,very rich. As Beanie said, it's necessary to take off until 3-4 degree of advance between 3200-6800 revs. With Power-FC it is possible to disable cloosed-loop operation so that long-term adjustment don't alter W.O.T mixture. Even though that, i am reading  A/F ratio between 13-13.5 at part throttle and 10.5-11.00 at W.O.T with stock PFC maps and stock intake and 13.5/14 and 12.5/13 respectively with CAI intake. I don't know how i could change the basic maps that are hidden. Is it necessary to buy NZ-Logit software?  Can i reduce injection values connected with air-flow measures?

Maurizio.

You can only change the base map with the Datalogit but you can adjust fuel with the inj map.  I think that on the stock 1ZZ the inj map is enough to adjust the fuel.  You can also adjust using the airflow setting but doing so will adjust all the map.  I adjusts according to the AF voltage that is basically how much you open the throttle.

As you can see the PPE cai is working well compared to the stock airbox since you are getting more close to a good mixture than with the stock airbox  s:) s:)

PS.  Keep the 02 feedback on when you finish tuning  s;) s;)

[Anonymous]

I have modified all airFlow settings decreasing a 4% (96%vs 100%). Even though PFC stock maps are too rich from line 2 to 7 of load for all columns of revs. I have decreased values ( i.e. 99.2 vs 100 ). Now i'm jet rich at W.O.T ( 12.5-12.7) but  i think to leave these values for now and part throttle readings are good also with closed loop disabled.
Ciao Maurizio
PS per CIN Sto ancora aspettando che il meccanico mi procuri gli uniball per la swaybar. Appena li ho te li mando.  s:oops: :oops: s:oops:

[LeeUK]

your warranty is already void as far as the engine goes mate. Mr.T does not support a warranty on an engine with the Apexi intake fitted!   s:x :x s:x

Really?; I'm not aware of any engine warranty claim having been refused on the grounds of an Apexi (or any other) intake. On the contrary, I know at least one member who's had an engine replaced with an aftermarket intake fitted...

Yeah i've spoke to my dealer about my A'pexi CAI and they have no problem with it, infact they were quite interested in it!   s:lol: :lol: s:lol:  

Big up to Hills of bishop's stortford Aaaaiiiii! (Ali-G impression   s:oops: :oops: s:oops:  )

I am also interested in an A'pexi FC but where would do a good job of tuning it and getting into the 22bhp increase zone?!

[Anonymous]

Great information, guys.  I'll have to experiment some.  Too bad wideband O2 sensors and displays are so expensive.

[Anonymous]

Great information, guys.  I'll have to experiment some.  Too bad wideband O2 sensors and displays are so expensive.

Less then a lighter flywheel, but more helpful   s:wink: :wink: s:wink:

[Anonymous]

i have the chance of gettin a hold of the apexi power FC system
what good does this do if any?
does this increase my power?
cheers

it changes ur timing, fuel map with more aggresive settings and it's fully programable. bare in mind if u get it from japan then u will have to readjust/retune all the timing parameters otherwise use 105RON fuel.

if tuned properly it will definitely increase ur hp numbers. good luck.   s:) s:)

[Tem]

if u get it from japan then u will have to readjust/retune all the timing parameters otherwise use 105RON fuel

They are all from Japan  s;) s;)

Doesn't really matter if a UK dealer buys is from Japan and you buy from UK. They basic values always seem to be for Japanese high octane fuel.

The only exception (that I know of) is  w www.monkeywrenchracing.com w  They can atcually preprogram it for you.

[Anonymous]

yes Tem, thats what i mean..  s:) s:)