Tuning solutions and YOU

If you even start to think about modding your DSM, whether it be a 4g63 or a 420a, you should put some time into thinking about a tuning solution. Now, I know there are many choices and you can easily get confused. Well, I'm here to break it down for you.

Now before I begin, I'm biased towards ECMlink, because i own it and i use it everyday. Just wanted to get that out of the way, lol.

ECMlink/DSMlink - This is considered a piggyback because it runs off of the stock ecu. You have full control over everything though. I don't really consider it a piggyback because of everything it can do. There are soo many support forums out there for link, and ECMtuning even has their own forum, so you get help right from the developers. Link allows you to adjust fuel tables, timing tables, adjust antilag, launch control, DTC's (diagnostic trouble codes), allows you to run speed density, etc. etc. I absolutely love it. Ask anyone, the only downfall is the price tag.

Megasquirt - Standalone. This is mainly used on 420a's. It allows for control of ignition, fuel and idle air. This requires a megasquirt ecu, and there are many tuning programs to use with it.

SAFC/SAFC2 - Piggyback. This only allows control for fuel. It can be used on 4g63 or 420a. The biggest injectors that can be safely used with this are 650cc. Being that you cant monitor or control knock, a data logger is almost a necessity when using a safc. Being that there are so much better tuning solutions out there, the safc is outdated and rarely used. This requires tapping into the stock ecu.

Ostrich/Jackal - Piggyback. This is used on EPROM ecu's in 1g or 2g DSM's. This requires a burnt eprom chip, and basically, you burn the chip every time you change something with your settings. Jackal is for 1g DSM's only, and its purpose is for speed density. There isnt much support on the web for these two, so people are afraid to use it. Jackal itself is still beta, and the owner doesn't even own a DSM anymore. You will use Tunerpro to mod your settings.

Ecuflash/Ceddymods - Piggyback. Used in 98-99 4g63 DSM's and EVO's. This requires purchasing EVOscan, and obtaining the free program ecuflash, as well as purchasing a open port 2.0 cable. You must have a "black box" ecu if you have a DSM. This can do everything link does, for less than half the price. Ceddymods is an add on that allows for NLTS, stutterbox, speed density and more.

AEM/full standalone - Your pretty much in control of EVERYTHING. Be warned though, you can easily mess something up. There are pre made maps you can upload to the ecu to get started. Recommend only for professional tuners or people who really know what they're doing. Like link, only downfall is the price tag.

I will be updating this regularly.

A couple things I want to add into this.

H8 or more commonly known as the reflashable 98/99 "Black Box" ECU - It is a cheap means of tuning yes, but it CANNOT do everything that ECMLink can do purely due to the fact that the memory space in the H8 ECU is not as big as the EPROM ECU. Yes can Ceddymods open up some fun stuff like NLTS, SD, PSI based ECU boost control and others but the space is limited so you can't do as much with it as you can link.

Don't fret though because there is a cheap solution to tuning that will cost about half of ECM Link and can literally do everything it can do plus more with some development. Reason I say this is because ECM Link is a closed source development, which means only the creators can develop the program. What I'm talking about is the Evo 8 ECU swap.

Evo 8 ECU Swap - This can literally do everything that ECM Link can do, as stated above. Price wise is cheaper than ECM Link depending on how cheap you can find the ECU. Back when I did mine on my eclipse, I paid $190 shipped for the ECU and $178 for the program and cable so a total of $368. The only downfall is a steeper learning curve. There's no sliders. It's all raw data but once you figure out what does what, it's actually quite simple. MUCH easier than AEM if that's what you're worried about. I'll post my write up for the swap on here.