which one has the better benifits? which one can give a better tune, without being completely complicated to set up in an 87 7mgte. the EMS is almost $600 more than the stinger, but seems to have more features, are they worth the extra 600? does either one run on the stock wire harness? or will one need a supporting harness? (id rather not have it run on the stock harness) which one eliminates the MAF? (both?)
AEM EMS vs Stinger
- Thread starter turbo87targa
- Start date
turbo87targa;1134845 said:
I just recently got into the AEM and here's a few pro's and con's.
AEM Pro's:
Plug N Play to stock harness(just need to wire up map/air sensors, recommend purchasing new engine harness)
Lots of tuners (you'll more likely fine one in your area)
Con's:
Engine specific (can only use it on the engine harness type you purchased it for)
Can only fit in stock ECU location without glove box inner backing
Stinger Pro's:
Eliminates (old and busted) engine harness if needed replacing, keeps engine bay looking cleaner
Works on any engine type, pack up and go type if you ever decide to sell your car.
Con's:
Trial and error learning curve(very limited amount of tuners), learn on your own type of standalone
Also, all Standalone's eliminate MAF
That's all I know, sorry. Some of the other guys will chime in later.
huh. thank you boosted, this is pretty much exactly what I was looking to find out. My stock harness is a pos that's been hacked and slashed since I bought it. I plan in the future to go 1j or 2j so I'd like a non engine specific ems. The shop that I would go to for tuning uses all kinds of standalones for their cars (mostly domestics tho) so they should b able to figure out stinger, plus bigaaron has a base map for 550's so that should help a ton. Not to mention stinger being $600 cheaper is a nice bonus 
turbo87targa;1137558 said:huh. thank you boosted, this is pretty much exactly what I was looking to find out. My stock harness is a pos that's been hacked and slashed since I bought it. I plan in the future to go 1j or 2j so I'd like a non engine specific ems. The shop that I would go to for tuning uses all kinds of standalones for their cars (mostly domestics tho) so they should b able to figure out stinger, plus bigaaron has a base map for 550's so that should help a ton. Not to mention stinger being $600 cheaper is a nice bonus
Glad I can help
FTFY=Fixed That For You, was over my head too, had to google it. :icon_razzBoosted Supra;1137973 said:
if your harness is in decent condition i'd get the AEM.
If not and you need to replace go with stinger.
I went AEM because I know just about every tuner knows AEM down pat and won't be learing on my car.
If not and you need to replace go with stinger.
I went AEM because I know just about every tuner knows AEM down pat and won't be learing on my car.
The Dude;1138067 said:
Oh, thanks
Zazzn;1138120 said:
The only reason I went AEM was because I had a new engine harness sitting in my basement and as you said, there's lots of tuners out there.
Just keep in mind.
harness conditions will not be NEW unless you recently reoplaced the harness.
So from a time perspective you are looking at 21 years for an 87 and 16 years for a 92. That is a lot of heat cycling time and usually ends up making the wire jacket a brittle mess.
Now on to the standalones in question.
AEM is Plug and Play (PnP). What this means is that you take out your old stock TCCS and plug in the AEm and that is it. It is installed. On the other hand what PnP does NOT mean is Plug and run the crap out of it. It is still a full fledged standalone so it requires tuning. PnP also does not mean that it is easy to tune. A tuner will find it simple enough but to think that ANYONE can install the AEM and tune it themselves is short of silly. That is where MOST of the problems appear from when the buyer thinks that because it was easy to install it will be easy to tune when it is nowhere near the truth.
The stinger is a good system (they all are).
The real question is does one provide something you need that the other standalone does not? IF they both do the same thing than the more pertinent question is, which system has more local tuners available that KNOW the system or if remote tuning is an option, how easy it is for the "remote" tuner to tune your car?
btw. Keep in mind that a dyno is nice but think about this. How do the Pro-stock. Pro-mod cars etc get "tuned" as their power level is beyond any dyno out there? Think about that for a bit.....
harness conditions will not be NEW unless you recently reoplaced the harness.
So from a time perspective you are looking at 21 years for an 87 and 16 years for a 92. That is a lot of heat cycling time and usually ends up making the wire jacket a brittle mess.
Now on to the standalones in question.
AEM is Plug and Play (PnP). What this means is that you take out your old stock TCCS and plug in the AEm and that is it. It is installed. On the other hand what PnP does NOT mean is Plug and run the crap out of it. It is still a full fledged standalone so it requires tuning. PnP also does not mean that it is easy to tune. A tuner will find it simple enough but to think that ANYONE can install the AEM and tune it themselves is short of silly. That is where MOST of the problems appear from when the buyer thinks that because it was easy to install it will be easy to tune when it is nowhere near the truth.
The stinger is a good system (they all are).
The real question is does one provide something you need that the other standalone does not? IF they both do the same thing than the more pertinent question is, which system has more local tuners available that KNOW the system or if remote tuning is an option, how easy it is for the "remote" tuner to tune your car?
btw. Keep in mind that a dyno is nice but think about this. How do the Pro-stock. Pro-mod cars etc get "tuned" as their power level is beyond any dyno out there?
Think about that for a bit.....well im not looking for anything crazy really. the car will probably never see power levels over 600. 2 step would be nice, but i can live without it (it would really just be a show thing) i just need something more dependable than an safc and a lex afm (which is actually what i was going to go with, till i decided i want to go all out....well as far "all out" as you can go to 450hp lol)
turbo87targa;1138416 said:
something to keep in the back of your mind.
The two step might look cool but you are shortening the turbo's life span (depending on how severe the timing is) every time you use it
Nothing is without it's price.
figgie;1138425 said:something to keep in the back of your mind.
The two step might look cool but you are shortening the turbo's life span (depending on how severe the timing is) every time you use it
haha I know. That's why I said I could live without it LOL. It's like a wonderful power that takes a little of your life each time lol.
I would go with mart pro but I'd just like to get rid of as much of the old electrics as possible,ecu and wire harness are first in line.
So I just re-read this and just wanted clarification about the harness situation, if my stock wire harness is shit and and I plan on getting stinger would it b a good idea to replace the harness?figgie;1138242 said:Just keep in mind.
harness conditions will not be NEW unless you recently reoplaced the harness.
So from a time perspective you are looking at 21 years for an 87 and 16 years for a 92. That is a lot of heat cycling time and usually ends up making the wire jacket a brittle mess.
Now on to the standalones in question.
AEM is Plug and Play (PnP). What this means is that you take out your old stock TCCS and plug in the AEm and that is it. It is installed. On the other hand what PnP does NOT mean is Plug and run the crap out of it. It is still a full fledged standalone so it requires tuning. PnP also does not mean that it is easy to tune. A tuner will find it simple enough but to think that ANYONE can install the AEM and tune it themselves is short of silly. That is where MOST of the problems appear from when the buyer thinks that because it was easy to install it will be easy to tune when it is nowhere near the truth.
The stinger is a good system (they all are).
The real question is does one provide something you need that the other standalone does not? IF they both do the same thing than the more pertinent question is, which system has more local tuners available that KNOW the system or if remote tuning is an option, how easy it is for the "remote" tuner to tune your car?
btw. Keep in mind that a dyno is nice but think about this. How do the Pro-stock. Pro-mod cars etc get "tuned" as their power level is beyond any dyno out there?
you could just build a new harness for the stinger. i think you can still buy new connectors from toyota. you would be able to eliminate the stuff you didnt need from the old harness. plus it would look really clean!
quake;1141302 said:
Sent you a PM, FYI your baby looks so much like mine. Even my wife thinks so
OK, back on topic......sorry guys.
so the pnp harness from driftmotion replaces the stock one and eliminates the sensors/wires that are no longer needed?bmoss85;1141075 said:
As for the off topic stuff, no need to apologize, I think we all agree that is awesome how much alike they look.