AEM vs MoTeC

[Jostar]

What about as far as wiring goes??? I have seen that the aem unit is pretty much plug and play. With the Motec unit do you have to make your own wiring harness or just modify your currnet one???? Thanks guys

titan make plug & play for MKIVs... I don't know for MKIII, THis is for a few people saying that fast supras run motec only, Sound performance runs a AEM & they have run a best of 8.38 at 169 mph (not sure on the mph though) From what i have seen, motec is the shit at EMS, I wish I had that type of money for an EMS, AEM made me very happy with the results that i got, 422 hp at 20 psi on stock twins! on pump gas too.

 

[IJ.]

Well not sure there will ever be a cut and dry answer to this debate, as a lot of it depends on personal preference/budget.

Either system (tuned properly) will make the same power, and your car will run fairly equally well on them both. I have tuned literally hundreds of them, with good results from both systems. If money is tight, then it is my opinion that the AEM is one of the better and most powerful systems in its price range. There have been some hardware quality issues, which has been the primary downside (though not as bad as the internet would have you believe).

My opinion of the Motec is simple. It is the best system I have used, period. The hardware quality is second to none, as is the software power/flexibility. The Motec, when properly tuned, delivers excellent running (and some of the best throttle response and other transients I have tuned). The datalogging is also top shelf. The only real downside is price. The other downside is the fact that due to the Motec's immense flexibility, it is easy to want to expand your basic system to take advantage of what it can do. Next thing you know your car will be outfitted like Ron's! :biglaugh::biglaugh:

I know this only too well

As John mentions above either system will make the same power, the MoTeC system can and does do everything I can think of and doe it all well with a minimum of fuss.

 

[Poodles]

Not to mention the support you get...

Not that I could EVER afford it...

 

[upgradedsupra]

Well not sure there will ever be a cut and dry answer to this debate, as a lot of it depends on personal preference/budget.

Either system (tuned properly) will make the same power, and your car will run fairly equally well on them both. I have tuned literally hundreds of them, with good results from both systems. If money is tight, then it is my opinion that the AEM is one of the better and most powerful systems in its price range. There have been some hardware quality issues, which has been the primary downside (though not as bad as the internet would have you believe).

My opinion of the Motec is simple. It is the best system I have used, period. The hardware quality is second to none, as is the software power/flexibility. The Motec, when properly tuned, delivers excellent running (and some of the best throttle response and other transients I have tuned). The datalogging is also top shelf. The only real downside is price. The other downside is the fact that due to the Motec's immense flexibility, it is easy to want to expand your basic system to take advantage of what it can do. Next thing you know your car will be outfitted like Ron's! :biglaugh::biglaugh:

Yes, I have a list of things I will add later.

Duane

 

[QWIKSTRIKE]

Me and my lowly Wolf V500....Oh well at least I am not running with a stock ECU, and a tunning device in between fighting for control.

 

[SD2JZA70]

Speaking of Motec, my M800 gets here tomorrow!!:naughty:

 

[John Reed]

What about as far as wiring goes??? I have seen that the aem unit is pretty much plug and play. With the Motec unit do you have to make your own wiring harness or just modify your currnet one???? Thanks guys

I could make a PNP for the Mk3, but it won't be fully plug and play because you will need to get rid of the stock ignition, and while you are doing that you can also convert to full sequential injection with a M48/M600/M800. I could provide pigtails for those items though, which would make it less fuss.

Of course, if you start out with wiring like Duane had to begin with, it is better to rip it all out and start over! :evil2::evil2:

 

[John Reed]

Speaking of Motec, my M800 gets here tomorrow!!:naughty:

Congrats, awesome choice!

 

[figgie]

Next thing you know your car will be outfitted like Ron's! :biglaugh::biglaugh:

Curse CANBus expandability!! lol

Does Ron run the CDI-8 in his??

 

[figgie]

Me and my lowly Wolf V500....Oh well at least I am not running with a stock ECU, and a tunning device in between fighting for control.

Dude the Wolf V500 is a damn good ecu!

Of course, if you start out with wiring like Duane had to begin with, it is better to rip it all out and start over!

That what he gets for using a Tec-2 in his car for all those years!

 

[John Reed]

Follow the CAN BUS down the road to poverty. :biglaugh::biglaugh:

 

[tissimo]

I know its the best, but is it worth the extra money is the thing. what really does that extra 2k get you? better support (i never used it really with aem, probably wont for motec), better datalogging (yea somethings would be better then aems, but not worth paying 2k more for), better quality control (my unit worked for me for 2 years then the idle.. took a month to get fixed, that wasn't a big deal to me.. maybe if it left me stranded, but still 2k is a lot for that)

I see it more as a HKS wastegate vs a Tial.. for the extra money, theres nothing really worth getting it over the tial..

I mean i'm cheap but I'll spend money if its worth it. Like for a clutch... I'll spend the extra 1500-2000 for a good clutch that will work better for me drag racing or whatever.

 

[figgie]

Follow the CAN BUS down the road to poverty. :biglaugh::biglaugh:

hahah

hilarious..

I see about 20k in stuff there!!

 

[figgie]

I know its the best, but is it worth the extra money is the thing. what really does that extra 2k get you? better support (i never used it really with aem, probably wont for motec), better datalogging (yea somethings would be better then aems, but not worth paying 2k more for), better quality control (my unit worked for me for 2 years then the idle.. took a month to get fixed, that wasn't a big deal to me.. maybe if it left me stranded, but still 2k is a lot for that)

I see it more as a HKS wastegate vs a Tial.. for the extra money, theres nothing really worth getting it over the tial..

I mean i'm cheap but I'll spend money if its worth it. Like for a clutch... I'll spend the extra 1500-2000 for a good clutch that will work better for me drag racing or whatever.

You are asking the question incorrectly

The question you should be asking is, for the features that you want, can the AEM fit the bill or do I require something like a MoTeC?

Support. Usually it is underestimated but I can tell you this. With the likes of John Reed and tuners you are doing damn good. Throw in MoTeC themselves for some hard question or addressing software issues or possibilities (ask IJ. on custom firmware he ahs gotten) and it becomes INVALUABLE.

Of course future expandability is another thing.

How about anaylsis of what you jsut did? No mean physically. Lets say you do the ocasional track racing or even drag racing. With the I2 pro software and the advanced logging turned on. You are looking at..

G's pulled in acceleration or corners
Speed on corner
add a video camera and you can sync the data to the video.

in other words EXTREMLY powerful stuff for racing.

 

[John Reed]

I know its the best, but is it worth the extra money is the thing. what really does that extra 2k get you? better support (i never used it really with aem, probably wont for motec), better datalogging (yea somethings would be better then aems, but not worth paying 2k more for), better quality control (my unit worked for me for 2 years then the idle.. took a month to get fixed, that wasn't a big deal to me.. maybe if it left me stranded, but still 2k is a lot for that)

I see it more as a HKS wastegate vs a Tial.. for the extra money, theres nothing really worth getting it over the tial..

I mean i'm cheap but I'll spend money if its worth it. Like for a clutch... I'll spend the extra 1500-2000 for a good clutch that will work better for me drag racing or whatever.

I have installed/tuned probably more AEM EMS units than the rest combined. They work great, and have plenty of power for most applications, not to mention fitting a budget better. They got a bad name early on simply due to people assuming PNP meant "plug it in and boost", and not fully understanding what installing a standalone meant. Then later with some quality control issues on the hardware. But in the end, if you have a well tuned AEM, then you are probably a happy EMS owner.

Is the Motec better? Absolutely. Does that mean the average guy is missing out on some power or driveability that an AEM/ProEFI/HKS can't provide? No. For some of us, the fun in the Motec is simply as mentioned above, the expandability and the almost limitless amount of data you can gather. It is a sickness as bad as horsepower itself.

 

[figgie]

I have installed/tuned probably more AEM EMS units than the rest combined. They work great, and have plenty of power for most applications, not to mention fitting a budget better. They got a bad name early on simply due to people assuming PNP meant "plug it in and boost", and not fully understanding what installing a standalone meant. Then later with some quality control issues on the hardware. But in the end, if you have a well tuned AEM, then you are probably a happy EMS owner.

Is the Motec better? Absolutely. Does that mean the average guy is missing out on some power or driveability that an AEM/ProEFI/HKS can't provide? No. For some of us, the fun in the Motec is simply as mentioned above, the expandability and the almost limitless amount of data you can gather. It is a sickness as bad as horsepower itself.

Just wait until (if you ever) start using pitot static tubes to gather pressure deltas on different parts of the cars. It turns into a science experiment in a hurry!!

 

[John Reed]

Support is a big plus, especially for dealers who support you. Motec is second to none in this regard, and is the reason they are my only choice when it comes to doing custom off the wall projects (working on a couple exotics at the moment). Without that support, I cannot support my customers and we all lose.

AEM used to be pretty good, but staffing changes have left it a ghost town down there. Thankfully for most day to day stuff, the system has been around long enough no real support outside a knowledgable dealer/tuner is needed.

 

[John Reed]

Just wait until (if you ever) start using pitot static tubes to gather pressure deltas on different parts of the cars. It turns into a science experiment in a hurry!!

I was already looking at some of that stuff! LOL

 

[SupraOfDoom]

Wow at that price. I'm sure its worth it if you have that kind of money to spare but wow.

 

[upgradedsupra]

That what he gets for using a Tec-2 in his car for all those years!

Yes, but I now have a MoTeC and the car runs awesome! The wiring that John did is quality stuff too. As soon as I get my paint done this year, more goodies will follow as show in John's post. :biglaugh:

Duane