We are running a yamaha yfz 450 and have been using mega/microsquirt for the last few years with some tuning issues. I have seen several teams running PE and have done some preliminary research and it seems that PE is more user friendly. Any recommendations? Advice?

Hello Lance, well I'm no electronics guy or have any experience with the mega/microsquirt but I've helped with engine tuning in our team and I can tell you that PE is VERY user friendly. Engine tuning will be a breeze if you have the proper knowledge about how fuel and spark affects the engine's performance and output.

Maybe PE is not the best choice, I think there are a lot better ECU's like Motec with a lot of digital/analog inputs/outputs and a lot of cool features and electronic stuff I know nothing about :P

We are actually trying to get a grip on a dyno to really tune the engine, a GSX R 600 by the way. You should do your research and go to PE's website, download the PE-1 manual to get a good view of its features.

Sorry for the long post jeje

Juan Piñeiro
FSAE LUZ (Maracaibo, Venezuela)
Drivetrain & brakes team leader

We decided to go with PE a couple of years ago and have had nothing but good luck with them. We installed PE systems on 3 separate engines...all 3 started up first crank. Their installation and wiring instructions are great, and you will not find better customer service anywhere. Brian will do whatever it takes to help you get up and running. He called me from his cell phone from home to take an order for a new harness and a few sensors and help with a small technical problem we had. For a first year team jor someone looking for a user-friendly ECU, I would strongly recommend the PE. Yes, there are "better" ECU's with more widgets and doo-dads, but as far as simplicity and customer service go, go with the PE. I do love the idea of MegaSquirt though, and have heard first hand accounts of success stories and first-try startups. A guy I work with runs his daily driver on MegaSquirt and swears by it.

What kind of tuning issues are you having with the megasquirt?

Our team finally got our megasquirt working smoothly after a few headaches. Our electronics guy assembled the board himself and we had to do a lot of troubleshooting fixing bad connections. We use it for cost report and budget reasons. I would suggest using the PE if these areas don't concern your team.

As far as ease, simplicity, cost, and weight all go, the PE wins.

We've run the PE for three years now (after the AEM) and have never looked back.

Thanks for the replies everyone.
The same guy (an EE) has been doing it for 2 maybe 3 years now and we have always had tuning issues. It runs rough and almost never starts first time. In fact, we got DQ'd in the enuro b/c the engine wouldn't restart after a penalty. Our EE graduated and I am tired of dealing with the headache. Not to mention I (nor anyone else) on the team has tuning experience other than watching our EE work. We are getting some books and what not to help out.

I think PE is overrated as far as customizability, installation and tuning goes. Customer service is nice, and they are always willing to help you out there. We ran it for a couple years on older cars, and I had a chance to tune it just a little in one of the competitions. We always had some kind of problem with either startup, warm-up enrichment or accel enrichment (I didn't get a whole lot of time tuning it, just on the test track, and a bit on the dyno. I think their on-the-go tuning ability is limited, and lacks what megasquirt and a lot of other higher end ECU's use (% VE table, and easy to use up/down maps for both VE and ignition).

Also, Megasquirt can be used with almost anything, from single cylinder to 12 cylinder. A LOT of people say that it can't handle high rpm, but we ran to 15k rpm without VR sensor interference or resets with a 12-1 trigger wheel crank mounted. It also has the ability to control coils, I think 6 sequential is the current situation.

If you have an wideband o2 sensor (lambda sensor), with megasquirt, you can easily tune startup and warmup enrichments, easy % table for different temps.

So what holds megasquirt back? You have to build it, install it, tune it. There aren't many "base maps" to chose from for a lot of FSAE applications. It also lacks sequential fuel injection currently, but with the release of the "sequencer" which is basically 2 MS2 chips, it will be a lot more versatile. It also lacks individual cylinder fuel trimming.

So what is good about Megasquirt? With a little knowledge, time and understanding, you can have an installed ECU for under 600. With some added circuitry, you can have boost control, traction control, egt logging, knock sensing, and a plethora of other adaptations. On-board MAP sensor, so you don't have to rely on Alpha-N fuel calculations, which is awesome for different altitudes, turbocharge/supercharged engines, I think is proper for any street car.

What is better for a similar price range? VEMS. Versatile Engine Management Systems. It is somewhat based on megasquirt, same tuning program even, but uses a more powerful processor, and has a lot more on-board circuitry. Like 6 sequential injection and ignition drivers, on-board wideband o2 (no need for Innovate, Tech-edge, AEM or others...), onboard EGT, 2 knock sensor inputs, and many many other inputs and outputs. It is closer to $1k when all is said and done with the current exchange rate. It also has less information on how to modify, tune and such. But it is a VERY capable ECU when installed and tuned, I'd say almost on par with Autronic or a Motec box.

Anyway, take that for what it's worth, I've been running a Megasquirted BMW for the last 4 years or so, and have built, installed and tuned many others for friends. I also built the MS2 ECU for the WSU formula team last year, and it was installed and running in less than 12 hours.

With ANY ECU, check and RECHECK all wiring before applying battery power, there are so many circuits that are very very delicate, it is sad to see ECUs blow before the car even runs. Also READ all you can about wiring, tuning and tuning theory, this will help you in the quest for more power, effeciency, and drivability. Megasquirt forums are good for that stuff, many good ideas there.

Thanks for your time.

Matt Kosonen

PE lacks some features.

But warm-up enrichments, temp enrichments, etc. are not hard to set up, take a few days to do it right.

Also on the PE you don't have to go with TPS-based fuel controll... MAP is also an option. I just find TPS superior for our team's needs.

How many teams that perform well are running Mega/MicroSquirt?

We run Motec here.

Mainly because of the vast amounts of local knowledge, and the fact we use it very regularly on our Formula Fords.

Pricey, but well worth the cash in my opinion.

Our Experience with the mega-squirt was great , we learnt a lot by troubleshooting it , but was a little time consuming and time is something we dont have. we are alo making a switch this year.only thing with megasquirt which has its codes easily available for modification is that it can be exploited massively if need be, anyone fancy playing their national anthem like TUMunchen ??can easily do so using it. and plus use it for traction control , lauch control etc .

what do you guys think about Magnetti Marnelli , A Guy from TUGraz showed me their entire system and i felt it had a lot of potential. it looked good but i wanted to know if there are any inherent system problems with it . one big problem is it costs 3500euros.

I built and ran a megasquirt on my Dodge Dart and it was relatively reliable (and cheap, got the whole injection system running for about $350), but I was still never a fan of seeing the team go to it. In fact I've moved away from it and to the PE on my own racing project. The ECU is one of those parts of the car that doesn't need to be fancy and absolutely needs to work 100% of the time.

I had a few minor problems with my MS, all of them falling under the "common problems" section of the MS site. Easily fixed but you can't afford to have one of those problems in endurance.

The PE ECU is about as close as it gets to plug and play for any component on these cars. Even with the limited budgets in FSAE, time is very valuable. It's all about balancing your time, and time not spent soldering and troubleshooting is time well spent.