Hey All,

I realize this question has probably been asked already but I am too lazy to read past 4 pages of posts and searching didnt really help me.

I am playing with the possibility of switching from my UTEC to a full stand alone. After seeing the amount of control you get with my buddies vette and the HP tuner setup I realized that the answer was stand alone. Its just too bad we cant just jack into our stock ECU's like all the american car drivers can.

Anyway,
I am wondering if you guys may be able to answer to questions for me:

1 - Does the AEM work out of the box for basic driving functions like cold start, ac usage, heat sensing for fans etc. Meaning, if I had an unmodified car will I be able to plug the AEM in and go to work.

2 - Does the AEM connect to all of the stock sensors and communicate to them properly so I can get feedback and still throw a CEL if something fails. This is very important to me as it seems stupid to not have notifications of mis fires etc and I dont want to have to buy thousands of dollars in new sensors to do things that already exist on my car.

3 - How often have you been stranded because you couldnt get your car started with the AEM?

Thanks in advanced!

 

would love to hear the actual tuners input on this one

 

Never been stranded from an EMS not starting. As time progresses the cold start gets easier and more people can do it. I am not looking forward to winter but I am looking forward to tuning in some really cold weather for cold start again.

The EMS is the best stand alone engine management out there from what I have seen/know. Very easy to use once you get use to it.

Uses all the factory sensors and plugs right in. Get the 1313U box and you will have the integrated wideband.

Depending on how modified your car is you might be able to just plug it in and go. The base map is pretty good for use with the MAF sensor.

Just remember, price isn't everything when you buy the box. You are going to need help sooner or later and many people just sell you the cheapest box they can get to work in your car and after that are done with you.

David Buschur
www.buschurracing.com

 

AEM EMS is the best computer out there i have it on my boosted ITR

 

i was thinking bout aem and xede with smart

 

I love my AEM, its awesome. Even though I don't have the ***** to mess around with anything. David, I've been working so damn much lately I havent had a chance to d/l my map, I'll try and get it to you tonight.

 

Wow, you're right in our neighborhood. What I would recommend is stopping by the shop sometime this week. I can go over the AEM EMS with you on whatever level you feel comfortable with. I can show you how it works in a car and how various changes modify how a vehicle runs. This will probably be most beneficial to you when deciding whether or not it's the unit for you. To answer your questions really quickly:

1) You probably won't want to do this without at least an initial setup session where your tuner verifies all sensors are working properly and gets you going with a safe map to get down the road.

2) Your check engine light is completely programmable so you can have it illuminate under and conditions you want. You can also wire in multiple LEDs, each as a specific failure indicator. They're all programmable and the AEM controls them all.

3) Never after the tune is done properly.

If you have any questions I can answer directly, feel free to shoot me an email at sean@torquefreaks.com. Take care!

 

fwiw, I did a lot of research into the same topic, and have decided to get xede with smart.
they seem to both be about the same tuneable unless going to a full drag setup(xede/aem)
what sold me was the customer service from vishnu on this forum and how close they are(sanfran)...
just my .02

 

How do you guys pass emissions with AEM? Other than having to resort to registering in a non-emissions having area?

 

You cant pass emissions with AEM. Its not OBD-II compliant.

 

I know..so what do you do? Register it at a diff. location or register as a race car?

 

I believe that depends. Sometimes they just do a sniff test, in which case they wouldn't care if you had OBD-II. Anyhow I don't have emissions here and will not change my registration unless I move somewhere else without emissions that is cheaper

Worst case keep your MAF and stock ecu and just do a swap for the test, it's not that hard like an hour at most.

 

I hate emissions this world was F@cked up long be for we were here........................