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anyone regret their ems choice?

12K views 259 replies 70 participants last post by  racing fan 
#1 ·
curious to see if anyone has regrets when they chose their engine management?

me personaly. and my own total opinion, i wish i never went to a aem ems. i wish i stayed with the stock ecu and afc/vpc combo. im not a aem tuner nor can i change maps by myself.

my vpc/afc was perfect. i had a good wideband and was able to make any adjustments needed on my own and not hurt anything. it was simple and got the job done very well...
the aem cost wasnt cheap. the install was easy. but to even get the car to run correctly on street and then the track it costs lots more than i originaly thought. seems the good tuners that actually know how to do it right cost around 500 bucks for a tune + dyno time, and a laptop to do it.. then retuning for any upgrades/changes made to the car. this can get real expensive to get a pump tune/ track race gas tune/ meth tune/ and a n20 tune. then a good street driveablility tune where the car runs like the stock ecu. in my own opinion i wished i stayed with the afc/vpc combo,but want to know how you guys feel? sure i can learn how to do it myself,but would not want to damage anything during the learning process. than it becomes a very big investment on top of it already. i know many of you tune your own aem but curious to see if any others wished they kept it more simple. i am not flaming the aem ems , it is a proven good product. i just see and hear so many people second guessing going that route like myself..
 
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#2 ·
I chose not to go with an AEM EMS because I know I can't tune it, and I know that no one around here can tune it RIGHT, not just "good for now" tuning.

If I had money to throw around, I would probably go with the V-Pro and fly Ben in, or do the Motec that Titan is soon offering and fly one of their guys in.
 
#4 ·
regrets?

no regrets. I originally went with a tec3. I sold that bad boy off. don't get me wrong it worked absolutely fine and no issues. Software was easy to bring the car to idle quickly. Just that I had to use GM sensors as it did not have anywhere to input new sensor paramaters. That REALLY bugged me :)
 
#5 ·
yeah i had it on my car with an auto , and could never get the thing to shift right , then i put a 6spd in and had a problem with start up i dont know i think if u want to make above 850hp its fine , but other then that stick with the vpc afc combo , Josh
 
#7 ·
I've loved my Emanage setup on my 7m and 1jz.

Did almost EVERYTHING i needed, if it could only adjust revlimit it would have been the best.

The Eman blue was totally a awesome buy at like 250+ some wiring harnesses.

You can't go wrong at all for all that it does, and how much adjustments it has.

The only thing I though that was poor in the emanage blue was the dataloggging.

Very shitty interface.
 
#8 ·
Hell no.

While the learning curve has been rough at times, I feel like I've learned so much about tuning in general due to the EMS. What I like especially is that there are no piggybacks and extra wiring or anything like that to go wrong. Everything I need from boost control, to nitrous control is all included.

You just cannot have A-D-D about the process and actually read and re-read the manual and ask questions. I absolutely love my EMS and for me there's no turning back.

With that said, I am still very curious about the Autronic units. I would love to see one in action and play with it.
 
#9 ·
i regret wasting money on the greddy emanage ultimate.. sohuld of just bought the aem first... aem has been great though.. but i still suck at tunning.. haha
 
#10 ·
AEM - zero regrets.
 
#11 ·
first issue. I am not a tuner and don't know how to tune.

I have the emanage ultimate and I am not satisfied with it. I have yet been able to get it to work good, I have been to several tuners and the car still runs rough.

I am looking into the AEM now. Titan is charging me $750 to tune every aspect of it. Street tune, highboost, and low boost. I am not made of money but I do understand 2 principles.1 I must pay to play. and 2 you get what you pay for.

I would love to not have to spend more money buut the truth is that I need my car to run reliably and the way it is running it is not reliable. I believe that standalne is going to be the way to go for me.
 
#12 ·
1chic2nv said:
curious to see if anyone has regrets when they chose their engine management?

me personaly. and my own total opinion, i wish i never went to a aem ems. i wish i stayed with the stock ecu and afc/vpc combo. im not a aem tuner nor can i change maps by myself.

my vpc/afc was perfect. i had a good wideband and was able to make any adjustments needed on my own and not hurt anything. it was simple and got the job done very well...
the aem cost wasnt cheap. the install was easy. but to even get the car to run correctly on street and then the track it costs lots more than i originaly thought. seems the good tuners that actually know how to do it right cost around 500 bucks for a tune + dyno time, and a laptop to do it.. then retuning for any upgrades/changes made to the car. this can get real expensive to get a pump tune/ track race gas tune/ meth tune/ and a n20 tune. then a good street driveablility tune where the car runs like the stock ecu. in my own opinion i wished i stayed with the afc/vpc combo,but want to know how you guys feel? sure i can learn how to do it myself,but would not want to damage anything during the learning process. than it becomes a very big investment on top of it already. i know many of you tune your own aem but curious to see if any others wished they kept it more simple. i am not flaming the aem ems , it is a proven good product. i just see and hear so many people second guessing going that route like myself..


Who tuned your car?
 
#13 ·
I have recently gone to the V-Pro from the old school VPC/GCC and I am very pleased with the ease of tuning and driveability.
Although John Reed @ RRev tunes my car and is a certified travel tuner for AEM. V-Pro and Motec - I am one that does not know enough or wish to adjust the tune myself so I went with V-Pro wanting to leave the tuning to the pros.
I have been struggling with my HKS triple disk clutch for a couple of years. I even purchased the carbon- carbon to replace it but that clutch ended up in my son's car before I had the chance. With the V-Pro tune I find the triple disk clutch much easier to use which was an added plus. The performance at the strip was equally surprising.
While the AEM and V-Pro are both great systems - and the Motec the top of the line - I believe the owner's particular use and skills play the most significant part in the decision.
I believe even a knowledgable AEM owner benefits from an occaisional tune by a certified tuner who can then support them for future adjustments.
I now have my son Brian trained on V-Pro so I plan to keep my hands off.
Bill
 
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#19 ·
TitanDarin said:
I love my Motec M600 :) No issues at all, it drives BETTER than when the car was stock, and gets better gas mileage.

Aem ecus are great too. Just make sure you have a spare one with you at all times... :ugh2:


-Darin
For what? To sell to your buddy after he figures out the M600 can't run his trans?
 
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#20 ·
Hua said:
I chose not to go with an AEM EMS because I know I can't tune it, and I know that no one around here can tune it RIGHT, not just "good for now" tuning.

If I had money to throw around, I would probably go with the V-Pro and fly Ben in, or do the Motec that Titan is soon offering and fly one of their guys in.
Buschur racing...wakeman OH! about what....2 hours from you?
 
#22 ·
Jason S. said:
For what? To sell to your buddy after he figures out the M600 can't run his trans?
Nope, it's so you don't get stranded when the first aem box you buy fails.

The M600 box will run an auto supra. I have one here running perfectly.

-Darin
 
#23 ·
TitanDarin said:
Nope, it's so you don't get stranded when the first aem box you buy fails.

The M600 box will run an auto supra. I have one here running perfectly.

-Darin

I've had mine in my car daily driven for 2 years now. I bought mine used from a guy back in 02 but didnt install it in my car till 2 years later. It's never failed on me and if your car doesn't run perfectly at all with it, it's because of the tune. My car drives perfectly with the map I did and the AEM has been great.
 
#24 ·
there have been a lot of reputable people in the community that have had defective aem's so i doubt everyones tune is bad

mk4umha said:
I've had mine in my car daily driven for 2 years now. I bought mine used from a guy back in 02 but didnt install it in my car till 2 years later. It's never failed on me and if your car doesn't run perfectly at all with it, it's because of the tune. My car drives perfectly with the map I did and the AEM has been great.
 
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