I was looking through a bunch of different threads and was actually surprised I didn't see one on this EMS. Autronic has been around for a while a while and I know for a fact there's a sizable amount of you out there that are using it. I'd justl ike to start an open discussion on the pros/cons and personal experiences with the system.
Autronic
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i have autronic, it seem like an awsome and very capable system bu i cant find many tuners that do autronic, also i cant find and tuning resources for autronics ex: diy tunning or something any where close to helpful,
it does have autotune, but i have yet to use it, I would like to also find some other people with the autronics system to talk to in their 2's
it does have autotune, but i have yet to use it, I would like to also find some other people with the autronics system to talk to in their 2's
Virginia Beach... There's always NoShoes... I know he does good work. There's also a shop in Chesapeake that have tuned the Autronic before. They're called DynoTuned. Those are really the only people I know of that will mess with it in this area. I'm sure there's more, that's just the only ones I know of though. Where are you?
Jeez, bam. Just PM/email him.
Autronics are very capable systems. Most high-end race teams I see out there use Autronics or Motecs. Motec is very pricey. Autronic is a tad cheaper. Autronic is one of the very few genuine speed-density EMSes out there.
The big catch with Autronics is they aren't plug-and-play, you have to wire up everything yourself. Another one that matters more for street driven cars than race cars is you don't get knock detection unless you want to pony up for the brand new SM4.
I believe ATS Racing offers wiring looms. Check this page out: http://www.atsracing.net/autronic_stand_alone_ecu.htm
Autronics are very capable systems. Most high-end race teams I see out there use Autronics or Motecs. Motec is very pricey. Autronic is a tad cheaper. Autronic is one of the very few genuine speed-density EMSes out there.
The big catch with Autronics is they aren't plug-and-play, you have to wire up everything yourself. Another one that matters more for street driven cars than race cars is you don't get knock detection unless you want to pony up for the brand new SM4.
I believe ATS Racing offers wiring looms. Check this page out: http://www.atsracing.net/autronic_stand_alone_ecu.htm
You could always use something like... I think it's called the PLX something or other. It's a wideband controller (?) but supposedly, it has knock control as well. I could be way off as I haven't really looked into it yet but, oh well. SM4 for me 
And yeah, I'm in Virginia Beach
And yeah, I'm in Virginia Beach
Exactly... from what I understand, you can use the PLX thing with the Autronic. The PLX isn't an EMS at all. From what I believe, it's a wideband with a few various monitoring functions... one of which happens to be knock.flyboy said:
Knock control...
Auto-tune...
Are you guys looking for a self-tuning computer or something to install and have a professional tune?
The knock control will get shut off by a good tuner and the auto-tune just makes part throttle mapping go a little quicker. The knock control on other EMS units MIGHT get turned on after and tuned by the tuner if you request it. The auto-tune gets turned off shortly after part throttle mapping is done. These features are nice, but not at all needed by a good tuner.
If you are tuning it yourself, those features can help keep your motor in one piece and make things go a little quicker though and are worth mentioning.
The Autronic SMC is pretty bare bones. It is an Engine control unit and that's it. It will barely do more then fuel and igniton control. But it does those two things VERY well. It uses similar circuitry and background algorithms to that of Motecs. Actually, it was designed by a Motec engineer. It runs at a lower processor speed then the Motec, but it is still VERY capable. Any tuner that can tune any other EMS can handle the Autronic. It is very straight forward and user friendly.
The 1.92 chip version will work with the factory (unmodified) distributor for a crank trigger when a reluctor is used. It has enough outputs to drive an idle valve, coolant fan, and boost controller (or other user controlled PWM system). You'll need to come up with charge air cooling control or have it coolant temperature controlled. Not ideal, but effective.
I'll see if I can get video up of an MR2 I've been working on. 3rd gen swap, Autronic SMC and about 2 hours worth of newbie tuning from myself. I'm still just occasionally messing with the start up maps. Runs a little rough when it's cold, but that's too be expected when you start from scratch and have only worked on it a minimal amount of start ups in 20 degree weather.
Oh, and despite Autronic insisting on needing their wideband for the auto-tune feature to work, I'm running an Innovate LC-1 and the auto-tune feature... Works like a champ.
Auto-tune...
Are you guys looking for a self-tuning computer or something to install and have a professional tune?
The knock control will get shut off by a good tuner and the auto-tune just makes part throttle mapping go a little quicker. The knock control on other EMS units MIGHT get turned on after and tuned by the tuner if you request it. The auto-tune gets turned off shortly after part throttle mapping is done. These features are nice, but not at all needed by a good tuner.
If you are tuning it yourself, those features can help keep your motor in one piece and make things go a little quicker though and are worth mentioning.
The Autronic SMC is pretty bare bones. It is an Engine control unit and that's it. It will barely do more then fuel and igniton control. But it does those two things VERY well. It uses similar circuitry and background algorithms to that of Motecs. Actually, it was designed by a Motec engineer. It runs at a lower processor speed then the Motec, but it is still VERY capable. Any tuner that can tune any other EMS can handle the Autronic. It is very straight forward and user friendly.
The 1.92 chip version will work with the factory (unmodified) distributor for a crank trigger when a reluctor is used. It has enough outputs to drive an idle valve, coolant fan, and boost controller (or other user controlled PWM system). You'll need to come up with charge air cooling control or have it coolant temperature controlled. Not ideal, but effective.
I'll see if I can get video up of an MR2 I've been working on. 3rd gen swap, Autronic SMC and about 2 hours worth of newbie tuning from myself. I'm still just occasionally messing with the start up maps. Runs a little rough when it's cold, but that's too be expected when you start from scratch and have only worked on it a minimal amount of start ups in 20 degree weather.
Oh, and despite Autronic insisting on needing their wideband for the auto-tune feature to work, I'm running an Innovate LC-1 and the auto-tune feature... Works like a champ.
Unfortunately the SM4 knock control isn't out of the prototype stage yet. It will be an add on board internally when it does come out. It probably won't be cheap. It is supposed to do individual cylinder knock control, however.
99 GS-T gave an excellent summary of the SMC's strong points/weak points above. The only thing I can add is that the Charge Temp table is difficult to tune. I've been working on mine off and on for about a year and am just now getting it in the ball park. I am not a professional tuner, but I haven't seen any of the pro tuners on the Autronic website offer and easy method to tune this table and it has been discussed several times. The SM4 has this table also, so tuners will have the same difficulty with it. If you don't get this table right the tune may change significantly with seasonal changes and in cold weather during warmup after the enrichment phase is over. The change is particularly noticable at low throttle openings with a stock intake configuration. Could be a lot less significant with turbos, cams and heads that flow better than stock.
Mike
99 GS-T gave an excellent summary of the SMC's strong points/weak points above. The only thing I can add is that the Charge Temp table is difficult to tune. I've been working on mine off and on for about a year and am just now getting it in the ball park. I am not a professional tuner, but I haven't seen any of the pro tuners on the Autronic website offer and easy method to tune this table and it has been discussed several times. The SM4 has this table also, so tuners will have the same difficulty with it. If you don't get this table right the tune may change significantly with seasonal changes and in cold weather during warmup after the enrichment phase is over. The change is particularly noticable at low throttle openings with a stock intake configuration. Could be a lot less significant with turbos, cams and heads that flow better than stock.
Mike
Definately lots of good information getting posted up. I was pretty sure the SM4's knock control was still in the preliminaries. Thanks for confirming that. From what I'veheard, it'ssupposed to detect knock through your spark plugwires and either advance or retard timing for that individual cylinder. Sounds pretty nice but how long til we see it? Haha. I wasn't looking for anything specific when I started this thread, just for people's experiances with it. What's worked andhasn't worked for them. Things like the charge temp table are nice to know. i was unaware of that before. Now my next question... 99 GS-T is running an LC-1. Could you run just theregular LM-1 with the XD-1 Wideband gauge? I believe the LC-1 is Innovate's standalone wideband. Are you going to benefit more from that or using the LM-1/gauge combo?
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you could run either the lc-1 or the lm-1. both are compatible with the autronics systems. or you can also run them alone with its own datalogging program and match the 2 together.
The LM-1 MAY need an external driver circuit to wire into the Autronic.
http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16159&cat=250&page=3
If it does, let me know. I think we might have one thinking it was needed for the LC-1, but the LC-1 can be wired directly to the Autronic.
Innovate didn't have the note about it not being needed on the LC-1 6 months ago when we bought it. Since then it looks like it has dropped $30 in price too.
http://www.innovatemotorsports.com/xcart/customer/product.php?productid=16159&cat=250&page=3
If it does, let me know. I think we might have one thinking it was needed for the LC-1, but the LC-1 can be wired directly to the Autronic.
Innovate didn't have the note about it not being needed on the LC-1 6 months ago when we bought it. Since then it looks like it has dropped $30 in price too.
More compact. Has the two programmable outputs built into it without an additional cable that can drive the Autronic wideband input. I think it has a redesigned signal processing circuit. If you don't want a display, it is cheaper as well.
I think you can find the LC-1 with the XD-1 display for around $370 as a package. The XD-1 display is pretty sweet.
I think you can find the LC-1 with the XD-1 display for around $370 as a package. The XD-1 display is pretty sweet.
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