Standalone ECU questions

[xnamerxx]

Originally Posted by tmontague

thanks for the info. I'm not partial to the EMS 4, I would just like to stay with AEM if possible so I can hook my gauges up to it if need be.

Does the stock ecu need the MAF signal to run the throttle? and can the factory ecu control the dual vvti without having all of the other sensors connected (ie: fuel, ignition, cam,crank)?

The infinity almost doubles the price and not sure if that would be worth it just for throttle control.

EDIT* I think a smart next step foir me would be to find a tuner within my area that deals has experience with 4 bangers and Toyotas and ask what they recommend. At the end of the day, they will be tuning it so the more comfortable they are with the software and ecu, the better

It needs the MAF singnal or it it goes into limp mode and doesn't allow more than 20% throttle, you'll either need to add another MAF sensor or add a MAP sensor, I went the MAP route. You'll want to control the intake cam as there is alot of power to be had there, and I think the EMS-4 is very capable of doing that. But yeah if you didn't want to wire those up you can easily have the stock ecu control vvt, but it may start doing weird things trying to learn its way out of not being able to control spark or fuel. You'll also want to wire the knock sensor up to the new ECU since its going to be controlling spark and fuel. All of the ECU's are pretty much the same in regards to tuning, at least thats what my tuner tells me, but they prefer tuning with Motec but I can't swing the 3-4k for one of those.

I think the EMS-4 should be more than capable of doing what you're asking, since I'm sure there isn't much power to be had messing with the exhaust cam, I even think MWR sells a ecu kit for the corolla that uses this ECU, but I'm not sure the wiring is the same for the XD as it is for the corolla.