MaxxECU - Share Your Setup

[grandmas951]

I'm very tempted by this setup too. @Jotronic did you end up buying/installing it?

Good timing. I ordered a new OEM harness from Kroon which will be here this coming week. Behind that I have a MaxxECU Race with some tunes, injectors and assorted supporting pieces including an adapter to plug into my new OEM harness. Combined with my RaptorX turbo, Fabspeed 3" exhaust, etc. I should be good to go. BUT, I also have some chips coming to slap into my F9 DME. This is going to be an opportunity to do some A/B testing that I'm going to document on my YT channel and my Insta.

I also have the fabspeed turboback exhaust and am having my k26/6 rebuilt and improved. No need for a new harness for me. Can I ask why you're buying chips if you're planning to replace the DME with an ECU? I was tempted by the F9T DME w/OBD but figured why bother with this if you have to buy another chip which isn't tuned exactly to your car's setup?

[Jotronic]

Because I want to settle the question for myself as to which I'd like better. I already have a F9T DME. Was one of the first things I bought two years ago after I bought the car. But there are two camps, old school chips and MAF conversions vs. stand alones. I'm going to try both on the dyno to see which comes out on top and compare drivability. I'll be documenting this for others to learn from. No one has done such a thing that I know of, it's just talk on forums and Facebook.

[Jotronic]

Does anyone else have a MaXXecu setup they want to share with the group? I started this thread for others to share info but it turned into a discussion about my setup and I don't even have it yet, lol!

[Tom]

Does anyone else have a MaXXecu setup they want to share with the group? I started this thread for others to share info but it turned into a discussion about my setup and I don't even have it yet, lol!

I'll add this request to the next newsletter to beat the bushes a bit....

[Bergerac]

Because I want to settle the question for myself as to which I'd like better. I already have a F9T DME. Was one of the first things I bought two years ago after I bought the car. But there are two camps, old school chips and MAF conversions vs. stand alones. I'm going to try both on the dyno to see which comes out on top and compare drivability. I'll be documenting this for others to learn from. No one has done such a thing that I know of, it's just talk on forums and Facebook.

I can tell you right now if you used a custom harness for your Maxx ECU and actually used some of its capabilities there would be no comparison in drivability and power. It seems a bit strange to use such a powerful ECU with a stock harness when the cheaper version would achieve the same thing.

[944m3]

Because I want to settle the question for myself as to which I'd like better. I already have a F9T DME. Was one of the first things I bought two years ago after I bought the car. But there are two camps, old school chips and MAF conversions vs. stand alones. I'm going to try both on the dyno to see which comes out on top and compare drivability. I'll be documenting this for others to learn from. No one has done such a thing that I know of, it's just talk on forums and Facebook.

I can tell you right now if you used a custom harness for your Maxx ECU and actually used some of its capabilities there would be no comparison in drivability and power. It seems a bit strange to use such a powerful ECU with a stock harness when the cheaper version would achieve the same thing.

Assuming that your stock harness is healthy, what extra capabilities would you have with a custom harness that you wouldn’t have with the stock harness that gives you more power? Sure you might have the ability to add extra sensors like fuel pressure and oil temp, but I wouldn’t think that adds to the drivability or power. Am I missing something?

[Tom]

Because I want to settle the question for myself as to which I'd like better. I already have a F9T DME. Was one of the first things I bought two years ago after I bought the car. But there are two camps, old school chips and MAF conversions vs. stand alones. I'm going to try both on the dyno to see which comes out on top and compare drivability. I'll be documenting this for others to learn from. No one has done such a thing that I know of, it's just talk on forums and Facebook.

I can tell you right now if you used a custom harness for your Maxx ECU and actually used some of its capabilities there would be no comparison in drivability and power. It seems a bit strange to use such a powerful ECU with a stock harness when the cheaper version would achieve the same thing.

Assuming that your stock harness is healthy, what extra capabilities would you have with a custom harness that you wouldn’t have with the stock harness that gives you more power? Sure you might have the ability to add extra sensors like fuel pressure and oil temp, but I wouldn’t think that adds to the drivability or power. Am I missing something?

A bone stock harness would limit you to the AFM, batch-fire injection, stock ignition, etc. -- i.e., pretty much stock with a different ECU. With a custom harness, you can add the necessary hardware to run the ECU in speed-density mode with sequential injection, electronic ignition, etc. -- essentially way more flexibility over what hardware you can use under the hood, and more precise control over fuel and ignition, all of which gives you the opportunity for more power and better drivability if well-tuned.

[Jotronic]

I can tell you right now if you used a custom harness for your Maxx ECU and actually used some of its capabilities there would be no comparison in drivability and power. It seems a bit strange to use such a powerful ECU with a stock harness when the cheaper version would achieve the same thing.

Assuming that your stock harness is healthy, what extra capabilities would you have with a custom harness that you wouldn’t have with the stock harness that gives you more power? Sure you might have the ability to add extra sensors like fuel pressure and oil temp, but I wouldn’t think that adds to the drivability or power. Am I missing something?

A bone stock harness would limit you to the AFM, batch-fire injection, stock ignition, etc. -- i.e., pretty much stock with a different ECU. With a custom harness, you can add the necessary hardware to run the ECU in speed-density mode with sequential injection, electronic ignition, etc. -- essentially way more flexibility over what hardware you can use under the hood, and more precise control over fuel and ignition, all of which gives you the opportunity for more power and better drivability if well-tuned.

I don’t understand, Tom. If an OEM harness limits us to an OEM AFM how are MAF kits installed without a custom harness? For example, the Vitesse kit comes with an adapter, pigtail that plugs into the stock harness.

In the case of my setup that’s coming this week the adapter comes set up for my OEM ignition but also comes with the option of wasted spark. I can upgrade to COPS later if I wish. When it comes time to build a new motor I’ll go full custom and let this harness go with the motor when I sell it or I’ll sell it separately.

[Tom]

Assuming that your stock harness is healthy, what extra capabilities would you have with a custom harness that you wouldn’t have with the stock harness that gives you more power? Sure you might have the ability to add extra sensors like fuel pressure and oil temp, but I wouldn’t think that adds to the drivability or power. Am I missing something?

A bone stock harness would limit you to the AFM, batch-fire injection, stock ignition, etc. -- i.e., pretty much stock with a different ECU. With a custom harness, you can add the necessary hardware to run the ECU in speed-density mode with sequential injection, electronic ignition, etc. -- essentially way more flexibility over what hardware you can use under the hood, and more precise control over fuel and ignition, all of which gives you the opportunity for more power and better drivability if well-tuned.

I don’t understand, Tom. If an OEM harness limits us to an OEM AFM how are MAF kits installed without a custom harness? For example, the Vitesse kit comes with an adapter, pigtail that plugs into the stock harness.

In the case of my setup that’s coming this week the adapter comes set up for my OEM ignition but also comes with the option of wasted spark. I can upgrade to COPS later if I wish. When it comes time to build a new motor I’ll go full custom and let this harness go with the motor when I sell it or I’ll sell it separately.

I was referring to using a stand-alone with a bone-stock harness. But you are right, you can add adapters and run extra wires, etc. to let you run things like MAFs and wasted spark with a normal DME. I've run Vitesse stuff for years and am a big fan. John is a clever guy and repurposes some of the factory wiring to support his chip board too. Even so, you need to splice into the harness to get meaningful control over fuel and spark. See the electronics I ran with my Vitesse MAF below to gain basic control over fuel and spark, most of which spliced into the factory harness. Re stand-alone's, without lots of modifications and supplements to the factory harness, you could not take advantage of their core benefits -- i.e., the speed-density engine management with sequential injection and the tuning precision that comes with it -- nor any of the ancillary functions it can perform. With effort, I'm sure you could modify and supplement a stock harness to take advantage of all that, but at that point it kind of becomes a 'custom' harness, albeit less elegant than one designed for the stand-alone. Just my two cents.

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[944m3]

Thanks Tom. That makes sense.