Plans are to go na-t in the near future so working on getting a decent setup for the electronics. Is anyone running a map ecu 2 or 3 with success? Found a good deal on a setup and want advice from the experts here before jumping in.

Plan was to take a usdm tt ecu + map ecu 2 or 3 as it is much cheaper than a true standalone. Good idea?

 

Well as it was an ebay item with expiry, I went ahead and made the jump. Hoping a 96 tt auto usdm ecu with a map ecu2 + harness will be a decent setup in the long run. At $350 seemed to cheap to pass up, and if it isn't exactly right should be able to sell rather easily.

Now to find out how to get it working before it arrives...

 

Go to the MAPECU forum an download some appropriate base maps for your setup. Their forum is pretty cool.
Its a great unit and the originator of the TT ECU mod, AliSC3 uses one. I have a 3/wifi but have yet to install it as I got dyno tuned on my SAFC before I got it.
Many say its the best piggyback. Keep in mind, the tune is the same price as a standalone.

 

I spent most of the evening after writing this post digging around for info on the map-ecu setup and came across many posts by yourself and also AliSC3 so I am now quite satisfied with the purchase and looking forward to finishing this project. In fact if it weren't for both of you guys, I would never have started this project.

I do realize that the tune is going to be quite expensive and I am prepared for that. At the moment I am trying to piece everything together first. The most complicated part for me has been that I own a 96 cali spec 5sp and wanted to maintain obdII compliance. If that were no big deal then I probably would have just gone jdm ecu with no mapecu, but the option of being compliant is worth the extra hunting for info. Finding a 96 TT obdII ecu was a huge bonus for me as most seem to be obd1 for sale here.

Next step from what I have read is to track down an is300 coilpack setup with the harness and possibly the 7m part that replaces the distributor as a bonus option. Seems that so far I missed the 2 sets for sale and back on the hunt.

On a related note:
Found what seems to be a good deal on precission 880 fuel injectors. From what I have read, the usdm ecu + mapecu should be able to handle 880's. Mostly curious if I am going to regret purchasing them and not 1000's as my goal is 700hp range. I will purchase some 550's just to do the base ecu swap as Ali suggests before adding in the mapecu to make sure it all works right. Feels like a waste of funds, but should be able to dump them when done without taking to big a hit.

 

MAP-ECU.....is what they have used in Japan before standalone came along...

It has been proven time and time again......the biggest thing is most say not to run larger than double the stock injector size...

i.e 440cc....max would be 880cc...
i.e 550cc max would be 1100cc...

All that goes out the window if you are on E85....

A local supra buddy to me is running MAPECU2 on 1300cc injectors on e85 and he made over 700hp @ 30psi.....on all stock engine.....

 

...............

 

I personally not installed the me3 i have as im still gathering parts. But im on mapecu forum with mapecuman. Whiz87 is my member name on there. 1000cc can be used with map ecu3 with a usdm ecu or aristo ecu. Its all in your idle and cruising tune that makes 1000cc tuning a breeze. Also considering fuel type: e85 etc. using 550cc map would proly be your best start up pump gas map to figure out were you stand. some adjustments still need to be made to the 550cc map for your particular setup. in the future all thats needed for your goals would be bigger injectors and or fuel system. Mapecu is a great piggy just because is old skool doesnt mean it wont get the job done. 1000cc and 30 percent fuel change for your e85 setup is only a fuel table away.....lol

 

@Nuturf87

Thank you for the information. I'm actually debating between the 1000cc and the 1300cc as I am considering making this setup e85 only. I've read a few threads here talking about utilizing the extra overhead of the 1300's with e85. Just making sure prior to purchase that the map-ecu TT ecu will handle the 1300 vs 1000's. The last thing I want to have to do is purchase a set of injectors that is to small for my ultimate goal.

If your talking about the http://www.mapecu.co.nz/forum/ then yes I have been there. It is rather discouraging at how inactive those forums are but I do believe there is enough residual information available there to get up and running. Besides there are some serious heavy hitters on the forums here running map-ecu so I believe we both will find the help we need to get it right.

 

Hey scblackout. Mapecu forum is discouraging due to the fact that people just go there to ask their questions and get their answers, then never return. If you notice the dates are outdated but mapecu man and me are always helping. And yes there is plenty info to be able to get you started or an idea. Im almost sure the 1300cc injectors on e85 could be possible to do, since it will no longer follow the double the injector size debate. E85 has a better advantage. 1000cc is a bit better. Just depends on your power goals. Ive been familiarizing myself with the mapecu3. I will be tuning it myself when the time comes. BTW i overlooked that you are going to be on a usdm tt ecu. 1000cc are golden their. 1300cc shouldnt be a problem

 

I'm glad to hear that there are at least mods avail to help with this. The idea of having to come up with a custom map all on my own is rather daunting to say the least. The lack of information on the forums themselves is lousy but it makes sense that most people leave after their question is answered. I figure most people come in and ask just enough to get it running and then let a tuner take over. I want to know how every last thing works on my setup, so if it means months of reading, trial and error then so be it. While I will get it tuned, I still want to end up being competent enough to make my own adjustments.

As to the injectors I have decided to go with the tried and true ID1000's. Not only is the price 1/2 of the 1300's but availability seems better. I've seen a few sets show up here at a great price, while the 1300's are still over 1k at best. Figuring that I need to budget another 1k or so for the rest of the fuel setup made my decision pretty much final. I am also going to assume that there are many more maps available for the ID1000's than the 1300's, so more knowledge may be available.

 

Pretty much. Alot of people prefer to ask then to do. Like researching and learning as they go along. The purpose of the car game. But unfortunetly doesnt work that way sometimes. Familarize your self with your car and its situations. The more time you dedicate the better results you will recieve. ID1000 are great injectors. And you can get near a perfect stock idle, which helps tremendously when tuning time comes around. You should be able to be in the high 600 range or better with those inj. Also depends on fuel setup and what not. Well the 1000cc map is pretty much going to be your map of choice.(which is available on mapcal). Then just get the fine adjustments made.

 

use the stock distributor base on the tt ecu mod with a custom cap, dont change over to the 7m cps.
if using e85 then 1000-cc should work fine, at least it does on the JDM ecu's. as the thread says the usdm ecu's are a bit more touchy so you will have to do more tuning for those, each cell is basically different but you can get lucky if scaling the whole map up gets you close enough (it probably does).

on the JDM ecu only the rows are different not each cell cause the values are the same from the map sensor regardless of rpm, so its easier to make adjustments on a row by row basis.
the USDM ecu each load and rpm will have a different value, so its a little bit more involved. try and get it close enough by just scaling the whole map, if you tweak individual spots too much then the ecu can freak out a little bit with the o2 sensor in.

a good map ecu tune keeps the afr's kinda like stock values where its a couple points richer than ideal and then the o2 will pull back fuel as needed. if you tune too close to stoich then you will pick up random misfires on tip in (first press of the throttle) . kind of mimick how the afr's acted stock but with the newer injector/fuel setup and that will yield a solid tune that wont change from day to day.

its not as hard as it sounds once you get started and have a wideband gauge and the laptop in front of you, you can probably figure it out in a couple hours or less. its pretty simple as far as ecu's with tables go.

 

hello guys,

I know this is an old thread. subscribing, so I can come back to it.

I'm buying (maybe) a mapecu2 for an NA-T soon so would like to get all the information I can get my eyes on.

thanks,

 

Back in 2007 I tried the map ecu route . What a disaster . Stock ecu was never happy and keeps changing things as stock GE ecu has no look up maps for positive pressure (meaning boost ) for timing nor fueling so oem ecu keeps trying to change things. Got fedup with chasing my tail and went aem v1 and enjoyed my car from 2008 to 2019 at 600 whp on pump gas .

just put in fresh setup this year and went to ecumaster black for more precise tuning and fail safe strategies

advice to you is at bare min do the gte ecu mod if not go full standalone and enjoy boosting safely

 

Hey buddy,

Thanks for the heads up. That's exactly what I'm trying to do, GE to GTE ECU mod then attach the MAPECU2 that I just purchased, Slowly but surely.