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Hi everyone in the Starlet world :)



I'm Matt from Motorsport Electronics Limited, here the UK, and along with Alex we make the core development team here for the ME221 Engine management System. We were approached by a customer of ours who runs our PnP ME221 for the MX5, and he suggested the EP82/EP91 as a good car to tackle next, well, we have done so, and are well on the way to producing a fully standalone, Plug and Play ECU for both variants.



If you havent heard of us, or the ME221 ECU, have a look around the web - we brought out an MX5 PnP ECU based on our own ME221 control platform a little over a year ago and it took the UK by storm - all the major MX-5 tuners now use and recommend our ECU - its affordable, accurate, reliable - put by most - "it just works!".



We use the same core, only layout a new PCB to suit the EP's connectivity and ECU casing (that's right it fits in the factory ECU case, replacing the stock PCB) and then gives full mapping abilities, 16x16 tables, launch control, boost control, knock control, anti-lag etc etc, the list goes on, and of course it runs with all factory sensors (sure upgrade to a 4 bar map sensor or 800cc injectors, the ME221 supports it!) as well as adding fully sequential fuel and ignition (yes, junk the dizzy and run COPs!)



We will post up some more info shortly including some videos, but for now, here's the ME221 in its 'MX-5' form:



>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=H2Ycb1cCIXI



>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=fDYAE3AKiJ0



Once development is completed, which we aim to be a couple of weeks from now, we will hold group buys for both the EP82 and EP91 variants. Retail pricing is going to be £645inc for both versions, and includes all features as standard.- group buy pricing tba.



We also have full rolling road and engine dyno cell facilities here in Wiltshire, as well as a network of approved ME221 centres all over the UK, so the ECU is well supported.



Cheers everyone!


Matt & Alex


Motorsport Electronics Limited


www.motorsport-electronics.co.uk


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So for £645, the ecu will literally be plug and play for say a car with basic mods (decat, exhaust, induction, and a tad more boost) ?

Not like a jam or blitz, but once mapped yes will work perfectly at any level of tune.

Phil

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Not like a jam or blitz, but once mapped yes will work perfectly at any level of tune.

Phil

So it's really only beneficial to cars running 200+. Shame really. not really a 'plug and play' unit as such. Aside from fitting in the original ecu shell. What benefit does it have over other standalone units currently on the market?

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So it's really only beneficial to cars running 200+. Shame really. not really a 'plug and play' unit as such. Aside from fitting in the original ecu shell. What benefit does it have over other standalone units currently on the market?

Price is a big factor no?

Wolf and DTA from Race-tech or TD are up and over £1000 I think? So this setup would work out cheaper.

Plugs in and gos. No Additional Sensors needed. but still offers upgrade paths in the future.

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So it's really only beneficial to cars running 200+. Shame really. not really a 'plug and play' unit as such. Aside from fitting in the original ecu shell. What benefit does it have over other standalone units currently on the market?

Just cost I guess. For you guys in mainland anyways.

645 plug and play is cheap for standalone.

We can get close to that with Link here in N.Ireland but limited availability really.

Phil

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So it's really only beneficial to cars running 200+. Shame really. not really a 'plug and play' unit as such. Aside from fitting in the original ecu shell. What benefit does it have over other standalone units currently on the market?

We have a very open ethos with our maps - as we map more and more cars with differnt mod sets, people can use said maps at will - for example one of the test cars is an EP82 with Td04 - it made just over 220bhp at 1.1Bar - a perfect starting point if you have a similar setup. The ECU also has autotune, so if you have a wideband, you can road map it...

Benefits wise depends on what other PnPs are out there - if you could give a run down that would be great? We only really saw piggbacks as the current option - yes you could go for a wire-on, but thats adding £400+ to the install costs, and the trouble it can bring as well.

If someone can give details on what the Blitz ECU has as a feature set (I assume its just mapped for a bit more boost) then we can of course release 'Blitz' style maps - then you can of course optimise the map for your car ;)

here's some mapping on our dyno earlier...

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO6BURwDmCw&feature=youtu.be

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There isn't a true plug and play ECU on the market anymore, you can pick up second hand units but I wouldn't trust one so I really wouldn't worry too much about catering for that crowd.

Anyone with a real need for some form of after market engine control will go and have it mapped, this looks like a great product. I just wish it had CAN, so I can use it to drive the Android application I'm working on.

Tim

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We have a very open ethos with our maps - as we map more and more cars with differnt mod sets, people can use said maps at will - for example one of the test cars is an EP82 with Td04 - it made just over 220bhp at 1.1Bar - a perfect starting point if you have a similar setup. The ECU also has autotune, so if you have a wideband, you can road map it...

Benefits wise depends on what other PnPs are out there - if you could give a run down that would be great? We only really saw piggbacks as the current option - yes you could go for a wire-on, but thats adding £400+ to the install costs, and the trouble it can bring as well.

If someone can give details on what the Blitz ECU has as a feature set (I assume its just mapped for a bit more boost) then we can of course release 'Blitz' style maps - then you can of course optimise the map for your car ;)

here's some mapping on our dyno earlier...

>https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=IO6BURwDmCw&feature=youtu.be

As above, the typical plug and play units remove the fuel cut which is the biggest problem, slightly raised rev limits, speed limiter removed etc. Ideal for people who arent chasing big power figures.

Say I wanted to buy one of your ecu's with a base map similar to what the standard ecu provides, so I could run the car with the basic mods. Then at a later date, if I wish to raise the boost/install a bigger turbo, I could then come to yourselves or one of your recognized tuners and have the map altered to suit. To me, that's a plug and play solution.

And has Tim has pointed out, the original pnp units are getting a little old now, and are still commanding £400-500, but are literally a plug and play solution for those keeping under the 200bhp bracket.

If you could supply your unit with a base map that'll accommodate the basic mods and have the car running that would be great. That way it could fulfil the role as your typical plug and play units, and then if the owner decides to take the tuning further, they can then come back to you for any alterations. To me, that would be a far more appealing prospect rather than buying a fairly old ecu, then if I decide to chase more power, buying yet another ecu. It's a cover all angles approach which benefits both you and the customer. And i'm not fond of having to start messing around with wire in ecu's. A plug in like yours would be far more tempting.

Edited by Starlet__SR
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Thats just being pedantic. It plugs in and you can play with it. Be that mapping, auto tuning etc. A base map would make sense to allow the car to get to a tuner maybe. But if you want a shitty 'flash map' that isnt specific to the car go buy a blitz or something

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Starlet_SR - that is exactly it - we will provide stock maps, some boost enabled maps, change the limiter yourself etc - the software is all downloadable so you can tweak stuff easily enough :)

Thats good to hear! If you can offer a foundation to build on that'll no doubt attract more customers. Rather than just catering for the higher hp numbers, by covering all bases you're gonna be expanding your market. Granted its not a huge expansion, but still growth nonetheless. I'm still not sure what route to go with my GT yet, but its nice to know that if I bought one of your ecu's it covers me from basic mods all the way to a forged build.

As for altering the software, i'd rather leave that to you guys lol. I look forward to the finished product!

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