The Miata is a fantastic car. Its relatively light weight, has a near perfect 50/50 weight distribution, is rear wheel drive, is nearly bulletproof, is cheap to fix, has huge aftermarket support, and is probably one of the best cars to learn to drive on a track or auto-x course.
My first Miata was a white 99 base model. I loved that car, but starting a family meant that the 2 seat Miata wasn't going to work for much longer. Many years later, I was able to afford another Miata, and I purchased my 2004 Mazaspeed Miata from a private seller with only 14,900 miles on the clock. I liked the updated interior, and the improved chassis feel. I also liked the factory turbo, and the improved suspension.
After modifying the MSM by replacing the intake/downpipe/exhaust. I started to really dislike my MSM. It felt like it was strangled from 3-5.5k rpms. It wasn't fun to drive at all. At the time, the Hydra EMS from FM was the only option I knew about that would correct the horrible factory ECU tuning this car was cursed with. I didn't really want to spend the $2,000 that would be required to fix it. I ended up seriously considering selling the car.
Just before I listed the car for sale, I went out to the garage to try one last desperate measure. Faulty TPS signal interpretation has received the majority of the blame for the MSMs trainwreck of a ECU. The generally accepted method to fix this is to either install a series of resistors that modify the TPS signal, or just unplug it. I didn't feel like driving to radio shack, so I unplugged the TPS sensor for the first time and went for a drive.
Long story short, I fell in love with my car again. I realized that I didn't hate my MSM, I just hated the ECU. This cheap workaround wasn't going to be a long term fix for me however. The car idled strange, and the overrun fuel cut was completely missing now that the ECU had no idea when you took your foot off the gas. I could have probably lived with the strange idle, but not having the overrun fuel cut working meant the car got worse gas mileage. It was also tricky to drive quickly, since many other cars have trained me to become accustomed to the now missing engine braking effect while entering corners. So I set out to find a way to fix this without spending $2000. I researched the following options and formed the following opinions:
Hydra: Expensive ($2,000), would probably do everything I will ever need, but I just don't want to spend $2,000 to fix my problem. Still has issues controlling the voltage on the alternator. I wasn't willing to pay $2k and have to deal with voltage issues.
Adaptronic & Xede: Cheaper (~$1,450), but quite a lot of money to spend on a piggy back. Xede can't raise the revlimitter. The fact that the factory ECU is still in the mix scares me. From what I know of it, Its pure evil and I'd like to exorcise it completely.
BEGI Reflash: Not cheap ($895 with changes for larger injectors). Would require me to send the chip back and forth for re-tuning after any changes. This was never really an option for me, I don't think spending almost $900 on a tuning solution you have no control over is a good idea. Also, evil ECU is still evil. Reports of other people experiencing "the bog" even after a reflash didn't make me feel good about it.
AEM FIC: Cheap (~$300), can control larger injectors. Almost cheap enough to make me live with the evil factory ECU. It can't raise my revlimitter however, and by the time I was ready to pick an option, I was getting sick of the factory crippled redline of 6,500.
Megasquirt: Cheap for a full standalone (~$800 all in). Can do everything the Hydra can do. Will require more tinkering than a Hydra, but it is a LOT cheaper. This is the direction I decided to go. In my next post, I'll outline how I ordered it, how long it took to be built, and what it looked like when it arrived.
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