RB26 Engine management system choices? Anyone willing to share their experiences

[truckskinjoe]

Well it is time to upgrade to an engine management system for our 240SX swap. I've been driving it for 6 months now and want to go to the next level of tuning. And am looking to hear others experiences with the available engine management systems and software. My car is 90 S13 with a 92 R32 RB26DETTAWD swap, stock turbo's and injectors at this point, will upgrade over the winter to larger injectors, cams, and turbo upgrades.

Has anyone had experience with the Australian company NISTUNE and their solder in NIStune type 2 board?

Thank you for any of your thoughts.
Modified by truckskinjoe at 5:15 PM 10/11/2009

[RBTALLY]

just finished the FAST XFI install on mine and am very happy with it... the old system was a Haltech.... I will never use Haltech agin...

[RustspecS13]

If I had a RB26 Id go with a RB20 ecu or a Z32 ecu with a repinned harness.

That way you can run nistune. It's what I'll be running for tuning. The nice thing about nistune is its just as reliable as a stock car, because the ecu its self is made for extreme temperature changes and has the maps to go with it. Plus you can still run 600-800WHP on a Z32 ecu and still drive and idle ok.

~Alex

[StricNyne]

hey nate,wasnt your old haltech a e6k which is from like the eighties haha, i had same thing and it was headache outside of wastespark with it, the platinum 2k is the best on market from what i have seen, haltech has changed alot

[truckskinjoe]

Why not use the RB26 ECU? with the NISTUNE board in it?is there an advantage to the RB20 ecu?

[RBTALLY]

ya it was the old E6K... still FAST and BigStuff3 are the two that you will see on almost every domestic race car at the track. if you are going to use LS1 coils go with the BigStuff 3.

[Bernard]

Why not use the RB26 ECU? with the NISTUNE board in it?is there an advantage to the RB20 ecu?

I did this just last week. Very simple and straight forward. Got 450whp on a mustang dyno at 15psi.

[truckskinjoe]

Bernard, am I reading it right, you put the nistune board in your stock rb26 ecu and were then able to tune it to 450whp? what other mods have you done? thanks

[ST240]

OP, from what I've been reading, the best bang for the buck is Nistune. Once i get my rb26 in thats what I'll be running to start with. It has it's limitations though.

I will never use Haltech agin...

Why not? I was under the impression that Haltech was a great system.

If I had a RB26 Id go with a RB20 ecu or a Z32 ecu with a repinned harness.

Are you sure you're not confusing the issue with nistune with rb25 ECUs? You can run nistune on a rb26 ECU. I see no reason not to.

[l0nestar]

Are you sure you're not confusing the issue with nistune with rb25 ECUs? You can run nistune on a rb26 ECU. I see no reason not to.

I was wondering this same thing.

For the price, the Nistune setup is hard to beat. It is leaps and bounds ahead of a PFC, but lacks the 'hand commander' of the PFC.

Joe,I would email nistune and enquire with them as well.

[virus77]

I run a nistune and love it more than I can say(z32 repined for rb25). Also tuning with a laptop with proper datalogging out the box with USB support is where its at... pfc hand controller is a good way to get a thumb exercise lol.

[DETurbine]

I am going to be running the Mega Squirt on mine. A friend of mine is working out all the kinks to making it work with the stock coil packs and cam angle sensor. Only way of doing it now is to run the Ford EDIS-6 system or changing out the cas wheel, but both of those aren't the easiest route to go with. With my setup we will be capable of running the stock setup. Hopefully it will be working in the next few months.

[HxC_Nismo]

i run the apexi power fc d-jetro and its affordable compared to an aem and you just need to get datalogit or the power fc tuning software

[virus77]

yeah I forgot about the d-jetro.... that's actually pretty cool stuff

[Booztd 3]

Its got a higher price tag, but its hard to beat AEM as far as ease of use, support, and large amount of users

[DrifterProdigy85]

i run the apexi power fc d-jetro and its affordable compared to an aem and you just need to get datalogit or the power fc tuning software

Isnt it discontinued now?

[StricNyne]

i have owned, a oem ecu, power fc, haltech e6k, and haltech platinum

i think the best would definately is the plantinum, right off the bat you need to add 400 dollers to the apexi to account for the dataloggit, which even than is not the best. the aem is like 2k and has issues reading the cas reliable, the e6k is a old pos that uses dos to tune with, the platinum has intergrated turbo timer, 2 step rev lmiter, closed loop boost, map sensor support, i can sell my apexi pen timer for 60 bux, my bee r rev limiter for 250,my z32 maf for 100, and my apexi avcr for 250, and my power fc for 800, and factoring in the price of the datalogit software i pretty much have the platinum which blows it out the water

[gawdzilla]

i've run l-jetro (twins) and d-jetro (after single). they both have their pros and cons and are very different. nistune is all the rage these days though.

also depends whos doing your tuning. you'll probably find pfc and nistune to be less common and harder to find "modern" shops that will tune for you. AEM is probably the most widely used ecu by shops

[kflores7]

Can anyone tell me about kakimoto racing ecu? is that already a performance ecu or just a stock? I have a 95 240sx and bought it with a n1 rb26dett engine on it. dont know much, your help would be appriciated thanks

[StricNyne]

they make high end exhaust for skylines and s chassis that all i know, probally tuned for intake, and exhaust maybe more boost

[Bernard]

Bernard, am I reading it right, you put the nistune board in your stock rb26 ecu and were then able to tune it to 450whp? what other mods have you done? thanks

I tune cars as a side job at a few local shops. I have a tuner license with nistune and use the romulator along with nistune so I didn't install the board, which is the way to do it if you don't have a romulator. I'm not sure what spec the turbo's were nor what size the injectors were, I'm guessing by the k value that worked best I'd guess they were 800cc or so. Honestly it doesn't really matter what ecu you go with, the most important thing is to go with a product that whoever is tuning the car is comfortable with. The skyline I'm referring to had a powerfc installed with no one around that could get it to work properly. After a year or two he finally gave up and took the shops recommendation to use a tuned stock ecu. After the wiring and a few sensor issues where fixed up, it took a couple of hours to get it tuned. Too bad he crashed it on the way home.......

[FRspeed]

Haltech Platinum Sport 2000 car runs incredible.