Miata.net Award Winner

Flyin' Miata ECU

What makes a product an award winner? Is it something that every Miata needs to have? That certainly sounds good.

But what about the designs that are far beyond similar devices in terms of ease of use and value? The Flying Miata ECU falls into this category, and we're naming it as one of our winners.

Aftermarket ECUs are a necessity for good turbocharging installations. To get the most power out of your engine safely and crack the 200 hp barrier, you need to ensure it's getting a good fuel mix and the timing needs to be spot-on. This has been done in the past with add-ons that fool the stock computer, or with highly powerful generic replacements that require no small skill to adapt.

The Dealer Alternative teamed up with Link and designed a Miata-specific programmable ECU. It's simple to install, and comes with default settings for either normally aspirated or turbocharged Miatas. From that starting point, you can use the "auto-tune" feature to get the settings perfect for your car. It's about half the price of the high-end computers. Best of all, it comes in a very cool briefcase!

One really neat thing about the ECU is its logging capabilities. Using a laptop or a Pilot (as shown here along with the keypad), you can log a variety of parameters as you drive. These include RPM, air/fuel mixture, timing, and throttle position. You can see exactly what your engine is doing. You're also able to program the rev-limiter, idle speed, fuel and timing curves and a myriad of other parameters - including the temperature at which the radiator fan comes on!

We tested the ECU on a normally aspirated car. Because the ECU uses a Manifold Air Pressure sensor, you can do away with the restrictive "flapper" airflow meter that came with the Miata. The car now has a much stronger bottom end than before - the torque curve is flatter all the way across the range. The small hesitation found in stock cars at around 3000 rpm is gone, replaced with an immediate leap forward. Fuel economy is unchanged, and it's easy to monitor the health of the engine. Thanks to our new intake setup, there's a spine-tingling growl under the hood. The essential feel of the engine is the same, however. It's just stronger.

One of the best parts about this ECU is the level of support. The Dealer Alternative was able to answer any questions about setup. They also kept us up to date on the latest developments and tuning tricks. Since our setup was one of the first ones installed on a normally aspirated car, this was invaluable. We also had to fix a few hardware problems that have since been rectified.Unlike many products which are released and never improved, the ECU is a constantly updated item. $50 will get you unlimited software upgrades.

This setup isn't for everyone. It's a great value, but still expensive at around $1250 US. If you fumble blindly with the settings, it's possible to damage your engine badly. But if you're ready to step up to the next level of performance, enjoy being able to monitor every aspect of your engine, and aren't afraid to try something different, the Flying Miata ECU is for you. Because of its use for turbocharged cars, the ECU is an integral part of the powerful FM Turbo kits.

Availability

The Dealer Alternative
www.dlralt.com