Thanks for the insight. I’ve been researching ECUs for my Barra build for a while now. Maxx was near the top of the list and thanks to your review of their product it has moved up the list.
Boom nailed it for me on the dash! I was little iffy as i was looking into the maxecu. Thank you for all your input on this. Really opened my eyes on some things!
I have never tuned anything nor am I at the step in my build where I need to do so and STILL this is some of the most valuable information ever. Not to mention the review is courtesy of someone who is competent, has ACTUALLY put these products through their paces, and isn't biased due to some sponsorship. Thanks Nivlac57
My friend just bought one of these and I knew next to nothing about the brand. Wow that IO adaptability is awesome. I've often wondered why other brands aren't more permissive. Other than to limit features between models of course. As a programmer, I def appreciated the part about being designed by an engineer, hahaha. I think most aftermarket ECU options obviously are, but that doesn't mean there aren't big differences in approaches and who made the final calls. Great overview!
Thanks for all the technical info and taking the time to explain different terms related to tuning this engine (or any other). Your explaination keeps the newby from buying a product that may not be exactly what we want. Also, in a previous reply I mentioned the supply of the 4200 Vortec drying up. Now that I know what vehicle they come in, the supply, though not endless, is prety healthy. Again, thanks for this excellent video. By the way, How's Dad doing?
I'm coming back to this video now since MaxxECU released support for the OEM TCU on the 8hp70. This made their plug in solution for my E46 an insane value since I'm getting parts together for an 8hp70 swap
Right on man ! See, this is why its worth going above and beyond to do some R'n'D on under exposed systems like this for different applications. Getting to work hand in hand with companies to make products better. I have done the android digital dash but only with the torque app which does not give me any issues. I dont mind clicking an "ok" button on a free app but would like to try this first hand
Yeah. When you are strapped in a race car and can't reach the dash, it's mega annoying. I've invested over a $1000 in trying to get Android based dashes to happen. It just sucks for what I'm doing. Having to wait 2 minutes for the dash to come up when you just want to see the coolant temp quick is unacceptable. Just my 2 cents
@@Calvin-Nelson yes i did not think of that. That would be super irritating indeed. Only adds to the long list of little tasks to prep for a race No better way to learn other than personal experience. I appreciate you sharing the knowledge. Big thank you all the way from Northern Ontario 🇨🇦
Thanks for the MaxxECU review. Purchased the Maxx Mtune mini for my Triumph, I'm new to this (Have been using 2x40dcoe 151Weber's) EFI so far looks great. it is a bit of learning curve, but fun.
Excellent video! I'm definitely a belly button combo guy but I got a lot out of this. I like everything about my Raspberry pi dash except the boot time. 3 seconds to run on the Tinker Dash is amazing.
Thanks! Yeah. I've tried raspberry pi dashes in the past. I got annoyed with having to hit "ok" as soon as the tune on the box got out of sync with the tune on the dash. Glad it works good for you.
Thanks Calvin. I now have a firm answer as to what I'm going to use on my Ford 4.0 V6. I was decided on Holley until now but this seems like a much better option for a 6 cylinder.
Totally wish we could put this on a turbo sled to test out and see how well it reacts and also to stand up to the cold. I know i know... Electronics hate the cold lol Thanks again sir, you guys rock
Very cool. I was running into a wall with my Terminator when I tried to have the fans run at 90% PWM with the A/C on. It's seems like such a simple thing to work out, but it's a super pain in the ass. And, I didn't manage to figure it out.
Okay yep I'm basically sold. That looks awesome. Considering a fancier ECU for the next project and the gap in quality from a 3-500$ speedy or megasquirt to a 1k$ haltech or maxxecu is seeming pretty worth it.
@@Calvin-Nelson I'm climbing the ladder right now, got a NO2C speedy running on the shitbox project, going to microsquirt my beetle, then fancy ecu for my turbo 4.0l AMC project haha
Thanks for the information on Maxx and Tinker. My builder is just finishing up this combination on a 944 turbo. We are having issues with the Tinker Dash not receiving the correct canbus signal from the Maxx. How we put a user table input to the dash and what to do to change certain things such as the dash reading the injector calibration flow instead of the analog voltage input for the fuel pressure, ie reading actually fuel pressure. So far Tinker and Maxx don't want to communicate, Maxx is doing everything it is support to, we just can't find the correct channel to let the Tinker understand its data. thanks in advance Jonathan.
A few notes on digital dashes as I have been attempting to find a marketable solution: The best solutions require very expensive licensing of higher end software. I can get the software OEMS like Mercedes Benz run for their in car stuff. It's actually not that bad as a start up for the initial license. BUT you need a lot of expensive support after that. You need to have your own linux distro running procto, that way the thing will boot up FAST. Then you need your C library to be setup correctly and not have bugs (holy shit is this a nightmare btw), and then on top of that you need it all to work with a board and display that is actually affordable. After all this is done, you end up with a dash solution that is in the 4 digit range. I mean, even if I want to make one for myself we are talking hundreds of hours of coding + whatever the amount of time to learn all that, and then quite a lot for the display and hardware. There are some out there that are around 500$ that are pretty good and run off the raspberry pi hardware and have decent linux distro behind them, however with the chip shortage, that price is going to spike. The code that runs the human to machine interface / display, just isn't available cheaply. If a company (a small company realistically is the only thing that's going to "enter" this part of the market-space), wants to develop a good display product for car displays, there will be a ton of cost in either an off the shelf solution (outsourcing to a bigger company and licensing what they create), or a lot of hours in making the interface. There are more and more solutions that can be run on bare metal that can display vector graphics, however the task of having a dash display requires more advanced high speed protocols than the "easy" stuff can provide. Its not so much that the display is really that high speed, but more that the low level bare metal solutions that can be cheaply and easily implemented, are just not designed for a high dynamic throughput. There are some solutions that appear to be approaching feasibility for making a decent and cheap dash display (software side), but even they have rapidly moved towards a licensing model that is very aggressive and prohibitive for market exploration by a small company.
i did direct injection delete and went maxxecu when i did the head swap on my 335i and the bsd and canbus works great. its literally two wires lol. remove dme, hook maxxecu to two wires and its good to go. i believe now theres even a plug and play adapter too.
@Nivlac57, have you done any looking into haltech management? im not sure if their software is compatible but they have plug and play compatibility with with the more popular i6 engines barra for example. Maybe they have unintended compatibility.
You could absolutely make it work. I have also looked into it quite heavily. If they were a little more affordable I probably would have run one by now, but the Maxxecu can do everything they can, and much more, for less money.
This all sounds so much like an industrial PLC. Especially the NC signals for safety are so basic in industrial applications. Surprisingly, no other company is really going that route.
@@Calvin-Nelson I even know very few folks in Germany that are using an old industrial PLC to automate things in their car. Not ECU directly, only accessories but exactly because of the flexibility.
I've been pretty interested in the Speeduino for a while and have been on their slack... I did some messing around with some of their stuff too. I really like it and if you're interested in a "microcontroller" deal, it's the way to go. The ARM platform, especially with a teensy 4.1, so ridiculously powerful, AND the firmware is all open source, yet still works with tuner studio. I will be running my engine on the terminator X for now, but in the future I'll definitely go another route. But for my transmission controller, I'm going full "from scratch" and basing the system off Rust rather than C, but thats a different conversation... I'm interested to hear what you liked about the Maxxecu. I just felt the Speeduino was more capable and more open ended, and others like Rusefi are also just better choices for what I'd want out of it. These are basically like poor man's Motec in the end. Now just about getting a matlab extension to do the heavy C lifting...
Yeah. I had bad experiences with the Speeduino. I tried there most recent rev of the board at the time. Had issues with the ribbon cable interface. Then tried Twisted Builds more robust offering. That worked better, but the GM7X decoder was not working. At this stage, I don't have time to fool around with my own C coding. I just want something that works and has the ability to be adjusted to what I need. Maxxecu does everything I need. As far as your other comment goes. The tinker does exactly what I need so far. I'm very happy with it.
Perfect timing for the video, I am looking for a ECU to control my Gen 6 502 big block Chevy with the Chevrolet performance cam and crank signal conversion timing cover. I was thinking of the Holley terminator max because it will control the 4L80e and do sequential injection and spark control for the LS coils I’m going to run with the L21 valve covers(think 8.1 gen7 valve covers and coil setup) my problem is that if I make any changes like a 6L90e it won’t support it. With this Max ECU where do you get the engine wiring harness? Does it support GM sensors and injectors? What trans control? Auto learn function for the tuning? This motor is going in a motorhome to tow an enclosed trailer so I’d also like to use a mass air sensor to adjust for elevation changes and weather conditions instead of relying on the O2 sensor to take care of it all. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
For durability, ease and expense, id stick with a 4l80e for your application. Also, an X-max would also fit this simple application as well. For a drag combo or something that gets changed often, I'd maybe look into this ecu. But for you, the Holley would be money and time easier. JMO
Yeah. Holley is hard to beat for this particular case. It works great for the more basic setups like yours. I think Maxxecu makes harnesses. I normally make my own. They support GM sensors. They have autolearn, and trans control. It could definitely be made to work.
@@Calvin-Nelson I believe they use the GM protocol to feed the needed data to the 6l80e TCU. The Maxxecu also supports BMW DCT transmissions which have an internal controller. It looks like the needed data is shared over the OEM protocol.
@@Calvin-Nelson Honestly, Maxxecu's canbus features are why I'm making the jump from Terminator X. Integrating a can keypad and a PDM saves a ton of inputs and outputs. The keypad's abilities are endless with Mtune. Use the buttons for DBW cruise control operation, boost setting changes, fan switches, anything.
The discussion with dash failure trying to use an Android tablet, can a higher powered device make any difference? I have more experience with computers than cars and have constantly fought against the 'will it work at all' v.s. 'will it work effective and efficiently'
So will MaxxECU support the VVT for both the 7X and 58X crank wheels? If so I need to find someone to install this system. I'm not nearly gifted enough to do this?
@@Calvin-Nelson Ok cool, like yourself I’ve got extensive experience with MS, HP and Holley and I was just about to buy a Dominator for my current racecar build until I ran across this video. I’ve been wanting something that bridged the capabilities of the Holley and MS together and this seems like the ticket with even more added benefit. One of my biggest questions is how well does the idle strategy work with the Maxxecu, I’ve always went round and round with idle on MS setups and I’ve had great success with idle on Holley setups.
@@frdstang931 I've had similar experiences with MS. Idle just sucks. I've been able to get my Fairmont to idle pretty good. Every once in a while it will stumble, but it isn't quite as good as I've been able to get the Holley stuff. The advance capabilities of the Maxxecu makes it totally worth it.
Great review! I am looking to buy one for a rally car project, but i also really hate the tablet m dash. Do you think it is possible to use a dash which is just a screen, just to display the basics, and use another output to do all the logging, and maybe some push buttons for different features? Thank you!
Is there any way you could help with a newbie when I get the Maxxecu. About to do a turbo build on my 6.0 ls. Gonna say screw it and get the maxxecu pro. I'm a nerd so I want everything to be monitored and have control of everything. Trying to figure out how to build out harness now. Would like to keep factory connectors.
@@Calvin-Nelson I saw that. But from what I saw its only for the race version. Is there anyway you could help me set up the base tune when I get it in. I would be more then happy to pay you. I was looking around mtune and checking everything out. Only thing I didn't see was the vvt. I'm guessing that may be a user defined table. Also was wondering how I can make it work with my 4l70e for now until I swap 4l80e. It's before 08 so the pin put is the exact same as 4l60e. Don't see why it wouldn't work
I figured it out. I had to set an output to have the vvt options. Now question is how to set it up since ls cam does both exhaust and intake with same cam.
Looked into those ecus a couple months back for my project, sadly no direct support for my cam and crank trigger. Ended up pulling the trigger on a Link G4X XtremeX they have a good amount of the same features and flexibility.
You could've just looked at the base maps for the other ECUs that support your platform and copied the crank and cam trigger data and got maxx. I've tuned a lot of ECUs, Link is definitely primitive compared to Maxx.
i agree with everything else but the mdash / android complaint. I personally think it works very well for what you actually need it for. No need to wire anything and you can add bluetooth switches for what ever you like on the tablet. The bootup time will depend on you tablet/phone. But the biggest thing is that you dont have to buy a 500-1500 dollar dash to have one in the first place, you can if you want to, i belive maxxecu supports most dashes from other manufacturers like ecumaster etc... But you dont have to, if you cant afford one you can just use an old phone of yours or buy a 100 dollar tablet. you will also be able to see and reset ecu error codes, change boost levels, even change maps i belive with the bt switches. dont know if you can do all that with the dashes and thats for a fraction of the price. ofcourse if you're building a full race car you will probably want a dash instead of a tablet, but for street cars the tablet works perfectly... and it wont run out of battery, just plug a 12v socket charger in or keep it plugged in.....
I've tried the tablet dash so many times. They have always sucked in my experience. It sucks have to poke at a dash when you're strapped into a car with gloves on and can't reach it. I wish they had a robust stand alone offering. I'd pay good money for it too. To each their own.
@@Calvin-Nelson Yeah i can undestand it in a race car ofc, but street car no problem imo. And yeah if maxxecu themself made an affordable option would be great. but tbh you dont have to poke at it, just turn it on before going out on the track or on a street drive.
It really is fully adaptable and configurable. Before I locked my choice on a maxxecu, I tried out the software for a few others - Link and Haltech namely. Quickly found the Maxxecu is the most 'unlocked', and although feature-on-feature they're all the same, you need special plugins and extras to do what maxx can do with just a couple of spare tables and logic variables. Again, not biased. I've used standalones, piggybacks and flash tuners. All depends on the application, somebody who just wants to add a little fuel and retard some timing won't care about the extras.
Thanks for the video. I think you should also try ECUMASTER products, such as EMU Classic and EMU black, and ADU displays. I install, wire and run these on many projects, personal and customers, in my opinion very good, advanced, flexible and affordable ECUs. I may be biased however, as it is a 100% polish product :)
@@Calvin-Nelson many built in features seem similar to maxxecu, as I listened to the video. Flex fuel, vtec/vct/vvt, boost control of course, nitrous, als, launch control, flat shift, dbw, traction control, wideband and egt controlers, parametric outputs, logging every single parameter, many many more, all built in, I highly recommend it :) I'm sure they have their own disadvantages or different approach or lack some other features which are onboard in other ECUs, however, surely worth researching :)
@@thewraith6360 could be, I didn't check and compare it. Black has 9 analog inputs (plus you can use at least one for 3 switches) and 6 aux outputs, plus unused injector outputs can be used as aux output. I don't know how it is in maxxecu. But in simpler, EMU Classic I actually do sometimes run out of inputs (4). But you get what you paid for, of course its alot cheaper, still having something like 80% of advanced functionality of black
Yeah. I keep forgetting. For a while I didn't want to upload it because it was still actively being developed. I think we're in a good spot now. I'll try to remember tomorrow
I personally use an Android tablet with mine an it works flawless I used an app that wakes up the tablet an automatically opens the mdash app once it senses the charger ..an I wired the charger in the car ..plus the mdash app has the bluttooth switching so no need for physical switches an more free inputs
For a daily driver, I'm sure that works ok. I normally go months without driving mine over the winter, and managing the charge level would be a nightmare. You could also softlock the tablet if you're not careful.
Their software is pretty limiting from what I have gathered from looking at their turning software. I hear the Nexus is very powerful, but they're also very expensive.
This kind of thing amazes me, I'm old school as far cars go. (60 but closer to 61) All the things that can be done with programming are so far above my knowledge that if you were rating me from 1 to 10, I would probably be a -5. If I were to make changes in the programming, the engine would definitely blow up. Burn a piston, throw a rod, or something catastrophic. Hahaha hahaha 😆 😂 😄
Hi great review thank you. I have the Maxxecu Street which is a baby unit compared to yours however it works perfectly well for what I need it to. Very user friendly and easy to wire up. However I bought this because of the M Dash function to later find that the sport does not support Bluetooth Maxxecu's solution was to trade my ECU for the model up which was very generous of them but I don't really want to spend a further 400 + just for the M Dash Sorry for the long message. My question is how does the Tinker Dash link to the ECU and is it compatible with the Sport Maxxecu customer services are top by the way very helpful
I haven't used fueltech yet, but just from poking around in the software, it seems a lot like a megasquirt with a bit more functionality. The answer is most likely yes. The fuel tech has a lot of features, but they really don't allow you to go nuts and implement custom stuff, or think outside of the box. If you can't get what you want with their box, then too bad.
@@Calvin-Nelson thanks for the prompt reply, my car is actually currently stripped down to chassis and getting painted, soon gonna go get my engine swapped in and then its ECU time, I am very torn now between choosing fueltech or maxx
@@Calvin-Nelson Oh man! do yourself a favor and do a deep dive on Konigsegg's freevalve, then check out Wesley Kagan's channel on his DIY version, it's pretty awesome
It's weird that you would say "it's the closest thing to a microcontroller I've ever used" when a speeduino is a programmable microcontroller. There are a lot of drawbacks to speeduino but don't deny the ATMega in its heart.
I don't want a microcontroller though. I want the flexibility of a microcontroller with none of the R&D on trying to make stupid crap that shouldn't have issues work. The Maxxecu so far, has given everything I want in a package where the dumb stuff just works. Speeduino hasn't (I've tried).
@@199rocks94 I've grown to not trust in the closed loop. It's a two edged sword. If that o2 sensor is reading right, it's great. The second it doesn't, bad stuff can happen.
If you feel the need to go “pro mod full fancy pants”, just get the Holley Dominator and be done with it. Otherwise your gold box with a tinker dash and and an output extender will take you plenty far with what you are doing.
This is not a gold box. This is a Maxxecu. Maxxecu has a dominator equivalent called the Maxxecu Pro. I would take it over a dominator every day of the week.
Good review, awesome product but one thing to consider, their customer service. Been a part of the Maxxecu community for years and have watched genuinely interested people get reamed or belittled by Nathaniel for simply asking a question on their support pages. Initially I thought it was a language barrier thing since he’d snap at really subtle phrasing or wording but after lurking for a few years l I’ve noticed it isn’t because there is no consistency with his attitude. It was enough that I started looking at other options for DCT control. Sad because the product itself, their wiring harness quality, is all great. But I refused to give 3k to an overseas company with an attitude regardless of how good the product is. Personally can’t wait for Haltech to break into the trans game. Once that comes thru these niche entitled companies might have something to worry about. Just my long winding experience with maxxecu. Outside of DCT and now 8HP control and certain perks of their IO, they’re like any other standalone just with an attitude 😂
Yeah. Problem is everything else I've used doesn't even come close. Personally I have had to contact Maxxecu support one time to get the 4200 added to their supported trigger types. They went above and beyond.
See FB Group MLVHD. Many if not most of the engine log examples are generated with a MaxxECU. You would not believe all of the cool stuff I am doing with my Maxx Race and custom tables and math channels. Good video.
Love the UI of Holley, but their customer service and support are TERRIBLE, and they handcuffs are EVERYWHERE. It's so sickening to be well aware that they have the ability to give you everything you want, and they just don't... you watch the same software run a dominator in a way you'd like to run your terminator, and you just can't... maddening. They promised cruise control features like a decade ago and never delivered. And literally with DBW all this would take is some very basic programming, which the software could easily handle if they'd just let you do as you please. The number of hurdles and "signal converters" i have to run just to get different brands of sensors to register on Holley is disgusting.
Thank you for your review.
MaxxECU team in Sweden
Thanks for the insight.
I’ve been researching ECUs for my Barra build for a while now. Maxx was near the top of the list and thanks to your review of their product it has moved up the list.
They're really high quality stuff. I don't know if I could use anything else.
I have build more then 6 Barra and all of them are working with maxxecu!
Boom nailed it for me on the dash! I was little iffy as i was looking into the maxecu. Thank you for all your input on this. Really opened my eyes on some things!
This was the video I needed to see!
Thank you Sir!!!
No problem
I have never tuned anything nor am I at the step in my build where I need to do so and STILL this is some of the most valuable information ever. Not to mention the review is courtesy of someone who is competent, has ACTUALLY put these products through their paces, and isn't biased due to some sponsorship. Thanks Nivlac57
Thanks man. I'll have to try to more videos like it.
My friend just bought one of these and I knew next to nothing about the brand. Wow that IO adaptability is awesome. I've often wondered why other brands aren't more permissive. Other than to limit features between models of course. As a programmer, I def appreciated the part about being designed by an engineer, hahaha. I think most aftermarket ECU options obviously are, but that doesn't mean there aren't big differences in approaches and who made the final calls. Great overview!
Great review Calvin. I have a maxx ecu on my bike and i absolutely love it. Glad to see you are liking yours👍👍
thanks for the info on the video, strongly going to consider your setup for my future build!
Thanks for all the technical info and taking the time to explain different terms related to tuning this engine (or any other). Your explaination keeps the newby from buying a product that may not be exactly what we want. Also, in a previous reply I mentioned the supply of the 4200 Vortec drying up. Now that I know what vehicle they come in, the supply, though not endless, is prety healthy. Again, thanks for this excellent video. By the way, How's Dad doing?
He's doing better. It's going to be a couple months before he is back in a car.
I'm coming back to this video now since MaxxECU released support for the OEM TCU on the 8hp70. This made their plug in solution for my E46 an insane value since I'm getting parts together for an 8hp70 swap
Still my favorite choice for an ECU.
Love to see your input on this stuff as a real grassroots dude that tunes his own shit. Thanks!
I have a rather obscure build that I'm starting and this is exactly, what I wanted. What a perfect video.
Right on man ! See, this is why its worth going above and beyond to do some R'n'D on under exposed systems like this for different applications.
Getting to work hand in hand with companies to make products better.
I have done the android digital dash but only with the torque app which does not give me any issues. I dont mind clicking an "ok" button on a free app but would like to try this first hand
Yeah. When you are strapped in a race car and can't reach the dash, it's mega annoying. I've invested over a $1000 in trying to get Android based dashes to happen. It just sucks for what I'm doing. Having to wait 2 minutes for the dash to come up when you just want to see the coolant temp quick is unacceptable. Just my 2 cents
@@Calvin-Nelson yes i did not think of that.
That would be super irritating indeed. Only adds to the long list of little tasks to prep for a race
No better way to learn other than personal experience.
I appreciate you sharing the knowledge.
Big thank you all the way from Northern Ontario 🇨🇦
Thanks for the MaxxECU review. Purchased the Maxx Mtune mini for my Triumph, I'm new to this (Have been using 2x40dcoe 151Weber's) EFI so far looks great. it is a bit of learning curve, but fun.
Maxxecu is fucking awsome!!
Excellent video! I'm definitely a belly button combo guy but I got a lot out of this. I like everything about my Raspberry pi dash except the boot time. 3 seconds to run on the Tinker Dash is amazing.
Thanks! Yeah. I've tried raspberry pi dashes in the past. I got annoyed with having to hit "ok" as soon as the tune on the box got out of sync with the tune on the dash. Glad it works good for you.
Amazing review...thank you!
You're welcome
Thanks Calvin. I now have a firm answer as to what I'm going to use on my Ford 4.0 V6. I was decided on Holley until now but this seems like a much better option for a 6 cylinder.
Great review and info 👍👍
Totally wish we could put this on a turbo sled to test out and see how well it reacts and also to stand up to the cold.
I know i know... Electronics hate the cold lol
Thanks again sir, you guys rock
Well Maxxecu is based in Sweden. So maybe they are built to handle cold? Lol
They are prevalent in the Nordics so they handle it fine.
Great video! I will have to look into this for 3900 swaps!
It's hard to beat.
Very cool. I was running into a wall with my Terminator when I tried to have the fans run at 90% PWM with the A/C on. It's seems like such a simple thing to work out, but it's a super pain in the ass. And, I didn't manage to figure it out.
Yeah. Terminators are awesome for the basic stuff. The IO management just isn't there though.
Very interesting ecu! Would love to see a software overview
Awesome review.
VERY Cool, Cal!
Great info!
Great info. Thanks
You have me sold on the Maxxecu for my turbo 5cylinder swap
Okay yep I'm basically sold. That looks awesome. Considering a fancier ECU for the next project and the gap in quality from a 3-500$ speedy or megasquirt to a 1k$ haltech or maxxecu is seeming pretty worth it.
Yep. Once you get one you will get what I'm about to say. They just feel like high quality holding it in your hand.
@@Calvin-Nelson I'm climbing the ladder right now, got a NO2C speedy running on the shitbox project, going to microsquirt my beetle, then fancy ecu for my turbo 4.0l AMC project haha
@@Levibetz Very cool. I've been up that ladder. Keep at it.
Thanks for the information on Maxx and Tinker. My builder is just finishing up this combination on a 944 turbo. We are having issues with the Tinker Dash not receiving the correct canbus signal from the Maxx. How we put a user table input to the dash and what to do to change certain things such as the dash reading the injector calibration flow instead of the analog voltage input for the fuel pressure, ie reading actually fuel pressure. So far Tinker and Maxx don't want to communicate, Maxx is doing everything it is support to, we just can't find the correct channel to let the Tinker understand its data.
thanks in advance Jonathan.
Hey, great watch - do you know if Maxx can control torque converter without factory engine ecu piggyback? 1uz nonvvti, with 4spd a341e.
A few notes on digital dashes as I have been attempting to find a marketable solution:
The best solutions require very expensive licensing of higher end software. I can get the software OEMS like Mercedes Benz run for their in car stuff. It's actually not that bad as a start up for the initial license. BUT you need a lot of expensive support after that. You need to have your own linux distro running procto, that way the thing will boot up FAST. Then you need your C library to be setup correctly and not have bugs (holy shit is this a nightmare btw), and then on top of that you need it all to work with a board and display that is actually affordable. After all this is done, you end up with a dash solution that is in the 4 digit range. I mean, even if I want to make one for myself we are talking hundreds of hours of coding + whatever the amount of time to learn all that, and then quite a lot for the display and hardware. There are some out there that are around 500$ that are pretty good and run off the raspberry pi hardware and have decent linux distro behind them, however with the chip shortage, that price is going to spike.
The code that runs the human to machine interface / display, just isn't available cheaply. If a company (a small company realistically is the only thing that's going to "enter" this part of the market-space), wants to develop a good display product for car displays, there will be a ton of cost in either an off the shelf solution (outsourcing to a bigger company and licensing what they create), or a lot of hours in making the interface. There are more and more solutions that can be run on bare metal that can display vector graphics, however the task of having a dash display requires more advanced high speed protocols than the "easy" stuff can provide. Its not so much that the display is really that high speed, but more that the low level bare metal solutions that can be cheaply and easily implemented, are just not designed for a high dynamic throughput.
There are some solutions that appear to be approaching feasibility for making a decent and cheap dash display (software side), but even they have rapidly moved towards a licensing model that is very aggressive and prohibitive for market exploration by a small company.
i did direct injection delete and went maxxecu when i did the head swap on my 335i and the bsd and canbus works great. its literally two wires lol. remove dme, hook maxxecu to two wires and its good to go. i believe now theres even a plug and play adapter too.
That seems like an awesome solution.
Shit with the street version being 950 I’m down
Only 6 cylinders but that’s all I need currently
Thanks Calvin
No problem
@Nivlac57, have you done any looking into haltech management? im not sure if their software is compatible but they have plug and play compatibility with with the more popular i6 engines barra for example. Maybe they have unintended compatibility.
You could absolutely make it work. I have also looked into it quite heavily. If they were a little more affordable I probably would have run one by now, but the Maxxecu can do everything they can, and much more, for less money.
@@Calvin-Nelson that's great to know. Thank you for the heads up. 🙏
Interested in building 4.2 seems simple to build these engines
Does this have enough IO for what you are doing with drag and drive? What all are you using for inputs?
You should seriously consider FuelTech for a future project sometime! It's quite awesome.
Yeah. I have looked into them. The IO adaptability doesn't seem to be there.
I know Fuel Tech is successful but, i don't like multiple module systems.
Oh nice
This all sounds so much like an industrial PLC.
Especially the NC signals for safety are so basic in industrial applications.
Surprisingly, no other company is really going that route.
Yep. Spot on.
@@Calvin-Nelson I even know very few folks in Germany that are using an old industrial PLC to automate things in their car.
Not ECU directly, only accessories but exactly because of the flexibility.
I've been pretty interested in the Speeduino for a while and have been on their slack... I did some messing around with some of their stuff too. I really like it and if you're interested in a "microcontroller" deal, it's the way to go. The ARM platform, especially with a teensy 4.1, so ridiculously powerful, AND the firmware is all open source, yet still works with tuner studio. I will be running my engine on the terminator X for now, but in the future I'll definitely go another route. But for my transmission controller, I'm going full "from scratch" and basing the system off Rust rather than C, but thats a different conversation...
I'm interested to hear what you liked about the Maxxecu. I just felt the Speeduino was more capable and more open ended, and others like Rusefi are also just better choices for what I'd want out of it.
These are basically like poor man's Motec in the end. Now just about getting a matlab extension to do the heavy C lifting...
Yeah. I had bad experiences with the Speeduino. I tried there most recent rev of the board at the time. Had issues with the ribbon cable interface. Then tried Twisted Builds more robust offering. That worked better, but the GM7X decoder was not working. At this stage, I don't have time to fool around with my own C coding. I just want something that works and has the ability to be adjusted to what I need. Maxxecu does everything I need.
As far as your other comment goes. The tinker does exactly what I need so far. I'm very happy with it.
Perfect timing for the video, I am looking for a ECU to control my Gen 6 502 big block Chevy with the Chevrolet performance cam and crank signal conversion timing cover. I was thinking of the Holley terminator max because it will control the 4L80e and do sequential injection and spark control for the LS coils I’m going to run with the L21 valve covers(think 8.1 gen7 valve covers and coil setup) my problem is that if I make any changes like a 6L90e it won’t support it. With this Max ECU where do you get the engine wiring harness? Does it support GM sensors and injectors? What trans control? Auto learn function for the tuning? This motor is going in a motorhome to tow an enclosed trailer so I’d also like to use a mass air sensor to adjust for elevation changes and weather conditions instead of relying on the O2 sensor to take care of it all. Any thoughts would be greatly appreciated.
For durability, ease and expense, id stick with a 4l80e for your application. Also, an X-max would also fit this simple application as well.
For a drag combo or something that gets changed often, I'd maybe look into this ecu. But for you, the Holley would be money and time easier. JMO
Yeah. Holley is hard to beat for this particular case. It works great for the more basic setups like yours. I think Maxxecu makes harnesses. I normally make my own. They support GM sensors. They have autolearn, and trans control. It could definitely be made to work.
@@tylorbretthauer7856 does it emulate GM CAN and use the GM mechatronics controller?
@@Calvin-Nelson I believe they use the GM protocol to feed the needed data to the 6l80e TCU. The Maxxecu also supports BMW DCT transmissions which have an internal controller. It looks like the needed data is shared over the OEM protocol.
@@Calvin-Nelson Honestly, Maxxecu's canbus features are why I'm making the jump from Terminator X. Integrating a can keypad and a PDM saves a ton of inputs and outputs. The keypad's abilities are endless with Mtune. Use the buttons for DBW cruise control operation, boost setting changes, fan switches, anything.
I can't find much information on the Tinker Digital dash, is there a good resource on those?
Facebook
Look up "Tinker Electronics" on FB
Great job... :)
Thanks
Can you do a side by side comparison with the Haltech Nexus R3?
If Haltech were to sponsor it, sure!
Is this the system you will be using for the 7sec attempts with the Nova project?
I'd love to, but only have so much money to invest. May do it eventually.
Are you using the factory cam and crank trigger with the maxxecu? Thanks
Yes
👍👍👍
Cool video thanks a lot
The discussion with dash failure trying to use an Android tablet, can a higher powered device make any difference? I have more experience with computers than cars and have constantly fought against the 'will it work at all' v.s. 'will it work effective and efficiently'
Nah. It's just annoying no matter what. Besides, you spend much more, and you could just get a digital dash like the tinker.
I wanna see u on an episode of HOONIGANS THIS VS THAT
That would be awesome! Would love that. It would have to be with the Nova. No prep is a little sketchy.
@@Calvin-Nelson no no the world needs to see ur accomplishments with any of ur Atlas 4.2 builds
@@cartailincautodetailing946 We would figure out how to make it happen, but if it's hoonicorn vs the world, we'd get destroyed. Lol
@@Calvin-Nelson so true but just to be able to race on that platform would be huge beside a twin turbo 4.2 would do it 😂
@@cartailincautodetailing946 absolutely. That would be huge
😮 that's the one I want
maxx feels like the budget motec, the freedom of the software is perfect for less popular engine options
I have had the same thought.
Hi mate, will the Maxx ecu mini have the option for launch control?
Yes
@@Calvin-Nelson awesome cheers mate
Would love to see your fan and transbrake config. Multi use button is very handy
It's very easy to config in the software. You just tell it to latch for an internal output and it works.
So will MaxxECU support the VVT for both the 7X and 58X crank wheels? If so I need to find someone to install this system. I'm not nearly gifted enough to do this?
Yeah. It will support either.
Maxx ECU works with the holley 6.86 pro dash also
Does it? Can Maxxecu emulate Holley CAN protocol?
Have you found any other tech info resources outside of the Help info on their site? There’s UA-cam info but it seems scattered.
Contacting their support got me what I needed. I've done a lot of EFI stuff. It's very similar to other systems.
@@Calvin-Nelson Ok cool, like yourself I’ve got extensive experience with MS, HP and Holley and I was just about to buy a Dominator for my current racecar build until I ran across this video. I’ve been wanting something that bridged the capabilities of the Holley and MS together and this seems like the ticket with even more added benefit. One of my biggest questions is how well does the idle strategy work with the Maxxecu, I’ve always went round and round with idle on MS setups and I’ve had great success with idle on Holley setups.
@@frdstang931 I've had similar experiences with MS. Idle just sucks. I've been able to get my Fairmont to idle pretty good. Every once in a while it will stumble, but it isn't quite as good as I've been able to get the Holley stuff.
The advance capabilities of the Maxxecu makes it totally worth it.
@@Calvin-Nelson Awesome man, thanks for the responses!
Great review! I am looking to buy one for a rally car project, but i also really hate the tablet m dash. Do you think it is possible to use a dash which is just a screen, just to display the basics, and use another output to do all the logging, and maybe some push buttons for different features? Thank you!
Anything is possible. I want to work with the Tinker guys and see what we can make happen.
@@Calvin-Nelson thanks! :D
Is there any way you could help with a newbie when I get the Maxxecu. About to do a turbo build on my 6.0 ls. Gonna say screw it and get the maxxecu pro. I'm a nerd so I want everything to be monitored and have control of everything. Trying to figure out how to build out harness now. Would like to keep factory connectors.
I think they sell a harness.
@@Calvin-Nelson I saw that. But from what I saw its only for the race version. Is there anyway you could help me set up the base tune when I get it in. I would be more then happy to pay you. I was looking around mtune and checking everything out. Only thing I didn't see was the vvt. I'm guessing that may be a user defined table. Also was wondering how I can make it work with my 4l70e for now until I swap 4l80e. It's before 08 so the pin put is the exact same as 4l60e. Don't see why it wouldn't work
Is it possible to dm you about this
I figured it out. I had to set an output to have the vvt options. Now question is how to set it up since ls cam does both exhaust and intake with same cam.
Looked into those ecus a couple months back for my project, sadly no direct support for my cam and crank trigger. Ended up pulling the trigger on a Link G4X XtremeX they have a good amount of the same features and flexibility.
Cool.
You could've just looked at the base maps for the other ECUs that support your platform and copied the crank and cam trigger data and got maxx. I've tuned a lot of ECUs, Link is definitely primitive compared to Maxx.
@@flarez_hd1753 Went with fueltech ft600 instead. Runs mint.
i agree with everything else but the mdash / android complaint. I personally think it works very well for what you actually need it for. No need to wire anything and you can add bluetooth switches for what ever you like on the tablet. The bootup time will depend on you tablet/phone. But the biggest thing is that you dont have to buy a 500-1500 dollar dash to have one in the first place, you can if you want to, i belive maxxecu supports most dashes from other manufacturers like ecumaster etc... But you dont have to, if you cant afford one you can just use an old phone of yours or buy a 100 dollar tablet. you will also be able to see and reset ecu error codes, change boost levels, even change maps i belive with the bt switches. dont know if you can do all that with the dashes and thats for a fraction of the price. ofcourse if you're building a full race car you will probably want a dash instead of a tablet, but for street cars the tablet works perfectly... and it wont run out of battery, just plug a 12v socket charger in or keep it plugged in.....
I've tried the tablet dash so many times. They have always sucked in my experience. It sucks have to poke at a dash when you're strapped into a car with gloves on and can't reach it. I wish they had a robust stand alone offering. I'd pay good money for it too. To each their own.
@@Calvin-Nelson Yeah i can undestand it in a race car ofc, but street car no problem imo. And yeah if maxxecu themself made an affordable option would be great. but tbh you dont have to poke at it, just turn it on before going out on the track or on a street drive.
It really is fully adaptable and configurable. Before I locked my choice on a maxxecu, I tried out the software for a few others - Link and Haltech namely. Quickly found the Maxxecu is the most 'unlocked', and although feature-on-feature they're all the same, you need special plugins and extras to do what maxx can do with just a couple of spare tables and logic variables.
Again, not biased. I've used standalones, piggybacks and flash tuners. All depends on the application, somebody who just wants to add a little fuel and retard some timing won't care about the extras.
Yup. That's why I like their products so much.
How hard would it be to set up a basic Street LS turbo? Using a Street Premium kit?
Not hard at all depending on your skill level.
Have you ever tuned on a Ecumaster EMU Black and can compare it to the Maxxecu Race?
I haven't. I would love to, some day.
EMU Software is horrendous & Maxx is a fully programmable ECU. Maxx > Emu
Hey ! Can the maxxecu be used on a diesel / heavy semi engine? Say...a c15 cat or a d12d volvo?
I don't think so. I could be wrong.
Thanks for the video. I think you should also try ECUMASTER products, such as EMU Classic and EMU black, and ADU displays. I install, wire and run these on many projects, personal and customers, in my opinion very good, advanced, flexible and affordable ECUs. I may be biased however, as it is a 100% polish product :)
Yeah. I need to dig into the software sometime and check it out.
@@Calvin-Nelson many built in features seem similar to maxxecu, as I listened to the video. Flex fuel, vtec/vct/vvt, boost control of course, nitrous, als, launch control, flat shift, dbw, traction control, wideband and egt controlers, parametric outputs, logging every single parameter, many many more, all built in, I highly recommend it :) I'm sure they have their own disadvantages or different approach or lack some other features which are onboard in other ECUs, however, surely worth researching :)
ECUmaster has alot less I/O
@@thewraith6360 could be, I didn't check and compare it. Black has 9 analog inputs (plus you can use at least one for 3 switches) and 6 aux outputs, plus unused injector outputs can be used as aux output. I don't know how it is in maxxecu. But in simpler, EMU Classic I actually do sometimes run out of inputs (4). But you get what you paid for, of course its alot cheaper, still having something like 80% of advanced functionality of black
Have they fixed their broken PID algorithm? How about timing walk?@@madmodsgarage1179
Rip laptop lol. Great review!!! I've been using a maxxecu sport on my drag Hayabusa for a yr now and I love it. Does the TINKER dash use Mdash?
Unfortunately, no. I wish
Thats fine I'm not a big fan of it anyway. Do the switches work like the bt switches?
hello, can somebody tell what ecu is better? megasquirt ms3 or maxx ecu
Maxxecu by a long shot.
@@joseantoniodaly4875 what model Maxxecu?
@@Calvin-Nelson maxx ecu street premium, with boost controll, harness and o2 sensor for 1400... plus 1200 for tune, installation and 2-3 maps. Good?
@@joseantoniodaly4875 yeah. Sounds like a decent deal
@@Calvin-Nelson thank you! thrilled to put it in my 6 cilinder 3000GT twin turbo.
Will it interface with CAN gauges?
If the can gauges use Maxxecu CAN protocol, yes
Are you going to load a maxxECU base tune on your wiki for the 4200, be cooler if you did lol
Yeah. I keep forgetting. For a while I didn't want to upload it because it was still actively being developed. I think we're in a good spot now. I'll try to remember tomorrow
@@Calvin-Nelson cool thanks I see you forgot though 😂
@@Johnfrank249sc-w4ddx I was literally working on it now. Lol. Check back in a few minutes. Edit: it's there
@@Calvin-Nelson lol was messing with you, I'll go check it out see what it looks like !!
@@Johnfrank249sc-w4ddx I was not kidding. I was literally uploading when I saw your comment. Lol
I personally use an Android tablet with mine an it works flawless I used an app that wakes up the tablet an automatically opens the mdash app once it senses the charger ..an I wired the charger in the car ..plus the mdash app has the bluttooth switching so no need for physical switches an more free inputs
For a daily driver, I'm sure that works ok. I normally go months without driving mine over the winter, and managing the charge level would be a nightmare. You could also softlock the tablet if you're not careful.
What kind of electric water pump do you use? Awesome review btw
Davies Craig.
EMUBLACK and Maxx ecu is the two best ecu for the price
what do you mean with "I O"?
Inputs and Outputs
Give us the franks and beans on the MAXXECU man. Curiosity is on the up.
What about Haltech?
Their software is pretty limiting from what I have gathered from looking at their turning software. I hear the Nexus is very powerful, but they're also very expensive.
Haltech make you buy a ton of modules to match the functionality of a Maxx system.
This kind of thing amazes me, I'm old school as far cars go. (60 but closer to 61)
All the things that can be done with programming are so far above my knowledge that if you were rating me from 1 to 10, I would probably be a -5.
If I were to make changes in the programming, the engine would definitely blow up.
Burn a piston, throw a rod, or something catastrophic.
Hahaha hahaha 😆 😂 😄
Hi great review thank you. I have the Maxxecu Street which is a baby unit compared to yours however it works perfectly well for what I need it to. Very user friendly and easy to wire up. However I bought this because of the M Dash function to later find that the sport does not support Bluetooth Maxxecu's solution was to trade my ECU for the model up which was very generous of them but I don't really want to spend a further 400 + just for the M Dash
Sorry for the long message. My question is how does the Tinker Dash link to the ECU and is it compatible with the Sport
Maxxecu customer services are top by the way very helpful
The Tinker connects via CAN.
Thank you I will check it out 😀
would you take this over fueltech? have you used fueltech yet?
I haven't used fueltech yet, but just from poking around in the software, it seems a lot like a megasquirt with a bit more functionality.
The answer is most likely yes. The fuel tech has a lot of features, but they really don't allow you to go nuts and implement custom stuff, or think outside of the box. If you can't get what you want with their box, then too bad.
@@Calvin-Nelson thanks for the prompt reply, my car is actually currently stripped down to chassis and getting painted, soon gonna go get my engine swapped in and then its ECU time, I am very torn now between choosing fueltech or maxx
@@jameswest2688 I have had the same struggle. The fueltech is so nice because it includes the dash
@@Calvin-Nelson do you think you would try fueltech some time in the future?
@@jameswest2688 Unless I got a good deal on one, probably not.
Could you do link ecu please? This review seemed comprehensive enough and not entirely daunting.
I would love to. I talked to them at PRI. I'm not super impressed with the software, but until you actually use something it is hard to judge.
Unlimited tables like....freevalve table? ;)
Not sure what that is...
@@Calvin-Nelson Oh man! do yourself a favor and do a deep dive on Konigsegg's freevalve, then check out Wesley Kagan's channel on his DIY version, it's pretty awesome
It's weird that you would say "it's the closest thing to a microcontroller I've ever used" when a speeduino is a programmable microcontroller. There are a lot of drawbacks to speeduino but don't deny the ATMega in its heart.
I don't want a microcontroller though. I want the flexibility of a microcontroller with none of the R&D on trying to make stupid crap that shouldn't have issues work. The Maxxecu so far, has given everything I want in a package where the dumb stuff just works. Speeduino hasn't (I've tried).
How good is the closed loop fueling with this?
It's pretty good, but I haven't tested it like I have a Holley.
I currently have a Holley but I too would like more input and output control but I just like the closed loop so much
@@199rocks94 I've grown to not trust in the closed loop. It's a two edged sword. If that o2 sensor is reading right, it's great. The second it doesn't, bad stuff can happen.
If you feel the need to go “pro mod full fancy pants”, just get the Holley Dominator and be done with it. Otherwise your gold box with a tinker dash and and an output extender will take you plenty far with what you are doing.
This is not a gold box. This is a Maxxecu. Maxxecu has a dominator equivalent called the Maxxecu Pro. I would take it over a dominator every day of the week.
Good review, awesome product but one thing to consider, their customer service. Been a part of the Maxxecu community for years and have watched genuinely interested people get reamed or belittled by Nathaniel for simply asking a question on their support pages. Initially I thought it was a language barrier thing since he’d snap at really subtle phrasing or wording but after lurking for a few years l I’ve noticed it isn’t because there is no consistency with his attitude. It was enough that I started looking at other options for DCT control. Sad because the product itself, their wiring harness quality, is all great. But I refused to give 3k to an overseas company with an attitude regardless of how good the product is. Personally can’t wait for Haltech to break into the trans game. Once that comes thru these niche entitled companies might have something to worry about. Just my long winding experience with maxxecu. Outside of DCT and now 8HP control and certain perks of their IO, they’re like any other standalone just with an attitude 😂
Yeah. Problem is everything else I've used doesn't even come close. Personally I have had to contact Maxxecu support one time to get the 4200 added to their supported trigger types. They went above and beyond.
Did you just call a 4D table a 3D table?
Maybe.
See FB Group MLVHD. Many if not most of the engine log examples are generated with a MaxxECU. You would not believe all of the cool stuff I am doing with my Maxx Race and custom tables and math channels. Good video.
I'll check that out. I have one math table as you saw on the video for converter slip. Definitely need more.
Love the UI of Holley, but their customer service and support are TERRIBLE, and they handcuffs are EVERYWHERE. It's so sickening to be well aware that they have the ability to give you everything you want, and they just don't... you watch the same software run a dominator in a way you'd like to run your terminator, and you just can't... maddening.
They promised cruise control features like a decade ago and never delivered. And literally with DBW all this would take is some very basic programming, which the software could easily handle if they'd just let you do as you please. The number of hurdles and "signal converters" i have to run just to get different brands of sensors to register on Holley is disgusting.
🤡Hey... how many of those McLane crates you got?
A few... Lol