It's stand alone.

http://www.apexi-usa.com/product_ele...=197&pageNum=1

 

No, a Power FC is a complete stand alone. It has a small hand held controller youo can use to make changes to the program, switch maps, switch boost levels etc. There is also full laptop software available now for someone who wants to do it that way.

 

interesting results dave...do you think if the car was on just straight pump the resulting power differences would have been the same when switching from the stock ECU to the Power FC?

 

I always liked the powerFC but never used it because of the lack of end-user software.

I know this is considered a standalone, but I was under the impression that the stock ECU was still left in the car?

EDIT: Just read the install doc on their website, it clearly replaces the ECU completely.

 

The HKS VPro piggy backs in with the stock ECU. The Power FC is a standalone that replaces the factory ECU. The end user software is now laptop capable.

The car was tuned previously on E85 and the stock ECU and then the same E85 and the Power FC. The power gains came from the engine management.

 

David, could you please elaborate more about - The power gains came from the engine management?

 

Where can I get the software from? I can get my hands on a used PowerFC and just need the laptop software for tuning.

 

A'Pexi does make a nice EMS. I know that alot of the Skyline owners (R33's mainly) use it faithfully! Good job Dave!

 

I just wish one of these standalones was OBD-II Compliant, or the HKS that does retain the ECU had user tunable software.

Nice work though, I will be doing some E85 stuff very shortly so I like reading aboutt his stuff.

 

So Mr. Buschur would you recommend the Power FC for a full build up. For example your stage 3 2.3l shortblock. stage 3 heads, gt37r, and all the supporting mods. What would be better, The Power FC or the AEM EMS.

 

I know what you mean about the whole OBD-II situation...I just ordered an ECU+ cause it retains the OBD-II and still gives the user the ability to tune extensively.

It'll be great to see you do some E85 work as well, Im considering making the jump but am still a little uncertain. But the more Dave posts his results w/ the E85 the more I wanna do it

 

I feel you on that 1

 

thats great!!!

 

Yup i am using Power FC and i am pretty much happy with it!

 

I don't know what else to elaborate on. The car was tuned as well as I could tune with the stock ECU, exactly the same fuel, exactly the same boost and it made 290'ish whp and 315 ft lbs of torque. We put the Power FC on the car and I tuned it again and it made 325 whp and 365 ft lbs.

Here are some downsides to the Power FC.

1. You need to install a seperate wide band controller to use wide band 02 feedback or just don't use a wideband which is what we have done on every car.

2. There is no knock control BUT there is a knock monitor that you can set up however you like and it will fash the CEL if it ever hits the limit you choose. They suggest a limit of "60" being the max. To give you an idea of how safely Daniel's car is we never even hit "20". I think 12 was actually the highest number we saw.

3. No launch control RPM. You will need to install something seperately for a launch control rev limiter. It does have a rev limiter but not one for launching. Many people this is no important. You can wire in a number of seperate devices to handle this.

Plus sides to it:

It is very small and lightweight.
No problems with ignition set up and needing to know the secrets to get the AEM to actually fire the coils.
Processor speed is faster than the AEM
Cost, much cheaper than anything else, complete kit with temp sensor, map sensor and wiring harness for sensors is about $1300. This includes the Commander hand controller. There is also the option for the boost controller and if you use it the hand controller will allow you to select different maps for different boost levels octane. The boost control kit is $389.

The Power FC has a datalogger built into it too. It uses map tracing so you can trace the cells the car is in and then refer to the logger for tuning. Makes it nice.

The start up issues that many people have with the AEM do not exist with the Power FC. The car sync's and starts and does it in all weather. Once you get the AFR's close the car self learns the idle. You tell it where you want it to idle in different situations (cold start, a/c on etc.) and it does it.

The lack of actual 02 correction, wide band and launch control are the only downsides to it. The cost, ease of use and overall reliability of the unit can easily outweigh those.

It's like having a stock ECU that actually let's you tune it and make power. The Power FC does use the factory 02 sensor, so you can set it up to use the narrow band sensor and get great mileage etc.

I enjoy tuning the Power FC. Every car I have done has left here with some happpy owners.

Back when we were having troubles with the AEM we switched the black car over to the Power FC. We have actually done this twice. Both times, because of problems with the AEM, we were able to make more power. We switched back because of the things it is missing and the boost limits. The Power FC comes standard with a 3 bar map sensor, so 29.4 PSI. They have a 4 bar sensor available now 44.1 psi, this is going to cover just about anyone, but not our black car. We need that 5 bar map sensor.