Haltech Sport 1000

[David Buschur]

I bought a Haltech Sport 1000 from Mike at AWD Motorsports. It arrived very quickly, like the next day. Crispeed took the time to do some of the set up in the software for me and sent me Haltech's base map and a map he built for me, for the car. The unit was installed on the Bad Bish.

When I got the Haltech it came with the patch harness, Crispeed sent me a note how he set up some of the functions I needed.

I HATE wiring. In order to control the secondary fuel pump, water pump, fan and wideband I needed to take some pins out of the factory ECU connector and attach them to the Haltech harness. Not a big deal, I got through it and probably learned a thing or two.

I then decided I wanted to monitor another pressure sensor I use for oil/fuel pressure/turbo back pressure from time-to-time. I also wanted to attempt to monitor the factory knock sensor. Today I figured those out on my own and Crispeed overnighted me the pins/wiring I needed to do it.

I read through the CD/manual that came with the Haltech. I had been trying to get the two step launch control to work and could not. After reading the manual I figured out that regardless of the Haltech being set up for vehicle speed to launch it also needed a clutch reference, today I wired that.............twice. First time it went to the wrong connector by mistake. 2nd time it still didn't work. Crispeed tried his best to help me but we met a dead end. A phone call to Haltech put me in contact with their tech who was knowledgable and very quick to help. I sent him my calibration file and he bench tested it, sure enough, no two step. He then found a "glitch" that would not allow it to work. He told me he didn't know if it was intentional or an actual "glitch".

Back to the parking lot for the 50th attempt and then it happened. The two step worked this time, first I tested it at just 3500 rpm where I had it set for testing. Then I set the RPM limit at 6800 where we had been launching with the AEM at. Well the sound the car made and what I experienced next were, uh..........hmmmm........I'm not sure how to attempt to describe it. My right foot came off the throttle very quickly. I decided it was time to try to log the car, for some reason I could not pull the log out of the computer. So I decided to watch the rpm and boost on the screen and attempt the two step again. That's when it happened, that same thing that happened the time before, the uh...............hmmmmmmmmmm, not sure how to describe it thing! SHIT!!!!!!!!!!!!! 32 psi of boost in a split second and instant RPM. I don't know what to say, the two step is smooth as glass, not the thump thump thump thump type launch control I have been use to hearing. This was much different. This is high end motorsports sounding launch control, this is some serious shit that is going to take some working with! haha I got chicken and as soon as I put my foot to the floor saw 30+psi and instantly lifted back off the throttle.

I went back and compared the logs from the shootout when the car ran 9.1, on the two step at 6800 rpm the car was leaving the line at 7.9 psi of boost, ran 1.4x sixty foot times.

I don't know what would happen if the clutch was released at 30+ psi in an EVO but to be honest, I don't want to find out either!

The car starts quickly but it can use more work. The idle is good but can use more work. I wanted all the sensors to work, launch control, rev limiter etc. to work before doing the rest.

I have very high hopes based on the ease of starting, the rediculously fast reving and the launch control. Based on just what I heard today on the launch control, the car should run 7.50's! haha

[David Buschur]

There appears to be a problem with my laptop and the Haltech, the laptop using Vista all of a sudden is shutting down and losing connection with the Haltech. So I grabbed my old laptop with XP in it and it worked absolutely flawlessly all day today.

I spent about 3 hours on the dyno. It took me a substantial amount of time to get the low end dialed in but it is stellar now. The car drives perfectly smooth, the studdering the car has always had in it at 2500rpm'ish is complete gone. It has never rev'd this fast, as a matter of fact I have never seen any 4g63 rev this fast.

Now, here is some honesty, cause it's how I roll. When I set up the Haltech I took the fuel and timing maps and copied them from the AEM to the Haltech, figured it would get me close. The fuel was nearly dead on and without knock monitoring or knock control I assumed the timing was too. Yes, some of you are already reading into what is coming.

I slowly worked my way up the RPM range until I had the car dialed in perfectly at 30 psi of boost. The car put down 636 at 30 psi, it's on E85 now. I was very happy. Not a single hiccup, not a misfire, no chugging, just pure, clean, smooth power.

Trent came back, asked me how it was going. I told him great at 30 psi and it was about time to flip the switch to high boost. So I flipped the switch.

Well, I am an idiot and regretfully I have to say that I have finally, as of today, blown up a car on our dyno, this is the first one and greatfully it is my own.

At about 7,000 rpm and 40 psi I saw a large flame shoot out of the engine bay, it was where the flame left the side of the head again, blowing the head gasket out. This time however it was not from a misfire or part defect, it was from my own ignorance.

Why I never bothered to double check the timing is beyond me. Too much going on maybe, too stupid maybe.

I didn't even get out of the car, just shut it off. I pulled the log and looked at the AFR's, perfect. Then I looked at the timing...............not perfect. As a matter of fact not even in the freaking ball park. I don't know how I managed it but at peak torque I had the timing set about 10 degrees higher than it was in the AEM.

So now the car is broken again, this time by my own doing. Nobody to blame but myself.

I wonder how many times in the past knock control has saved me from this.

[David Buschur]

OK, so we fixed the car, just torched the cylinder head. Welded it up and put it back on. Should have checked out the shortblock but decided to skip in because we want to get the car running and to the track before the end of the 2009 season. I found some idle settings that were not set up correctly and made some changes. The car idles about 80% now, still a litte more work to do but it's obvious now it is just a matter of putting the time in to make it 100%.

Working the tune slowly without knock control I think will make a real tuner out of someone It takes so much longer to tune the car by actually TUNING the car and not relying on the knock sensor.

A few things. First, E85 doesn't have nearly the knock threshold that VP Import does and that is what I had been running in the past. I am quite certain that you can make more power on Import than E85.

The car is down quite a bit on timing but it is making about the same power as it ever has. I don't run weather correction here as most of you know. The car made 684 on the last pull at 41 psi of peak boost in 3rd gear.

I have to admit I am a bit of a chicken after the car being broken so much in 2009. I have the car running richer than I'd like it and timing is down further than it needs to be. With 684 whp though on these cams at that boost, it should be able to run 8's and that is what is most important to me right now.

The more I use the Haltech the more I like it. I said before, someone's favorite EMS is probably the one he is most comfortable using.

I need to figure out the launch control so the car can leave without ripping the tires off the rims and then we are ready to go.

Seems as though these pistons/rings are much tougher than anything we've run in the past, car is 100% excellent, it was a gamble after frying two heads but the shortblock seems perfect.

It was a good day.

[ny-quiL]

Holy shit, sorry to hear about this. I think its amazing the amount of transparency and honesty that comes out on the forums from your posts, not many shops like to give details on what happens behind the curtains, it is appreciated and a true asset to the community.

[David Buschur]

Thanks Chris, shit happens to everyone, some of them just like to cover it up. I like to "keep it real".

[Mike@AwdMotorsports]

Thanks for the review Dave.. We have been using the New Sport 1000 and 2000 in several Cars lately and it is working great.. Like you I am stubborn and i dont give a shit if VP Import allows more timing , I refuse to pay 24.00 a gallon for that shit.. E85 hasnt let us down yet for 2.00 /gal..

Mike

[David Buschur]

Right on, I am with you. After having Brian's car hand mine it's ass on the dyno it made me really think about what I am doing. His car has E85 right from the Sunrise gas station in it and he made 708 whp, almost pissed me off! haha The days of running $25/gallon VP Import is over for me. It's not worth the extra money. The safety margin with Import is very high though, I admit. You have to basically be a fool to blow up an engine using it.

[warp9]

I wonder what the impact will be on VPs sales of the high end stuff now that E85 is working out so well. Bet the prices come down?

[crispeed]

I wonder what the impact will be on VPs sales of the high end stuff now that E85 is working out so well. Bet the prices come down?

Honestly the applications that require the use of 'import' are few. Some if not most applications don't require the use of 'import'. For those applications the minimum gains are offsetted by the cost.

[Gordian79]

People laughed at me when i said i was going to use Haltech a few years back.I have been using haltech since F3 days so its all i know.funny how people want haltech now lol.Only reason i have aem in my car is that it was cheap at the time.

[tkklemann]

David,

Your choices are AEM, Haltec, Vi-PEC and if you want to add any more... (Stock ECU Last?)

Now, put them in order of your preference from what you have seen all of them do so far...

P.S. Please.

[ny-quiL]

David,

Your choices are AEM, Haltec, Vi-PEC and if you want to add any more... (Stock ECU Last?)

Now, put them in order of your preference from what you have seen all of them do so far...

P.S. Please.

better toss the powerFC in that list

[David Buschur]

tkklemann,

That's a tough one. It's hard to even give a straight answer because I haven't used them all at high HP levels yet. Let me do my best.

The AEM I am most comforable with and because I have done thousands of tunes with it I can tune faster and get the job done quicker. The displays are more pleasing to look at in my opinion than all the rest. It does have multiple problems though that can't be excused.

The stock ECU is exceptional and I haven't always said that. I'm not completely sold on SD yet because the few I have experiences with were jerky at part throttle low load and the idle wasn't the best with either one. That is supposedly fixed now at part throttle but I have not had a chance to try the fixes. You can make as much power on the stock ECU with SD as you can with any stand alone. It's the other features, internal logging etc. that make the stand alones more appealing for some.

The Haltech Sport 1000 I made great power with on my car. The car rev'd faster than it ever did on the AEM, it was "bike-like" when it rev'd. I drove it a few times and it was smooth as silk.

The Vi-PEC has been excellent so far but I have not installed it on any high HP cars. The highest HP car so far is my brothers, stock EVO9 turbo make 410 on pump gas, which is a record here. The car starts perfectly down to 18 degrees F so far, idle is excellent, drivabililty is excellent. The ECU does have internal logging so that will be good for the track. The ECU for the plug in goes in the stock ECU case, so it mounts right back where the stock ECU was. The car drives better than any other ECU that has been on either of the cars we've installed it on.

Right now the plan is to install the Vi-PEC Plug in ECU on my RS, so I guess overall I am happiest with it so far. Track testing, dyno testing and driving a high HP car may change my mind with it but right now I am happiest with the Vi-PEC.

[flatshifter]

From what I gathered here, Vi-Pec ECUs are basically rebadged Link ECUs.

http://www.linkecu.com/products/engi...ecus/g4-xtreme

Anyway, so far they have great success over here too, facing stiff competition from Autronic, Motec and Haltech just to name a few.

[tkklemann]

The Link ECU is the one I was really hoping to try out as it seems to have a boat load of crap it can do. But then again, many things can do a boat load of crap and still not do any of them good.

I am eager to get a standalone once the car is done going back together, David just seems to be expanding his horizons on EMS's recently and its making my decisions tougher now.

Damit David, see what you do to people!?!?!?

[David Buschur]

Sorry! haha I can get Link too if that's how you want to go. I'd be glad to quote pricing on it too. Let me know when you are ready. For reference pricing should be very close to or the same as the Vi-PEC.

[SpeeDeviL]

Awesome so the Heltech is good for the evo.
Here in my country we have a tuner that uses the Heltech, and he used it on my friends 2.0 GT35R built evo, the car is running great and has a lot of power, but what really puzzle me is that the idle was kept rich, and the tuner doesn’t go above 7500rpm.
Am really thinking about getting tune with the Heltech, but I still need more info on what’s the tuner here is doing??

[David Buschur]

No idea what the tuner there is doing, ask him.

[evoracingstar]

nice write up dave. sry to hear about the car blowing up.. but fuck it cant be perfect all the time shit happens.. learn from mistakes. i was thinking about goign with this haltec but at the same time i want to stay with stoc ecu and see what we can do with it!

[David Buschur]

The stock ECU definetely works well, everyday there is something new for it.