Did someone say SUPERCHARGER?

[Maverik]

_{Great to see some new engine experimentaion go for it. reading with interest!}

_Mav

[V8 Freak]

As Fridge mentioned it, I will respond on my experiences.

I was lucky enough to buy an engine (4.6 V8 Rover unit) with an Omex 710 ECU and loom already attached and rolling road tuned.

It relied on no sensors as it was set up to run fully on maps to make it as reliable as possible in a competition environment...

(Just throttle position sensor)

As mentioned above, a very robust unit and clearly capable of withstanding the rigours of professional use.

When it came to making changes to the engine (changed from standard 29mm inlet manifold to shortened 45mm inlet trumpet manifold) I was faced with a dilemma... Have a stab at the appropriate fuelling required or pay for the rolling road / dyno tuning.

And for reference there were just as many options in the 710 setup as MS including full throttle gear changes etc.... Scary stuff for a Land Rover owner...

I took a gamble, amended the map fuelling map and nothing blew up....

I found no free support, I couldn't get much from anyone who knew the ECU and how to tune the engine because it was income to the enlightened few.

My problem was I had no real way to evaluate the engine tune without great expense and that's where Megasquirt looked an attractive proposition.

Selling the ECU and loom paid for the whole MS setup including a fully pre-wired loom.

(And some additional toys...)

Although the spark map is still guess work there are a lot of people sharing their experiences and maps to enable the average Joe get a safe and useable spark map. Now people are sharing how they have attached knock sensors and settings to use them well. So the potential risks are reducing all the time.

The unit may not presently be packaged for the professional motorsport market but it has a very wide appeal and the designers share the development openly and are enhancing it all the time. It's relatively cheap and requires no expensive technology to enable successful tuning.

I love it and wouldn't go back.

Just a personal view.

Neil

[zoltan]

Unless you incur the expense of rolling road or dyno tuning it is pretty much all guess work. In the case of Megalog datalogging it is more eductaed guess work but still not the right way to tune properly. As uyou say, with the ignition map, everyone is guessing. It seems so many people spend richly on components and see the expense of preper setup as something they can dispense with

Omex run training, at a cost, for those who use the software professionally. They are a profit making business and not run by a group of enthusiasts for nil cost. I am often left thinking it might be better that someone with knowledge ran training for Megasquirt as it would avoid the huge amount of often misleading and confusing bandwidth that is out there on how to get your MS setup. Everyone on here points to the 45-50 page thread here as being the one you need to read before you embark but with the best will in the world, it doesn't answer many of the questions well and how many people have actually got their MS setup without a miriad of problems.

Don't get me wrong. I like Megasquirt. I am using on two prjects and I could have got a 710 Omex ECU at trade cost had I wanted but Megasquirt is far from being a plug and play system.

Now, let the first person who has got their MS up and running themselves without issues step forward and flame me for my heresy

[Bowie69]

Mine started and ran after 3-4 turns over after installation, on first attempt That was with no idle vale or lambda plumbed in, and a basic, rich map.

I was breaking a cam in, but 15 minutes in a hose let go, so if you call that an issue, I suppose it was

[V8 Freak]

My first ECU had a fault that affected one bank of injectors.

When that was repaired, it started first time and ran as well as the Omex setup. No flaming on here matey...

Because of the help received from numerous sources and the ability to try things with reduced risk, I believe my engine runs better now that it did with the Omex setup, but I put a lot of that down to experimentation rather than distinct knowledge and guidance.

Horses for courses.... I think because it is open, it is discussed publicly, it is cost effective to the general user, it will be popular.

The thread you refer to may not be the definitive guide, it may not be the only way, it may not solve all issues but it has helped a lot of people to take a leap from old outdated EFi / carb systems and have confidence that it's not magic that makes an engine run well, it's technology well wihin their grasp.

Neil

[FridgeFreezer]

All three of my installs went without hitch (barring mechanical issues unrelated to MS), I've done at least four others which have started and run 1st time. Depends what you count as an issue really, the biggest hurdle is getting the wiring right 1st time and setting the trigger wheel up, but that's true for any system where you don't have a factory CKP sensor to use.

I've seen some right horrors which had problems but usually down to user error, either with the settings or installation, or due to the MS install being part of a bigger upgrade (EG engine swap) which brings its own issues. If you use the base settings as posted on this forum or supplied by Nige you should be well away unless you've made a wiring mistake. Not all of us had that luxury back in the day

[TheRecklessEngineer]

I installed MS on a kit car with no known base values. Started and ran first time.

I had issues on a RV8 install - but that was my own fault.

[Bowie69]

Actually, saying that, I have done three installs, two RV8s, and a Lexus V8, all three started first kick.

If you don't believe me, here's one for your delectation

And that was on a Rover V8 map, so hardly suited to it

And running a Lexus fuel/spark map, pulling flames

[zoltan]

Just to be clear, I'm not saying it is impossible to get the system to work first off but I will say it is far from a plug and play system for first timers.

[V8 Freak]

Just to be clear, I'm not saying it is impossible to get the system to work first off but I will say it is far from a plug and play system for first timers.

Quite agree, but then neither is Omex 710 when you either need professional training or a professional setting it up and tuning it for you....

Is there truly anything plug and play for Rover V8 other than the Rover designed systems?

Anyways... Back to this Supercharger.... When is it going to run and when can we have some video ?

Neil

[TheRecklessEngineer]

I think it's a credit to the membership of this forum that this hasn't turned into a slanging match as would happen on so many other internet forums where there is a heavy bias in favour of a particular product.

And yes - video please!