[Fendamonky]

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

You're going to love the LR ECU once you get your head around it. Very impressed with the Syvecs we're working with. Couple of the items in the GUI aren't very intuitive, so you have to look for them. But once you get the navigation down its a nice interface. The data and what you can do with it is very impressive. The fail safes and limp trips are very nice as well.

Yeah, that's what I was hoping for honestly. One of the only reasons I went with the LR unit over the Syvecs was that I could step down the inputs/outputs to what I'll need/use, and not have to pay for all the extras (the S8 just has much more than what I'll need). So in effect I managed to get all the capabilities of the S8/F88 that I'd be using, at a noticeably lower price.

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

Does the LR dash offer the same abilities to be used for inputs as the Toucan? If not, I'd go with the Toucan. You can do a lot with it via CAN to turn different functions on/off.

Honestly I'm not sure on the full capabilities of the LR D5, I've only seen the two vague web pages on it so far. The Toucan is def my top choice as a stupidly awesome replacement for the PFC's Commander

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

This saves inputs and simplifies the wiring. Its not a race dash and doesn't have that "cool" factor, but its very functional.

No worries of me blowing unnecessary money on a race dash because it's "cool" I'm perfectly happy with the factory dash and gauge arrangement and have no intention of replacing that anytime soon. Maybe if I one day turned the FD into a dedicated track car... But that's probably a good decade away (if it ever comes to that) and even then I'd probably just buy another FD to get stripped down and built for a single purpose from the start (I'd probably model it after Fritz's cars, with only 350-400whp and the focus on handling and braking)... But I digress...

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

Interested to hear about support from LR.

I'm pretty sure that answer is going to be "sparse to non-existant". I'm ok with that though as the brand isn't geared towards "novice" hobby types, but more the teams and owners who have been around the block MANY times and don't/won't need their hands held with basic stuff. I am NOT that highly experienced guy... But Glenn (Mazpower) is, he's my dealer and my tech support Between Glenn and Brian I think it'll run just peachy.

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

Syvecs have been fantastic at answering emails and supporting their forum. Emails sent on weekends get answered same day instead of waiting for Monday. I've gotten replies at 11pm on a Saturday, their time. Good stuff.

Yeah, the Syvecs side of the house is meant to be really good with the tech support for your average owner. I'm sure you (being well above the average owner when it comes to experience and knowledge) are a breath of fresh air to the guys on the other end of the help desk

I do remember hearing/reading that Syvecs closed down their USA based help center though, so now we've gotta go directly to the UK for any questions. Honestly I don't see that as being a huge problem though, as emails at 2am (for them) can still be answered first thing in the morning.

Originally Posted by C. Ludwig

The car we're doing retained the OE ABS, so we added another set of wheel speed sensors for the traction control. We did this instead of attempting any electronic fix to share the signal from the OE sensors with the ABS and ECU. We used some sensors off of a Ford pickup, which mounted with minimal fab work. If you hve or will delete the ABS, you can use the OE sensors with the ECU directly. Combined that with an accelerometer we built in-house for everything you need for the traction control.

Yeah, I'll have to move up to running TC and such at a later date. They came as optional upgrades at the time of purchase but I opted out. I'll probably get around to it one day, but for now I need to just focus on what's more important first (getting the engine back together and running )


Still, you should totally share your findings on the Syvecs (either in here or in a separate thread) as the more info that's out there the better!!

I really honestly believe that we're (as a whole hobby automotive community) taking huge steps forward in the ECU realm! We've got Syvecs/LR banging out badassery, AEM coming out with the STUPIDLY nice looking Infinity, Haltech and their Elite, Adaptronic putting out really capable entry level EMS's... I can imagine that the ECU companies are REALLY stepping up their games in prep of an automotive arms race