When using the fcon the stock computer stays in the car still so you can still pass inspection.

 

so then use a aem-fic & harness for $550 over the fcom $1300 & hardwire into car........ who tunes f-con? i bet you can somebody easy to tune the aem-fic.

 

thats what the website says but you need harnesses that add up. i drove out to gtm myself and the owner quoted me 3200 for the f-con w/o tune. Its very expensive

 

Good thread. Im not going to start bashing EMS, as there are many on here, and worldwide who love it, and it is ( by normal standards) the Fcon's competition.
In MY eyes, it blows the AEM ems out of the water. in part because one of my good friends is a certified tuner for the HKS unit. Ive seen it and ridden/driven the cars its been installed and tuned on. there is NO comparison. Fcon is soo sick.

Fcon: can be full stand alone if youd like, or can be installed to take over important commands for boosted applications etc.
SO, use it to do it all, OR you can leave your factory ECU in, so you still have all your gauges, OBD port still works, factory idle startup strategy, and trims still work, high idle for AC still works, and if you have an auto trans ( i know not for s2k's) the factory ecu handles all that, while the Fcon takes over as many things as you want. fuel and spark, knock, fans whatever you want. Since you still have your factory ECU in an s2k, you keep you immobilizer... nice antitheft id say.

AEM....No OBD port. No immobilizer. (your car is now as easily stolen as a 69 camaro). You have to setup startup and idle programs..(do you honestly think your better than the manufacturer, and whos paying you all these hours to set all that stuff up) most AEM setups get a WOT tune only, and not much work on the idle/startup tables. Also aem processes slower , so it usually has more hiccups than does an Fcon tuned car.

Those are a few small things that makes me wave the flag for HKS.

So there are less tuners at current for Fcon than there are for EMS..why? They wont just certify anyone who walks in, like AEM does. you have to really know whats going on, before they will say you can correctly tune with Fcon.
So when you go Fcon, you end up with your car tuned once, and it runs like a champ, starts and idles like a champ, and has all the features working that we spoke of above.
Your car can now run for years reliably, just like it did if it were stock. If you upgrade stuff, you can get it touched up quick, and it will be fine again.
EMS, is similar, except if you have any issues, you may need an *update* to fix them, which, if your particular tuner doesnt know about (compounded by the fact there are millions of certified EMS tuners) you are stuck with someone who is trying to fix the concern, when all it needed was an update. (seen this scenario play out).

Also, since Fcon kept your factory ecu, you now have OBD working still. yay!
On Board Diagnostics.
So if your ECT fails, you get a check engine light, you pull into autozone on your road trip, and they run the codes, OH you need a new ect, or whatever the code reads. Done, car serviceable like normal.
What happens with this same scenario with AEM EMS....
You have an issue, and now you have to pay someone to diagnose what the hell is going on with your intermittent tune issues.
IF you still had OBD, youd know, your ECT took a shit, and thats why your car is acting up.

Can you see now why i always am speaking out for Fcon..
The list of tuners is growing also, as they are being trained month in and month out. you will soon see many more on the list.

I may add more as i go along, cause theres ALOT. this is just what was in my head as i sat down. and to me, what i just typed, is a BIG deal.
Lates dave

 

Sounds to me like to you the major advantage of the Fcon to you is that you know a tuner. If you lived next door to Mase things might be different.

As for ODBII, it can only monitor things it is in control of. So to be of any real use the Fcon is really running as a piggy back. As for ECT, I assume you mean Engine Coolant Temperature? It's not something you can just 'replace' if it goes wrong.

I'm sure the Fcon is great, but unless I can play with the settings myself it's not the EMS for me.

 

i guess. would you rather "play" all the time, if you really dont know what your doing?
why "play" when your car could be tuned, and pound ground day after day, and not have to touch it.
If you want to play with a car, build an old vw and put dual carbs on. then you can always be checking up to make sure its perfect.
If i spend 10-20 thousand dollars into turboing and building the engine on my s2000, i dont want anyone playing with my tune. its gonna have to be spot on, i dont have time for it to blow up. or the money to do it all twice.

IF i lived next door to mase, things wouldnt change. i dont want to have to see or pay the guy once a month to *tune* my car because its always out of whack, or has a cheap box on it.
I want it to put down 600 to the tire, day after day, for 5 years. and not need to hold hands with my tuner.

 

Does it work with the DBW cars?

 

[QUOTE=S2oooNvegas,Aug 23 2008, 02:08 PM]

 

So why would you assume that this cant be done with the AEM EMS? I know the HKS F-Con is a great unit, I used it in my SR powered 240, but the problem of finding a good tuner is horrible. I live in nor cal and the 3 GOOD tuners were in so cal (XS, Dynamic, Signal).

Your argument about the startup tables and people only getting a WOT tune is something that is variable. NORMALLY people get their street tunes then their WOT tunes, but it costs money since your tuner has to sit in the car as you drive to make adjustments so the car runs as you would like it to. I have been running my EMS for the past 8 months, with no problems with startup. If the person is a certified AEM Tuner (which they are no longer doing, AEM has cut their "Tuner Certification" (which really is just being certified in knowing the features))

Your arguments don't really point to any positive points about the HKS unit over AEM, but to the OP here is what I think:
Positives:
The HKS unit is similar to the Hondata unit (K-Pro) in the sense that you retain (for the most part) a factory-like fuel/ignition/startup tables that you do not have with the AEM unit right out of the box.
Since the F-Con unit is a piggy-back system, you still have use of everything you had before, but just control of more areas over having say a VAFC or FIC.
Negatives:
Certified HKS tuners are rarer than a certified AEM tuner
You have 1/2 (if not less) features offered in the F-Con than in the EMS

It really depends on what your going to be using the unit for, if your using to tune your turbo setup (which is what I'm imagining since your posting in the Forced Induction forums) then for the cost of a F-Con unit, you could use the Hondata K-Pro for the S2000 which is a popular, proven unit that would still allow the ability for you to use all ports and to be ok at the smog station. If you know a good tuner and your confident in him/her, then I would recommend that you go with the EMS (although this is debated in another tread that goes on and on). Good luck with what your going for and I hope you gained some insight as to what your going to do.

 

No, not really. This is my experience. Ems cars always going in for retunes or updates.
Not trying to bolster my arguement. just its what ive seen.