so I have an 08 S2k and I am considering putting together a custom turbo setup. it seems that the only options for standalone is AEM or Hondata K Pro.

what are the drawbacks of the AEM on the DBW cars? I havent seen any real breakdown of what it will do and what it wont do. As far as I have gathered your VSA light will be on and the check engine light will be on, as well as having to buy a harness to make the temp guage work.

Is there anything thing else that a DBW owner should be aware of??

thanks for the help

please dont say, "just get the KPro." I want to know about the AEM.

 

I knew it lol! But from what I know about the AEM, what you mentioned are the only "negatives." Also the couple extra cranks that people mention during start-up.

Obviously you are looking for people with first-hand experience but I would just save and get the AEM if you can deal with those few annoyances! I see the AEM all the time here on the forums for 900ish!

How much were you looking to put down Scott?

 

I am one of a small handful of people that have the AEM for DBW. You will lose VSA completely and cruise control. The kpro also does not support cruise control though. Yes the CEL and VSA lights will be on always, which can be fixed but you just won't have a CEL then, whereas the kpro maintains the use of a CEL. The kpro does not have a UEGO "wideband" I believe.

I am not an expert on the kpro so I don't know if it is missing tuning features that could be helpful.

Another factor is the AEM cannot control the throttle body which means idle and startup can be more challenging, but that is dependent on application. On the other hand you don't have to worry about tuning idle so much, the stock ecu pretty much figures it out.

Another option is getting a MoTeC. It will cost you about $4k for features similar to kpro (no wideband) and another $500 for wideband.

I would get a MoTeC if I had it to do over again. While it's more expensive your resale value as a percent of new will be very very high against the kpro and especially the AEM.

 

Another option for DBW is the ViPEC. I've met a member who has a turbo 07 running that standalone and everything works. They are a bit more expensive...around $2k...but that is a better deal than the MoTeC.

 

what are you using it for? N/A? what do the tuners around you prefer? or are you going to tune it yourself?

 

none of that matters, I just wanted to know the downsides to DBW and AEM.

also if you read my post it says it will be for a turbo setup.

thanks guys for the info, I guess Ill just pony up the 2g's for Hondata or wait for the flash pro to come out for our cars.

 

You'll want to research flashpro for a turbo application very carefully. I think it will be great for NA, but there may be limitation with more advanced applications.