Jaycar DFA

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Hey guys just looking through the jaycar catalogue today and was having a bit of a look at the DFA and controller. I think it would be a fun little kit to do up, I was just wondering if I could get a few opinions about them and if you think it is worth doin or am I better off just hanging out for a ok piggyback like a emanage which can control timing too?

Also for the people who have them already how sis you find them to tune and is the few dollars worth the gain?

Thanks

[Fatty]

i've talked them up a lot on here, as have others. do a search and you will find heaps of info. i LOVE mine. in conjunction with my cat back exhaust and cold air intake, it has made a good improvement. easy to build, easy to install, and easy to tune. wirth every cent.
oh and jaycar have a piggyback for timing control now too, using the same hand controller.

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Ooh souns nice. I think I really like the idea of actually making the thing up myself and playin with it myself as apposed to just getting a plain old off the shelf part. And timing controller too!!! wow this looks like a good project for a uni student, it allows me to outlay the cost over a couple of months instead of all straight up.

I might see how Boags goes with his emanage and think about it from there, but I do think a piggyback of some sort is the next logical step as I already have the CAI and zaust. Oooh then the cams, I see the shopping list writing itself as I type

Tim

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Also does anyone know if you can use the DFA to allow the replacement of the AFM with a MAP sensor?

Tim

[Fatty]

well boags has seen my dfa in action so would be worth having a chat to him to get his thoughts, altho by his own admission the electronic stuff is not his strongest point, but he has more of a clue than most. but yeah my car was easilly faster than his, with similar mods (before he got the emanage). ooh, harsh , but true

and yes the fact that you build it yourself is rather satisfying. i found the whole building / install / tuning process to be educational and fun.

as to whether you can use the dfa to replace the afm with a map sensor, NO. you can not. beleive me, i looked into it long and hard, it can't be done. for that you need something a bit more complex, like a megasquirt for example (which is what i am currently working on)

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oh yea there is an idea, you put the megasquirt together too dont you? Just like a big jaycar kit isn't it?

I think Boags is happy with the emanage, I should see him to see how he went with it, he just started tuning it today I think, after he got the MAP sensor sorted

[Fatty]

yeah the megasquirt is a diy kit too. a lot more complex than a dfa tho, and the build documentation is not as straightforward. the dfa comes with a set of instructions that you just follow along with, whereas with the megasquirt you have to make decisions as you go and you need a much greater understanding of what sensors you are using etc etc. but yeah it offers much greater control over other stuff apart from fuel. eg - you can ditch your afm and just use a map sensor, which is a big plus.

i got my megasquirt 3/4's built, and just finished the rest off. but i reckon even that 1/4 took me longer to sort out than building the whole dfa and hand controller. there are so many variables to sort out along the way, whereas with the dfa it's more of a \"one size fits all\" kinda thing.

but in the end i think the megasquirt offers more potential for greater power / performance, so it's worth thinking about which way to go.

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What sort of $$$ would I be looking at for a megasquirt? The DFA only works out to about $150 ish plus a afr guage which I want anyways, so at those $$$ it can even just be seen as a stepping stone.

[Fatty]

yeah i think my dfa + hand controller + afr meter was about $150.
megasquirt is about $400, then you need a laptop to run it (if you don't already have one), and the wiring harness (or build the harness yourself)

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Evan after the time involved it still would workout a damn side cheaper than a off the shelf standalon and probably quicker than me trying to save $2K

[Fatty]

yep! if you decide to go dfa or megasquirt you will have enough help online to get it going on your mx5. there is a dedicated ms forum on miataturbo.net, or if you go dfa there is a few of us here on aus-cartalk that can help answer any questions you might have.

also, i have made the offer before to share my hand controller to anyone who needs it, so that would save you a few dollars as well if you go the dfa.

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The megasquirt does sound very interesting, I would love to be rid of that AFM, it's also something to do around study Where did you get yours from?

[Fatty]

i bought mine off sabatuer, he got halfway thru it and then sold it off to me. but originally it was bought from diyautone.com

[Astroboysoup]

find yourself a cheap e manage ultimate i reckon

i got my e manage blue for about $500 inc cables.

an ultimate allows for a standard USB connection to laptops.. just easier compatibility and tuning.

[Boags]

an ultimate allows for a standard USB connection to laptops.. just easier compatibility and tuning.

Ultimate also allows you to ditch the AFM if you fork out for the genuine GReddy map sensor...

It'll work out marginally more expensive, not be *AS* good, but will take you a fraction of the time to install...

The emanage is tuned, I really happy with it. I have found out that my O2 sensor is fecked though... Now I need to replace it with a heated 4 wire sensor. EBay here I come!

About the DFA, I loved it, I thought it was a great idea and the JayCar kits are easy to build! I did need some help from a mate to tune my afr gauge to my O2 sensor, but that's all.

Boags