Emily's 04 VR SE

[emily_mx5]

It's a Japanese sized plate.
It hardly blocks any front area, it's offset and angled significantly.
The car has not increased in temp (not even 1*) in regular or spirited driving.
I think it's perfect and looks just like a modified mx5 you would see in Japan.

[emily_mx5]

So I just want to talk about the Haltech standalone ecu and my experiences with the whole set up.

It was a decision I didn't take lightly, and put off for a long time. I was really nervous about reliability, and ending up with a car that has lots of little issues, like a lot of my friends with modified cars (mostly Nissans with Nistunes or powerFCs).

So the Elite 1500 is a standalone unit, not a piggy back that retains the stock ecu.
It required a vacuum line, which is a common requirement for a standalone, as it runs on internal MAP rather than having an AFM in the intake tract. It also required a wideband O2 sensor and a power and ground for the controller box.
There were a couple of issues with the adapter loom, most notably my fans not turning on and the tacho not working.
Hopefully Dann can shed some light on the changes he made.
The O2 sensor was also changed from being plugged into the ecu to being plugged into the adapter harness.

It was tuned by Dann, then looked at by Haltech.
I got it back and daily drove it for about 3 months.

There were the issues that arose, and how they were fixed.

1) The immobiliser light constantly flashed in the cluster
I took the globe out. I am unsure if the immobiliser still works, as the central locking is fine and it still does the auto-relock after 30 seconds.

2) Whenever the fans would turn on, the battery light would come on + Whenever a full boost pull occurred, the battery light would come on.
The voltage threshold was changed to 9V low and 15V high, so the light will only illuminate outside these parameters.

3) Whenever the fans would turn on, the car would jolt and shake, it was very aggressive especially if crawling through a carpark.
Due to the massive twin SPALs, tuning the fans was quite difficult. However Dann developed a fantastic solution. Right before they turn on, there is an 80rpm idle increase, to "prepare" the electrical system for the massive impending current draw. Specifically 80rpm because it is not enough for the car to accelerate on its own, but enough to get the system ready. I am so happy with this result, as it is nearly as smooth as stock.

4) Cold starts were ridiculous. The car would rev up to 3000, then down to 2000, rapidly hunting for about 3-5 minutes every morning.
Dann worked out that this was caused by a few things "arguing" with each other. As I understand it, it was several maps switching over incorrectly and an "anti-stall" feature kicking in because it thought the revs/voltage was getting to low.

5) It took eons to warm up
Partly due to a modified low temp thermostat I had briefly installed (guys NEVER use a low temp thermostat lol)
Also due to voltage issues causing it to run excessively rich.

6) If it was dríven cold, fuel economy was over 20L/100km
See 5 above

7) ALL OF THE CLUSTER LIGHTS WOULD GO BATSHIT CRAZY
This would stress me out so so much. The airbag, abs, handbrake, cel lights would just disco randomly.
I worked out this would not happen if I applied the brakes or turned the headlights on.
This lead me to point 8:

The car would voltage spike to 18-19V randomly (I worked out that if I turned the headlights on, voltage was stable.)
Dann fixed this, It was something to do with alternator regulation/control, or wizardry

So thats it. I just got it back from Danns for a 'free of charge' touch up tune.
I pretty much gave him this list, where I had written down every little concern or issue I had noticed, and he went through one by one and fixed them. When I went to pick it up, he even reverted the settings back on the computer to simulate the hunting and voltage issues, to show me exactly the way he fixed it; ie didnt just say 'yeah love its all fixed don't worry your pretty little head about how' which has been said to me by other places

The car is amazing. Truly, you would never ever know it was running a standalone. I throw daily driving scenarios at it and it handles them like its stock. Sitting in traffic at night for 2 hours in the pouring rain? AC, wipers, headlights on, temp and idle are perfect.

The only 2 differences you notice are:
It takes twice as long to crank over - this is due to map vacuum rather then maf.
The anti-stall feature - THIS IS THE COOLEST THING EVER!!!!!!!!! This was such a surprise to discover when driving in traffic. Guys, my car is now a semi-automatic It does this really really really cool thing, where if you are creeping along, ie you take off as normal, you can take your foot off the accelerator and it will hold the revs. It will even climb up hills! It works in 1-3 gears. It just wont let the idle drop so auto revs for you. Its so awesome. It also has a speed sensing neutral, so if you put the clutch in, the revs dont just drop down to 900, you have to actually be stopped for that to happen. It means that if you are rolling around, you can shift into 2nd and take off with ease rather than slowing down to use 1st. Really good for scenarios like you're coming to a stop for traffic lights but they go green so you dont have to stop.
Hopefully I am making sense, these minor differences have really improved the car from an A to B sort of car.

Ofcourse I am hooning too, its mega fast and I love it.
Thanks Dann

[ManiacLachy]

That sounds awesome. I want that.

[emily_mx5]

It's so awesome I'm really happy with it!
I've got some more big updates to post, I like to have pics of everything so it flows well haha.

[ManiacLachy]

We know there are updates, spill already! Your car is turning out pretty awesome. You're doing so many of the things I want to do to mine, but much faster. Very envious.

I'm scared to ask Dann for a quote, but I want to! I think the experience he's gained from working on your car, and others, makes him the logical choice. Even if it means a trip down south to get the work done.

[Juicy HiC]

I was already excited to get mine back now in even more excited. Lachy just do it[SMILING FACE WITH OPEN MOUTH AND TIGHTLY-CLOSED EYES]

Sent from my SM-G928I using Tapatalk

[Roadrunner]

That's great to hear! Really liking the idea of that anti-stall.

Dann certainly is the master of all things MX-5! (and a really good guy to chat with as well!)

Will the car be at the club event for it's reveal on Sunday? (I really want too see those rims on )

[NitroDann]

Thanks everyone, you are all very kind.

[davekmoore]

Great work again Dann.

Isn't it a shame though, that you've had to do all this development work for Haltech and that at least three forumites have been put to so much trouble and expense by Haltech's incorrect claims that their kit is plug and play?

[emily_mx5]

I think that's what working with Dann has rectified. I believe they have incorporated his changes to provide a PNP loom. Not sure if it's available yet however.

[NitroDann]

Great work again Dann.

Thankyou

Isn't it a shame though, that you've had to do all this development work for Haltech and that at least three forumites have been put to so much trouble and expense by Haltech's incorrect claims that their kit is plug and play?

I did the development work for my customers, not haltech. Haltech made plug and play parts but made a simple mistake in the wiring diagram they drew. It was genuinely an honest mistake and when I personally came across it I gave them a quick call, spoke to my auto electrician expert friend to confirm, and fixed it pretty quickly. I feel that other tuning companies were probably too proud to call and ask for help, because when I did it was a pretty easy fix.

Dann

[Odd]

So Haltech have no QA system?
They produce a product, sell it, and wait for purchaser to find and point out any errors
Sounds like a Chinese system of product development!
I would have thought Australians would better than that!

[NitroDann]

Someone misinterpreted 2 wires on a diagram when they built a few looms one afternoon. Its really not a big deal. They can hardly keep an mx5 in stock and test fit and run a car on every loom it was an honest mistake that was really easy to rectify. It only affected a few looms but unaffected looms were blamed for poor tuning by lazy operators.

Remember I use and recommend megasquirt for most applications, I gain nothing by defending haltech. They have a guy named Dave who hand builds looms for cars that have low sales volumes, and he misinterpreted 2 wires one time. I think that's acceptable.

[davekmoore]

Anyone able to tell me if the PS1000 can do this anti-stall business?

[emily_mx5]

^ i think it's a new feature