Hondata or AEM EMS???

My buddy has beem looking into the AEM EMS, he downloaded some of the sample programs the other day and said they were confusing as hell. Definatly a hardcore tuners setup he said. If you want easy and reliable results, I'd say Hondata. If you wanna take along time, until you get the hang of it and know what your doing, and possibly take the chance of maybe messing something up, AEM EMS. Now I'm not saying that the AEM is bad, its probably bada$$, I don't know, just going by my friends opinion and his heresay. Yadda Yadda Yadda.

my .02

on top of that i believe the aem standalone is a lot more expensive.. stick with hondata..

isnt it about $2000?

You can find it for $1300 - $1600.

I've heard good things aboput the Hondata, and AEM Both, but not quite sure which ones better. I run an Accel DFI.

The AEM is more expensive but it comes with almost everything. The hondata you have to buy addons and such. I am personally looking into the AEM because it has almost evrything on it. It works as a boost controller, turbo timer, two stage revlimiter and stuff like that. That means I will be spending less money down the road because I won't have to buy all that stuff.

TrboH22: How do you like the Accel DFI?? Is it "user friendly" or is it a real bitch? How much did you get it for? Did it come with a base program for your car?

Also, the AEM EMS does come with base programming if that helps anybody.

It says it does on the web site "base maps included"

Mike Natoli said:

TrboH22: How do you like the Accel DFI?? Is it "user friendly" or is it a real bitch? How much did you get it for? Did it come with a base program for your car?

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if he have the new 7.0 DFI then its very user friendly, very easy to install, the CALMAP 2000 is very simple to program, plus theres alot of tuners that can program and dial it in for you its also alot faster then the last generation accel imo the best bang for the buck EFI out there

LaBlue: Do you know how much it goes for?

Mike Natoli said:

LaBlue: Do you know how much it goes for?

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you should be able to get one for around $1200 with the wiring harness.

LAblue said:

you should be able to get one for around $1200 with the wiring harness.

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Smiley face rules

Mike Natoli said:

TrboH22: How do you like the Accel DFI?? Is it "user friendly" or is it a real bitch? How much did you get it for? Did it come with a base program for your car?

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From what I've heard it's really easy to use. I talked with some shops and they all told me to set it once and then pretty much leave it. Myne was $1200 Used. I have my shop do all the tuning and what not, and they run the DFI on all their cars, that way I'm sure not to screw something up.

Thanks for all the info

If you're gonna say that the AEM software is hard to use you have to appreciate that the hondata stuff isn't finger painting either... chances are good that if you are going to invest in an aftermarket ecu that you know a little about whats going on... Needless to say that both the hondata and the aem will have to be dyno tuned in order to get maximum results in which case you will probably be paying someone who knows what they are doing to make sure that its done properly.
I would say that the advantage of the aem is the "plug and play" abilities... the hondata seems (from what I've heard) to be fairly involved, first you have to buy the unit, then you have to buy/fabricate a harness, then you have to find/buy a obdI ecu.
While its true that the hondata might be cheaper, you have to consider the external costs associated.

only thing i don't like about the hondata ecu is the rpm launch, and full throttle shift... i mean i know they can help LOTs. but to me it seems like a cheap kill... IMO.. w/e

- rony

Straight from hondata.com


Hondata modifies standard OBD I Honda ECUs, adding features and expanding the capabilities of the ECU

I dont think they need to be adjusted... thats the point of hondata. They do they work for you.