Thread: Engine management system comparison.

I guess I wasn't exactly clear in that post. AEM can not drive (power) any coil directly. It is not set up to do that. The ignition drivers are not set up for any real amount of current draw.

This isn't a big deal, because not many coils need to be driven directly. Like you said, the Nissan COP coils are all passive 3-wire coils so they get powered from a different source other than the EMS. Same with a car with only one coil. Those are usually set up with a switch that gets turned on and off by the EMS, and the power is provided externally to the EMS through this switch.

The fact remains that AEM can not drive/charge/fire a coil directly. Actually, not many engine management systems can now that I've done more research. I guess it's not an "issue" so much for AEM, as it is a great "feature" for those systems that can do it.

It would have been extremely helpful for me to know this little fact before I went and tried to wire things up with AEM and by the looks of the AEM forum I'm not the only one who made an incorrect assumption about this. Because of this, I'm inclined to leave the information up on the list.

Coach, the AEM pencil coils are the same (Denso produced) coils that the Honda motorcycles use. No real difference.

Gotcha, didn't know they were denso coils, pretty sweet though! $276 for the set retail on a set of 4! I may be going to the AEM CDI with AEM Pencil Coils.

Brent

I got mine for $50 used on eBay with the wiring harness. =D
2003 Honda CBR 600.

I've moved the bit about AEM and 2-wire COP up to the top of the thread as it is a common factor in most engine management systems, not just AEM. It's not a "problem" or "issue" really either, just something you should know. It is the correct way to do things in my opinion anyway. The EMS is for low power signaling. High power devices should source their own power to keep electrical noise and costs down. Engine management systems that can power coil directly are few and far between for that reason.

Just for completeness you can add Adaptronic to the list. Natively it will make you run wasted spark, but with some setting changes you can get it to run sequential.

Adaptronic - Energise Your Engine!

You can use the SAFC II to change MAFs.

Example:

Stock P10 ECU and DE MAF = 6 IN / 6 OUT

Stock P10 ECU and E60 MAF = 4 IN / 6 OUT

I've adding licensing info for everything. I've updated the known issues sections for MS1, MS2, FreeEMS, AEM EMS, and VEMS.

how come nismotronic is not on here

Because Ben is scared.

Because I'm juggling about six hundred things right now it seems. I'll put that on my To-Do list.