Hey everyone, I got a Rtek 1.7 recently and am getting my TII motor into my car shortly enough. My problem is I did not realize I cannot really tune much with the 1.7 so I called a shop in Denver ( I am in Wyoming ) and they said even with the 2.1 they wouldnt be able to do much with what I have. They suggested that I get a Haltech, which leads me to some questions.

Should I just get a 2.1 and with the help of some forum members use it? Or should I shell out the extra money and just get the the Haltech. If I get the haltech does anyone make a harness for plug and play without costing as much as the unit itself. I helped a friend do megasquirt on a saturn and it was not fun. I am a electronics tech at my work and dont care for it very much, and would rather not do it on my off time. And I have seen Haltech H6T somewhere and did a fleabay search and only find the H8X I believe. Any input is much appreciated, sorry if this has been brought up before.

My goals for the car are mid 300 hp. I will probably keep the Rtek 1.7 just so I can drive the car for a while. When I get the motor all Im doing to it is a HKS TID, and a full turbo back exhaust with the stock turbo. The cars a S4. Thanks

 

Haha, which friend and which Saturn? I may know him.

You're at a hard fork in the road and there's no right answer. Either learn to tune it yourself, find a shop or RX-7 guy that can work with the Rtek, or bite the bullet and get a used haltech with already terminated harness off the forums. I've seen them go for around $700-800. Good luck!

 

Well 700-800 is more then doable for me. I was looking at some on ebay for like 1400 with a harness, thats too much. Im like the only rotary guy in Casper. His name is Jessie Jewart

 

300whp with the stock turbo would be a record, even with a standalone. But yeah the Haltech/Microtechs are cheaper compared to the PowerFC setup with the plug and play harness. The AFM removal with the Haltech would free up some HP, you'll probably need a hybrid for your goal though.

 

mid 300s with a stock turbo is impossible.

I'm running 270 at the wheels with a BNR stage 2 @ 12 psi, and could probably get up to 300 whenever I install my intercooler and raise the boost a bit

for mid 300s you'll probably want at least at BNR stage 3, preferably a stage 4 or an aftermarket turbo (like a GT35R)

I also would definitely get a standalone, 350 on a rtek 2.1 seems scary to me.

 

i wouldnt recommend rtek on anything other than a stock turbo. if you want over 300whp you need standalone if you want it reliable and driveable

 

3 posts from 2000+ post gurus should be enough!

 

Well damn, thats news to me. I figured the stocker would be more then enough for 300. I was looking at a GT35R for my old dsm build and it seems like a great turbo. The tuner I am going with said itd be a good turbo for this as well. I asked him about the BNR stage 2-3 and he said he wouldnt even bother. He is a FD guy though, he said all those hitachi turbos are junk. The biggest problem I had with a Garret 35 was the price, whats another good turbo? Also I am trying to find a T4 manifold and can only find ungodly expensive ones. He said HKS has a cast T4 mani for the FD3S for a couple hundred, will this fit a S4 13BT? Thanks guys

 

it technically fits, but I'm pretty sure it'll put the GT35R too close to the lower intake manifold. I've heard of people having good luck putting a spacer in between the manifold and the engine.

like this:
http://racingbeat.com/resultset.asp?PartNumber=16183

I would search around the forum for more info, it's been covered before.

 

Ok thanks for bearing with me, Im a pain in the *** member. I try to search for things and never find anything. Ugh fml

 

Really? The rtek 2.1 gives you full control over timing in a MAP based mode. It also allows nearly full control over the fuel map allowing +/- 37.5% of stock.

I have a bnr stage 2 with the rtek 2.1 and it's great. The current injector setup of 550/1600 leaves a bit to be desired but with careful fuel tuning you just get a small stutter at the transition.

I'd question your claim of better driveability. The rtek runs the stock ecus fuel map except where you adjust it. The stock map that Mazda spent a bunch of money on designing for smoothness and driveability.

Granted I prolly wouldn't go with the rtek if you are getting a turbo like a gt35r simply because you are limited by the stock map sensor as well as the afm. But if you can afford a 35r you can afford to get a haltech/megasquirt/powerfc/microtech or whatever else.

 

Yeah IMO the stock turbo and rtek statement was a little extreme. Rtek's go well with BNR's I think, they're both modified enough to provide better performance but not so much as to require you to start from scratch.

 

You can set your injector staging rpm to the exact same rpm that corresponding map cell would use so you don't have larger injectors kicking on for a cell that is tuned for the primary injector firing only. The injectors would turn on at the same moment the ecu switched to the next map cell.

1600cc injectors would be hard to tune. Even at a -37.5% correction, that is still 1043cc. That is a good bit away from 720cc.

 

its just my experience after upgrading to haltech from rtek 2.1. for one thing, the stock AFM gets inaccurate with higher airflow. decel fuel cut, closed loop, staging hesitation, you cant change these settings with rtek

 

Stock turbo or hybrid: Rtek

Any other turbo: standalone

/thread

 

win

I would say any setup that will work with 720/720 or 720/1000 is fine for Rtek. The part about a standalone having better driveability is a half-truth at best. If you have very heavy porting, 1680 secondary's, etc then the extra flexibility of a standalone will give a greater potential for smooth driving. Getting a car to drive like stock on a standalone is the most difficult part. That's what separates real tuners from hacks.

But really, out of the box (basemap without many hours of tuning) a standalone's driveability usually ranges from 'barely acceptable' to downright unpleasant.

 

It's not quite that linear. Even if you put the transition on a fuel map cell line it won't actually kick in til a bit later in that cell and you have the potential to lean out with just the primary.

I am getting my set of 1000cc injectors today so I will be able to see how it works with with 720/1000. Should be much smoother.