ok, don't get me wrong, I do like this EMS however, I have a few gripes, having had one for many years (had a v4 before it was avail in the US... I was told by engineers and dealers at one time that this ECU was going to be PnP... with all the R&D done at this time, I don't know why this ecu doesn't support either of the following -

1) Secondary stepper motor control ( for electric OMP ), although newer versions of the v4 will do IAC as a stepper, without this the wolf can never truely be PnP.

2) Stock trailing coil control - yes, Mazda uses a strange system for controlling which trailing coil fires, but without this feature the wolf cannot be PnP either. even a small firmware update can make use of this feature since you can use the #3 or #4 ignition in some cases to be used as signal select instead of ignitor and this would be mostly just a software change...

I am glad to see that the US marketing is greatly improved .. having been tarnished by a few souls over its early entry here, they have made great strides in dealer relations and PR... I hope to see them succeed, but looking at the competition, as usual, from a business perspective the R&D that well .. say AEM (not wolf) has versus their competitors and how fast they are growing isn't going to help investor relations, imo.

Does anyone have any ideas how to help these AEM/Wolf out?

In my opinion we need more community here, dealers are great but the overall community of Wolfems users needs to come together, its all too much that I see users of an EMS ***** a stock map or a base map for starting or tuning, when *some* of the other EMS's community's treat their maps or knowledge much less sacredly.

Best thing to do is show someone this is a solution, a great one to tuners and car enthusiasts alike, because its true, these EMS's work very well. And in the mean time *share* your knowledge of the peculiarities of the EMS, and comparitive thought, not bandwagon hype.

Anyhow, in the next few weeks I am hoping to put some RX7 specific calibrations and maps online here to share with the community, and I urge everyone else to do the same, after all, most of us just want to drive hard, not work hard.

Well, take care Fellow Rexers

 

Oh - one other thing for those that don't know ...

Wolf was developed Primarily with RX-7's on RX-7's for the longest time, of course with intent to be used on other vehicles .. but the thing that annoys me the most is they never got those two things above included in the design, but at the same time alot of racers premix and just "deal" with the fact that you have to run a different ignitor on the trailing coils ... or a supposed upgrade to OEM parts from another vehicle manufacturer to make things work (i.e. Bosch / VW) ...
Calibrated external MAP sensors etc ... but requiring the use of the internal MAP also is not going to make this system Plug N Play ... Yes, It is a race computer, it can do everything needed to make a car go fast, much, much much faster than a stock ECU, but like all the other EMS's I see very few striving to use the stock components of the cars, when the brain in these things is powerful enough to run 4 cars or more at one time compared to the stock ECU.

Anyhow, I am done ranting ... insight, forethough required, is welcome ...

 

It sounds like you need to send your EMS to Checkpoint for an upgrade.
http://www.checkpointmotors.net/

I have a S4 OMP, so I'm not sure about the S5+ OMP issue. You may want to ask Checkpoint about that.

The Version 4 is only PNP for the 3Gen RX-7, much like any other PNP EMS on the market.

I have no idea what you are talking about in reference to the trailing ignition or external MAP sensor. Did you download the newest software from Wolf AUS? You may also want to download the manuals.
http://www.wolfems.com.au/home

 

Hello Evil - My Wolfman Idol

The trailing on the second gen coil pack has 1 ignitor 2 coils and a select switch that the ecu tell which to fire ... my Ecu has been sent to checkpoint .. I updated it when last I wired up another car and had some problems, but thanks I am running the enewest firmware / ecu board ...

Not that I need an electric OMP on my setup, but I figured the company would have attempted to make in interface design by now with such a versatile ecu I am sure it could accomodate that particular ...

I have thoroughly read all the manuals available for all the cars that the corp distributes freely on their website, I also own their awesome product, but it seems like they are stalling in R&D or depending on dealers to do all the R&D, so, in that aspect I am calling their bluff ...

I am positive this ECU will work on all their supported engine types ... but, I see alot of other manufacturers gaining on them, and not at a slow pace ...

 

S4 OMP is mechanical linkeage to the throttle body ... as you know ... the S5 is electric, controlled by a stepper motor. The Wolf v4 ecu could easily do this.

 

Oh yeah, as far as the MAP sensor go, the Wolf can accomodate an external MAP and use it as the 97% jump and use the internal map for barometric with the correct calibration table ... the internal wouldn't be connected to anything ....

 

Also - and I am not downing the Wolf for its capabilities ... I know it is well capable of being a full race computer ... BUT ... I am upset about their lack of accomodation to the stock and upgrading market ... many other companies are doing this, making PnP EMS's ... and they work ... and tuning tools like data logging make this ecu lag behind the times ... Hell, I could make an ECU to run a car ... and spend a few weeks doing it, YES ... I am that capable .. but I NEED to know that Wolf is going to advance in something besides just racing ecu's which was their first goal, to get to the community of people that use this or any other product that needs something like this ... Cause the way I run a business, I WONT be second place, and this market could be very profitable in the right hands and the right technology and innovation that needs to be in place ... I know very much about cars and volumetric efficiency or ignition advance or whatever ... I can talk about anything and respect the viewpoints of all ... if it is worth mention ... so, what do you think Wolfems needs to succeed?

 

I think what the Wolf EMS needs to succeed is more exposure to the public (right now most potential EMS buyers just seem to know Haltech or Microtech) and also more positive response from respected tuners.

I remember talking to Matt "Hitman" a while back about the Wolf V3. He said it was decent, but not that good of an EMS. When a respected guy like him says that, people will believe him and purchase accordingly.

My V3 has some quirks, which all users of that model can attest to, but still runs my car pretty well. Unfortunately, even getting it to that point was pretty complicated, thanks to pathetic support from people like Ron Foreman.

The version 4 is a huge step forward for Wolf. I have just read the specs, but it seems vastly superior to the V3...anyone offer upgrades?

 

The 4 is a huge upgrade from the 3. And yes, Ron was a definate problem.

Support is the key. I made this Wolf sub-forum to try and create a support group for RX guys at least. That still doesn't do anything for the rest of the World. Chris does a great job, but he's only one guy. Wolf needs to create a public support group like a forum on their site, and encourage their dealers to use it and answer questions.

 

PnP exists for the 3rd gens now, i know because we have sold a couple at Autonomic (formerly checkpoint). 2nd gens are supposed to have a PnP, but i havent seen it yet. The only problem i can see is the ignitor, but thats an easy fix with the bosch 2 channel one.

Why do you care about the omp? Premix is a much better way to go and removing the omp cleans up your engine bay. Are you worried about removing it for smog purposes or something?

In regards to tuned maps, of course people will hold onto them. Chris and i have spent countless hours and $$$ getting peoples cars to run just right so i find it unreasonable that you expect one for free. I do however understand that you want a "base" map just to get your car started with. I dont know how other dealer are, but we try our best to give support to customers that purchase their wolf from us.

Hopefully ive answered some of your questions...

Graham

 

If you already have a V3, you can get a credit by trading it in on a 4.0. You can also reused your v3 harness, you just need to add a couple wires (instructions are in the new manual).

I had a 3.1 before, and the 4.0 is NIGHT AND DAY better. The resolution and flexibility are awesome. If you like your 3.1, you will really be impressed by the new 4.0. Its actually a bit overwhelming at first with all the new features. Its also nice because when Wolf updates their boards and software, you get yours (assuming its a 4.0) updated for FREE.

When Autonomic gets its AWD dyno in, tuning will be much easier (as opposed to using a local dyno). Hopefully costs to tune will get better and base maps can be more readily avaliable.

Graham

 

I have to say having a couple wolves myself, and having a 86 Bridgeported 6-Port sport, and a 88 T2 with all the external mods both in the final stages of 4.X hookup.. I Truly Love the 4.x

I also have my own 86 Sport that HAD a stock engine in it with a 3.0 on it.. and it was truly a Blast to drive.. Ask Evil Aviator.. he spent many hours in it LOL Matter of fact.. the 3.0 that I still have was his originally..

I am torn actually.. TO put the 3.0 on a Engine test stand, or to trade it in and upgrade to another 4.0 LOL

Far as Maps go...

You really cant just Post a map and expect it to work for your engine. I tuned a engine for a Central Florida racer who was going o the nationals, and we spent several days tweaking his car at Sebring for the best performance etc. We had it all tuned, and then he called me a week later the DAY BEFORE he was leaving to go to the nationals saying the car didnt run correctly.. (At 9PM) Turns out the engine we tuned it on was his previous season's motor. The new engine had different efficiency etc.. and the 3.x computer was tuned specifically for the original engine. The old map needed to be tweaked to operate with the new engine that performed Differently than the original tired one.

ANY changes you make in the engine will require some re-tuning of the engine. If you have it tunes with a specifis set of plugs and wires and change out to better ones.. or say you use stronger coils.. or change the intake tract.. any of these will change the performance of the engine.. and will require some level of fine tuning to correct. IF you change to a larger turbo etc.. and it spools faster.. you will have a different A/F ratio at a given load and RPM.. therefore causing your performance to be different.

Someone elses maps on your engine are really only good for causing engine problems. I believe Ron Foreman (Groan) had to deal (Supposedly) with a certain person from central Florida running a shop MANY people on the forum buy from, who was seling wolves for a VERY short time.. (Like 4 of them total I think) and he was sending his own maps to people with the timing off by 60 degrees. How they didnt realise this.. I dunno.. but I have copies of the maps.

Far as running the OMP... I havent tried to run it.. I pre-mix all my cars... and reccomend it to people I work on cars for.. BUT.. I would think the 4.x Plus version with the stepper control may be able to handle this.. but havent looked into it..

And YES.. Chris is "The Man"

 

I agree with you about the data logging and being an Australian dealer have spoken to them about this and I am very sure they are working on it at the moment but they are under the impression that Im the only one asking for it so if you like email them so they know how important this is...

 

Spin Racing, quote
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You really cant just Post a map and expect it to work for your engine. I tuned a engine for a Central Florida racer who was going o the nationals, and we spent several days tweaking his car at Sebring for the best performance etc. We had it all tuned..........

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How much do you charge for this? I have been fitting/mapping professionally for 14 years and am convinced the only way to make a living doing this is No time wasting. Whatever system you sell has to be quick to achieve initial startup and quick to arrive at optimal maps. For a motec M800 that is around 6-12 hours (depending on similarity of engine setup with one of my existing maps) and the Porshe club racers are prepared to pay for this.
haltech E6X is a max of 2.5 hours plus maybe 1 or 2 extra cold start checks.
E11 is really another M800 and is 5-10 hours again depending on existing maps. Further tuning has to be a non event, the only phone calls I get/want are race resuts!
Compare this to a street/strip Chev TPI 350 that was dropped off with a self fitted Wolf V4. It has turned out OK except for a wandering tps span which has not been resolved, but has taken more hours than I care to count. It may be good fun for you self tuners over there who want to spend days playing around but clunky software is tedious and time wasting to map. IMHO I could not make money mapping these and don't intend to tune one again.
BTW just spent 5 hours today sorting a lx12 microtech on a racespec Porsche 911 that had spent 2 weeks at opposition dyno shop unable to cold start . Their laptop software is even worse. The most anoying aspect is having to reconnect and reload the maps EVERY time the ignition is turned back on. On a porsche thats every time you start the engine!

 

A lot of the problems you mention are due to the fact that the Wolf3D was NOT originally developed for Rotaries. Due to one of the Wolf tech guys owning a 1st gen RX-7 the Wolf has been gradually spec'd to suit. Not the other way around that you mentioned.

I too run the Wolf and have resorted to running premix to solve the problem. :-( Would love the Wolf to operate it. They are constantly upgrading their system, so hopefully in time all will be sweet!!!

Data logging from last reports is only around the corner also :-)