Engine Swap Forum

Many of You have heard the grief I've been giving Fred about switching from his mostly functioning MegaSquirt to a [just as difficult] stock ecu (I couldn't resist that wording). I still stand with my conviction that the stock ecu is inferior (for enthusiasts) but I had the pleasure of stumbling onto what I think is the perfect solution for my particular application:
The Kronenburg Management Systems ECU 

Developed by enthusiasts themselves, it appears to have most of the features we've demanded and has some pretty interesting tweaks in what used to be 'plain old ecu features' - all while remaining enthusiast-friendly (*cough-Fred-cough*).

I was lucky enough to have met some of the guys at the PRI show and was able to ask many questions. The capabilities of the ecu (and the user-friendly & time-friendly software) are shocking, but nowhere near as shocking as the price (see pricelist on website. You can use this to get the current Euro to USD rate). At the time of writing this, the price is ~$700 USD. Let's hope they start selling in the States at a fixed USD price so we don't get further shafted by government instability ( = inflation)...

Some notable features for those using the Nissan VQ:

Batch fire (some see this as a negative but go crunch the numbers yourself).
Wasted spark ignition (using stock COP's. I had discussed some advantages of wasted spark on turbo engines in another thread somewhere)
Flat Foot Shift (fuel & ign adjustable per gear with the appropriate resistors)
Antilag (fuel & ign adjustable)
Internal Boost controller (PWM output. Capable of controlling VTC's with some ingenuity)
Capable of communicating with stock sensors
Low current draw circuitry (can be used piggyback without killing the sensor signals)

The amount of inputs & outputs are relatively limited but if u really NEED more outputs, I recommend a systematic approach to what You really need your ecu to do. If You still need the inputs/outputs, then stop reading. You know where to go. 

I initially planned to use the boost controller feature to control my VTC but after playing with the KMS software, I've become fond of the boost control features and decided on an alternate VTC controller solution (to be discussed in another thread...).

I recommend anybody interested in this ecu to download the files from the site (including the software) and just browse thru the features (and the pdf's). Although it may seem "ultimately adjustable" and seemingly require "everything" to be "ultimately adjusted" (*cough-Fred-cough* ) , many of the adjustable maps can be "set" to on&off switches - the way many other ecu's have those features set.

Note: It's obvious that English isn't the first language of the KMS staff but they're very effective at communiation and since we both knew the topics we were talking about, I had absolutely no communiation barriers. Then again, I'm a foreigner myself...

I'll be in communication with them early in the year cause I plan to purchase mine early 2007. If anybody has any technical questions or concerns, feel free to discuss here and we can try hash them out and help each other.

If at all possible, please refrain from making this a comparative thread about "Well the xyz ecu can do this or that". Let's try and keep this informative. We can start another thread about comparing ecu's if anyone would like.

Regards,

H. Kurt Betton

Some further thought (and rereading my prev post) makes it seem as if this ecu is geared primarily for turbo cars. Obviously, it will work on NA engines, as well and some of the "turbo only" features can be reconfigured (with some ingenuity) to create some pretty interesting features for NA engines. For eg: Boost control = VTC control; Antilag = tuning for N2O or alky injection; Launch control = Traction control for moving vehicles; etc. Of course when u decide to go turbo, u can always revert to the original "turbo only" features.

They've used the ecu on some pretty serious (from a performance and technical standpoint) racecars for NA apps. Check the website.

(Why do I sound like a salesman right now? Simple fact: The more ppl using it, the easier the "tech support"...)

Regards,

H. Kurt Betton