The Top Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 Resource

Join the best E39A 1991-1992 Mitsubishi Galant VR-4 community and document your GVR4 journey.

  • Software Upgraded - Reset Your Password to Login
    In order to log in after the forum software change, you need to reset your password. If you don't have access to the email address you used to register your GVR4.org account, you won't be able to reset your password. In that case, follow the instructions here to regain access to the forum.

evo8 ecu

johnnyRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
776
Location
Tampa, FL.
Is there any new developments on running/tuning an evo8 ecu in our cars? I see there haven't been any updates in sometime.
 

Brunoboy

Well-known member
Joined
Apr 25, 2008
Messages
2,880
Location
San Bruno,CA Home of SFO
theres plenty of threads on Tuners, and a member here was selling the whole setup for cheap.
 

524of1000

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 15, 2008
Messages
574
Location
San Antonio, Tx
Can't update on something that has it all /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/devil.gif
 

jepherz

Staff member
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
7,877
Location
KC, Missouri
I just put one in my car last weekend. Started up on the first try and now I'm just working out some tuning bugs that I could never figure out via Ostrich on my stock ECU. It's definitely only for DIYers, but so far I love it. Logging ability on a laptop that's not pre-historic, current development on mods, runs much better, etc. Can't really go wrong if you have the time to figure it out.
 

citymunky

Well-known member
Joined
Sep 22, 2010
Messages
1,761
Location
Chesapeake, VA
That's one of the main things I don't like about Jackel is the data logging.
 

johnnyRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
776
Location
Tampa, FL.
Quoting jepherz:
I just put one in my car last weekend. Started up on the first try and now I'm just working out some tuning bugs that I could never figure out via Ostrich on my stock ECU. It's definitely only for DIYers, but so far I love it. Logging ability on a laptop that's not pre-historic, current development on mods, runs much better, etc. Can't really go wrong if you have the time to figure it out.



I was curious because there hasn't been much talk here about this ecu, especially with its great capabilities.
 

DR1665

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Messages
4,642
Location
Iowa City, IA
@Jeff - I think it would promote a bit more confidence in this mod if we had more hands-on tech posted here on our board. Could I trouble you to answer the following quick questions about this mod here? (First place our brothers will likely search for this info is here, so we ought to make sure they find as much relevant tech as possible, right?)

1. Which ECU did you use? I know the 3G Eclipse (4-cylinder, MT, Fed-spec) and base model Lancer have the same unit as the Evo 8, which opens up some more options to people searching for what is the most expensive piece of this puzzle. (Same hardware, software is flashed.)

2. Did you hardwire the new ECU in or build an adapter harness? Any tips? I'm on the fence about an adapter harness or making the swap permanent.

3. How did you get your first "tune" in place? Download it somewhere? Flash it yourself? What cable did you use? And do those cables for flashing OBDII Evos connect up to the OBDI port on our cars?

Appreciate your insight, man. I've got to get my engine and bay back together before I'm ready to install the ECU and all that, but I plan on doing a full write-up so other people can go for it with complete confidence. Thanks.
 

cobrajetguy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
407
Location
Fort Collins, CO
I did this swap a few months ago and it worked out great. I also had a little trouble finding good info on this project and spent many long nights of sifting through pages of useless info.

List of items I used:
2005 EVO 8 ECU
Tactrix 1.3 flash cable
New OEM EVO 8 Knock sensor
2G Turbo ECU Pigtails re-pinned to EVO locations
1G ECU (cut connector off board)
OBDII Port (cut out of junkyard)

Optional but cheap and no tuning required
EVO 8 MAF
EVO 8 Injectors

I had a lot of time spent double checking pin out diagrams and found this one to be a good starting point. There are many options for wiring since you can choose to run ECU controlled boost, adapt for speed density and other cool features.



The big change I made was for idle control and all you have to do is swap the 2 b coil wires as they need to be reversed for the EVO ECU to control idle. Other than that I just flashed a stock map into the ECU, disabled the immobilizer and emissions controls and the car started right up. I will have to find my map on my computer and post it up for reference, the only code it throws is for the alternator circuit because an EVO alternator is ECU controlled. I feel like this is one of the best mods you can do since it is the cheapest stand alone style setup. I am not a fan of anything based off the stock ECU when you can run something this much better. To answer the questions above:
1. Which ECU did you use? I know the 3G Eclipse (4-cylinder, MT, Fed-spec) and base model Lancer have the same unit as the Evo 8, which opens up some more options to people searching for what is the most expensive piece of this puzzle. (Same hardware, software is flashed.)
EVO 8, I got mine for next to nothing but I think you can flash a turbo map into a non turbo lancer ECU.
2. Did you hardwire the new ECU in or build an adapter harness? Any tips? I'm on the fence about an adapter harness or making the swap permanent.
I made an adapter so I can remove it if needed
3. How did you get your first "tune" in place? Download it somewhere? Flash it yourself? What cable did you use? And do those cables for flashing OBDII Evos connect up to the OBDI port on our cars?
I downloaded a stock map, modified it and then flashed it into the ECU once it was installed in my car using the Tactrix cable. The Tactrix cable will log via the OBDII port.

Peter
 

DR1665

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Messages
4,642
Location
Iowa City, IA
Thanks, Peter. Got any pictures of your work? I had thought about making the adapter by cutting the female connector off an old 1G ECU, but that would mean some seriously exposed wiring. I'm curious how you potted that terminal to prevent shorts and whatnot.

Again, thanks. This is really good to know, man. /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/applause.gif
 

jepherz

Staff member
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
7,877
Location
KC, Missouri
Peter was spot on and that sums up the way it has gone for me. There's tons of info out there, unfortunately it's all over the place.

I am using an Evo 8 ECU (cannot use a 9...yet), part number MN132874. I have read that other ECUs will work, but I have yet to see anyone confirm that. At a bare minimum, it sounds like the internal ROM is smaller on a lot of the ECUs and certain bins may not fit. I also didn't want to buy an ECU and find out later that it didn't have the hardware to support all of the outputs, etc.

I made an adapter harness using the male end from a stock ECU. I would recommend this route as even if you knew you weren't going back to stock, you'd have a hell of a time doing all of the work in the footwell there.

As far as the schematic posted, I too had to reverse the B coil of the idle control. You can find plenty of schematics that have them shown either way and you can find plenty of people saying "it is wrong", but nothing clarifies which of the two ways is wrong... Don't worry, the worst that happens is your ECU can't control the idle. Then you just swap the wires around and go on your way.

Digging through hundreds of posts I also found a post from our old friend Keydiver. He figured how to wire up the A/C so that it would work. The schematic is:
EVO 45 -> DSM 7
EVO 8 -> DSM 65

I am using a 3g (482 I believe) MAF which is supposedly very close to an EVO maf. I am in the process of tuning the MAF comp now as I have a weird lean spot at low throttle. The MAF tables are probably one of the more tricky parts to figure out how they actually work.

I have a whole slew of links saved up pointing me in all sorts of directions for different info. If anyone has specific questions I'd be glad to help.
 

cobrajetguy

Well-known member
Joined
Aug 2, 2004
Messages
407
Location
Fort Collins, CO
Here is a picture of the jumper harness, I used heat shrink on each wire to cover the bare ends. Also I found it easier to tin the wire ends and pins separately so it took less heat to join them.

 

johnnyRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
776
Location
Tampa, FL.
I know this has been ask before, but from when I was reading threads over on tuners and evolutionm. People were asking how it compared to ecmlink. This question has been asked since the very beginning. Back in 2009 when this came up it was thought the ecmlink was a more polished system than the evo ecu. Ecmlink had great tech support and a forum for customer problem solving. With the Evo ecu the user had a higher learning curve. It seemed back then that if you wanted a plug-n-play system and to start tuning for power right away go with the Link. However, if you liked hacking, then go with the evo and once everything was sorted out with the hardware/programming then you could start tuning for power. I guess what I'm asking is how far have we come today in 2012 for the Evo ecu to be a great alternative to Ecmlink? For someone building a weekend warrior or even a 10 sec car, no f and f jokes please. Ecmlink or Evo ecu? We all know the Evo will be less expensive. Has it become a no brainer yet or will the Evo ecu ever be?
 
Last edited:

jepherz

Staff member
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
7,877
Location
KC, Missouri
The difference there is people are constrained to one forum/location for help. Therefore, there is one forum that has all of the answers if they exist. With the EVO ecu, you will find answers all over the place. I'd still say there's more of a learning/time curve with the EVO setup, but if you're a DIYer and want to learn how things work, the Evo route would be for you. If you just want a plug and play solution and get out there and start tuning your car and take it to the track tomorrow, you probably won't have all of your questions answered.
 

johnnyRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
776
Location
Tampa, FL.
What I meant by, "a no brainer", ie
1) 2g exh mani vs 1g
2) 2g elbow vs 1g
3) 3g revised lifters
4) 3g/evo8+ mas

will this ever happen for the evo8 ecu?
 

jepherz

Staff member
Joined
Aug 8, 2004
Messages
7,877
Location
KC, Missouri
Given the complexity of an ECU over any of those other items you listed, I think it is already as "no brainer" as it can get. It's just a more complex piece of hardware so there will be more customization. For example, you can maybe get away with bolting a 2g exhaust manifold on, but I am finding now that I am having to tune my 3g maf on my car. I really needed to tune it before running a 1g keydiver eprom as well.
 

381gvr4

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 5, 2007
Messages
568
Location
Wakefield, RI/Meriden, CT
Quoting johnnyRacer:
I was curious because there hasn't been much talk here about this ecu, especially with its great capabilities.



I was able to find everything needed in Brox's HOW-TO thread and thru the links in his post. Brox was also very helpful in answering any questions. I basically found an ECU, made my jumper harness(using Brox supplied diagrams) and bought an EVO knock sensor. Dropped it off to my local Evo tuner and 1.5hrs later he had it idling with no MIL. I paid $200 and drove while he tuned it. DONE! HAPPY! /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/cool.gif
 

DR1665

Well-known member
Joined
Oct 19, 2005
Messages
4,642
Location
Iowa City, IA
Thanks for all the feedback, gents. Much obliged.

For the record (in case it helps anyone) I'm going this route with my rally car for the following reasons:
A) It's less expensive.
B) It's OEM quality.
C) More Evos at the races than DSMs.

I love the relative simplicity: Flash an ECU, make the adapter harness, drop in the right knock sensor, and drive the damn thing. My only complication is going to be making the switch to speed density, because I don't want to DNF for coupler failure on a rough stage.

This thread gets me excited. I need to get a set of cams machined, button up a longblock and build a wire harness so I can start playing with this stuff again...
 

broxma

Well-known member
Joined
Nov 16, 2009
Messages
911
Location
San Antonio Tx
Since I made the original Evo 8 ECU how-to on here, it has been spread around a few other places on the web which is nice to see. The How-To is not entirely finished. I meant to put a lot more into it, but got busy with other stuff. It does have most if not all the information you would need to get it running however. A few suggestions since the Evo 8 ECU is a hot topic these days.

If you can, use the Evo MAS. Not having to scale the 2G or any other MAS makes the initial tuning that much easier. Even though people have posted the MAS scales for a number of sensors, nothing beats the OEM factory scaling for resolution.

Use either Evo 560cc injectors OR use injectors that have well documented latencies over at EvoM. EvoM has a huge merged thread of injector latencies, and again, it is one less thing you worry about during start up.

If you are running a car with a 16g(ish) sized turbo, just start the car on the stock Evo VIII map(Stock timing and fuel). The real trick with the map is the timing is kept in line with the load by RPM. Even given the difference in compression between the older 4G63's and the Evo motor, the load scales fairly closely as long as the turbo makes about the same boost at the same RPM. Since the Evo has the twin scroll, the larger Evo turbo spins roughly like a large 16G on a lower compression motor, I have found.

I highly suggest getting EvoScan for logging. You have to pay for it but it's a 1 time deal of 25 bucks and it works well. With just a few important values selected you get a very high data rate and it works with most if not all wideband controllers.

Basically the fewer changes you make, the better. The less you have to modify the OEM map to get the thing running, the easier your troubleshooting will be.

/brox
 

johnnyRacer

Well-known member
Joined
Jan 9, 2005
Messages
776
Location
Tampa, FL.
Sounds like K.I.S.S. really applies here. Looking at my setup so far, I'm not that far off the oem evo setup; 3g mas and 680's. Interesting thing is I bought my 680's off evoM some years ago from someone who sold them as 560's. However, my turbo is a different story, its a hx40. I haven't installed it yet.
 
Last edited:

Diego

Well-known member
Joined
Dec 9, 2007
Messages
2,132
Location
In a van down by the river, Iowa
Friend just posted his E8 ecu for sale, in the works of snagging it up... if I dont use it I will give this board first dibs.

Diego
 
Support Vendors who Support the GVR-4 Community
Boosted Fabrication ECM Tuning ExtremePSI Fuel Injector Clinic Jacks Transmissions JNZ Tuning Kiggly Racing Morrison Fabrications RixRacing RockAuto RTM Racing STM Tuned

Recent Forum Posts

Top