AEM EMS Release Date End of This Month

[Chris B]

In case you haven't heard this yet... The AEM EMS for the Viper should be released at the end of this month. For those that placed deposits on EMS's from us... I will get in touch with you shortly to collect the remaining funds and ship them out.

Take care,
Chris.

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[Casey]

Can you give us some examples of the Improvements made on various types of Vipers(SC, TT, stock, etc)?

 

[MannyC]

Any word on when/if this will be available for the SRT-10's ?

 

[Sean McElderry]

Can you give us some examples of the Improvements made on various types of Vipers(SC, TT, stock, etc)?

The only Viper I can give you a before/after on is our 100% stock 2000 Viper which went from 371rwhp/414rwtq to 416rwhp/461rwtq. A stock application, especially a naturally aspirated one, is not a good candidate to demonstrate the AEM's capabilities. I can tell you that on all AEM applications, we've gained significant horsepower and reliability by properly tuning the computer. Here are some examples that better showcase the unit's worth:

We tuned a Supra in Rome that was making 370rwhp before AEM. After we finished the tune, it was making 931rwhp. Thread for that here:

http://www.supraforums.com/forum/showthread.php?s=37194c8da45994d49ab4874f6f3ee2d3&threadid=127855&highlight=t88h+all+photos

We did a Supra in Idaho making 4xxrwhp prior to the AEM and through tuning and a little TLC from our shop, we made 934rwhp.

We took a Washington Integra from 2xxwhp to 5xxwhp, a Civic in Ohio from 105whp to 367whp, a Mustang from 250rwhp to 415rwhp, etc.

The gains that we get through tuning actually depend mostly on how poorly tuned the car is to begin with. On forced induction applications, picking up multiple hundreds of horsepower is quite common if the initial tune is poor. But our goal is typically not to maximize power, it's to increase power while improving drivability and reliability. The race teams we tune for definitely want maximum power, but for a typical street car, the owners are usually more concerned with reliability and whether or not the car is fun to drive. Making power is easy; making the car drive perfectly, get better gas mileage, and be more reliable WHILE making more power is the tricky part The AEM provides you with almost infinite adjustability so that you can accomplish all these goals with one computer, one box. Set it and forget it.

Hope that helps!

 

[Sean McElderry]

Any word on when/if this will be available for the SRT-10's ?

No word from us, but if you give AEM a call I'm sure they can let you know the current public roadmap.

 

[Eddie N]

Come on, lets get real. If your shop viper only put down 371 rwhp something was wrong with the car. That is the lowest number I've EVER seen. Even a few HP under 400 is pretty uncommon. There’s no way you gained 46 rwhp through "tuning" a N/A viper. Maybe if that car saw 5 psi you could see that kind of gain if the car was in a really bad state of tune.

And lets stop with the "We took a Saudi Arabian Peugeot from 134hp to 500hp". We all know other mods or even repairs attributed to that number, not just proper tuning.

I applaud the EMS for what it is, and its a great addition to a modified car, but lets not mislead any of the uneducated owners with over exaggerated numbers.

Eddie

 

[2002_Viper_GTS_ACR]

I buy my stuff from Horsepower freaks, and I hope this doesnt offend those guys. But I am on board with Eddie. I commented on this in the OTHER post a month or so back. That car is WAY under powered for a stock viper, so you pulling off 46rwhp isnt impressive, it lets me know something is wrong with that car. Matter of fact, those numbers of 416rwhp and 461rwtq are just a HAIR off my STOCK numbers I pulled of 410 rwhp and 450rwtq about 1 month after I bought my car new, right off the dealership show room.

Jon

 

[LIVIPER]

Wow. I have heard a lot of buzz about the AEM EMS but I'm not 100% clear how it works. Is it the same as a VEC1 or 2, but more advanced?

 

[Eddie N]

Thanks for backing me up Jon.

LIVIPER,

The EMS is a stand alone ECU that replaces the stock viper ECU. The Roe Vec1 is a piggy back unit. The EMS is head and shoulders above the VEC1 as far as features go, but I'm sure the price will reflect that.

The EMS is actually a fine piece of work, just don't believe the overhype.

Eddie

 

[RedGTS]

C'mon guys, he admitted those forced induction cars he mentioned were poorly tuned.


He just didn't tell you they were tuned by using different sized potatoes in the exhaust pipes.

 

[DChan415]

Come on, lets get real. If your shop viper only put down 371 rwhp something was wrong with the car. That is the lowest number I've EVER seen. Even a few HP under 400 is pretty uncommon. There’s no way you gained 46 rwhp through "tuning" a N/A viper. Maybe if that car saw 5 psi you could see that kind of gain if the car was in a really bad state of tune.

And lets stop with the "We took a Saudi Arabian Peugeot from 134hp to 500hp". We all know other mods or even repairs attributed to that number, not just proper tuning.

I applaud the EMS for what it is, and its a great addition to a modified car, but lets not mislead any of the uneducated owners with over exaggerated numbers.

Eddie

If you ever tried to tune an AEM EMS, you'd see how easily someone can leave a few hundred horsepower behind. Those are extreme numbers, but having used the AEM computers before, I can totally see how its possible.

 

[Fishtail]

The EMS is actually a fine piece of work, just don't believe the overhype.

Eddie

Well said!

 

[JGK95]

Fishtail,

Did you ever post where you found the AEM devices on clearance?


*crickets* *crickets*


Thanks!

Jay "Supporting those who suppport the industry" K.

 

[txlen]

it's on torquefreaks site..look in the viper parts section......http://www.horsepowerfreaks.com/..Len

 

[KenH]

Back when Horsepower Freaks was getting started on their AEM development for Vipers, we threw my Viper on their dyno messing around. It measured about 30hp lower than I had dyno'd previously (400 vs. 430). Could be that their dyno is just adjusted on the conservative side rather than their shop Viper being down on HP at the start of their testing.

Now if I could just get them to tune my VEC2....

 

[txlen]

hehehehe...you go ken!!!

 

[RC Viper]

My '97 GTS is one of the test Vipers that they put the AEM unit on.

It has headers, high flow cats, Borla cat back, roller rockers, and a K&N air box.

With the stock unit I was pulling 492 HP to the rear wheels. With the AEM ECM I was pulling 502 HP. Please note that my '97 has always been a very strong car so the before numbers are consistent with what I have experienced on other dynos.

The real benefit of the ECM was not in peak HP. The benefit was that it allowed tuning of the power curve to smooth it out. We were able to get a flat power curve along with about 30+ ft pounds of torque at different places along the curve. In addition, my stock ECM numbers came only when the car was cool. Once it heated up the numbers fell of substantially. With the AEM ECM we could tune the A/F ratio to produce 494 HP even when the car was hot. The stock Viper ECM loads up the car with fuel when it is hot. We were able to do this safely.

The ECM has some other very beneficial capabilities. It can log data so you can adjust it after the fact or you can actually adjust it with a PC while you are driving down the road (hopefully with a passenger). We were also able to fix some inherent Viper problems like turning on the fan at 160 degrees. This kept the car a lot cooler on the highway. You can even use your check engine like as a shift light!

There is a flaw in the device that I think they need to correct. The stock ECM controls the security system for the car. The AEM unit does not have the necessary connections so the doors will not operate while the motor is on and the alarm light on the dash is always on. I road race my car so I see this as a big issue.

All in all I was impressed with the device, but will wait to see the price before I decide if I will purchase the unit.

 

[Chris B]

Come on, lets get real. If your shop viper only put down 371 rwhp something was wrong with the car. That is the lowest number I've EVER seen. Even a few HP under 400 is pretty uncommon. There’s no way you gained 46 rwhp through "tuning" a N/A viper. Maybe if that car saw 5 psi you could see that kind of gain if the car was in a really bad state of tune.

And lets stop with the "We took a Saudi Arabian Peugeot from 134hp to 500hp". We all know other mods or even repairs attributed to that number, not just proper tuning.

I applaud the EMS for what it is, and its a great addition to a modified car, but lets not mislead any of the uneducated owners with over exaggerated numbers.

Eddie

I can see how this assumption could be made. Consider that if you didn't have an AEM and you weren't making optimal power, you would be looking at a black box wondering why. The key to the AEM is not to make a perfectly running car run better. It is to make a poorly car run better, or to take a car well past what the stock computer can control.
- You see the output of every sensor and can control how your car runs as a result of those sensors.
- Perfect timing control based on knock sensors (impossible to do without the AEM and especially important for boosted or Nitrous Vipers)
- Perfect A:F control at all times with automapping and O2 feedback with built in wide-band O2s.
- Wondering if you need bigger injectors, well simply datalog injector duty cycle
- Car getting too hot, turn the fans on sooner.
this list goes on and on for every possible scenario you can think of.

Sean just got back from Italy, Germany and Austria last week tuning just a few of our customers cars over there, some making upwards of 1100-1200rwhp. Our company as a whole tunes at minimum of 1 AEM car/day. He is well regarded as the one of the top 3 AEM tuners in the world.

If/when you guys get this product you will have a lot of questions. Sean has graciously offered his time to help you guys on this forum. It would probably make more sense to ask technical questions that you might have with this product as opposed to the current banter that is going on. If/when you get the AEM, his advice will save you days of work and possibly blown motors.

Take care,
Chris.

 

[RedGTS]

Chris, you're not advocating DIY tuning with the AEM are you? I thought it was pretty much a tuner only setup given the enormous number of variables. Or are you just talking about fine tuning a little after starting with the base maps that come with it?

Do you know whether AEM plans to do anything about the security system issues mentioned in the post above your last one?

Finally, how confident are you in the knock protection that you can get with the AEM? Given that Vipers don't have factory knock sensors, I just wondered how much testing went into picking the locations and how effective you think it will be?

Thanks for the feedback, and don't take any barbs personally. I think most everyone thinks the AEM is a potentially great product; the trick is deciding whether it's worth the cost for your particular application.

 

[Paolo Castellano]

In case you haven't heard this yet... The AEM EMS for the Viper should be released at the end of this month. For those that placed deposits on EMS's from us... I will get in touch with you shortly to collect the remaining funds and ship them out.

Take care,
Chris.

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Chris, I am sure glad I ordered mine a while back

I hope you call me soon!

 

[Sean McElderry]

Chris, you're not advocating DIY tuning with the AEM are you? I thought it was pretty much a tuner only setup given the enormous number of variables. Or are you just talking about fine tuning a little after starting with the base maps that come with it?

Do you know whether AEM plans to do anything about the security system issues mentioned in the post above your last one?

Finally, how confident are you in the knock protection that you can get with the AEM? Given that Vipers don't have factory knock sensors, I just wondered how much testing went into picking the locations and how effective you think it will be?

Thanks for the feedback, and don't take any barbs personally. I think most everyone thinks the AEM is a potentially great product; the trick is deciding whether it's worth the cost for your particular application.

While we don't recommend DIY tuning for the average person, there are definitely those who will try, and some who will succeed. I field calls and emails daily from people who are tuning their own cars - it's not impossible, it's just not easy The AEM is not a simple EMS to tune, but with its complexity comes a great deal of flexibility and options.

Our knock sensor package works as well or better than most factory knock sensor setups. On the Viper, you can clearly see when knock is occuring and pull timing or add fuel accordingly. Here's a picture of a log without knock:

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Here's one with knock detected by our knock sensor kit. You can see the AEM automatically pulling around 3 degrees of timing after the knock spike at around 0:26s in the log, preventing any further knock.

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AEM has a fix for the security system issue - they'll be including a harness with the Viper kit that allows you to run wires to your stock ECU so that the security system is fully functional. The tricky part is finding a place to mount the stock ECU, but once it's mounted, you simply run 4 wires to it and you're set.

Hope that helps!

 

[RedGTS]

Thanks a lot for the excellent info Sean. Do you tune for steak?

 

[BACKNBLACK]

Whats the price on it?

 

[2002_Viper_GTS_ACR]

Thanks a lot for the excellent info Sean. Do you tune for steak?

No, but I bet he tunes for Cheddar.

 

[Chris B]

Finally, how confident are you in the knock protection that you can get with the AEM? Given that Vipers don't have factory knock sensors, I just wondered how much testing went into picking the locations and how effective you think it will be?

One thing Sean didn't mention is that the AEM allows you to build a knock noise table. This allows you to draw a graph that differentiates simple engine noise from actual knock. The table axis are "Knock voltage" vs "RPM". Anytime this knock voltage is exceeded, the AEM will inject extra fuel and pull out timing based on the rate at which you specify.

The knock sensors we're using are the ones we have in our 1,000+ rwhp Toyota Supras. They are awesome. We've been running with them for years. He tested them on my car by saying, "Chris, I'll advance timing a couple degrees too high. You'll hear one ping and then nothing." And sure enough, I heard one ping and then it was gone. It's never a good idea to set your timing too high, however... It is a preventative measure in case your timing is set too far advanced for the current conditions. Once pre-ignition is observed by the AEM, it pulls timing and injects extra fuel for a specified period of time, then it puts the timing back in after another specified period of time. So you could theoretically get knock, have the computer correct it, then get knock again. The AEM has incredible datalogging capabilities. And while tuning we always look at the datalog for any evidence of knock. Once your maximum timing is achieved without knock, it's a good idea to back it off a couple degrees just to be safe.

Take care,
Chris.

P.S. Anyone know how I can add this avatar to my signature?

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[Sean McElderry]

Thanks a lot for the excellent info Sean. Do you tune for steak?

It would have to be some DAMN good steak

 

[V10 MOJO]

I currently have the VEC2. is the AEM meant to REPLACE the vec2 or do they work together. is having both of them overkill?

it sounds like the AEM can do everything the VEC2 can do...and more, is this correct?

what is the cost and when are they available?

what does it cost to have the tuning done on my vehicle when i get an AEM?