Jeez, way to dig up such an old thread. J/K.
Actually, the F1 guys rely on something better than Motec. I can't remember what it is offhand, but it's many thousands more than a Motec V3.
As for reliability, OEM ECUs are purpose-built and are, as such, incredible in this department. Slightly lower on the ladder are EMSes like the Nemesis, which I have yet to see fail, yet are not purpose-built, but are mass produced. Slightly lower still are the AEM EMSes, which I have personally seen 4 fail. MUCH LOWER are the Megasquirt for the home-built reasons.
Need is a relative term. Drivability hiccups that come with most piggybacks really piss me off. If you cam or go with really large injectors or outpace the airflow of the AFM, then you should seriously consider going EMS. ROM tunes have issues that EMSes simply don't have.
The flexibility angle has been covered in this very thread. Open sourcing does little good if you are severely hardware-limited.
I proudly show anybody my EFI University authentication. That's the closest to a tuning diploma, save perhaps an engineering degree, which I also have.
No flaming here! Just a lively conversation!
