Toyota MR2 Message Board - View Single Post - Apex'i Power FC Pros & Cons...? (Tuners come-in)

Claudio RX-7 · 07-06-2007, 06:41 PM

The first thing we need to address on the Power FC is that the there is a vicious rumor going on that its discontinued and no longer being made, but i have also heard that its being manufactured again by another contractor for Apex.

Now, about the EMS it self, the Power FC has a few pros and a few cons, on the good side its very practical, its designed to substitute your factory ECU there for use your factory sensors and has the hand controller which lets you play with it as much as you want. On the negative side, the hand controller can be somewhat of a pain to navigate the internal program and do good tuning, its not impossible, and some people can do wonders with them, but if you dont know what you're doing you can get into trouble.

Also, there is software for the Power FC, the DatalogIt, but you have to pay for it (300+ dollars i think??) and once you do the tuning with the Datalog it you wont be able to retune with the Commander (this might not be true, but ive heard it before).

Also, if you are like some of the people who wanna get rid of the Air Flow Meter and go MAP sensor, right now you wont be able to because the PFC wont let you do the swap, and the unit that did that isnt available unless you track a used unit down from Japan.

And finally, the street price of the PFC, given the fact that its not available new right now, is low, which could be good, for what it can do, but bad if you wanna upgrade to a system that will be more feature packed and user friendly. I personally use Haltechs and love em to death, they are universal, reliable, decently priced compared to most systems out there, and they provide a very good number of features right out of the box.

I've tuned Haltechs, AEMs, Motec, Perfect Power, Electromotive, etc, and can tell you that all systems will have pros and cons, so in the end the real decision is based on your budget, if you can do it your self or not, or if there support or a qualified tuner in your area that can provide the service, after all, any system will be as good as the person who installed it or tuned it.

That's my 2 cents.

07-06-2007, 06:41 PM	#2 (permalink)
Claudio RX-7 Haltech Specialist Join Date: May 2006 Location: Dominican Republic Posts: 19 Thanks: 0 Thanked 1 Time in 1 Post iTrader Rating: (0/0% )	The first thing we need to address on the Power FC is that the there is a vicious rumor going on that its discontinued and no longer being made, but i have also heard that its being manufactured again by another contractor for Apex. Now, about the EMS it self, the Power FC has a few pros and a few cons, on the good side its very practical, its designed to substitute your factory ECU there for use your factory sensors and has the hand controller which lets you play with it as much as you want. On the negative side, the hand controller can be somewhat of a pain to navigate the internal program and do good tuning, its not impossible, and some people can do wonders with them, but if you dont know what you're doing you can get into trouble. Also, there is software for the Power FC, the DatalogIt, but you have to pay for it (300+ dollars i think??) and once you do the tuning with the Datalog it you wont be able to retune with the Commander (this might not be true, but ive heard it before). Also, if you are like some of the people who wanna get rid of the Air Flow Meter and go MAP sensor, right now you wont be able to because the PFC wont let you do the swap, and the unit that did that isnt available unless you track a used unit down from Japan. And finally, the street price of the PFC, given the fact that its not available new right now, is low, which could be good, for what it can do, but bad if you wanna upgrade to a system that will be more feature packed and user friendly. I personally use Haltechs and love em to death, they are universal, reliable, decently priced compared to most systems out there, and they provide a very good number of features right out of the box. I've tuned Haltechs, AEMs, Motec, Perfect Power, Electromotive, etc, and can tell you that all systems will have pros and cons, so in the end the real decision is based on your budget, if you can do it your self or not, or if there support or a qualified tuner in your area that can provide the service, after all, any system will be as good as the person who installed it or tuned it. That's my 2 cents.