AEM engine management update.

Daniel Cragin/DC Performance Inc

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Posts
546
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
Just a quick update on the AEM system. We just received or test car back from AEM and the results are very positive. The base calibration is really good and the traction control function works very, very well. I will have detailed information very soon. We will be testing and tuning a normally aspirated and supercharged car in the near future and believe this new controller will meet our expectations.
 

DChan415

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Posts
255
Reaction score
0
Location
San Francisco, CA
Thats great to hear! Last time I heard, they don't expect to release it until april. And the MSRP is just under $4000!!! What will you be selling them for Dan?

I'm surprised they got the traction control set up well. That feature is VERY hard to set up. And the settings change for different road surfaces.
 
OP
OP
D

Daniel Cragin/DC Performance Inc

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Posts
546
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
We will be selling these units as soon as available. The price has not yet been decided (anything heard is just speculation). We will offer very competitive pricing and product support.

This system has some awesome Viper Specific features that I will announce soon. Once again, the traction control really works, put the car in a corner and floor it and the car sticks right at the limit of traction!
 

DChan415

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Posts
255
Reaction score
0
Location
San Francisco, CA
Thats great to hear! Last time I heard, they don't expect to release it until april. And the MSRP is just under $4000!!! .

YIKES!!

Talk about Viper tax !


Yup... I got the price from a new price sheet that AEM faxed out to us. They listed the 30-1500 part number and a list price of $3950. When I called my sales rep... he said nope.. not till april.
 

RedGTS

Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Posts
1,141
Reaction score
0
Location
Tennessee
Yeah, if the price is closer to $4k than $2k Sean is going to sell a LOT of VEC2's.
 

AJT

Enthusiast
Joined
Aug 12, 2002
Posts
1,305
Reaction score
1
Location
Houston, TX , USA
Quote from AEM Board


"The car runs well and is extremely fast...no surprise though. It's a Viper. No durability issues so far and we've put a lot of miles on the test car. All the new bells and whistles (necessary to plug in and run these cars) are working fine. This will be a very nice system. The startup calibrations will even come equipped with a fully functional traction control system...not like these cars need TC though . Even on a bone stock car, 1st and 2nd gears are basically useless at WOT.

To answer the $65,000 question of "When can we get one?!", the answer is...we're planning to release the kit sometime during the month of March. The engineering work is done. We're basically waiting for production parts right now. The ball is in our supplier's court and they're pretty swamped right now with the number of new applications that are coming out soon. Sorry. That's the best we can do.

And by the way...just because you don't get a response to your posts doesn't mean we haven't read them. It means we haven't had 5 minutes of free time to sit down and type out a response. "

Andy
 

DChan415

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 24, 2003
Posts
255
Reaction score
0
Location
San Francisco, CA
Yeah, if the price is closer to $4k than $2k Sean is going to sell a LOT of VEC2's.

Well you gotta look at it like this:
If you add up all the features that the computer can do for you without buying other boxes, it is worth it. The dual channel wideband controller with sensors is worth about $800. Racelogic traction control would set you back a couple grand... J&S knock sensor/controller would be another grand... the shift light controls and every other little feature thats built in you get it all like it or not.

What ***** is that the AEM boxes for all other cars cost only half as much as the Viper box.
 

1TONY1

Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Posts
5,661
Reaction score
0
Location
Dalton Ga. (Chatt. Tn.)
I was in at the $2000 price and so were a lot of others......I think I will be out at $4000. I can put F.A.S.T/Speedpro on for that much. I would guess that this box costs them the same as boxes for other cars......they just added Viper tax. They can take their box and stick it.
 

Russ M

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Posts
2,315
Reaction score
0
Location
LA, California
I was in at the $2000 price and so were a lot of others......I think I will be out at $4000. I can put F.A.S.T/Speedpro on for that much. I would guess that this box costs them the same as boxes for other cars......they just added Viper tax. They can take their box and stick it.

First lets remember the $3950.00 is full retail pop, and no one ever pays that. Figure to pay in the low 3k range for the complete unit.

Second a Fast system cant do 1/2 the thing the AEM unit can do, and your cost of 4k will require chopping up your car to install an after market wire harness. Ever done that? Try it, its not nearly as great as it sounds.

No Viper tax,

Unfortunatly the Vipers computer requires much much more design than all the other cars they currently build. And that is what makes the unit much more expensive.

No other AEM unit comes with Dual UEGO sensors and control module, which means you dont need any additional tunning tools. And no other car comes with traction control enabled and hooked up.

If you take away about $800-$900 for the O2 read out and you cant even put a price on a real traction control system, not to mention all the other great things about this unit the price is more than reasonable. And is fairly comperable to the cost of all their other units.

PS. The other great thing about this unit, is that it will do what its claimed to unlike a big part of the curent Viper aftermarket products. ;)
 

Viper TT

Enthusiast
Joined
Mar 5, 2003
Posts
189
Reaction score
0
Location
Delaware
I also do not agree that AEM has added the "Viper Tax." Many are not realizing the changes AEM had to make when developing the Viper AEM box. Up until now, the AEM has always resided inside the passenger compartment (imports). On the Viper application, AEM redesigned the enclosure specifically for the Viper which in turn required some design changes on the board/connector. In addition they were able to configure the system to allow data transfer through the ALDL port (all previous AEM's required a DB9 serial cable from the EMS to the laptop). As already stated, this includes the dual wideband O2 sensors and built in wideband controllers(major advantage over previous AEM systems). The big kicker, you're not hacking up your factory wiring harness! It is a Plug-N-Play system!

Let's not forget the great data logging capabilities with additional software included to allow graphs with overlays!

The flexibility you have with the AEM is phenomenal! In addition they are continually releasing software/firmware updates and have specific forums setup for technical discussions on all EMS applications(support options you don't have with most standalone systems). I've been running the AEM on my Supra for ~2 years now and wouldn't choose any other route.
 

N2 Vipers

Enthusiast
Joined
Feb 2, 2001
Posts
237
Reaction score
0
Location
Fresno, Cal USA
Could this work with a Roe Supercharger? Would it replace the Vec 2? If so, maybe we could get a carb certificate in Calif?
 

Russ M

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Posts
2,315
Reaction score
0
Location
LA, California
John,

It will work with any viper configuration you can think of turbo/supercharged/nitrous/NA etc....

Even though you may be able to make the car pass smog, it will never be able to pass CARB. Stand alone management systems will never be able to pass the visual, if the testing facility knows what they are looking at.

PS. The AEM unit will wake up your Roe supercharger due to its ability to control individual cylenders. Which means solving the problem with Roe's rich/lean conditions cylinder to cylinder.
 

99 R/T 10

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 4, 2001
Posts
10,314
Reaction score
0
Location
Enterprise, AL USA
John,

It will work with any viper configuration you can think of turbo/supercharged/nitrous/NA etc....

Even though you may be able to make the car pass smog, it will never be able to pass CARB. Stand alone management systems will never be able to pass the visual, if the testing facility knows what they are looking at.

PS. The AEM unit will wake up your Roe supercharger due to its ability to control individual cylenders. Which means solving the problem with Roe's rich/lean conditions cylinder to cylinder.
I believe that the VEC 2 can do this also, correct?
 

utahviper

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 21, 2001
Posts
602
Reaction score
0
Location
Utah
The new version of the vec2 will allow individual cylinder fuel management.
 

1TONY1

Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Posts
5,661
Reaction score
0
Location
Dalton Ga. (Chatt. Tn.)
[quoteEver done that? Try it, its not nearly as great as it sounds.



[/QUOTE]

Yes....not so bad. I will admit, plug and play is much better.

I guess we can say that the first price quotes missed the mark for some reason, By A LOT. Tell me more about the traction control......I understand how they were talking about it working for turbos. Will it work for n/a ? How ? Did they get the knock sensor working ? Correctly ?
 

Russ M

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Posts
2,315
Reaction score
0
Location
LA, California
Tony,

You can use timing and soft touch rev limiter for NA motors, and several other tricks.

Knock sensors work perfectly on their other apps, the viper would require installing knock sensors.
 

1TONY1

Enthusiast
Joined
Dec 19, 2001
Posts
5,661
Reaction score
0
Location
Dalton Ga. (Chatt. Tn.)
Tony,

You can use timing and soft touch rev limiter for NA motors, and several other tricks.

Knock sensors work perfectly on their other apps, the viper would require installing knock sensors.

What about this magic traction control ? And your saying the knock sensors don't exactly work on Vipers ? Above, I was told it was worth the money because of all these extra features......how do they work ? I know traction control is easy for a turbo car.....what about a centrifical or Roe or n/a car ?? Will it not work on those ? I can install Knock sensors on my car now....but they won't work. Are we going to be paying for stuff that won't work on most cars ?
 

RedGTS

Enthusiast
Joined
Apr 15, 2002
Posts
1,141
Reaction score
0
Location
Tennessee
I was wondering about the t/c system as well. The OEM traction control systems I'm familiar with use not only engine management (retarding timing, etc.) but selectively apply the brakes as well (such as to a slipping wheel). Doesn't this require the electronics, sensors, etc. to be set up for selective braking, which we don't have? So would AEM's t/c work only by reducing power to the rear wheels?

And what does this cut & paste from the AEM board above mean:

The startup calibrations will even come equipped with a fully functional traction control system...not like these cars need TC though . Even on a bone stock car, 1st and 2nd gears are basically useless at WOT.

The last sentence seems to contradict the previous one--sarcasm to make a point? And if so, it's a grossly overstated point because 1st and 2nd gears are definitely not useless on a bone stock car. :confused:
 

Russ M

Enthusiast
Joined
Nov 1, 2000
Posts
2,315
Reaction score
0
Location
LA, California
Tony,

You can use timing and soft touch rev limiter for NA motors, and several other tricks.

Knock sensors work perfectly on their other apps, the viper would require installing knock sensors.

What about this magic traction control ? And your saying the knock sensors don't exactly work on Vipers ? Above, I was told it was worth the money because of all these extra features......how do they work ? I know traction control is easy for a turbo car.....what about a centrifical or Roe or n/a car ?? Will it not work on those ? I can install Knock sensors on my car now....but they won't work. Are we going to be paying for stuff that won't work on most cars ?

Tony,

I have no idea what you are talking about, but I will explain again.

Traction control can be implimented with timing/rev limit/fuel enrichment/and several more items. And it is not like factory traction control where all power is gone. It can be set up to allow maximum acceleration for traction allowed.

Vipers dont have knock sensors, so in order to have them active on the AEM unit you will need to install some sensors.
 
OP
OP
D

Daniel Cragin/DC Performance Inc

Supporting Vendor
Supporting Vendor
Joined
Mar 10, 2003
Posts
546
Reaction score
0
Location
Los Angeles, Ca
I will let everyone know what our pricing will be soon. I will also be posting detailed information on the unit and an evaluation of our test car. We will know first hand how the final production units work and what the pricing will be. Lets all hang tight and see how this system stands up.
 

Fishtail

Enthusiast
Joined
Jun 10, 2003
Posts
584
Reaction score
0
Location
PA
I think the NHRA has already outlawed AEMs traction control. Can someone confirm?
I don't think you can pull off traction control at NHRA events. I was considering the AEM but NOT for $4,000 :rolleyes: .

-Lou
 

Paul Hawker

Enthusiast
Joined
Oct 1, 2000
Posts
4,660
Reaction score
0
Location
San Diego, Calif, USA
Guys. Don't climb all over a price, which is not known yet, or complain about features that may or may not be an issue.
Be patient, and wait for some some feedback as to price & features. After some of the developers get a chance to present the final product.

Just consider this a heads up that something remarkable may be in the works.

Some of you guys can be brutal to someone who is just trying to offer a product, which maybe not perfect, that will appeal to a certain group of Viper owners.
 

Bugeater

Enthusiast
Joined
Jul 30, 2001
Posts
1,076
Reaction score
0
Location
Virginia Beach
Is anybody working on a cost-effective ABS system? I care less about TC, since throttle modulation (for me) is an easier skill to perform than absolute threshold braking.
 

Forum statistics

Threads
153,663
Posts
1,685,351
Members
18,254
Latest member
Puntacanaviper
Top