blackandblown

In my INBOX was a flyer from Flyin Miata which indicated that they are abandoning the Hydra ECU. As a person that dug deep into my pocket to buy a premium service and customized system, this is troubling. I realize the flyer said they will continue to support the Hydra's that were sold through them but I'm rather concerned about the "what if's" that now come into my mind. What if my Hydra quits working? What if it works erratically and needs diagnosed? What if it quits working in 3 years?

I make no claims to be anything more than a user in this field so bare with my ignorance regarding standalone ECU's. Is there's a wiring harness and a version of MegaSquirt that will slip right in and everything will be just fine??

So chime in with your thoughts/plans, those with Hydra's; what do you think? Should I go into a hoarder mode and try and get another (very expensive) Hydra unit to set on the shelf as a back-up or is that not the best option here?

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Yes. Has been for many years. And has a huge user support group. And is the only way to get meaningful tuning help from anyone on this forum, since that's all anyone here uses.

There's even Megasquirts that don't require the patch harness that Hydra does.

I would not buy another backup Hydra. Enjoy what you have until you don't anymore, then get a new ecu.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

1) I'm legitimately surprised that there's a person under the sun that didn't see this coming for at least a couple years now.
2) The latest Hydra is mediocre compared to the modern megasquirt. And when say mediocre, I mean it is inferior in almost all aspects. Previous hydra versions aren't even mentioned here because they're bottom barrel trash nowadays.
3) There are many versions of pnp megasquirts. Many of those would work perfect for you, plug right in, be cheaper, and easier to use, and.........

The stupidest thing you can possibly do is buy another hydra. That's like spending triple the money on a NA Miata because you live under a rock and don't know about NB, NC, ND.

rleete

iTrader: (21)

NA are prettier. And pop-ups beat all.

cpierr03

I never understood why FM continued to hamstring their full-fat turbo kits with the Hydra as opposed to the pretty much Miata standard MS3. I feel like they missed the mark with people looking for a one stop shop solution but wanted the MS.

18psi

iTrader: (76)

I have the actual answer.

Here it is:
They are stubborn little money grubbers. They want exclusivity.
This is the only reason they switched to that KNOCKOFF TRASH of an ecu EM221/FM221 instead of the much better in every single way Megasquirt.

Ted75zcar

iTrader: (2)

and OBD1...

SchmoozerJoe

iTrader: (2)

Quick correction on this, it's the ME221. But everything else stands.

Took me all of 20 minutes examining the interface on the third day at FM to see this and report it to Bill.
Gotta say, the guys at FM are awesome. But, they don't control the direction of the company and Bill does (or used to) have final say in things.

Looks like they've got another GM there now, someone local, versus the greasy consultant they hired while I was there.
That also took about 10 minutes to see he was going to milk them for all the money he could. And did.

I will say that from FM stocking things now like carrying more CARB-EO'd products, Moti products and the Skunk2 stuff, I applaud the new GM for helping them come into the "present day".

LukeG

Taking a week to ship an order made up of off the shelf stuff is not present day or even close. That is 90's ****.

My order finally shipped today.

Stealth97

iTrader: (5)

DeerHunter

AFAIK, the Hydra is still current product with Nemisys EMS. If your unit develops a fault, you could still have it repaired at the mothership (when I upgraded to the latest specs several years back, it was shipped to the manufacturer and not FM). I'm sure Jeremy will act as a go-between, to generate an RM number, for the indefinite future.

sixshooter

iTrader: (12)

I'd rather run a MS1 than a Hydra if you gave me both for free.

fredb

iTrader: (1)

fredb

iTrader: (1)

Savington

iTrader: (31)

As mentioned, Megasquirts have been PnP for roughly 10 years. Megasquirt MS3 has a superior featureset to Hydra in my opinion, and that opinion is widely shared on this forum.

MSLabs Megasquirt MS3 Basic

blackandblown

Thanks everyone, Good stuff in here and I'm happy that I can "unclench" after reading it. I was concerned I had painted myself into a corner. While I may have picked the wrong paintbrush, at least there's still hope to get mine repaired or get a roller that will likely work better.

WigglingWaffles

Rest in pepperonis

megasquirt 4 lyfe

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

The widebands will always be available. They're oem Honda units with different connectors put on them to make them "proprietary" in order to better upcharge you.

Next time buy the Honda unit and the other side of the connector, save some money, and will be able to get replacements anywhere you'd like.

fredb

iTrader: (1)

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Not off the top of my head, no, sorry. Kris @ KO Racing can set you up, though. I ditched my Hydra years ago after nobody was able to tune the car to run remotely acceptably, and never looked back.