concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Breaking news: Car with decent tune runs better than car without decent tune.

AND NOW OVER TO DAN WITH SPORTS

koracing

It's glaringly obvious there are a lot of Megasquirt users and fans here. I'm glad those of you who run them are happy with them and they suit your needs. Does that invalidate the fact that it isn't "better in every way" than a Hydra? I mean, I know I'm not convincing anyone in here of anything despite how receptive and open minded everyone seems to be to hear a differing opinion based on some real experience. It's all good though as there are almost no other dyno shops in my area that will tune Megasquirt, so I tend to get more of that work anyway, and as long as they keep coming to dyno, I'll keep tuning them. When I tune chips for late 80s GM, and Ford products I often wish they at least had a Megasquirt, lol.

andym

In what way is a megasquirt not better? There is no paywall for extra features as a DLC, the software is easily accessible and useable, you don't need a proprietary wideband, there is support that I can pick up a phone and talk to a human right now, and it is significantly less expensive.
Megasquirt wins on availability, support, features, cost...

koracing

Better base maps just result in less tuning charges to the customer as dyno time is by the hour. I would hope that is understandable.

koracing

You're touching on what are definitely some of the benefits of the Megasquirt, and again it seems to be a moot point trying to convince someone here of any benefit of using something other than Megasquirt. Buying new today between the Hydra or the MS, I would definitley pick Link ECU G4x, lol.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

It's less "Megasquirt fans" and more "the other ECU being discussed for all intents and purposes is dead and has been for some time."

To which end i'm not sure what the discussion is for or why it was revived in 2020. I'm sure people who have you to lean on aren't exactly rushing out to replace their Hydras with Megasquirts. That doesn't really help the other 99% of the country, though.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Hah and there's been a not-small shift in the last year or two away from Megasquirt even on this board for those of us that are comfy with spending more than $700 on an ECU.

Ted75zcar

iTrader: (2)

I think if I was in a position to offer professional (paid) services for a specific platform, I would have my own basemap to use. That would be a cost-of-doing-business thing. It is a one time expense that I would not expect my customer to supply NRE for, unless it was a esoteric application. Basemaps aren't tunes, they are really no more than a basic set of configurations. Most of the features of the ECU are not implemented. A huge population of people do not understand this, and then come looking for somebody to save their a$$ when they can't get their car to idle or even start.

I am not a big MS fanboi. I was expecting features that were advertised to be implemented in FW that weren't there. The HW is consumer grade at best except for the MS3PRO module, which is a ~bit~ better. The developers who are currently supporting the code lack some real fundamental understanding in control system theory. I could go on ...

If I had to do it again, I would most likely go with a more polished option, but would have no expectations of a compatible base map. Once the MS3 was released, Hydra was really never more than an option for those who didn't want to learn to tune. I do not fall into that category. The Necro of this thread by now 2 different people on their first posts is a big reason for the comments that are being left. Hydra is a non-factor in this community.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Yeah, don't look at me, i bought a Haltech.

andyfloyd

And yet all the MS3 cars all have very good tunes on them, I have even helped tune them numerous times. The MS is good and its fairly inexpensive. My Hydra is a pain in the *** to tune but since Ive lived with it a long time now I have found it to be very good in regards to fuel and timing table resolution. That and the cold start on my car is better than any MS ive seen, hardly has to even crank at all to start, and no hot start issues like a lot of people have. Overall the MS is easier and better supported but its not better in every way like everyone thinks. I know youve had a Hydra, and a MS, and now a Haltech so you know a bit about this stuff.

I actually was tuning my buddies SR20 S13 with a Haltech Elite 1500 tonight, and I can tell you right now I want to use that for my next ECU.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

I replaced my Hydra with a Platinum Sport 1000, that's how long Hydra has been behind the curve for end user usage. (Elite 1500 for current car)

I'm having trouble resolving the things you say about your buddies' cars and those cars having "very good tunes." MS3 cars with very good tunes don't do the things you're saying those cars are doing. And since we have a recurring issue with understanding that what I type isn't to poop on you: I am not pooping on you.

andyfloyd

Their cars don't have hot start issues or extended cranking. I'm just saying I've seen these issues happen frequently. And yes the haltech is amazing I really like it.

Edit: I like poop, talking about poop, and poop jokes. Big fan

Jesse99James

I figured I'd share my increasingly frustrating story about dealing with Nemesis EMS. I'm getting closer to the point of frustration that those that purchased from Trackspeed are feeling. Nearly zero communication, even being a paying customer doesn't make a difference.

Late September 2019 I purchased a used '04 Mazdaspeed Miata with <23k miles. It has many track focused upgrades including the full FM2 Garret kit and Hydra 2.6. It got 28 mpg averaging 80 mph on the 1800 mile drive home after flying to check it out and finalize the sale but I have since learned it often runs overly rich while cruising. I am guessing the bright blue, thin-walled silicone hose the previous owner installed running to the ECU is mostly responsible and might be collapsing under vacuum...FM would never have supplied this crap in their kit.

I initially contacted Nemesis EMS in February 2019 asking about the cost to purchase the unlock code for fuel auto-tuning on my Hydra 2.6 versus a full 2.7 upgrade and new WBO2 sensor cost. On May 3rd I decided to ship my computer for the upgrade and called/emailed but didn't get a response until the 20th saying the place that does the update was closed due to Covid-19. Ok, I asked to be updated ASAP once they opened again.

Nothing but dead silence for months over the summer despite emailing every 4-6 weeks. Finally around September 10th, after leaving a voicemail and emailing again two weeks later, I learned they were open again to upgrade older hardware. Phil sent a PayPal invoice and instructions on the 30th (3 more weeks of zero communication). I paid, removed it and shipped it on October 3rd. Tracking shows it arrived on Oct. 5th. It's now November 5th and I haven't heard anything. I emailed about 8 days ago but no surprise, zero response. Phil has my email and should still have my phone number from the message where I asked for a return call trying to get this ball rolling. He also has my PayPal info so should have easy access to phone # and address.

Since the crickets are again becoming deafening I called and left another message. My car has been disabled for 4+ weeks. MN is experiencing an unexpected, beautiful week with temperatures 20F to 30F degrees above normal. Seems like this was my last chance to install and verify the upgraded Nemesis 2.7 works. By the time it arrives it'll be too cold to drive on the 200TW summer tires and it's currently in storage on minimal insurance. The upgrade warranty better extend until next April/May when I install it! I hope it doesn't come down to a PayPal dispute but if it comes to that it's unlikely I'll ever see my Hydra 2.6 hardware again...not that it matters. I should have known the 2-3+ weeks response time was a bad omen. Do yourself a favor, dump your Hydra and don't consider Nemesis, sure it's been a rough year but this level of poor communication says all you need to know about this business.

Jesse99James

At risk of further screwing myself I'm posting an update. No surprise, my Hydra Nemesis 2.6 has been sitting with Nemesis EMS's Repair and Upgrade person for 8 weeks. Phil never returned my phone message nor replied to two emails I sent 3-4 weeks after they received it. The address where I was told to ship it seems to be a UPS store, box #328. I saved pictures of the box and shipping label, the PDF of the paid PayPal invoice, as well as screenshots of the USPS delivery text and I copied the USPS webpage tracking address so I can paste it into the dispute, straight from the horse's mouth.

I have until March 29th to file a PayPal dispute and the car is in storage so I'm going to wait hoping they come through and return my computer updated to 2.7. I can't contact the person it was shipped to and at this point I don't really care as I'm certain a dispute will get payment returned. I'm ready to wash my hands of this outdated computer and move on to any other modern computer.

I had used my current 2.6 map file, after comparing to the Flyin' Miata 2.6 base file to adjust the FM 2.7 base map. It should be plug and play, upload the 2.7 map, and turn the key easy. The main reason I updated over replacing it was to get fuel trim/tuning capability as it wasn't much more than unlocking that unwieldy feature on the terrible 2.6 software. Plus the car came with an ancient Win XP laptop. Wish me luck, I'm not sure what else to do at this point other than wait it out and email/call another time or two early next year. Even taking this difficult pandemic year into consideration this is ridiculous customer dis-service. Nothing like being totally ghosted.

blackandblown

All I can say is that I feel for you. Its a difficult spot. Personally I'm so happy with the way my car idles, starts,, runs that I'm pretty terrified of losing my HYDRA. Fingers crossed.

koracing

I hope to have some decent alternate options available in the next few months via custom plug and play pcb and Link G4X ecu.

Ken Hill

I'm one of the biggest Hydra 2.7 fans out here, but if anything fails on my ECU (even the wideband), I'm getting something else. Hydra support was decent by not perfect when FM sold them. Since they stopped selling them, Element Tuning wants nothing to do with Miata owners and this Phil person appears to be permanently out to lunch. He screwed a friend of mine not on this forum as well as Jesse99James.

Jesse99James

Thanks for sharing that news Ken. There is a solution for the wideband. KoRacing sells a less expensive replacement and can sell you the matching plug and electrical pins or plug with pigtail. I was planning on splicing that into my wire harness to replace the crap plug Hydra used to create their sales monopoly. Although, at that point it might not be worth replacing as you never know if the controller is dead until after you install a new sensor.

I'm trying to stay positive and see this as a move forward to newer technology. Nemesis 2.7 was my easy button option but I'd still have to worry about future reliability. Would it be a totally new board or a few new parts tacked onto 10 year old circuitry? I will easily win a PayPal dispute and if it comes down to that, I'll post the string of email to/from Phil so everybody can see the timeline. The same will get posted on Miata.net so other Miata Hydra owners can hopefully avoid this frustration.

My birthday is December 13th, on the 14th his repair/upgrade person will have had my Hydra 2.6 for TEN WEEKS. I'll call and email one final time next Monday. If I don't get any response by Jan 1st, 2021 I'll file the dispute and likely never see the hardware I shipped to them.

concealer404

iTrader: (3)

Just do it now. It's a dead platform being "supported" by a deadbeat. What do you hope to gain by suffering an extra 4 weeks?

The amount of Stockholm Syndrome i've seen on this forum over the last 2 years is concerning.

Jesse99James

Whatever, my car is in winter storage, nothing I can do until next April. I have until March 30th to file a PayPal dispute so what's the rush?