I'm looking to start the journey of learning to tune with a megasquirt 2 and am looking at online courses and such. I see 2 that in considering:
1. Evans performance academy
2. Hp academy
out of these 2 which would you recommend? I've searched on here and saw a few people bring up Evans performance academy but I have not found any other online courses discussed on here although I'm terrible at the search function. If anyone can chime in and give opinions or experiences I'd greatly appreciate it. Also if there's a different source I haven't mentioned please let me know.
TIA

 

I haven’t done their tuning classes, but I’ve done some wiring classes from HP Academy. I think they’re pretty good, but you should read the class syllabus carefully to make sure you understand what you’re going to learn, and if it’s shown, note the length of each segment. Some segments are quite short and essentially give you an overview and point to a more in-depth class.

I’d say overall that their intro classes are quite high-level, the kind of stuff you’ll learn by reading stuff here or in manuals, etc. Their detailed classes are better, but definitely more broad than you’d find on an ECU or car/chassis/brand specific forum.

I took their wiring classes so that I would have a single, consistent approach to wiring, rather than picking and choosing from myriad different resources.

Personally, for MegaSquirt on Miata, I’d take the money you’d spend on a class at HP and see if you can’t bribe 18psi into teaching you a thing or two.

 

That makes sense in why you took the class. Maybe I will contact 18psi but I am a bit socially awkward when it comes to human interactions. I do better via messenger which would be a plus. What I immediately think of though when considering an actual person's help is time and availability that is why I think courses would benefit me. I am a good leaner but I admit I learn slow. I tend to over analyze and be meticulous in my approach and having ADHD/ anxiety is a bad mix lol.

I'll read more and watch what material these 2 offer and maybe contact 18psi. I think i can get a good grasp on things with all the info that there is already but having a straight source and structure would fit me well so I don't go off and research the same thing over and over again and stray off subject. Thank you for what you shared.

 

MS tuning is not difficult, it's just that there is a LOT to learn and it's easy to get turned around in circles (especially if the internet is your main source of info). Getting a good tune is a matter of taking a systematic approach, making good notes and only changing one thing at a time (even though the urge is to make wolesale, drastic changes based on other's opinions).

HP Academy is not MS-centric, so you'll have to "translate" their info into Megasquirt-ese - which to some might be daunting. But I think what they have to say can be generally applied. I have no experience with Evans.

If you want to DIY then here's how I'd approach it;
1. Turn off all of the "fine tuning" settings (CL Idle, EGO, CL Boost, AE and EAE, etc...)
2. Make sure your sensor calibrations are correct (TPS, MAP, WBO2, IAT, CLT)
3. Make sure your "Req Fuel" is set correctly
4. Make sure your timing is correct
5. Check other people's spark tables and find some/one that many people say is conservative...copy it
6. Start the car on the base tune and get a stable idle with a reasonable AFR reading
7. Drive the car using VE Analyzer Live ("VEAL") - out of boost - to tweak the VE table
7a. Don't use VEAL on the idle cells
7b. Stay out of boost and drive like your granny
8. If you have detcans, use them to listen for knock, if not...get some
9. Datalog EVERYTHING and learn to "read" what's happening when you drive

If you get this far, then you're ready to start actually tune your car. For me, it was fuel first, then spark, then transitions (accel & decel), then idle corrections, then EGO, then boost control (EBC), then EAE, then on to "esoterica".

It's not difficult, but you have to be systematic and open to learning.

My $0.02

 

I probably shouldn't be offering 18psi up as a teacher when I don't know if he wants to do that or not, so keep that in mind. But I figure money is money and we're all adults who can say and hear "no".

 

EFI University

ww.efi101.com

 

I understand and I probably wont contact Mr. Psi unless somehow they welcomed it.

 

Thank you for putting it in a numbered list. Ive been busy with prepping for the actual megasquirt install but when I can fully devote my brain to this I'll definitely try this approach. Right now the car is still torn apart and I'm waiting on supercharger maintenance parts while also doing ducting to the front. Oh and there were quite a few things the previous owner had going on that i needed to fix (missing transmission bolts, reversed driveshaft bolts, very rushed work is seems like) so I've been keeping busy. Going slower than I'd like but almost done.

 

I have lifetime subscriptions to both. Evan's videos by a large margin are better then HP Academy's. Sign up for a month for $50. Watch all the EFI basic and advance videos. Then go watch all his MS videos. He goes through all the settings and what they all do and how they interact. At the end he has 2 live training video series for the MS. One is a MS2 miata and the other is a MS3 miata. He shows exactly what he does starting from scratch on how to tune a miata on a dyno.

 

Hernj65,

I’ve only used Evans, but would highly recommend it. Not sure about HP academy, but Evan has clips for MS in general, plus a step-by-step for a supercharged Miata and a Turbo Miata. The tuning methods are of course very similar, but it’s always good to see something done multiple times, on different cars rather than watch the same video over and over…. Really gives you a chance to see a process applied, the commonalities and differences. Unlike a more generic tutorial, this limits your guessing what you actually need to do just to get the Miata up and running.

To avoid a recurring monthly charge, I just set up two emails and then “gifted it to the second one.


I’d budget 2 months’ to watch all the videos and be comfortable with your weekends learning. The in depth guides will also provide way more value when reading other posts here, actually understanding the problem and solutions.

 

I think I will go this route as it sounds to be the most efficient and cost effective way to gain knowledge. Also I believe you were the one that mentioned Evans performance academy in a prior thread I read along with a couple others on m.net.

Did not think about the 2 emails. Brilliant.

 

Evan is a great guy. It is worth just paying for an extra month if you need it. I would also suggest checking out his videos for his other ECU platforms.

 

I just spent cold hard cash on the Haltech Elite Master Training Course at Evans Performance Academy. They're running a sale, of course. THANK20 gets you 20% off.

I'll update when I've had a chance to view some content.

 

yup there's a sale. I was tempted to gift another month to me but at the moment ive been doing fine at tuning my megasquirt. I highly recommend a month if you are learning how to tune. Also recommend Andy whittle YouTube channel his stuff is free.