Im in the process of installing a new old stock old Jackson Racing supercharger kit on my 94. The specific version of the Jackson racing kit I ended up with is carb certified, but the only engine management adjustments it prescribes is to retard the timing, and requires a minimum of 92 octane. This is obviously a terrible idea, and I have no intention of running the car like this.

I have an MS3 on my NB1 turbo car, so i've been there, done that. With the EPA cracking down more and more on tuners / performance shops, its made me curious about piggyback solutions. I found an old Begi Xede piggy back, which at first glance seemed great. A totally programmable piggyback, with clamp features seemed like an amazing concept.

After reading the Begi documentation, I am baffled though. The theory they used seems crazy. It all seems to be MAF based calculations. Also, all the documentation is poorly organized and poorly written.

Does anyone have actual tuning experience with one of these and could possible explain the technical theory Begi set these up using?

Also, I should say im fully prepared to chuck this thing and do something else. I just figured it would be an interesting experiment.

Docs im using a attached below.

 

What's your goal? What makes a piggyback solution appealing for your situation? It's not clear to me how the EPA stuff steers you toward a piggyback.

 

CARB legality? Not sure if the Begi unit is CARB legal but I can't imagine any programmable engine management is.

 

Its more of just an experiment. If I wanted to do this better and easier, I would just throw an MS3 at it and call it a day. Neither of my Miatas are daily drivers, so if one sits on the lift for an extended period of time, the only negative is that it bugs me. I like to fantasize about running my own performance shop some day, and the EPA stuff is a real bummer and makes that dream feel even more unrealistic. Working around the technical aspects of that dream is something I can do now, without too much investment. The logistical aspects, not so much.

Plus, with this being a new old stock kit, its kinda neat to keep the setup period correct.

Being able to meet the specs of CARB legality would be really neat. I don't think it really matters if the unit is programable or not, more that it meats the standards of the era in which the car was produced. I was looking over the EPA or CARB (can't remember which) for one of the Singer 911 engines recently, and I believe the cert primarily asserted that the engine met the original emissions standards.

 

I have the same questions I had before. Do you believe the Xede is legal?

If you want a solution that keeps the stock ECU for whatever reason you have, but allows for adjustable fuel and ignition a parallel ECU install is a reasonable solution. I've done it on a different platform to keep transmission control.

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I have had a fascination with parallel ecu implementation since the early days of this century, but never pulled the trigger, mainly because substituting the factory ECU with an aftermarket one was always an option for me. Piggybacks always seemed to me to be kludges, a very second-best solution. I'd love to see someone have a go at a parallel installation today. I think I remember some discussion about parallels with the NC, before tuning the NC's factory ECU became possible.

 

For sure, I get it. The car can pass a sniffer test all day, though, and will still fail a CA smog test if aftermarket performance equipment is found on it without an exemption number. I know it’s not a dealbreaker, but was curious if the Begi unit had a CA exemption.

https://ww2.arb.ca.gov/applications/...parts-database

Exemption database here. I didn’t see anything from Begi on there unless they’re listed under a different name.

Either way, good luck with figuring out the logic!