Scottish Elises

First impressions of the PLX SM-AFR and DM5 gauge... I may post piccies when I get a chance...

Decided it was about time I got one of these myself, as I'm constantly tinkering with the Emerald and it'd be nice to have some proper feedback to see if it's having the right effect... Hiscot pointed me in the direction of the PLX stuff, after my rant about the Innovate LC1 - based on my personal experience and others that I know had with them. Great company to deal with - sent over from the states no problem (no UK distributor) - http://www.plxdevices.com They also do some really cool OLED based gauges - which you can completely customise, but they were expensive and probably a bit Fast & Furious, so I went for the basic DM5 wideband gauge, which does the job admirably.

Fitting was actually a piece of cake (for once) Wiring isn't complicated - you need a switched +12v and ground near the ECU, so I simply spliced into those feeds just back from the ECU plug (suited where I was positioning it) A third line is connected to the #2 Aux in on the Emerald (with a noise-filtering capacitor running between it and the ground - supplied also). The gauge is pre-wired for AFR reading (can also read Lambda) and the cabling just needed extending to run from the dash to the back of the engine bay. The controller itself is a shiny wee red anodised ally box - very clever as it can be daisy chained (along with the dials) and there are multiple modules available - ranging from coolant temp to EGT. There's a good length of loom that connects to the (supplied) Bosch sensor. In the box, I got enough cable and accessories to make sure I'd be able to install it anywhere with all the options, without having to source anything else. I really like when companies do this - I get the impression they care a bit more about the user experience than pinching pennies, which counts for a lot with me

How much for all this? Just over £200 when you take shipping and import taxes into consideration - for a product that (IMO) is in a different league of quality from the LC1, which wouldn't be much cheaper when bought with a display. Happy Shug

First reports are very good - quickly warms up and is showing logical numbers. It requires no calibration, so it's really plug in and start mapping. Setting up the voltage/AFR in the Emerald datalogger takes about a minute and then you're running with logs of load sites, speed sites and AFR on a single graph within minutes.

Of course, the new K3 Emerald can automatically adjust the maps to match AFR targets in each load site, so mine will be going for upgrade (for a very reasonable 50 notes) just as soon as one of my other sheds gets some tax on it to cover the week or so that the Emerald will be away.

you could always borrow my emerald for a week ;-P least then I'd know if it is the car or the emerald..hehe..

Will it run VVC is the question... One way to find out I suppose

Top work looking forward to seeing it in action

second what shug has said
plx service is fantastic you can even use pay pal but i just rung up, a few card details and it was here before i knew it (pity post office stung me) i went without the gauge as i have other options but the gauge was only about $40 i should of got it rely
its controler is tiny compared to what it looks on site excellent build too
my lc1 has been fine but as the dta ecu that i use, now has a check box for the plx and the plx is self callibrating a weak point with the lc1( i use target lambda ) i decided to upgrade for my new winter engine install it was also highly recommended on the dta forum
yet to fit mine but looking forward to it

Shug wrote:First impressions of the PLX SM-AFR and DM5 gauge... .

WTF???

Am I the only one who thinks Shug dropped something on his key board?

Dominic wrote:

Shug wrote:First impressions of the PLX SM-AFR and DM5 gauge... .

WTF???

Am I the only one who thinks Shug dropped something on his key board?

Hint: you're reading 'Technical'

thats you telt!

Now go and work out some other dastardly scheme to save us some more money
You know an S1 makes financial sense over a Golf, cheaper tax, more MPG, cheaper to buy, don't rust...

Shug wrote:

Dominic wrote:

Shug wrote:First impressions of the PLX SM-AFR and DM5 gauge... .

WTF???

Am I the only one who thinks Shug dropped something on his key board?

Hint: you're reading 'Technical'

Ah I see, this must be what happens when I run out of stuff to read in 'general' ......

Sounds really gooe shug, as you know I cant alter my ecu just need to monitor the results after its been modded down south. My LC1 has just packed up, just the sensor but was gonna look for something different as Id like to be able to log rpm, something the LC1 cant do, is it possible with the plx?

Not internally - it just has the same sort of 0-5v output to an external logger.

rpm's the only thing id like as I dont have a logger, used to use the logging function of the kpro when I had the honda but now its a nightmare. Think ill stick with the lc1 for now, new sensors only 40 quid but Ill keep it in mind when it fails, cheers Craig.

have just ordered one from EDO performance. Don't want/need the gauge so mine came to £149.00 delivered which is £10 cheaper than the LC-1 I already have. Like the idea of no calibration, although I would like to narrow the range of the sensor from it's 10 to 20 AFR to 11 to 16 AFR to improve resolution. Don't know if this is possible but it looks a better bit of kit than the LC-1. Will post up pictures of the install in about a week once it arrives.