Megasquirt VS Speeduino | What will you choose?

MS used to be fun open project - and after all the free development it turned into a commercial enterprise for select number of a-holes. it has become so expensive to buy one that it rivals in cost to many of the professional units (like MoTec or FAST). Speeduino is still free.

RusEFI is definitely worth adding into the conversation as well. Open source, tons of options, features you won't find on other affordable ECUs, multiple retailers selling products based on it, pretty good community around it. I know this video is almost 2 years old now, so figured I'd just add this on. :)

for speeduino you can gut a factory ecu and mount it inside. This way you can solder the connections to the factory ecu header eliminating the junk screwed terminals. then you repin the harness and have a proper connector.

You mentioned MS wave soldering being superior to hand soldered Speeduino. I would suggest this is completely dependent upon the skill level of the person soldering. For example guided missile control boards are hand soldered by professionals and passed down a line of people who use visual magnification to check joint appearance / quality. Wave soldering isn't infallible as any imperfection / contamination can spoil your day. Dry joints etc are a regular occurrence in consumer electronics (usually wave soldered).

I've converted my 67 Datsun 2000 to EFI using Microsquirt V3 and 40mm Jenvey Heritage TBs and love it. The MS has been bullet proof, very well made, easy to mount and does everything I need. The 30inch pigtail that can be purchased with it is clearly marked and makes installation much easier, even for this electrically challenged owner. Don't see any reason to use a more expensive controller for a classic, non-emission car. The engine is built, and not only have I gained HP and torque everywhere, I get better fuel economy, instant starts, and consistent AF ratios whether I'm at sea level or in the Mountains. Awesome!

I worked at a plant that assembles SMD boards. There isn't any high precision about it. You gotta check every single board because shit gets placed wrong A LOT.

Interesting comparison and discussion. Thanks for posting. Several years ago I had a project to add wide spark control to an old 2 cylinder generator so I could fuel it with woodgas. I ran across Josh Stewart and Speeduino at that time. I learned TONS of info from him. Even bought an umpopulated board at the time. But I DECIDED to do it all myself and to make it all work with only an Arduino UNO. Eventually did get the job done. But it took a long time to solve that ignition drift problem, so I can emphasis with you on that issue.

You need to understand that he is reviewing an OLD Speeduino. They are on to a completely different board. many different boards for that matter. The 0.4XX boards are better and most of them are SMD. THe new dropbear unit has a good connector also. The board you have for speeduino is just out of date. Then you can get into the boards other companies make which are just great. I have had MS1 in a 400 HP 260z 15 years ago and I like speeduino much more.

I have MS on my motorcycle. I’d like to say that so far the unit has held up to the weather pretty good. I ride in the rain. The bike sits outside 247/365. Rain sleet sun and snow.

Megasquirt started out the same, I'm running micro in my Ford V8 TFI motor with batch fire and controlling dwell. Does great. I will have to look into this now too, thank you.

The microsquirt was without an internal map to save space. They do have external map sensor provisions. Also makes it universal to be able to run about any map sensor you'd like.

Great info, thanks for sharing. I have several projects waiting for me. I've been laid up for a while, but the doc says I can get back to my shop as I feel able. I think I'll go with the Arduino-based unit. Sub'ed

Before watching this I thought they were both opensource but turns out MS3 developers make public some (almost all) of the code and allows customers to modify it for their particular MS3/Pro unit. But no selling your modifications or even giving them to other people. Also you have to compile the code with their binary GCC module, so what actually ends up flashed to the device is anyone’s guess. I always thought they were both open source since tuner studio works on both, but no :P

subbed! thanks for the info

Agree the ampseal connector is a nice piece. I have some on my msgpio. I also noticed the bummer part of having the Phoenix connectors on the speeduino. One could always solder directly to the board of course.. not sure of you'll end up saying that in the video heh I'm 3:42 in.

My Micro squirt has lived in a z31 open to elements for several years never had a single problem

Never used speeduino. I've used 2 microsquirts though. There are limits with them and the MSextra forums are not always helpful, but I enjoy the challenge. With either, my guess is can't just expect all your issues to be solved fast. I had a drivable car quick enough, however sorting out unusual sensors or niggly issues takes longer. However, each solution is really gratifying. Tunerstudio is a far more powerful tool than I'll ever get the most out of.

Curious, the ignition drift problem keeps coming up. I know a few people that gave up on MS because they had an ignition drift problem that they couldn't track down. Tuner studio has an ignition latency setting that is supposed to fix it but I don't know if it works. Now speeduino is having the same problem... huh.

i like the microsquirt....run it on my turbo motorcycle....i use official GM 3 bar map,14point7 wideband,and control my water pump for intercooler

great content man thank you! i have a 10 cyl dodge ram v10 8.0 any suggestions for budget tuner