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Alphius wrote:Maybe Mike can chime in with his ESL experience, but for me on a 20G ECU with a RobTune, it took two or three starts literally every single time the temperature was below 50* or so. Seems like different people have different degrees of issues.

+1 (or 3)

I had the robtune, and it would cold start frequently. Nothing to do with the tune itself. I now have the ESL and it does a cold start problem maybe once every couple months. The esl is great, but I'm not really utilizing it to it's potential because I'm running the car with the same exact setup as when I had the robtune.

So if you're happy with a td05 on a stock 22t or even a ej20g, and don't plan to upgrade too far beyond that, the ESL is a waste of money. Another consideration about the ESL or any tunable ecu, is who's going to tune it. I'm not sure if most tuners will touch something that's non mainstream. The robtune has launch control and shows knock instances on your dash (it uses the CEL as the indicator), the compatible version of the ESL does not.

@Mike-tracy, where did you get your ESL tuned?

A friend of mine tuned it. I'll let him chime in if he wants to.

I tuned Mike's car.

My ESL is still running good after a couple years, and I just checked their website (http://www.enduringsolutions.com) and the price is down to £315. I paid £410. A really good deal if your local tuner is willing to deal with it.

They never added the "motorsport pack" to the ej20g version, that's strictly for the ej20k as an extra cost option. To be honest, I probably used "Launch Control" on my robtune a handful of times. Always on dirt, except for that one time when I was showing off to a friend, and literally blew up an 03 WRX trans lol.

Also, even though ESL mentioned their chip being able to run wasted spark (on a facebook post from a few years back), I did not see that option in the software. You'll have to run an ignition converter, just like with the robtune. If you have dohc heads, it's a perfect excuse to upgrade to coil-on-plug.

If I could do it again, I would get the plug and play "Link WRXLINK Ver 1/2." Its double the price at a minimum, but many/most tuners are at least somewhat familiar with it, and you can use additional input/outputs beyond those in the stock Subaru harnesses. I hear the tuning software is significantly more advanced.

mike-tracy wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2019 4:54 amIf I could do it again, I would get the plug and play "Link WRXLINK Ver 1/2." Its double the price at a minimum, but many/most tuners are at least somewhat familiar with it, and you can use additional input/outputs beyond those in the stock Subaru harnesses. I hear the tuning software is significantly more advanced.

I recently spoke to a coworker who came to us from GM doing powertrain calibrations. I sent him the specs of the Link ECU and he was impressed by it, said it should be a very powerful solution.

My ESL is still working good for almost 5 years now. It's in a different car (still an SS) and radically different engine (mix and match of parts, an ej22k with ej20g intake and electronics, ej205 coil on plugs). Like my robtunes, this one has a cold start issue occasionally. I mean, it's not really an issue because you aren't going to drive off without letting your 28 year old sports car warm up first, right?

The reason for this post is I convinced my friend to buy an ESL for his ej20g swapped impreza. I told him he didn't need to buy the cable because it looked like a generic Subaru SSM to usb. Well I was mistaken. I have both a genuine ESL cable, and an ebay cable. The ESL software rejects the generic cable and won't tune or even view the ecu with it. I tried Revscan and Evoscan with both cables, and they work.

So there's something in the ESL software that *blocks you from using a generic cable!* I know it seems expensive, £315 + £95 for the ESL and cable. But if you don't buy the cable at the same time as the ESL, the price goes up to £195 for the cable separately.

Just spoke with my buddy who is a distributor/installer for the Link ECUs. They are moving from the Link G4+ to the G4-X, which has a much faster processor, more memory for data logging and can utilize CAN for wideband, etc.

I'll be going this route probably before the end of the year, once they roll out the hardware fully and the tuner gets a bit more familiar with the new features and connections. I'm not trying to be a guinea pig, but not many will be putting these on a EJ20G, so I may well be...

It would be nice if they had a trade up/in program and kept the ECU connectors the same. I'd be willing to pay a little for new features. I could probably depin the old ECU connector and put it in the new connector....

I'd be curious to see what the connectors are like on the new ECU.

The new Link ECUs ARE plug 'n' play, so just install the board in your stock ECU case and go to town.

GeneralDisorder on the USMB is the fellow I'll be purchasing mine from, and will have it tuned at his shop. He owns Superior Subie & Import down in Milwaukee, OR.

Hmm....maybe I'll have to take a look

Josh, shoot me your email and I'll send you the info Rick provided me when I enquired about purchasing the older G4+. I asked a few questions about the differences and it sounds like this is THE way to go, moving forward with these old rigs.

Y'all know the title of this thread right

If I did it over again I'd go with a WRXLink, but as the SS isn't a "forever car" it's gonna stay.

Mike, ESL is quickly going the way of the Rob Tune. Now that their product is in the marketplace, they've basically abandoned it. No updates, no expansion of offerings and fairly apathetic customer service. The WRXLink IS the future of EMS for these powerplants.

carfreak85 wrote: ↑Wed Jun 10, 2020 7:22 pm Josh, shoot me your email and I'll send you the info Rick provided me when I enquired about purchasing the older G4+. I asked a few questions about the differences and it sounds like this is THE way to go, moving forward with these old rigs.

Email sent.

Thanks!

mike-tracy wrote: ↑Tue Oct 15, 2019 4:54 am Also, even though ESL mentioned their chip being able to run wasted spark (on a facebook post from a few years back), I did not see that option in the software. You'll have to run an ignition converter, just like with the robtune. If you have dohc heads, it's a perfect excuse to upgrade to coil-on-plug.

I have a copy of the tuning software that has the wasted spark option available. If you or anyone else needs it, I can probably dig it up. My car was the guinea pig for them as they'd bench tested the wasted spark option but hadn't tested it in a car yet. Worked perfectly for the year+ i was daily driving it.