I'm helping a friend resurrect his Dad's Modified Roadster. He wanted a data logger. My first choice was RacePak as I'm somewhat familiar with their system. Unfortunately every combination of data logger and dash that we wanted was an estimated 6-8 weeks from delivery, way too late for Speedweek. Enter his chassis builder friend who uses AEM "all the time" and assures us he can help us set it up. We ordered the CD7LG dash, the 22-Channel CANbus module, and the eight-EGT module and a handful of sensors. We get everything installed and then the fun begins. First, there is no tach. Since the car has a magneto I put an MSD tach-signal generator on it. Although the instructions state in THREE places that you hook the tach signal wire to the negative coil terminal or tach output terminal of an ignition box, the reality is the AEM unit needs a 5-volt signal so you have to add a voltage reducer to make it work. Strike one.
Next was an attempt to download data. No joy. No matter what we tried "No data files to download" was our result. Started with the dash set to "log always", changed to RPM trigger, then oil pressure trigger but no luck. Spent two days with the friend trying to make it work and then the weekend with another friend who works with RacePak a lot but nothing makes the thing log data. Called customer service this morning, they emailed me a test program and it shows the memory is full and nothing to download. Tech guy says unit is faulty, send it back for inspection and repair or replacement. Uh, Speedweek is THIS week, not when you get around to fixing your crap. Strike two.
While dealing with the failure-to-log-data issue we tried to calibrate the TPS. Per the instructions, pages 15 and 16, "...go Setup>Display>Functions and locate ThrottlePosCalibration". Except none of that exists in the Setup menu or anywhere else. The other little gem is in the next line, "While monitoring live data..", except per the tech guy the AEM units do not allow for live monitoring. So I asked him how I was supposed to calibrate the TPS and he assured me I should have done that when I set up the dash. Not sure how that would work but didn't see any point in pursuing the matter with him. Strike three.
Then there's this little nugget; "IP65 Enclosure - "dust tight" and protected against water spray". Really?? You can't make it waterproof?? For $4000?? And forget the EGT module. It isn't even sand and hail resistant. Strike four.
The system uses mostly OEM-type sensors and their appropriate connectors. This helps keep costs down but they're not as waterproof as the RacePak design and you'd better have a library of connector bodies and terminals if you have to re-wire anything. The 22-Channel CANbus Module comes with some wires pre-installed and a bundle of pre-terminated wires for your other needs. Unfortunately the pre-terminated wires are only about eighteen inches long and don't reach anything so you have to splice every one to use it or buy the terminals and start from scratch. Strike five.
The documentation is also crap. Aside from the mistakes noted above there just isn't enough information to make the thing work. You either need someone who is familiar with the system to show you or spend your days getting to know the tech line guys. (Their names are Anthony and Dusty and they are friendly and as helpful as they can be under the circumstances.) Strike six.
There are a couple of good points; the ability to truly design the dash appearance is really nice. You can put whatever style and color of gauge or indicator wherever you want. Want a light that comes on on Wednesdays in the corner?? Go for it. Want a blue vertical bar graph for oil pressure, a pink round gauge for the tach, a yellow numerical readout for speed and a white triangular bar graph for temp, all arranged in a Star of David?? Just program it so. Want the entire dash to turn red for a warning light?? Okay. And the system seems more adaptable to off-brand add-ons, like sensors, than RacePak.
The shining beacon in all of this is Summit Racing Equipment. After getting the lackluster response from AEM we called Summit, the vendor where we got the unit. After a brief conversation they issued instant credit for the dead dash, are sending a replacement Next Day Air (our choice and expense for the shipping) and a call tag to return the other unit.
Presuming the new unit is functional when it gets here I'll continue this review with information on the data-logging and display portion.
TLDR: RacePak budget and Fischer-Price functionality. This unit is for the wannabe, poser, boy-racer with a straight-pipe on his Honda. if you have a real racecar buy a RacePak!!
Do I sense a bit of frustration? Hope the new unit is better than the first one! Good luck, Korey!
Why do we need all this electronic crap anyways ?
Because the guy your racing has it!