Hi all, Today i was thinking the pricing of aftermarket ecu's like Autronic, Vipec and Motec. Now for a Autronic SM4 is $2200.00 complete with wiring and all. Then install and tune and next thing its $4000-5000 grand. I think to myself geez for $2200.00 i can get myself a Sony W series or Samsung LCD 6 series LCD in 40inch for that much or a pretty sick Laptop or desktop pc. I can see 2200.00 worth in these items but for a little box with a board in there im not convinced its worth the money there asking. Im no electrical engineer of anything but comparing board sizes and what not of a LCD, laptop and desktop pc i would imagine that they probably do more than what a ECU does, in regards to processing. So why are we customers forking out so much for a ECU??? Id like to see whats all behind this so at least the ecu companies can justify there pricing as i dont believe we should be paying the money there asking. What are your thought's???

Everybody will buy a tv not everybody will buy a ecu... Things only get cheeper by demand. How many people buy a tv a year and how many people buy a ecu. Some are quite complex look into some of the motecs. My thoughs are that the basic ones are quite resonably priced, To think that we use on the street some of the ecu's that big $ race companys use , i think we are doing alright.

What he ^^ said. ECU's are a niche market but they require substantial development, therefore the costs have to be passed on to the end user. At a guess, there would be no more than $300-$500 worth of parts in them.

I'd look into buying a 2nd hand Microtech instead. Cheaper by 2K and does the job for most people. At the end of the day, for a car that sees street use on weekends and stuff like that I don't see why you'd want anything more. Sure Motecs, and Autronics have more tunable options and more outputs for various things, but unless you have plenty of money to spend on a car then I don't see the point. Maybe I'm wrong though? Maybe you really do need a Motec or something similiar lol.

I disagree. Street driven cars generally require better manners than the average racecar. Things like closed loop idle control, cold start options, fuel and ignition corrections and closed loop o2 sensor control all help to make the car streetable. Drag cars need WOT throttle and maybe launch control....how difficult is that.

Look into what a track car needs in a ecu alot more than is needed just for street manners. That is where all of our ecu come from race cars there is not many solely made for street cars. The motec is used very widely in the race seen I think the V8 super boys even use a motec.

Some good suggestions here but im still not convinced as if we talk about more volume = less price on the product is true to a certain extent. Im a sales rep and i see how much from Supplier to retailer makes and u will be supprised on how much the mark up is. I wouldnt be suprised that % GP would be over 50% Thing is these units are sold all over the world so i would expect a decent amount of units out there being sold daily. So i would assume there made in one factory then sent to each country. 1 example is AEM ecu which is sold in the US and there price for a stand along unit is high aswell and guess what, look at there population campared to ours so u would assume that the volume there sold would 10 fold the units here. So why arent there ECU's cheaper??? Believe me you guys will be very suprised on what u pay at the counter and see how much it costs the company to make a small electrical device.

Yeah the cost to actually make the device is small, but the engineers may have spent years developing it, obviously with no return over this period. These costs have to be recouped once the product is on the market.

Quote: Originally Posted by MICKYYYY Believe me you guys will be very suprised on what u pay at the counter and see how much it costs the company to make a small electrical device. And believe me that when/if you ever own your own business you will understand why there are such large GPs Aftermarket ECU's are like product on the market, being a sales rep you should know all about supply and demand. As much as you think these companies sell **** loads of aftermarket ECU it's just not true. Out of all the people you know what percentage of them run an aftermarket ECU... that includes all your parents mates, sisters, brothers, uncles, grandmas etc... Most aftermarket ECU�s are fairly priced imo

people will pay the price if they need one... otherwise you will have a standard vlt ecu with a gt3540 on it, massive injectors and then whats gonna happen??? If you want it for the tunability or whatever, you WILL pay, if not, well make your own.. its the same as everything, why is a lambo 650k+? where you can get a yaris for like 10k

I paid more for my turbo & manifold then my ecu ! Add the rest of it up and its a marginal price compared to the rest of the performance mods I want to keep in tune

Some people might say its a niche market but lets have a look which brands are in Australia. Motec Autronic Haltech Microtech EMS Apexi Gready Link The above companies have been in Australia for a while now especially Motec, Autronic, Haltech, Microtech, EMS and they have been releasing ecus every couple years. So this shows the market is growing and there is money in it. Think of how many of ur mates do a ECU and tune??? Vipec Morristech The above two have come into the Australian market in the last 12-24 months and Vipec is owned by Ray Hall turbo charges. Apparently he opened the business as Autronic were not giving good support anymore and went on his own. A turbo builder now in the ECU market, mmmm makes u think dosent it. Morristech are pretty new and from what ive been told the owner was a engineer in some car company and was sick of all the crap and went out on his own. He hand builds all his ECU and apparently there comparable to a Motec, i was told this from a big piston workshop that all sydney people would know of. So im still not convinced that there prices are justified and acceptable. Check these ECU's from Africa, yes i know 3rd world country but they seem alright and there cheap. A prime example of mark up's on ECU's. http://www.d**k.co.za/ This is there web store link http://cgi.ebay.com/ebaymotors/Engine-M ... QQtcZphoto http://www.perfectpower.com/ There are already 3 Australian Dealers and i know Joe from Crescent motorsports so ill ask him and get some info and let u know.

You'd be lucky if 0.01% of the cars on the road had aftermarket ECU's so spot going on like everyones got them VLTs have crap factory computers so they need upgrading once a few small mods are done... most cars come with decent computers these days

You always charge as much as you can get for something. People are paying that kind of money so why should they charge any less. You pay 10+K for a bottom end, 5+k for a turbo setup etc etc etc 4k for an ECU is chump change in the grand scheme of things. Until there is a certain amount of competition, and or supply exceeds demand prices will not decrease.

Its like comparing a 42" plasma screen with an indash DVD player and screen. For the same money you only get a 6" screen. Yes ECU's aren't cheap but its something you only have to buy once....

Please have a read in this post i made on another forum http://www.ausrotary.com/ucp.php?mod...04e900 a9c657 (http://www.ausrotary.com/ucp.php?mode=logout&sid=00944fd79743397e30cf04e900a9c657) U will see two poeple making there comments on the ECU industry.

ECU over priced? i think $2800 to install and tune is overpriced... or is that what the big workshops charge now days?

But you have to relise theres probably $350 for the tune alone plus the numerous hours it takes to install the ECU. Its not a 5 minute job, even for a pro.

motec can be epa approved, im going a microtech i agree there big money sh its me hard

Quote: Originally Posted by PSI086 But you have to relise theres probably $350 for the tune alone plus the numerous hours it takes to install the ECU. Its not a 5 minute job, even for a pro. haha are you serious? $2800 - $350 = $2450 $2450/$70 (average workshop rate) = 35 hours to wire it up? if you think thats acceptable i suggest you change mechanics ASAP it should only be a few hours work to wire up an ECU