elp

Hey folks,

I wanted to provide my feedback on the MS Labs Mini w/OBD that I purchased for my 04 MSM back in December. I chose the Mini with OBD because I was looking for EVAP support without having to rig something up. Controlling the purge solenoid on the top of my list of features I was looking for, second was Immo support. I am not going to lie, both had some challenges early on. But I was able to work with Reverant to get them working with a few firmware updates.

The first firmware revision that I received was to support my AEM wideband over CAN. The AEM was not my first choice, but I had too many issues with CL idle using the Spartan. So I went with an AEM. Unfortunately, AEMnet conflicted with the MegaCAN that the Mini w/ODB used for internal communications between the MS3 and the MS Labs secondary processor. Reverant updated his firmware to allow both the 29-bit AEMnet and 29-bit MegaCAN to coexist. I won't get into the details since that is part of his intellectual property. But I have both working.

2nd fw revision: Support for the newer US immobilizer. This took some work on my part. I had to scope the K-line signal between the immo module and the stock ECU. Lesson learned don't buy a cheap 'toy' scope from Amazon. I wasted a lot of my time and Rev's. I upped my scope game a bought a Pico. Within an hour after sending Reverant the waveform I received the new firmware.

3rd /4th fw revision (EVAP) : We went back-and-forth to dial in the conditions when the purge valve should open. He added support for an number of user tunable conditions, RPM, TPS, MAP, speed and engine run time. It is nice not having my car smell of fuel.

End result: AEMnet and MegaCAN coexisting, Immo support and EVAP purge operational.

There is another fw revision that he released for catalyst warm-up. I have yet to load that one. Maybe in the coming days. The cool thing about this ECU you can read faults using a OBD scanner. Perfect for the time when you don't have your tuning laptop with you. I still think this feature needs a little more work (seeing some weird codes from the stock O2 sensors), but then again I haven't provide the logs Rev requested. Nonetheless a nice thing to have. Now to figure out how to get the readiness codes working.

Features yet to be explored:
EGR
Catalyst warm-up
Valet mode
VICS/VTCS
Readiness

Features I will probable never explore:
Launch
Flatshift

As other reviewers have pointed out. Reverant's base maps are friggin awesome. My car started on the first crank.

Rev's level of customer service has been outstanding. I was initially concerned with using a vendor that was 9 time zones way. But I haven't had any issues getting in touch with him. Send him an email before sign-off for the night and read his reply in the morning. It actually worked well for me. I guess you can call him during his normal business hours. I just didn't have the need.

If there is anyone looking for a MS3 with advanced features for a 01-05 Miata and great support check out MS Labs.

HarryB

That's excellent to hear; are these/any idea if they will become standard features in the latest crop of MS3 minis? If yes I would buy a new one just to have these.

elp

I know Reverant is in his final phase of testing of the new Mini Plus. It should be generally available within a couple of months. I learned about it when I asked if he had something for my son's NA8 which supported purge.Summary of feature set:
- Wideband controller
- Purge Valve control
- Catalyst warmup
- Fans, A/C, alternator, etc
- No EGR
- Some OBD but not as advanced as the OBD ecu (for example: sensor checking but not outputs checking)

There will be variants for the NA1, NA2 and NB1. The NB2 variant is the Mini w/OBD.

This isn't a product replacement. The normal Mini will continued to be offered along with the more advanced ECUs.