Not much to report about the Syvecs Plug and Play ECU kit for the Ford Focus RS at this point: I've made an email inquiry to the company regarding their origins and heritage, as well as about the calibration that comes with their plug-and-play ECU replacement kits for the 2016+ Ford Focus RS, aka Focus RS Mk3 in the UK.
Syvecs appear to have a full lineup of sophisticated engine controllers and even an electrical power distribution unit (PDU) as well as a $1,300 GPS add-on module, which are not a products that you ever expect to see fitted on any tuned road car, so I was curious about where the company came from with all those products: you don't just fall from the sky with a full motorsport-oriented line-up, knowing it takes decades to develop such products and the software strategies that come with them.
Beyond the company's history, I was curious about how the calibration for the Ford 2.3L EcoBoost engine that apparently comes with the kit was made: automakers spend a lot of time not only to establish the base calibration for an engine (that is, the base spark advance tables, fueling, wastegate duty cycle and boost or torque targets, variable cams etc) but they also spend a lot of time on the road manners, cold start in any condition, performance at any altitude, transient corrections when suddenly accelerating, fuel economy, engine and ancillaries reliability etc.
While the initial mapping can be done on an engine dyno cell in a couple of days, the entire process takes months for a new engine and requires sending actual cars to the arctic circle during winter, to the mountains during summer, to some dry and hot desert, humid climate and what not, to actually test and adjust to real-life conditions.
In the case of the Focus RS, Ford documented the testing process for the whole car in a series of videos that can be watched online.
It is very important that all aspects of the engine calibration are set properly, and when replacing the ECU entirely, as in the Syvecs Plug and Play ECU kit for the Focus RS does, you essentially start from a blank page, actually more like a blank book, with hundreds of "maps" to fill in, as opposed to the usual "tuning", which always starts from the OEM calibration, changes a few parameters like the boost or torque targets, RPM limits and so on, then reflash the modified OEM data to the stock ECU, which is what companies like EcuTek and COBB are basically doing.
To my surprise, I got no answer from the company. After a couple of weeks, I sent the same email again with an additional note kindly asking for an answer.
This time, I got essentially a one-liner reply saying "talk to a reseller" - with none of my questions addressed.
I'm gravitating towards motorsport circles for a couple of decades now. Over the years, I've been in contact with many of the top names in the industry, from engine suppliers to electronics to transmission components to suspension manufacturers, all supplying the top names in the sport, and all my technical inquiries to any of these companies were always addressed with due respect and professionalism, yet the day I need a "little something" for my own road car, an aftermarket company seemingly popped out of nowhere sees fit to snub my inquiries. Not a good start.
At the very least, the company should have addressed the questions regarding their history and the origin of their products and asked for my location, then contact a reseller covering my area, asking them to contact me, or at least direct me towards the most appropriate reseller. This is what any company showing some consideration to new customers is supposed to do.
Since I could not get any answer to the questions I asked, I set out to figure out what I could by myself. In the meantime, I also searched the web for a reseller of their products having an online store and serving my area, and contacted them with the same technical questions regarding the origin of the calibration that was, perhaps, going to run my engine.
I got no answer from the reseller either, even after sending the inquiry a second time, again after a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I downloaded the Syvecs calibration software from their website. When I started it, a bell rang immediately: I had seen this software before, it looks the same as the LifeRacing software suite that is used to calibrate the ECUs that comes with the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 rally cars, and I happen to know two teams running those cars all across Italy/France/Switzerland, and one of my personal friends owns a car himself.
In a sense, this was good news: the Syvecs hardware really appears to be rebranded LifeRacing hardware and LifeRacing itself, despite being a relatively young company, has a clear motorsport heritage likely rooted in another (prestigious) company that was assimilated in a large group and eventually moved, leaving a bunch of highly qualified motorsport electronics engineers behind it in a small town in Essex, UK, and who used to sit 1/4 mile down the road from LifeRacing's current address.
It all started to make sense.
Moreover, the fact that Christian Loriaux, the technical director of the world championship winning M-Sport World Rally Team, that I've met on three occasions, has selected the LifeRacing system for their WRC2 Fiesta R5 customer rally car program, as well as for their Fiesta R2 customer program, is a huge vote of confidence in my book, and also a sign that LifeRacing was not just any new player in the field.
This also explained the extent of the lineup offered by Syvecs: there was no way on earth a newly formed "street tuning" electronics company with no ties in motorsports - I think I've heard all the good names - could possibly come up with such a line-up: made for who? Proven how?
I'd have been happy to learn this from Syvecs itself, something like yes, our products really are rebranded LifeRacing products, and so are the software strategies in the products and our software calibration suite, save for some adaptations that LifeRacing does for us to meet the specificities of the road cars we are dealing with.
That would have been a lot better than not answering at all.
Since email inquiries to Syvecs and to one of their reseller did not work, I turned to Facebook and wrote a mixed review on their company page and, based on the poor level of communication I personally experienced with them, gave them a two-star review, which for the memory means "Fair".
The review got some attention and a reply in the review's comments partially addressed my initial questions, but not in the way I expected.
To the question of the origin of the calibrations, I got somewhat vague answers ("the Engine has been calibrated from scratch on a chassis Dyno mostly but some Dev/calibration was done on the Engine Dyno"), and, more crucially, regarding the calibration that was supposed to come with the ECU, the verbatim answer was "We won’t just hand out base calibrations which have had hours of setting up on Engine and Chassis dyno to end users as they contain to much IP." (sic!)
When I asked if I understood correctly, that the ECU would not come with a good editable base calibration as a starting point, the company replied that "When a kit is purchased we provide a full base map which is designed for that ecu and to run a stock engine and car setup very well. Everything is unlocked apart from paddle shift control."
One interpretation of the above contradiction is the ECU goes to the reseller unlocked, then the end-user gets a black box that can no longer be edited because they "won’t just hand out base calibrations [to] end users".
All of a sudden, the "plug and play" programmable kit, where all aspects of the calibration are available, might turn out to be a locked-down solution where you have to turn to your reseller, which keeps the password to your ECU, for everything.
Yet, having got some answers, I decided to purchase a unit, and while doing so, I upgraded my review from two stars ("Fair") to three stars ("Good").
I went back to the reseller's website, added the Syvecs plug-and-play kit to the shopping cart (the item was marked as "IN STOCK"), paid the order in full and waited for my ECU.
After 48 hours of complete silence (I did not even get an order confirmation, just the payment confirmation from the payment processing company) I sent a short email to the reseller with sales@syvecs.com in CC, and the reseller finally replied that the product was on special order and would require about 7 days.
To my surprise, two days later, I got an email from Syvecs saying that my Facebook review (now at three stars - Good - remember) was "damaging the company's reputation" and that they ordered their reseller to cancel my already paid order.
Well, if that happens, I guess I'll have to shop for another programmable ECU solution for my car, and find another reseller.
Fortunately, I'm on good personal terms with two top suppliers of motorsports electronics, so it should not be such a big problem to overcome, just a lot of fun ahead with the wiring (I still have a bunch of Spec 55 wire, Raychem sleeves and some RT125 hanging around from previous projects) then I'll do what Syvecs probably did: spy on the OEM calibration with a COBB AP and calibration software, which I have, and copy the values to whatever system I'll end up using to establish the base calibration.
For the rest, I happen to be an expert in advanced powertrain control strategies, from anti-lag to launch control to gear change strategies to 2WD and 4WD traction control, with some of my engine maps winning or at least leading many races at national and international level in France, Switzerland, and Italy, from production cars (Group N - PWRC victory, Rally Monte Carlo 2001 and 9th overall) to Group A N/A and turbo engines (Zetec and Cosworth) to early World Rally Cars (Moutune-built Cosworth WRC), as well as an expert in engine mapping in general (MoTeC, Pectel / Cosworth Electronics, as well as, for road cars, EcuTek (Subaru) and now just starting toying with COBB).
I might even turn this little just-for-fun experiment into a product one day, who knows, so the Syvecs guys might just as well have spawned a direct competitor with their unprofessional behavior.
Either the Syvecs guys thought I was buying their product to replicate it (hint: no need) or they just simply ignored me like they likely ignore other prospects, as nothing in my initial unanswered inquiry was out of the ordinary. I guess they are not interested to talk to the "little guys" unless you own a Huracán in Dubai - at least this is what I take from my personal experience with them.
Rated 1-star on Facebook from me for now, for the poor handling of the communication matter.
Syvecs appear to have a full lineup of sophisticated engine controllers and even an electrical power distribution unit (PDU) as well as a $1,300 GPS add-on module, which are not a products that you ever expect to see fitted on any tuned road car, so I was curious about where the company came from with all those products: you don't just fall from the sky with a full motorsport-oriented line-up, knowing it takes decades to develop such products and the software strategies that come with them.
Beyond the company's history, I was curious about how the calibration for the Ford 2.3L EcoBoost engine that apparently comes with the kit was made: automakers spend a lot of time not only to establish the base calibration for an engine (that is, the base spark advance tables, fueling, wastegate duty cycle and boost or torque targets, variable cams etc) but they also spend a lot of time on the road manners, cold start in any condition, performance at any altitude, transient corrections when suddenly accelerating, fuel economy, engine and ancillaries reliability etc.
While the initial mapping can be done on an engine dyno cell in a couple of days, the entire process takes months for a new engine and requires sending actual cars to the arctic circle during winter, to the mountains during summer, to some dry and hot desert, humid climate and what not, to actually test and adjust to real-life conditions.
In the case of the Focus RS, Ford documented the testing process for the whole car in a series of videos that can be watched online.
It is very important that all aspects of the engine calibration are set properly, and when replacing the ECU entirely, as in the Syvecs Plug and Play ECU kit for the Focus RS does, you essentially start from a blank page, actually more like a blank book, with hundreds of "maps" to fill in, as opposed to the usual "tuning", which always starts from the OEM calibration, changes a few parameters like the boost or torque targets, RPM limits and so on, then reflash the modified OEM data to the stock ECU, which is what companies like EcuTek and COBB are basically doing.
To my surprise, I got no answer from the company. After a couple of weeks, I sent the same email again with an additional note kindly asking for an answer.
This time, I got essentially a one-liner reply saying "talk to a reseller" - with none of my questions addressed.
I'm gravitating towards motorsport circles for a couple of decades now. Over the years, I've been in contact with many of the top names in the industry, from engine suppliers to electronics to transmission components to suspension manufacturers, all supplying the top names in the sport, and all my technical inquiries to any of these companies were always addressed with due respect and professionalism, yet the day I need a "little something" for my own road car, an aftermarket company seemingly popped out of nowhere sees fit to snub my inquiries. Not a good start.
At the very least, the company should have addressed the questions regarding their history and the origin of their products and asked for my location, then contact a reseller covering my area, asking them to contact me, or at least direct me towards the most appropriate reseller. This is what any company showing some consideration to new customers is supposed to do.
Since I could not get any answer to the questions I asked, I set out to figure out what I could by myself. In the meantime, I also searched the web for a reseller of their products having an online store and serving my area, and contacted them with the same technical questions regarding the origin of the calibration that was, perhaps, going to run my engine.
I got no answer from the reseller either, even after sending the inquiry a second time, again after a couple of weeks.
In the meantime, I downloaded the Syvecs calibration software from their website. When I started it, a bell rang immediately: I had seen this software before, it looks the same as the LifeRacing software suite that is used to calibrate the ECUs that comes with the M-Sport Ford Fiesta R5 rally cars, and I happen to know two teams running those cars all across Italy/France/Switzerland, and one of my personal friends owns a car himself.
In a sense, this was good news: the Syvecs hardware really appears to be rebranded LifeRacing hardware and LifeRacing itself, despite being a relatively young company, has a clear motorsport heritage likely rooted in another (prestigious) company that was assimilated in a large group and eventually moved, leaving a bunch of highly qualified motorsport electronics engineers behind it in a small town in Essex, UK, and who used to sit 1/4 mile down the road from LifeRacing's current address.
It all started to make sense.
Moreover, the fact that Christian Loriaux, the technical director of the world championship winning M-Sport World Rally Team, that I've met on three occasions, has selected the LifeRacing system for their WRC2 Fiesta R5 customer rally car program, as well as for their Fiesta R2 customer program, is a huge vote of confidence in my book, and also a sign that LifeRacing was not just any new player in the field.
This also explained the extent of the lineup offered by Syvecs: there was no way on earth a newly formed "street tuning" electronics company with no ties in motorsports - I think I've heard all the good names - could possibly come up with such a line-up: made for who? Proven how?
I'd have been happy to learn this from Syvecs itself, something like yes, our products really are rebranded LifeRacing products, and so are the software strategies in the products and our software calibration suite, save for some adaptations that LifeRacing does for us to meet the specificities of the road cars we are dealing with.
That would have been a lot better than not answering at all.
Since email inquiries to Syvecs and to one of their reseller did not work, I turned to Facebook and wrote a mixed review on their company page and, based on the poor level of communication I personally experienced with them, gave them a two-star review, which for the memory means "Fair".
The review got some attention and a reply in the review's comments partially addressed my initial questions, but not in the way I expected.
To the question of the origin of the calibrations, I got somewhat vague answers ("the Engine has been calibrated from scratch on a chassis Dyno mostly but some Dev/calibration was done on the Engine Dyno"), and, more crucially, regarding the calibration that was supposed to come with the ECU, the verbatim answer was "We won’t just hand out base calibrations which have had hours of setting up on Engine and Chassis dyno to end users as they contain to much IP." (sic!)
When I asked if I understood correctly, that the ECU would not come with a good editable base calibration as a starting point, the company replied that "When a kit is purchased we provide a full base map which is designed for that ecu and to run a stock engine and car setup very well. Everything is unlocked apart from paddle shift control."
One interpretation of the above contradiction is the ECU goes to the reseller unlocked, then the end-user gets a black box that can no longer be edited because they "won’t just hand out base calibrations [to] end users".
All of a sudden, the "plug and play" programmable kit, where all aspects of the calibration are available, might turn out to be a locked-down solution where you have to turn to your reseller, which keeps the password to your ECU, for everything.
Yet, having got some answers, I decided to purchase a unit, and while doing so, I upgraded my review from two stars ("Fair") to three stars ("Good").
I went back to the reseller's website, added the Syvecs plug-and-play kit to the shopping cart (the item was marked as "IN STOCK"), paid the order in full and waited for my ECU.
After 48 hours of complete silence (I did not even get an order confirmation, just the payment confirmation from the payment processing company) I sent a short email to the reseller with sales@syvecs.com in CC, and the reseller finally replied that the product was on special order and would require about 7 days.
To my surprise, two days later, I got an email from Syvecs saying that my Facebook review (now at three stars - Good - remember) was "damaging the company's reputation" and that they ordered their reseller to cancel my already paid order.
Well, if that happens, I guess I'll have to shop for another programmable ECU solution for my car, and find another reseller.
Fortunately, I'm on good personal terms with two top suppliers of motorsports electronics, so it should not be such a big problem to overcome, just a lot of fun ahead with the wiring (I still have a bunch of Spec 55 wire, Raychem sleeves and some RT125 hanging around from previous projects) then I'll do what Syvecs probably did: spy on the OEM calibration with a COBB AP and calibration software, which I have, and copy the values to whatever system I'll end up using to establish the base calibration.
For the rest, I happen to be an expert in advanced powertrain control strategies, from anti-lag to launch control to gear change strategies to 2WD and 4WD traction control, with some of my engine maps winning or at least leading many races at national and international level in France, Switzerland, and Italy, from production cars (Group N - PWRC victory, Rally Monte Carlo 2001 and 9th overall) to Group A N/A and turbo engines (Zetec and Cosworth) to early World Rally Cars (Moutune-built Cosworth WRC), as well as an expert in engine mapping in general (MoTeC, Pectel / Cosworth Electronics, as well as, for road cars, EcuTek (Subaru) and now just starting toying with COBB).
I might even turn this little just-for-fun experiment into a product one day, who knows, so the Syvecs guys might just as well have spawned a direct competitor with their unprofessional behavior.
Either the Syvecs guys thought I was buying their product to replicate it (hint: no need) or they just simply ignored me like they likely ignore other prospects, as nothing in my initial unanswered inquiry was out of the ordinary. I guess they are not interested to talk to the "little guys" unless you own a Huracán in Dubai - at least this is what I take from my personal experience with them.
Rated 1-star on Facebook from me for now, for the poor handling of the communication matter.
Wow, it really stinks to hear about your experience with Syvecs. I've been looking into them as an option to do custom calibration with my MK3 Focus RS. I hope you still have yours as I would be interested to hear about your own progress. Take care!
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