Motec M4

The M4 is our 4 cylinder/rotary Engine Management System (ECU) designed to provide you with the power and quality of our Pro series but at lower cost by letting you option in only the features you require. It is designed primarily for performance street cars & bikes but by choosing the optional features it is perfect for competition use, especially its sequential injection capability.

The M4 can control up to 12 cylinders and uses 3 dimensional mapping of engine speed against throttle or manifold pressure for improved accuracy. Ignition control gives you the ability to drive your ignition modules and set your spark timing to be at its absolute best at all points. Sequential injection lets you fire the injectors at the optimum time in the engine cycle and to adjust this for different engine RPM's. Advanced tuning gives many extra features including traction control, the ability to configure the ECU to your existing sensors, more load & speed sites and many other features. 512Kb of on board data logging is an option that lets you analyse the engine as it has been running. Configure the system to suit your needs and if you need more options later they can be enabled at that time. The M4 Clubman combines 3D mapping, sequential injection and ignition control into a package useful for the Club level enthusiast.

All M4 models have the accurate control necessary to meet legislated emissions requirements, including closed loop narrow band lambda control. The engine must, of course, be emissions capable.

The M4 can use nearly all original equipment and aftermarket ignition triggers, modules and coils, giving it unmatched flexibility. This avoids the cost and time needed to re-manufacture the distributor in order to trigger ECUs which are not as advanced as the MoTeC system. The M4 can be triggered by either a hall effect switch, a logic drive or a magnetic sensor, with various signal types and with intelligent signal filtering insuring proper signal to noise ratio at any crank speed. Electromagnetic interference can play havoc with electronic devices, and MoTeC take extensive preventive measures to reject low impedance conducted interference and to shield from radiated interference.

The heart of the M4 is a Motorola 32 bit microcontroller with a time co-processor, a choice which puts it at the leading edge of automotive control systems. Contained in a 132 pin surface mount package and consisting of over 420,000 transistors the M4 is built to internationally recognised quality control standards (ISO 9001). That the M4 reads its sensors 2400 times per second, and the entire control program is recalculated 200 times per second demonstrates its power. In personal computer terms the last PC to use a 16 bit processor was the '286' released in the early 1980's whereas 32 bit is still current technology. We were the first and to our knowledge the only people to have used this processor in this application.

MoTeC's unique software programmable switch mode drivers can trigger any injector with up to 70% less power usage than other products, drawing less power from the electrical system and generating less heat inside the ECU. Comprehensive diagnostics report on injector current usage and any wiring open/short circuit after each firing of the injector.

There is a comprehensive group of computer software tools available for the M4, including:
• Engine setup, tuning diagnostics and utilities.
• Monitoring, data logging and analysis.
• Utilities for loading new program code and enabling special features.
• This software has been designed with the emphasis on useability, enabling you to quickly optimise the setup for your vehicle. Alternatively most of the basic tuning parameters can be accessed by the use of a hand held calibrator.

Other thoughtful M4 features include the use of programmable flash memory chip to store the control program. This means that there is no program chip or EPROM to change to upgrade the program. When a new program feature is offered you simply send the M4 the new code over the optional MoTeC connector cable and the latest features are available to you. Flash memory has also been included for the internal data logging, meaning that the recorded data will never be lost even if power to the ECU is removed. Flash storage also enables the M4 to retain information without needing internal batteries which have a finite service life.