Anybody upgraded from older (CIS) fuel injection?

I 'retro-fit' from CIS to Webers and picked up 20+ hp in an 8 cylinder and much better response to boot. Not that expensive.

 

Bret Melillo converted to a TEC system and I believe the cost was pretty well up there. After getting the runners redone to accept the newer style squirters, fabricating an air filter conversion, fuel rails, etc., it ended up being as I recall in the $5G+++ neighborhood. That was on a 308 4 valve,FWIW.
I'd have to agree with Russ on this one on a "Best bang for the Buck" comparison. It would be wise to consider local emission regs as to whether it is feasable, as Webers can be a bit tougher to pass them, (or we could still get them on a F-car!)
I seem to recal Russ saying something about Pierce going to repro the Capo Manifolds that he is running on his Mondy. JMO.
Kermit
And ya gotta love that Weber sound!

 

Converting to a modern engine management system is the only way to go to really dial in a engine, especially if modifications have been made to the engine, exhaust, etc. While I love Webers, and have they on my Etype Jag, they do not give you the options that a management system gives. If that was not the case, you would still see Webers on modern race cars.

I currently have the Electromotive WinTec3 system on my 308QV, which I have installed myself, and am rather pleased with the performance. (Of course, another 100 HP would be nice).

As for cost/benefit, that question is much harder... Speaking for myself, and given what I use the car for, it was worth the trip.

 

I've been playing with the notion of replacing the CIS on my 328 for the following reasons:

Solid state electronics are generally considered to have a 20 year life span -- give or take a harsh auto trunk environment. If you "re-computer" the ignition, a modern processor can do both.

The CIS was very reliable when new ... but if it ever breaks, even Holy Zarquon can't diagnose the thing. You have to test every part one by one by one. (E.g. CIS has no OBD.)

That big honkin plate in the air intake just looks wrong. (And seriously impairs the throttle responsiveness.)

I'm told that there are performance cam options that open up once you get the airflow fixed, but the above are enough to be tempting on a "driver".

However; be aware that most aftermarket engine management systems are designed "for track use" and for a wide variety of cars. So they don't have OBD, either. (Being an uber-nerd myself, I don't worry about software: That's the "easy" part. )

But a point is that, as CIS cars are easier to live with on a daily basis than Webbers, EFI is easier to maintain than CIS (or will be fairly soon). (CIS has a good "time between failures", but the "time to repair" is abysmal.)

Webbers can be reliable, if you do your own work (and have the gizmos to sync them properly). Also, F-car shops tend to have more experience fixing Webbers than CISs. Not many CIS systems have gone bad on F-cars ... yet. Ferrari only used it from 1980 to 1990 or so. But ask any VW/Audi mechanic about the view that CIS "never goes bad".

But if you don't do your own maintenance, keep in mind that few (if any) F-car shops will be familiar with an aftermarket EFI, either.

So if you want your friendly neighborhood Ferrari shop to do your maintenance, you might be better off with Webbers, if you don't use the car every day.

But if you're planning boost (turbo or supercharger), you'll probably need to go EFI to handle the variable air charge.

 

Excellent post by DGS.
Would only take exception to the daily use thing - but exactly as he said -
I am comfortable with Weber simplicity. They certainly are very easy to diagnose and repair, and fail slowly, require no real special or expensive tools, as opposed to FI.

Hard to beat EFI for flexibility and total A/F control for sure though - it is the ultimate.

 

In the Porsche community tuners/shops made progress replacing CIS with throttle body injection, I think off of Mustang engines. Hot wire technology while not Motec efficient at least got rid of obstructions and reverse airflow sensitivity allowing high lift cams etc.

 

The Lambda "bolt-on" for CIS was notorious for "surging", because O2 sensors give readings that oscillate, and CIS has no means to "average" it out.