Howard makes a good point. MoTec doesn’t seem geared for DIY. However, they referred me to one of their installers who is extremely knowledgeable and has been very responsive. His view is that MoTec provides great products and the best support bar none. He mostly does installs for race cars/teams and higher-end builds. He has a GTM in his shop now. When he’s had critical issues he’s gotten support on weekends, holidays, 2am, etc. Would I or any DIY’er get that support? Hell no, but he does and I’m his customer. I wouldn’t consider doing MoTec unless you find an experienced MoTec installer that you’re comfortable with (I wish mine was located closer). IMO, the right installer takes the support issue off of the table. Only time will tell how well it all works out for me, but so far I’m happy with the decision.
If you’re looking at MoTec you should check out their M1 ECU rather than the M800 series. I was surprised at how much more modern its approach was than the M800 and its less expensive to boot. I wasn’t expecting that level of innovation from a company that’s as established as MoTec is.
I think open source is great and as a software guy I spend my life working with it. That said, the car is a big project in and of itself and I wanted this part to be a complete solution that’s as reliable as possible (IMO high HP requires excellent TC + Brembo GT brake upgrade etc.). Also, if you’re going with a high-quality, color 7” digital display (as opposed to retrofitted tablet) the price gap closes plus you’ll have zero integration issues with it. When I looked at the numbers the thing that stuck out to me the most was a custom harness vs. modifying the stock LS one. But since I have a supercharger and intended to instrument everything the MoTec/custom harness approach was worth it to me. Your mileage may vary.