Spartan 3 CAN Wideband Lambda Controller - Haltech - Link - MS3

After many years of success and thousands of vehicles running its predecessor the Spartan 2 wideband, 14point7 have been working away on the successor to one of the worlds toughest most reliable and accurate widebands the Spartan 3. It’s here and has landed with a bang, the Spartan 3 CAN lambda controller is without a doubt one of the best wideband products on the market today and at a price point that makes them available to almost every performance car enthusiast. They have one of the broadest supports of different CAN protocols out of any wideband on the market, with support for some of the world leading names in aftermarket vehicle ECU’s, and that list of supported ECU’s is still growing thanks to 14point7’s tireless devotion to adding support for more vendors CAN protocols. Along with the exceptional CAN side of things, the Spartan 3’s actual wideband features and function is almost second to none as well. The response rates for the Spartan 3 when coupled with their ADV sensors is a blistering 10ms, not even AEM’s X-Series wideband can achieve this and comes in around 20ms.

There has been some serious upgrades in technology used in the Spartan 3 CAN, from being built on a completely new microcontroller which is the brains of the operation an ARM Cortex M4, to the ability of using good old 4.9 02 sensors or the choice of using the latest in 02 sensor design and technology by supporting ADV sensors as well. Then we have the CAN communication added with support for big brand name ECU’s such as Link, Haltech, Adaptronic & Megasquirt 3 MS3 with more ECU’s being added as we speak. The Spartan 3 is one hell of a CAN wideband controller, and again 14point7 have managed to achieve all this without asking you to break the bank to be able to afford one.

If you are looking for a high end wideband to compliment your vehicle that is running an aftermarket ECU, and want to be running the signal from that wideband back to your ECU in a digital format instead of the older analog signal style, then the Spartan 3 CAN is a serious contender that should be a consideration regardless of their lower price. We have a range of 02 sensor options for the units, our JRP 4.9, genuine Bosch 4.9’s and for those serious about using the very latest in 02 sensor tech we have 14point7’s own ADV sensors as well. These cutting edge widebands will tick almost every box no matter your setup or situation, so take some time to have a read of the tons of info we provide below on what makes these little units one of the best CAN wideband controller options in the market today, and if you have any questions we don’t answer with all of the information below, feel free to reach out and we will only be too happy to help out.

GAUGE OPTIONS AVAILABLE

This wideband controller kit does not come with a display gauge, this package is mainly aimed at customers that are looking for a CAN wideband controller & 02 sensor package to connect to their aftermarket ECU’s via the CAN comms protocol, ECU’s such as Link, Haltech, Megasquirt MS3 for example. With saying that, some customers who are using these wideband controllers for their CAN capabilities will also want a gauge to display the readout from the wideband along with it being connected to their vehicles ECU, so for customers that plan on using this wideband with a CAN supported ECU, but also would like a gauge to display the readouts there are a couple of options.

One is our multi gauge systems support the analog output found on the Spartan 3 and can be run into the control unit from the multi gauge base pack so then the 14in1 gauge can display the AFR output from the wideband on the screen, when the Spartan 3 is connected to our multi gauge, the screen will display readouts of 10 to 20 AFR, or the units can also be setup to display a Lambda readout instead of AFR in the range of 0.68 to 1.36 Lambda.

We also sell the Spartan 3 CAN bundled with our Edge 52mm AFR gauge, this gauge like the multi gauge can support an AFR readout of 10to 20 AFR, and also supports displaying Lambda in the ranges of 0.68 to 1.36 as well.

Below we have links to our 14in1 displays, and the Spartan 3 CAN bundle which comes with the Edge 52mm gauge. Note if you aren’t planning on using the CAN function on these wideband controllers and running their output back to a CAN enabled aftermarket ECU, there is no need to buy these CAN models and the Spartan 3 Lite would be the way to go. Any questions about which wideband and gauge is going to be most applicable to your application, feel free to email, call or message us anytime and we will be happy to help.

JRP LSU 4.9 02 Sensor

The first 02 sensor option we have to choose from is our JRP 4.9 LSU 02 sensor, these are the sensor that come with the kits as standard at no extra cost to the base price. Since we started JRP to a large degree we have been in the sensors business, our multi gauge systems rely on the sensors being accurate, reliable & durable, so we have a great deal of experience in this area. After years of selling 14point7’s wideband products we decided to produce & supply our own high quality 4.9 02 sensors that could live up to the Bosch 4.9’s, offering an alternative to the Bosch sensors at a reduced cost. Everyone has a budget, so we can now offer customers a 02 sensor at a reduced cost knowing they are in line with the quality, accuracy & durability of the Bosch 4.9.

The development of these sensors consisted of us having 14point7 run lab gas tests on the sensors for accuracy, sending samples to Dyno shops to get a thrashing, where they were run in parallel with high end dyno widebands to check for accuracy & durability, along with being used as their primary sensor for tuning customers cars. Then real world testing where we have had them installed into daily driven performance vehicles for the past 2-years, and the results of all these tests was that our JRP LSU 4.9 sensors are a lower cost equivalent to the Bosch 4.9’s in every respect.

Bosch LSU 4.9 02 Sensor

The second 02 sensor offering customers can choose when ordering the Spartan 3 CAN wideband from us is the good old Bosch LSU 4.9 17025 02 sensor. The Bosch 4.9 02 sensors have been the industry standard for widebands for some time now, replacing their original 4.2 design, being Bosch you know they are quality. We specifically import these sensors from the USA to here in Australia for these kits, you can be assured they are genuine Bosch wideband oxygen sensors bought from Bosch motorsport in the USA. These are the sensors we used as our standard to achieve when designing & producing our JRP 4.9 LSU sensors, so if you are wanting a big brand name 02 sensor to go along with your wideband and don’t mind paying a little more, we have these as an option for when buying your Spartan 3 wideband controller from us.

14Point7 LSU ADV 02 Sensor

The third 02 sensor offering we have is the 14point7 ADV LSU, these are aimed at higher end applications where customers want the very best available. 14point7 manufactures these ADV sensors and use genuine Bosch ADV 02 sensor internals to create a cost effective but extremely robust and blisteringly quick wideband oxygen sensor. This is top of the line oxygen sensor technology and has had some significant improvements to its design compared to the 4.9 02 sensors. They first redesigned the sensing element, the ADV sensors now use a Linear design for the element instead of Radial used on the standard 4.9 sensors, this has some distinct advantages when it comes to response rates, life expectancy and overall toughness of the sensors. The heater design has also been improved for reduced power demand, the sensors are now also less prone to thermal shock which is a major killer of 02 sensors thanks to the redesign of the sensor element. If you want the toughest, fastest responding & most durable 02 sensors for your application, the ADV sensors are the best choice. Since customers buying these CAN widebands are doing so to connect to their ECU’s such as Link or Haltech for example, we think in most cases it’s worth the extra money to go with the ADV sensors, this way you are taking full advantage of the latest tech found in the Spartan 3 CAN wideband controllers. The response rates will be a tad faster than using a 4.9 sensor, the wideband controller itself actually has a specific setting for when using an ADV sensor instead of the 4.9, and that’s because there is a pretty decent difference to how the wideband controller interprets signals from these latest sensors and a decent amount of development went into the Spartan 3 in regards to being able to make use of these latest gen tech in wideband 02 sensors. Since it doesn’t cost a fortune to upgrade to these sensors, we think for people running these units into the ECU’s over CAN, you might as well pair the very best 02 sensor tech to the controller.

Lightening Fast Response @ 10ms

No one likes lag, the Spartan 3 has a blistering response rate of just 10ms, and yes you read right just 10ms, even some widebands that cost more than 2x the price of these units can’t get that close. The Spartan 3 CAN is the fastest responding wideband controller in the world today, this has been achieved by 14point7 being one of the forerunners in wideband development technology, their tireless pursuit of developing the best possible wideband controller technology for their customers. Where other brands are using wideband controller tech that was developed over a decade ago or longer and just milking the market without any further R&D, not 14point7 who continue to invest in R&D to keep making their products better, faster and remain relevant. Another key sign of this is the Spartan 3 having support for the latest in 02 sensor design and tech the ADV sensors, not many wideband products have even made this step to utilize these latest sensors, but Spartan 3 has which should also tell you something about 14point7.

Link CAN Support

The Spartan 3 can be set to directly emulate the Link CAN protocol, and so will allow them to be connected to Link engine management systems that support CAN lambda controllers for simple and easy communication of wideband data into your Link ECU over their CAN protocol. Being that the Spartan 3 will emulate the Link CAN protocol, this makes the setup process extremely simple, just select Link CAN lambda wideband in your ECU software and the Spartan 3 CAN will start sending wideband data to your ECU, simple as that. Link and 14point7 worked together to make sure the implementation and support for the Spartan 3 was solid, both Lambda & sensor temps are reported directly into the ECU.

Adaptronic CAN Support

Just like Link, Adaptronic also added support for the Spartan 3 CAN wideband into their ECU’s to communicate over CAN instead of analog, so if you own an Adaptronic ECU that supports CAN such as their latest Modular series, you can select the Spartan 3 as a CAN wideband device in your ECU software to get a stable and reliable wideband signal into your ECU over CAN. It’s a simple case of setting the appropriate CAN protocol for Adaptronic on the Spartan 3, then going into Eugene’s wideband setup section selecting the Spartan 3 from the drop down and off you go.

Megasquirt 3 CAN Support

14point7’s default CAN protocol on the Spartan 3 is now compatible with the Megasquirt 3 also known as the MS3 range of ECU’s. 14point7 has a long history of supporting the Megasquirt community and this has continued with their very latest Spartan 3 models bringing one of the very best CAN lambda controllers on the market today to Megasquirt 3 users. Now you are able to communicate directly with your MS3 ECU over CAN for a completely digital signal for your lambda data and sensor temperatures.

Haltech CAN Support

14Point7 is shooting for a wideband product that supports more ECU’s out of the box using the CAN protocol than any other wideband on the market, and they are very much getting there with Haltech ECU’s being added recently on top of the already supported ECU’s we mentioned above. If you have a Haltech ECU that supports CAN, then you can now also use the Spartan 3 CAN wideband products with your Haltech ECU’s. If you are unsure if your Haltech ECU has CAN, give the guys at Haltech a call as they are extremely helpful and will be able to confirm this quickly for you. Of course, you are welcome to shoot us an inquiry as well and we would be happy to help. Haltec has always made sure to support decent aftermarket wideband products, and had the option of running the good old Spartan 2 widebands into their ECU’s via analog input, but now if your ECU is CAN enabled, you can now use these Spartan 3 widebands via the CAN communication method for a completely digital transmission of your AFR readings from this wideband to your ECU.

Firmware Updateable

Because the Spartan 3 CAN has a USB to Serial converter on-board, it is possible to update the units firmware using a Windows 10 laptop or PC. Unlike some other wideband products where updating firmware or making changes to settings required cumbersome serial cables and access to a laptop that even had a serial port, the Spartan 3 with its built in serial to USB chip makes updating firmware or changing settings on the units a much simpler process. You just need a laptop or PC that is running Windows 10, plug in a USB cable and install a simple terminal app which can be used to change the settings on the units, update to the latest firmware. Having the ability to update these units firmware can help future proof your purchase, as if there is any improvements to the firmware made by 14Point7, it’s a simple process of just updating the units firmware to take advantage of any additional features or improvements they have come up with in the firmware / software side of the wideband controller.

0.01 Lambda Accuracy

14point7 takes extreme pride in the accuracy of their Spartan 3 CAN lambda controllers, because of the high quality components used and their extensive factory calibration process each unit goes under, this little unit boasts a 0.01 Lambda accuracy out of the box. Another feature of these is that they do not require any free air calibration. Something else 14point7 do that not a lot of other widebands do is run a dual ground setup, now this is really most applicable when utilizing the 0-5v analog out on the controllers, so if using these over CAN and not using the 0-5v out it’s not as important, but if you are running a gauge off the 0-5v analog out on these lambda controllers, this dual ground setup helps keep the signal extremely stable and accurate, without this in place analog outs on widebands can be noisy and readings jump around more than they should.

Monitors 02 Sensor Temp

Another handy feature of the Spartan 3 CAN wideband controller is that it can measure and report 02 sensor temperature, some of you might not know why this can be helpful, so we will explain. It is important when placing your oxygen sensor in your exhaust to not only angle the sensor correctly, but also to place it where the sensor is not exposed to too much or too little heat, getting either of these incorrect can lead to premature failing of the 02 sensor. The Spartan 3 CAN comes with a little LED on the wideband controller itself which will blink slowly if the sensor is too cold, or blink fast if the sensor is too hot or stay solid if 02 sensor temp is optimal. One of the main causes of premature sensor failure is related to improper placement or treatment of the sensors, with this added little feature you can be confident your sensor is running at its optimal running temperature.

Wideband Analog Output

The Spartan 3 CAN also has a linear wideband analog output, which is still used even if these have been connected to your ECU via CAN, as you will still need to use this output to send AFR / Lambda data to our 52mm gauge as an example. While those with CAN enabled ECU’s such as Haltech, Link, Adaptronic or Megasquirt 3 can take advantage of running the CAN signal from these units into their ECU’s, for gauges the analog output is still used and required. The Spartan 3 CAN has a high performance analog 0-5v linear voltage output to use with gauges. 14Point7 have stepped up the game on this part of the wideband controller, this output is now handled by an internal 12-bit DAC which is part of the ARM Cortex 4 microcontroller with a tolerance of 0.1% to voltage reference. This high performance analog output is further made incredibly stable & accurate by the dual power design & noise filtering properties of the latest Spartan 3 Lite hardware. So while your ECU is getting a perfect digital transmission of the AFR data to that side of things, it was still important to make sure the analog output on these controllers was top notch as it's what will be used to send AFR data off to gauges or any datalogger that isn’t able to make use of the CAN stream.

ARM Cortex Inside

The Spartan 3 range of wideband controllers have had a major update in the microcontroller side of things, all units in the range are now equipped with a ST Microelectronics ARM Cortex M4. The Microcontroller used on wideband products are important as they are responsible for handling the very time critical computations required for fast response times, analog to digital conversions, features like CAN Bus, being able to flash update the firmware on units, and to a large degree overall how the wideband will perform in the real world. The ARM Cortex M4 is an extremely impressive microcontroller on paper and 14point7 have made use of this powerful little unit to be the heart and soul of the Spartan 3 range of wideband controllers. When buying any of the Spartan 3 range for your application you can rest assured you are getting a unit with an extremely powerful little microcontroller working behind the scenes to bring you one of the fastest, most accurate and durable wideband products on the market today.

Dual Power + Noise Filtering

Another high-end feature that you will find on the Spartan 3 range of wideband controllers is 14point7 has separated both the power & ground circuits for the wideband controller electronics and the 02 sensor heater. There is a dedicated power source required for both the wideband controller electronics & for the oxygen sensor heater. So, with the Spartan 3’s there are two +12v power feeds and 2x grounds required when installing. There is a couple of good reasons for this design choice, the major one and was also present on the Spartan 2’s in the form of a dedicated ground for the 02 sensor heater is having the second ground has proven to stabilize and reduce overall noise on the outputs which is where your wideband signal comes from when connecting to gauges giving a much more stable and accurate reading coming out of the controller to your interfacing device, such as gauges, ECU’s etc. You will find in high end wideband controllers they also run a dual ground setup like the Spartan 3 has and for a good reason. Most other wideband controllers like Innovate, AEM etc do not do this or if they do it is on models at much higher prices, so this is just another reason why the Spartan 3 is a cut above the rest in this price range.

Another good reason for adding the second power source instead of just another ground is now the wideband controller electronics is protected by a 250ma fused circuit, where the 02 sensor heater is protected with a 5A fused circuit. As you can see there is a major difference between the electronics draw and the heater draw. Having the two separated and only allowing a max 250ma draw before a fuse pops on the electronics side is going to go a long way to protecting the wideband circuitry.