COMPARISON: Labonte Stage 2 Water/Meth Kit vs. AEM Water/Meth Kit

[The Great NY]

this is a copy and paste of a thread i have up on a couple forums. figured it could be useful to some of you guys. i'll keep updating it as i go. but this is current up to last night from about month ago:



I'm going to be doing an extensive comparison of these two kits. i have been running the Labonte Stage 2 meth kit for about 6 months now. Im going to offer a detailed user comparo between the kits which will include durability, user interface, build quality, overall features, price, standard features and etc. this will be an un-biased review and i hope when i am done it will help you all that are interested in runnig meth injection pick the better product.

gonna start off with some basics:


LABONTE STAGE 2 Water/Meth Injection Kit:

ISG-25 - Stage II - Forced Induction Engines



Description:
By reading manifold boost pressure, the ISG-25 delivers the needed amount of water-methanol based on engine load. The result is lower intake air temperatures and increase fuel octane for more boost or timing. Make the power you want without using expensive C116 race fuel !

Features:
• Methanol safe 250psi Pump
• VC-25 Injection Controller
• Includes FCS-10 Flow Control Solenoid
• High Atomization Injection Nozzles
• 15 feet high pressure hose
• 3quart Fluid Tank
• Complete Install Instructions
• Easy Installation and Setup
• 2 Year Warranty

Included nozzles are M5 and M7
Standard fluid tank is 3qt. Upgradeable to a 4qt (1 gallon) and upgradeable Fluid Level Switch

Price: $395.00



AEM Water/Meth Injection Kit



Overview
The AEM Water/Methanol Injection kit with 1 gallon tank includes all the elements necessary to do water/methanol injection right on nearly every forced induction gasoline vehicle. Imagine having the benefits of a super efficient intercooler and race gas-like detonation control but for hundreds of dollars less and all packaged in a complete kit. Run more boost and ignition timing to gain as much as 20% more horsepower while still using pump gas!

Key Features
Comes loaded with more standard high quality features and functionality than any other comparably priced system available, including:
· 1 Gallon tank with built in low level switch
· Boost referenced progressive controller
· “Boost Safe” readiness safety system
· One machined billet injector with integral check valve to prevent unintended flow
· Three interchangeable injector nozzles to cover a wide range of HP levels
· Recirculation-style pump with integral fittings
· LED dash light for system status and low fluid warning
· 20 ft. of injection tubing

Tank upgradeable to a 5-gallon tank
Comes standard with a fluid level switch

PRICE: $417









Ok, first thing I noticed is how compact the controller for the AEM unit is in comparison to the Labonte controller. The AEM controller is litterally about the size of a D cell battery but square. The labonte unit's controller is about the size of a portable GPS unit. So the smaller size may come in handy for putting it somewhere and being less noticable.

Also the aem controller has an actual test button on it. The labonte requires u to turn turn the adjustment dials a certain way for testing. I suppose the actual button may be a lil more conveinent.

Now I'm not sure if the aem unit always comes with the low level switch included. So I will have to ask. As I think labonte you have to purchase it separately.



UPDATE: i also forgot to mention something about the differences between the two. The Labonte uses an Electronic solenoid which should be mounted just before the injection nozzle. this solenoid is used to cut off the flow of fluid when the pumps stops. this is done to prevent gravity feed into the charge pipes.



now the AEM unit when a different way altogether. which is pretty nifty. instead of using an electronic solenoid they actually use check valve that gets screwed into the actual injection nozzle. i very interested to see how this works out as opposed to the seperate solenoid style like labonte uses.



my first notion is that since its right at the injection point it will offer better response than the regular solenoid style (iirc Snow, devils own and cooling mist all use the solenoids as well) whereas using the solenoid still leaves come length of hose and fluid between the injection nozzle and the solenoid.



ok, i have the AEM system up and running. was gonna install the monitoring system tonite as well, but ran out of time and i was tired, lol.

Anyway, nicole has my camera on a cruise she went on, so the following pictures were taken with my G2.

Since i already had the labonte setup to run off my stock washer fluid reservoir so i opted to keep as many variables the same during this comparison so nothing gets skewed. Reason i opted to use my stock washer tank to begin with is because i wanted to keep all my lines as short as possible. and also because i knew i would be running a "flammable" mix of meth so i thought it would be better to have the firewall between me and it rather than a seat given a worst case scenario.

The install wasnt much harder than the Labonte setup. although there was one less part to install with the AEM. Labonte uses and electronic type solenoid flow cutoff. whereas the AEM unit uses a checkvalve thats built into the nozzle right at the injection point. the pic below is of the AEM nozzle and checkvalve:





now, i may be losing my mind here. but about the pumps used in both systems. they look almost identical. i need to get some background info from labonte on their pump but i think they both have an internal bypass design. but for some reason the AEM pump is quiet as all hell. i was pushing the test button and didnt even hear the pump. so i kept pushing it and was like what the hell is going on. the LED was lighting and no faults were showing. so i go check the bottle and yeah, i emptied it, lol. heres the pump:



i mounted my LED status light right in front of the gauge cluster, but off to the left. its actually highly visiable when its on. i believe the LEDS are the same between both units.



the AEM injection monitoring unit comes with an inline filter. so i threw that part in as well now while i had everything apart:



i mounted the actual controller for the setup next to the lil pocket on the leftside of the steering column.



here is a side by side next to my turbo timer and boost controller for a size comparison. its way smaller than the labonte unit as i said previously




being as i had everything coming from my stock tank, i had to get a lil Mcguyver'ish on how to put the inline filter and such but still keep my lines short. i feel safer having fluid come to the pump simply by gravity alone. even tho both systems have a self priming pump. i just feel safer knowing that the fluid is always there and the pumps doesnt have to pull it as much to keep full. so i had to make a couple loops. and still only managed to use abouta foot and a half of line between the tank and pump (with the inline filter between that)





i took the car out right after the install to get some tuning done. and for some reason the car seems to pull a lil smoother under boost with meth spraying by the AEM unit. i may be bugging out tho. but each pull was crisp and abrupt, lol. the controller for the AEM unit comes with the capability of max spray settings up in the high 30's of boost pressure. the labonte you need to buy an upgrade or else its only a 25psi setting. the test button on the AEM controller is quite convenient. all you have to do is push the button to make sure the unit is running. the Labonte unit also has a test setting as well but it requires you to turn the setting dials a certain way. i used it a couple times and it works just as good. but the test button on the AEM unit is just more convenient. also, the AEM controller has a built in LED that flashes if there is a fault and pretty much tells you whats wrong. that is awesome. i used it already, lol.

when i first started turned on the car to test the system the error light was blinking. counting the error blinks indicated it was a low fluid issue. the AEM unit comes with a fluid level switch built into their tank. now as i said before i didnt use the AEM tank so the wire werent used. but the issue was since it wasnt used it was showing an open circuit to the controller and tripping that code. spice the two wire together and viola. error code fixed.

im gonna get some more stick time running the AEM unit. thus far i am very pleased with the System. i think the best thing to me is the LED that indicates errors. that can be big to someone who isnt the best at diagnosing issues. so thats a huge one up for the AEM over the Labonte unit. the built in check valve is nifty too. im gonna look at it more closely this week and check out how responsive it is. so far it seems just fine.

i'll be putting in the injection monitoring system over the next day or two.

more to come.

[Sacrilicious]

great writeup, man! i am definitely thinking pretty hard about getting the AEM kit. i did want to confirm something, though: you said that the inline filter came with the 30-3000 kit, but it didn't show up in the AEM picture you put up at the beginning of the writeup. i also looked it up on the AEM site, and they didn't mention that it would come with the 30-3000 kit. was this a brand new kit that you got, or did it come used, and previous owner threw the filter in without mentioning it? i'm hoping that the filter was a new addition to the kit along with the new pumps that they upgraded to...

[blackstar]

Very good write up. A meth kit is on my list of mods to order. Thank you for the helpful info. Also, I like where you mounted your boost controller.