Introducing GEN VII - Seven Thrust

In the mid-'80s, the performance industry enjoyed one of the greatest periods of growth ever seen in automotive history. Spurred on by heads-up, street car-style drag racing, the emphasis of the car hobbyist turned from chrome and fluff to horsepower and lower e.t.'s on the quarter-mile. With the advent of fuel injection on all factory cars, the aftermarket industry harnessed the power of the computer to offer performance engine-management systems. This allowed sophisticated tuners to delve into the milliseconds of injector pulse width, air/fuel ratios, and engine timing to create engines with far greater efficiency than ever imagined.

ACCEL, now a member of the Mr. Gasket Performance Group, was one of those pioneers that developed a computer-controlled fuel-management system, allowing the high-performance end user to take advantage of the latest technology available. The company's Digital Fuel Injection (DFI) system, with all of its versions, upgrades, and add-ons, quickly became the standard by which all other tuning devisers were compared.

But time passed, new computer operating systems and processors were developed, and new fuel-management systems were created to take advantage of these. Most importantly, racers became much more sophisticated and learned more about what they wanted from their fuel injection. Now, with a full four years invested in market research and development, ACCEL is back with a completely new performance engine-management system full of innovations and advancements. Ladies and gentlemen, meet your next engine-management system-the GEN VII.

As stated, designed from the ground up with today's ultra-high-horsepower shootout cars in mind, the ACCEL GEN VII engine-management system is completely new. Users will find its many features and conveniences helpful not only in setting up this system on their car, but also in tuning and troubleshooting the engine during usage. Our photos and screen captures will give you a good idea of what's going on here, but to fully take in the breadth of this system, you will want to get a tour from an ACCEL/EMIC (Engine Management Installation Centers) distributor in your area.

When we started playing with this system, what struck us right away was the realization that there has been an unbelievable amount of time spent on the "feel" of the GEN VII. The main screen resembles the dashboard of a car, inherent with sweep gauges as well as digital readouts. This comfortable interface makes the GEN VII inviting from the second you fire it up. It encourages the user to investigate the different options, which will, in the long run, make you a better tuner of an already simple-to-use program. Most people will become confident with this system in their first introduction, especially if they have any experience with other stand-alone systems. Once you are familiar with this user-friendly system, you won't panic if your tuner wants you to do something to the setup while you're at the track and he's at his shop.

There are a few areas of the GEN VII that deserve special attention. The most obvious of these-once you get used to the ultra-fast, Windows-based software and ECU operation itself-is the quick setup of the fuel maps. This is revolutionary in the field of engine-management systems. By answering a list of questions in the Engine Configuration Screen regarding your engine combination (such as cubic inches, level of head porting, cam specs, intake track potential, transmission type, injector size, ignition specs, and projected horsepower), the GEN VII provides you with a conservative fuel map, custom tailored to your specifications, from proprietary tables of information developed by ACCEL.

According to Joe Pucciarelli of ACCEL, "In less than 10 minutes we can get you within 7 percent of your true base map. This is a conservative fuel map that we get from the engine profile."