FuelTech has made quite the splash in its first year exhibiting at the Performance Racing Industry Show with an eye-catching booth and interactive displays of its renowned touch-screen ECU’s, along with a host of its other products, from injector drivers and ignition controllers to O2 conditioners and wiring harnesses.

Of course, the nucleus of everything that FuelTech does is its range of ECU’s, which target varying demographics of the sport based on application and budget. From the FT600 situated at the top of the food chain down to the FT450, the software and the unparalleled features remain the same through the use of the company’s own FTManager — how they differ is in the number of inputs on the back of the case and the makeup of the cars itself. 

The FT600, with 20 input and 32 output channels, is commonly found on elite level racing machinery like those in Pro Modified and Radial vs The World. With this number of input channels, one can run their injectors, coils, boost controllers, and other systems directly off of the ECU without any compromises. The FT600 integrated dash is made from a waterproof aluminum.

The FT550, meanwhile, sports 14 input channels and 24 outputs, while the more entry-level FT450 — which FuelTech’s Anderson Dick says is targeted more at bracket racers or those who don’t need all of the added input channels — features seven input and 10 output channels.

“In 2016, we released the FT600 and we put everything into it — the software, the hardware, everything — to make it the best possible ECU on the market. It can power any application. We learned a lot from the development on the ECU and the software and our challenge then became how we could package this technology in a more affordable fashion,” Anderson explains. “The result was the FT550 — it has the same processor, same graphics, same software, but just fewer inputs and outputs. While it does have fewer channels, this can easily power a Pro Modified car because it still has a lot of inputs and outputs, and it’s $900 dollars less.”

“With the FT450, we reduced the inputs and outputs even more, and while it may sound like too few channels, it actually can run any type of car if you simply limit how many injectors you’re driving,” Anderson continues. “It can still do anything the FT600 can do — you can still control a V8 with coils or distributor, you can do nitrous control, transbrake, staging control, boost controller. It all just depends on how you manage your inputs and outputs. At $990, it does everything, and we think it will be very popular with bracket racers, street cars, and imports.”

FuelTech’s ECU’s are virtually an all-in-one solution for a racecar: from driving your coils and injectors (with sequential injection and ignition) to staging control, G-meter readings, shift control, data-logging, boost and nitrous system control, electronic throttle control, odometer, wheelie control, 2-step and 3-step, and even active traction control, the FT600, 550, and 450 can do it all and then some.