EFI Technology Inc. founded by Graham Western in October 1988 is an independent high-performance automotive electronics engineering company based in

Phoenix, Arizona Phoenix ( ) is the List of capitals in the United States, capital and List of cities and towns in Arizona#List of cities and towns, most populous city of the U.S. state of Arizona. With over 1.6 million residents at the 2020 census, it is the ...

. The company is well recognized for innovative ideas, advanced digital electronics and software for both the aerospace and racing industries. After earning a master's degree in engineering from

Cranfield University Cranfield University is a postgraduate-only public research university in the United Kingdom that specialises in science, engineering, design, technology and management. Cranfield was founded as the College of Aeronautics (CoA) in 1946. Throug ...

in Bedfordshire, England, Graham Western gained several years experience developing Formula 1 and Indy Car engine management systems while working at

Cosworth Cosworth is a British automotive engineering company founded in London in 1958, specialising in high-performance internal combustion engines, powertrain, and electronics for auto racing, automobile racing (motorsport) and mainstream Automotiv ...

Engineering. In 1987 he moved to Torrance, California and worked as an engineer for Michael Andretti's Indy car team prior to founding EFI Technology Inc. in 1988.

Corporate history

The company has a strong racing background introducing its first fully user programmable ECU in 1988 which was adopted by

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Motorsports for its

IMSA The International Motor Sports Association (IMSA) is a North American sports car racing sanctioning body based in Daytona Beach, Florida, under the jurisdiction of the Automobile Competition Committee for the United States, ACCUS arm of the Féd ...

racing program. The products success led to interest from several other engine manufacturers and the company expanded its product line designing additional systems for the Automotive, Off-road and Marine industries. In 1990, the company was contracted by TRD to develop an ECU for its 503E engine program. The 503E was one of the most successful

Toyota is a Japanese Multinational corporation, multinational Automotive industry, automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on August 28, 1937. Toyota is the List of manuf ...

race engines ever built producing amazing results on the track. The

All American Racers All American Racers is an American-licensed auto racing team and constructor based in Santa Ana, California. Founded by Dan Gurney and Carroll Shelby in 1964, All American Racers initially participated in American sports car and Champ Car races ...

, Eagle MKIII dominated in GTP setting records, including 21 of 27 races entered and an IMSA record 14 straight victories. The company went on to produce additional products for TRD for their Toyota Atlantic Series,

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Off-road truck and Stadium truck programs. In 1991, the company ventured into

Indy Cars American open-wheel car racing, generally and commonly known as Indy car racing, is a category of professional automobile racing in the United States. As of 2025 IndyCar Series, 2025, the top-level American open-wheel racing championship is sa ...

working with several teams using the Buick Indy Engine. In 1992

Al Unser Alfred Unser (May 29, 1939 – December 9, 2021) was an American automobile racing driver, the younger brother of fellow racing drivers Jerry and Bobby Unser, and father of Al Unser Jr. He was the second of four men ( A. J. Foyt, himself, Ri ...

, Sr. drove the

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Buick-powered

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to a 3rd-place finish, the best finish ever for the Buick Indy engine, and the first time the Buick engine had gone the entire 500 miles. In 1993, driving for King Racing, Unser led 15 laps to extend his career laps-led record of any driver in the history of the

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, at 644. In 1995, the company diversified and started designing systems for the military. Its first product was an ECU developed for a high output endurance V8 engine used by NSWDG, the Naval Special Warfare Development Group. Its instant success led to further products for the defense industry and continues today working in the Aerospace industry specializing in systems for high altitude

UAV An unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) or unmanned aircraft system (UAS), commonly known as a drone, is an aircraft with no human pilot, crew, or passengers onboard, but rather is controlled remotely or is autonomous.De Gruyter Handbook of Drone ...

's. In 1996, the company started working with the UK based engine company Neil Brown Engineering who was the European agent for the Mugen-Honda

BTCC The British Touring Car Championship (BTCC), officially known as the Kwik Fit British Touring Car Championship for sponsorship reasons, is a touring car racing series held each year in the United Kingdom, currently organised and administered by ...

touring car and F3 engine programs. The F3 engine would dominate the series with 10 championships in a row from 1996 to 2005. The touring car program achieved 13 podium places in 1997.

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entered the

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in 1997 with its Infiniti 4.0-liter DOHC 32-valve V8 engine. It was controlled by the companies latest 2.5 series ECU and CD Ignition System. The system featured a unique self learn lambda strategy that simplified engine tuning and enhanced engine performance. The system was later adopted by teams using the competing

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engine. In 1999, the company continued working with Mugen developing an engine controller and ignition system for their NSX engine program. The NSX competed successfully in

JGTC All Japan Grand Touring Car Championship (JGTC) is a grand touring car racing series that began in 1993. Originally titled as the , the series was renamed to Super GT in 2005. It was the top level of sports car racing in Japan. The series was s ...

followed by the introduction of the V8 MF408S engine for Le Mans and

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, also using the company's electronic systems. The debut of the MF408S was in 2002 at the Sebring 12 hour ALMS event. In 2001 the company introduced its Data Acquisition product line. It initially worked with Team Fernandez in

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and then later that year it added

Ganassi Racing Chip Ganassi Racing, LLC (CGR), also sometimes branded as Chip Ganassi Racing Teams, is an American auto racing organization competing in the NTT IndyCar Series. They have formerly competed in the NASCAR Cup and Xfinity Series, Global Rallycro ...

to its customer list. Ganassi went on to finish 2nd in the championship before moving to IRL. Mugen also adopted the company's Data Loggers and Dash Displays for its JGTC sports car program and continues to be a distributor for the company's products. Since 2007 the company has been manufacturing a range of ECU and Ignition products for the

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corporation marketed under the brand name Pro Flo and Pro Flo XT. The success of this product line prompted the expansion into the data acquisition market and in 2009

introduced the QD2 advanced data logger system. The company is currently a supplier to

Elbit Systems Elbit Systems Ltd. is an Israel-based international military technology company and defense contractor. Founded in 1966 by Elron, Elbit Systems is the primary provider of the Israeli military's land-based equipment and unmanned aerial v ...

one of the world's largest defense contractors. Products include engine controllers and custom software for UAV's. The UK division of Elbit is currently working on developing the

Watchkeeper WK450 The Thales Watchkeeper WK450 is an unmanned aerial vehicle (UAV) for intelligence, surveillance, target acquisition, and reconnaissance (ISTAR) formerly used by the British Army. It was developed by UAV Tactical Systems (U-TacS), a joint venture ...

for the British Army using a proprietary engine controller designed by EFI Technology.

Product history

*1988 - Race 1.0 ECU, IMSA & Marine *1989 - Performance ECU, general purpose *1990 - Race 3.0 ECU, IMSA GTP *1991 - Buick Indy Car System *1994 - Race 2.0 ECU, Naval Warfare Group *1995 - Race 1.8 ECU, F3 system *1996 - Race 1.9 ECU, Spec Transam *1996 - Race 2.1 ECU, BTCC system *1997 - Race 2.5 ECU, IRL system *1999 - Race 4.0 ECU, Mugen NSX & MF408S *2004 - Race 1.2 ECU, Motorcycle *2006 - X1 ECU, Midget & Sprint cars *2007 - X3 ECU, UAV system *2007 - X1e ECU, Edelbrock Pro Flo *2008 - XTR ECU, Drag Racing *2009 - X5 ECU, 12 cylinder *2010 - X2 ECU, Motorcycle *2011 - X1s ECU, Sportsman *2012 - R1z ECU, TBI system *2014 - R1e ECU, Edelbrock Pro Flo III *2015 - R1i ECU, USAC Midget Ignition *2015 - R1 ECU, LS Control System *2016 - R4 ECU, Racing Applications *2016 - R8 ECU, Racing Applications *2016 - R16 ECU, Drag Racing (16 injector) *2018 - R2 ECU, Aerospace (4 injector) *2021 - R1i Outlaw, Midget Ignition

References

{{Reflist

External links

efitechnology.com
Engineering companies of the United States 1988 establishments in California 1988 establishments in the United States Companies established in 1988 Companies based in Torrance, California Electronics companies established in 1988 Technology companies based in Greater Los Angeles Technology companies established in 1988