Free Preview: Remapped sport computer tuning ECU remaps

Back in the good old days - the task of timing the ignition spark was performed by the distributor. The greater the RPM, the more the timing would advance.

This did a reasonable job but for the most effective power you would need to vary the timing to a greater degree that a fixed ratio advance curve. The electronic ignition was borne.

A complete map of variables was entered into the ignition program and preset timing would be read from a table.

Now air temperature, engine speed, engine load and even control over turbo waste gate control means that precise management of the engine ignition timing is possible and you can achieve the maximum power output throughout the rev range.

Electronic ignition allows the manufacturer to fine tune economy at popular road speeds such as 30mph, 56mph and 70mph where most cars spend a large proportion of their time. It is now possible to advance the timing if the throttle is wide open to give greater power or back off the timing when cruising at constant speed.

When a manufacturer creates a timing MAP they build into it a big margin of error

When a manufacturer creates a timing MAP they build into it a big margin of error to cope with: Adverse temperature ranges, minor faults & bad conditions. Manufacturers do not want people breaking down, suffering premature parts failure or a reputation for uneconomical cars.

Each car that leaves the production line is also unique some achieve 10bhp less and others can be 10bhp up on standard specs, depending on how well the components are machined and put together. So rather than put each car through a unique assessment and a bespoke timing map, they adopt a standard one map fits all philosophy.

It is also a fact that manufacturers use the remap to produce different power versions of the same engine and get lower insurance cover ratings and better fuel consumption. You start to see the fantastic scope for improvement, then, when you add into the mix the fact that the average Toruqecars reader will be adding better performing components to the car, you have a really strong case for a remap.

Other things that the manufacturer builds in to their map equation is the possibility of user neglect ie: infrequent servicing with items struggling like dirty plugs, bad leads, clogged air filter, partially blocked injectors etc... The list goes on.

Who should remap? Anyone who has added performance parts to the engine should consider a remap. If your car is a turbo model, there are massive power gains on offer and we strongly recommend a remap.

What are the hidden costs or drawbacks? You will need to be prepared to keep the car serviced more frequently, and, sometimes decreasing the service interval by half. When you fill up you are also restricting yourself to high quality fuel and you must be prepared to replace components that fail due to the extra work they are doing.

When an engine is tuned to produce more power, you are also creating more stress and strain, so things will start to fail such as air flow sensors. Also turbos can wear out, other major components like pistons and bearings will need care and attention and you will find that the clutch lasts a shorter time.

If you do not have a turbo there is very little to be gained by a remap alone - perhaps only a few BHP so we recommendation for non turbo cars is to modify everything else first (cams,pistons, increase compression, engine balance, air intake, exhaust, head work, bigger valves etc...) after these things have been done you can then consider a remap which will help you get the full benefit from them.

On the subject of turbos, (briefly though as we have a comprehensive article on turbos in the forced induction section), a remap will often introduce boost from lower down the rev range and because of this the turbo is running faster and hotter. In this situation you must let the turbo cool down a little before shutting off the engine, otherwise the oil will degrade and you will have an expensive turbo repair on your hands. Fitting a turbo timer will also help with this problem and keeps the engine ticking over.

Of course the amount of power you choose has a bearing on the reliability and cost of running the car. Many people go for an off the shelf remap which are on offer all over the country and typically cost around £200-£500.

This is better than the manufacturers map in that it uses tighter parameters but it is still a one size fits all job. If you are after big power gains and have changed major components like the turbo, waste gate and have done extensive engine work then a custom remap is the best option.

Switchable remaps. Things have moved on and it is now possible to have a few maps stored which you can select from. It is typical to have a valet mode to stop the boy racers at the garage thrashing your pride and joy on the "test run" to bed in the new wiper blades they have fitted. Then there is often an economy option to give very frugal fuel consumption, particularly useful when cruising on long journeys.

Then you have the 'sport' or 'power' modes which give lots of power and often require high octane fuel. We strongly recommend that you get a switchable remap - it may cost a little more at the outset but you will avoid many of the pitfalls of running a high power remap all of the time by doing this and get the best of both worlds.

Please do not confuse a remap with the little boxes you can buy for £50 which generally contain little more than a £3 resistor and often do little more than fool the car into thinking the air is cooler than it is. If it was really this easy to get more power from a car then the manufacturers would have already done that themselves.

Some cars are not easy to remap, I remember that the Rover MEMS was a case in point. The Manufacturer holds the key to the ECU and locks their Map into their firmware. Some ECU's are just plain and simply not reprogrammable so what can you do? Is there an option? Well thankfully there is and they are called piggy back ECU's.

Piggy back ecus:

They connect between your existing ECU and the engine sensor inputs and outputs. All work slightly differently and apply all or some of the following combinations.

Some will adjust the sensor readings such as air temp engine speed crank position and effectively lie to the standard ECU forcing a more aggressive timing. Some will actually perform their own calculations and take over control of some aspects of engine management like turbo waste gate control and ignition timing. Some will take the standard ECU output and modify the signals sent to change timing and learn to guess the next output a split second before it is needed using the base ECU map and just enhancing it a little.

Free Guide on Car Chip Tuning

The days of fiddling around in the engine bay with a spanner to make the car go faster are numbered.

Modern engine computers (ECU's) take over many of the controls of all aspects of engine management from timing to fuelling and more.

This actually means you get better power, a cleaner burn and more reliable engine but it does not mean the end of tuning.

See our article on remapping the ecu for more information about how the engine management maps work.Chip tuning is a term used very loosly to describe any process of remapping the cars engine

In this article we shall focus on the specific act of "Chip tuning" and not dwell too much on remaps.

The term probably stems from the early days were chips could not easily be reflashed and updated.

The only option in these cases was to replace the chip. Often these would need to be soldered and could be quite fiddly and, due to the delicate nature of chips, prone to failure.

EPROMS which were erasable and programmable chips could be removed reflashed and reinserted into the car.

Chip replacements were the only way to change a cars mapping but now with standardized diagnostic ports it is much easier.

In recent times we have seen cars equipped with on board diagnostic ports that allow a fresh map to be uploaded.

Is chip tuning something you can easily do yourself? Not really, you need to have detailed knowledge of the engine and ideally a full set of diagnostic equipment on a rolling road to allow you to make "live" adjustments to the mapping. There is certainly a lot more to it than just changing a few numbers and getting a big power gain.

With DIY chip tuning you also run the risk of a bad flash where the computer cannot be recovered and without a restoration image you will need to visit the main dealer or worse still buy a new computer.

The best form of chip tuning is where a custom map can be inserted that takes into account your cars strengths and weaknesses and any other modifications that you have had done. There are still a few companies out there offering replacement chips set to a more sporty setting.

This is not to be confused with piggy back chips or plug in boxes. These are only useful in cases where a reflash or replacement chip is not available and it would still be better to buy a whole aftermarket ECU and use this.

We are often asked if chip tuning works on all engines. Generally speaking any car will see a benefit but the larger gains are from turbocharged applications. In a NASP (Naturally Aspirated) engine power gains are around 10-20%, but in a turbo engine the power gains are typically around 40% for a petrol and 30% for a turbo diesel.

Even a car getting a relatively low power gain from a remap will actually be more lively to drive. The peak power gain figure is only a very small part of the equation. The engines response under acceleration and its torque curve are the primary reasons for getting into chip tuning.

The downsides of chip tuning are the need for more regular car maintenance and servicing. You are effectively reducing the safe margin of error the makers build in. This compensates for low quality fuel, or the wear and tear associated with longer service intervals.

How to tune a car from Ordinary to EXTRAORDINARY

Car tuning has been more than a hobby but a way of life for some people. For those of us who have no idea what tuned cars are, think of the movie “Fast and the Furious”. The idea is to take a regular car and modify it to make it something special. It can be simply changing parts to have better fuel economy. Though many tuned cars are so changed they barely resemble the car they started out as.

The idea of car tuning is to improve performance and handling of the car to suit a specific driving style. This may involve installing new turbochargers. Modifying a car’s engine cooling unit is common as well. Though some people have ripped out the entire engine and installed a more powerful engine. Changing up the suspension will change how a car handles. Often springs, shock absorbers, and sway bars will be modified. Using shorter springs give the car a lower look but also lowers the center of gravity. With shorter it is important to also change to shorter internals to stop from bottoming out. Going with stiffer shock absorbers improves the dynamic weight shifting when cornering. Stiffer sway bard improves handling response.

However car tuning modifications don’t end with just improving the performance and handling of a car. Just watch the show “Pimp my Ride” to see what can be done to a car. They tuned cars that should not have even been on the road and created high performance works of art. Let’s say you have an Audi you want to tune. What is involved in Audi tuning?

It is going to depend on what you want done. An Audi is a popular car to tune. Audi tuning to get a good power range can be done quickly and at a lower cost than some other cars. Depending on the year of your Audi parts are usually quick and easy to acquire. When tuning your Audi you will want to work on the engine and suspension for a better ride. However there is nothing stopping you from tuning the body, interior and even the audio system to create your dream car. Audi tuning can involve how it runs to how it looks and everything in between.

Free Guides - Suspension Tuning Tips

The basic job of the suspension spring is to support the car and any associated loads. They also prevent brake dive, body roll, rear end squat on acceleration and generally provide an even ride. When it comes to tuning your suspension the choice is basically between lowering springs that reduce the ride height of your vehicle and performance springs that will optimise the handling of your vehicle. The suspension tuning option is down to you and your needs. Do you want your car to achieve admiring glances from onlookers when out on a cruise, if so then lowering suspension springs maybe just right for you. Alternatively if the odd weekend track event is your thing then mild performance springs will be better suited to the job.






There are three general spring designs available - Normal, Step Linear and Progressive Springs. The Normal Spring has equal spacing between each coil and the response rate is a specific designation when compressed. For example a coil spring with 200mm spacing between each coil in normal state with extra weight applied to the load will compress evenly at say 170mm apart. A further increase in the load would result in increased compression to say 150mm but again this would be even between each coil.
Step Linear Springs have one half of the coils at one spacing and the other half at a smaller spacing. As the springs compress the coils with a smaller spacing close up and become ineffective leaving the coils with the larger spacing to do the work. This set up provides different levels of response and performance. Linear springs are more often used in drag racing, road racing, track and races that require a high spring rate, in which a constant spring rate is more important than a smooth ride.
Finally progressive springs have different spacing between coils. When the spring is being compressed the top 25% of the coils touch and become ineffective, the more compression applied and more coils touch again becoming ineffective and the spring stiffens. Progressive springs are very sensitive to road defects but provide the stiffness required under braking and steering. Progressive springs are most likely to be found in aftermarket performance kits giving a blend of performance for street and strip.