FREQUENTLY ASKED QUESTIONS AND MORE INFORMATION
We understand that having work done on your vehicle can be daunting and the process of ECU remapping can throw up a lot of questions.
Below are our most frequently asked questions and some extra information that we feel many ECU remapping companies don't openly address. Scroll through and see if your questions are answered here.
If you can't find what you're looking for, don't hesitate to get into contact. By email, telephone, the contact form below or Facebook. However you want to get in touch, whatever you want to get in touch about, we will endeavour to get back to you ASAP.
WHAT IS AN ECU?
All modern cars and vans have an Engine Control Unit, often shortened to ECU. An ECU is a computer that processes information from various sensors throughout a vehicle to make sure that it functions as intended. One of the most important parts of a vehicle the ECU controls is the engine.
To fully understand the role of the ECU in controlling the engine, it is first useful to understand how an engine works.
Most vehicles on the road today have an internal combustion engine to produce the power needed to move the vehicle. These engines work by combining fuel and air in carefully calculated and controlled amounts. The resulting fuel:air mixture is then ignited under specific conditions and burned to create enough power to turn the wheels and push the vehicle forward.
The amount of power produced by the engine depends on many factors, such as:
-
The amount of fuel in the fuel:air mixture
-
The amount of air in the fuel:air mixture
-
The pressure the fuel:air mixture is under when it is ignited
-
How long it takes for the fuel:air mixture to fully burn
-
How open the throttle is (how far the accelerator pedal has been pressed)
-
How fast the engine is turning (its RPM)
-
Engine temperature
-
Oxygen in the exhaust gases
-
And more!
Changing any of these will change how your engine performs, which can either be for the better or for the worse.
It is the responsibility of the ECU to measure and/or control all of the necessary factors to ensure the smooth running of the vehicle.
Based on the information gathered by the engine’s sensors, the ECU calculates and then tells the engine to combine the correct quantity of fuel with the ideal amount of air to be ignited at just the right time.
WHAT IS ECU REMAPPING AND WHY DO IT?
When a manufacturer develops a new vehicle they have to take into consideration all of the operating conditions in all of the regions in which they intend to sell it. Oftentimes this means that instead of just optimising the ECU’s program - or ‘map’ - to deliver on positive things, like performance and fuel economy, the manufacturer must make sure the vehicle can cope with the worst conditions to which it might be subjected.
This means they will program the ECU’s map to still run as well as possible in a worst case scenario for the operating conditions. For example, compromises can be made for poor fuel quality, poor air quality, extremes of temperature and altitude, stricter emissions laws and even the possibility that a vehicle may not be serviced on a regular basis nor in accordance with the manufacturer’s recommended instructions.
BUT, in most markets the normal running conditions are much better than what the ECU is programmed to expect. This is where ECU remapping comes in.
ECU remapping is looking at how the manufacturer has compromised the programming of the ECU and then adjusting it to unleash the engine’s true potential for fuel economy, power and torque. The potential that the engine’s components were actually built to perform to.
Provided the adjustments to the programming are calculated by a skilled professional, remapping an ECU is a completely safe process. This is because all that is being done is simply giving the engine the performance it should have had in the first place, before all the compromises were applied to the original programming by the manufacturer.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS OF ECU REMAPPING?
Most prominent in the current day’s economy, ECU remapping has the potential to save you money and reduce your carbon footprint by improving your vehicle’s fuel economy. This can be as much as a 15% improvement. Obviously this depends on driving style and engine type, but if someone spends £3500 every year on fuel (£70 per week - which many of us do nowadays) they could save over £500 every year!
The reason owners tend to enjoy better fuel economy after a remap is because extra torque is released, often lower down in the rev range. The vehicle then requires less throttle input during cruising, when you need to make a change to your speed or when the vehicle is heavy. As a result, you can drive in a higher gear at a slower speed, strain the car less when it is fully laden, towing or on gradients, and even pull forwards more effectively in stop-start traffic.
ECU remapping is also the BEST POUND-FOR-POUND performance upgrade regularly fitted to a vehicle. But a remap won’t stop at only improving an engine’s power and torque figures - it will also sharpen the throttle response and widen the power-band. The engine will then be quicker to react to your inputs and have more power, more of the time, making the drive livelier when you want it to be and more flexible when you need it to be.
Manufacturers tend to restrict a vehicle’s power output for no other reason than to ensure the vehicle suits a particular price point or to slot it into a specific class for fleet buyers. As driving enthusiasts, we do not need or want such restrictions placed upon our vehicles’ ECUs. By remapping a car we can benefit from the hidden performance and heightened fuel economy locked away within our engine management systems.
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR TURBO DIESELS?
Modern, turbocharged diesels are prime recipients of ECU tuning. Because of the way these engines work they have fantastic potential for massive, reliable, low cost jumps in power, fuel economy and, particularly, torque. All this without removing the benefits of running a turbo diesel powered vehicle in the first place, like reliability and longevity.
Diesel engines don’t ignite the fuel:air mixture with a spark. Instead, the air is pulled into the engine and pressurised first, causing it to heat up dramatically. Then the diesel is added in controlled amounts, causing the mixture to ignite by itself. By adding a turbocharger the gas in the engine can be pressurised even further, allowing more of the gas to fit into the same space. In turn, even more fuel can be added at a time, making the same sized engine produce more power and more torque. Remapping an ECU for one of these engines can allow this process to be taken even further.
Adding a turbocharger also introduces more parameters that need to be monitored and controlled by the ECU, which gives manufacturers more opportunity to detune the engines and compromise the performance. As such, remapping a turbocharged car can have a much greater benefit to performance and fuel economy than that of a naturally aspirated car.
After your ECU upgrade to your turbocharged diesel engine, you will enjoy:
-
Increased horsepower
-
Increased torque
-
Better throttle response
-
Smoother power delivery
-
Improved fuel economy
-
Safer overtaking
WHAT ARE THE BENEFITS FOR TURBO PETROL ENGINES?
Adding a turbocharger to an engine generally allows it to deliver more power without having to increase the size of the engine itself. One of the key ways a turbo manages to do this is by pressurising the gases used by the engine even further, allowing more of the gases to fit into the same space. In turn, the fuel:air mixture can burn better and more cleanly.
Without increasing the amount of fuel added to the mixture, this will provide a small bump in power and economy. On the other hand, if the mixture ignites better, even more fuel can be added at any one time, producing more power and more torque. Remapping an ECU for one of these engines can allow this process to be taken even further.
Adding a turbocharger also introduces more parameters that need to be monitored and controlled by the ECU, which gives manufacturers more opportunity to detune the engines and compromise the performance. As such, remapping a turbocharged car can have a much greater benefit to performance and fuel economy than that of a naturally aspirated car.
After your ECU upgrade to your turbocharged petrol engine, you will enjoy:
-
Increased horsepower
-
Increased torque
-
Better throttle response
-
Smoother power delivery
-
Safer overtaking
-
Improvements in fuel consumption on petrol engine vehicles are smaller than those achieved by diesel vehicles.
CAN YOU REMAP NATURALLY ASPIRATED PETROL ENGINES?
We certainly can. While normally aspirated petrol engines don’t benefit from remapping as much as their turbocharged counterparts, a remap can still liberate an extra 8-15% of power and torque by careful reprogramming within the remap. This is plenty enough to be noticeable when enjoying your drive.
HOW DO I SAVE MONEY WITH AN ECU REMAP
Fuel is expensive these days. As such, you wouldn’t have to use all that much less of it to save yourself a decent chunk of cash. With the right remap on certain vehicles you could see yourself using as much as 15% less fuel.
Now, let’s say you use a tank of fuel per week commuting to work etc.. For a small fuel tank this would cost around £70 per week. Over a year that comes to a staggering £3600! If you managed to improve your fuel economy by 15% with one of our remaps it would mean you would be £500 better off that year.
The reason owners tend to enjoy better fuel economy after a remap is because extra torque is released, often lower down in the rev range. The vehicle then requires less throttle input during cruising, when you need to make a change to your speed or when the vehicle is heavy. As a result, you can: drive in a higher gear at a slower speed; change gear less frequently; strain the car less when it is fully laden, towing or on gradients; and even pull forwards more effectively in stop-start traffic.
Of course one needs to combine these factors with adjusting your driving style to make the most of the extra low end torque, which, in turn, is most effective on turbo-diesel engines. But these numbers are achievable and even petrol cars can experience some improvement.
WHAT DO YOU ACTUALLY DO TO MY VEHICLE?
With a remap we don’t change any physical parts in your vehicle. We don’t add anything in, we don’t take anything away. All we do is modify the way the ECU controls the engine’s parameters - its map.
All of the remaps we install are configured to maintain manufacturer levels of reliability and servicing intervals, whilst unleashing your engine’s true capabilities.
Our technician will run a full electronics diagnostics test on the vehicle to check that there are no warning systems triggered. If the vehicle is showing no warnings the technician will then obtain a copy of the current ECU map. This is done by connecting a remapping tool to the ECU and downloading its file onto a computer.
The technician will then upload the original map to the quantum tuning remap writing team. This team will adjust the ECU parameters to maximise the capabilities of the engine. Depending on the vehicle and ECU type the remapping process can take under an hour. So long as there is a mains power supply and a good data connection, we can do this anywhere that suits you - your home, your place of work, even whilst you’re in the gym.
If you are unhappy with the changes made to your vehicle and wish to have its ECU returned to its original factory settings, this can be done easily and FREE OF CHARGE, since we always keep a copy of the original software as a backup.
IS REMAPPING COMPLICATED?
Cars are becoming more and more complex. To put it into perspective, the Space Shuttle is reported to have run on 0.4 million lines of computer code. A modern, high end car has as much as 100 million lines of computer code!
Whilst most cars might not have quite this much code held within their ECUs, it’s plain to see that finding the right areas of a car’s computer code to change is not something just anyone should try to do. And this is before someone has the understanding of how the engine parameters actually need to be changed.
With the right tools and sufficient training the process of remapping a car can be done quickly, safely and appear simple, but the complexities and risks are still very much present.
This is why you should only ever trust remapped files from reputable sources.
IS REMAPPING LEGAL?
Yes. There is nothing illegal about remapping an ECU. However, you should inform your insurance company of any alterations made to your vehicle, including having your car’s ECU remapped.
One thing worth highlighting is that remapping a vehicle can, in some cases, void its warranty. So bear this in mind and check your vehicle’s warranty terms and conditions when deciding whether to remap its ECU.
HOW WILL REMAPPING AFFECT MY VEHICLES RELIABILITY?
Reliability of vehicles tends to depend largely on how the vehicle is driven and how well it is being looked after. If you are someone who drives your car hard then you would naturally expect to decrease the life of your engine, at least more so than if you didn’t. This is the case whether the engine has been tuned or not.
Remapping your vehicle will result in an increased power output, but only to an extent that is safe for the mechanical parts. However, this will still cause a marginal increased strain on the mechanical parts of your vehicle. In overall terms, it is estimated that a 30% increase in power could be expected to reduce engine life in the region of just 3%. In a modern vehicle, where engines are generally built to last 300,000 miles if properly maintained, a 3% loss would still give you 291,000 miles. In other terms, it is a very small price to pay.
IS REMAPPING BETTER THAN CHIPPING?
Remapping through the On Board Diagnostics port (OBD) is the modern remapping technique replacing chipping. This method reads and writes to the ECU via an electronic connection, similar to a USB port, installed on the car for diagnostics, and oftentimes does not invalidate warranties.
Chipping, on the other hand, requires the opening up of the ECU casing and inserting a pre-programmed chip with a one-size-fits-all fix. This does not take into account the requirements of each individual vehicle. This method is only necessary on older vehicles (pre-2000s or so), so is largely redundant in today’s market.
Remapping your engine’s ECU does not physically install anything onto your ECU. Instead, it changes the way the computer handles the many parameters it monitors for the desired improvements to engine performance via the software installed on it. We alter 30+ maps on some vehicles to achieve the proper results.
WHAT WARRANTY DO YOU PROVIDE?
Because we here at Performance Tuning East Anglia don’t physically change, add or take away anything on your vehicle - we only modify the software programming - there is nothing for us to give a warranty on other than the contents of the software against corruption and faults.
If, in an extremely rare circumstance, you happen to suffer from an obscure problem resulting from the remapping we will do everything we can to help, including returning your vehicle to standard for any testing.
WHAT IF I WANT TO SELL MY CAR?
If you wish to sell the car with the map on then no problem, if you wish to have it reverted back to standard after a period of time then that’s fine, too. However, Performance Tuning East Anglia would normally charge a small fee for optional reinstatement of original, factory maps.
WILL MY CAR PASS ITS MOT WITH A REMAP INSTALLED?
The main concern for people here is with the emissions part of the test. All of our conversions are monitored for smoke emissions. Particularly in the 2003 onwards vehicles which have to adhere to more stringent limits.
WHY CHOOSE PERFORMANCE TUNING EAST ANGLIA?
Performance Tuning East Anglia only install tailored remaps written by renowned professionals as part of the largest and most trusted tuning network in the UK. Our installation service is fully mobile, so we can tune your vehicle at your home or place of work, removing the pain of taking your vehicle to a garage or being without it for prolonged periods.
Every one of the remaps we install are configured to maintain manufacturer levels of reliability and servicing intervals. We aim to give you the best performance and economy upgrades we can without compromising your vehicle or your enjoyment.
We want to unleash your vehicle's true capabilities. We want you to enjoy driving more. We want you to save money on your fuel bills. But we don't want you to be without your vehicle. That's why we do this and that's why we come to you.
CONTACT US
By email, telephone, the contact form below or Facebook. However you want to get in touch, whatever you want to get in touch about, we will endeavour to get back to you ASAP.
Based in Diss, Norfolk.
Serving the whole of East Anglia.
01379 42 00 50
OPENING HOURS
Mon - Fri
Saturday
Sunday
08:00 – 18:00
08:00 – 18:00
Closed