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Intro Guide to Do-It-Yourself ECU Map Chip Tuning / Programming / Flashing (Using HEX Editor)

Jul 11, 2018 This Science Garage looks at the history of “tuning,” from what started as delicate mechanical adjustments, to how it exists today- a marriage between the computer tech of of the future. Auto-Tune Pro, Auto-Tune Artist, Auto-Tune EFX+, Auto-Tune Access, Harmony Engine, Mic Mod and more. Home of the Auto-Tune plug-in, the music industry standard for pitch correction and vocal effects. Shop and learn about the best plug-ins for pitch correction, vocal.

PART 1 of this article will talk about basics of ECU. You'll first need to get familiar with this information before attempting to code (as discussed in PART 2).

PART 2 demonstrates example how to program ECU via HEX coding software.

Nov 07, 2019  Hey all. It's finally cooling off here in Florida and I can work on my car again. I've been struggling with tuning now. For years, I was used to setting the injector ms in the grid and tuning that way. But this Holley does auto tuning right? Shouldn't I be setting the air/fuel ratio of what I want first then letting the computer tune the grid? Auto-Tuning Explained. According to the Google dictionary, 'Auto-Tuning is the process of using a device or facility for tuning something automatically, especially a piece of computer software which enables the correction of an out-of-tune vocal performance.' One thing that I should clear up is the difference between the well known term, Auto.

First a basic beginners guide introduction into world of car tuning and what you need to know:

The ECU of your car is like its brain. For your car to deliver it’s best performance you have to keep it in a fit condition at all times.

This is the only way to ensure that you get the best in both driving as well as handling. Modern day cars do not have manual controls. Nowadays sophisticated technology is being incorporated in the form of computerized controls that guide and ensure Engine performance.

Whenever you make a physical intervention the data pertaining to such intervention gets recorded in the memory banks of your car’s computer.

The computer uses the mapped data to work out the optimum control conditions in which the engine should function.

The ECU shuffles through the tons of data that come to it in the form of readings to decide the course of action that should be taken by the engine to ensure an ideal drive. The ECU tells your engine not only what to do but also how to do it. Thus the ECU in order to make accurate diagnosis on engine control utilizes stored data.

Even though you have made modifications in your car, the ECU still continues to get an input of the old data which is stored in it’s memory. This old data no longer is credible as it pertains to conditions that existed before the modification.

The input data to the ECU should pertain to the post modification situation of the components and parts introduced, while making the modification. This means that you have to erase the old data from memory and new data pertaining to post modification should be logged into the ECU memory by mapping in new readings. This is the reason why ECU resetting is essential for optimum performance after any modification has been carried out in your car.

The moment you have carried out the modification you should purge out existing data in your ECU’s memory. You should then feed in fresh data pertaining to the conditions that have come into existence post modification. The ECU has to operate on the newly acquired data as this new data reflects the true conditions post modification.

You should be well versed with the vital art of resetting the ECU of your car. You have to let your ECU adapt itself to the new situation arising out of the modification. Allow your ECU to relearn and perform.

Now therefore the step to be performed is to purge the old data and reset your ECU. Doing this allows it to adapt itself to new parts and efficiently perform post modification also. To reset the ECU you simply have to unplug the negative battery cable connection. Theoretically it is best to leave it in this disconnected condition for as long as you can. Practically leaving it disconnected overnight is more than enough.

After having left the cable disconnected for sufficient time you have to connect back the cable. Start the car and keep it running so that it warms up. This would not take more than 10 minutes at the most in summers. Once you have done this you have accomplished the ECU resetting. Shut off the engine.

You can now use your car whenever you feel like. ECU resetting is over.

You should remember a few points when doing the ECU setting. One important point that you should remember is not to reset ECU when using fuel additives or different octane fuel than you normally use. The idea is not to reset the ECU when using anything in your car that you normally don’t use. You should prepare the ECU to get adapted only to the conditions that it would normally encounter. This would also reduce the number of resets you will have to do to the ECU.

However if you are going to change the operating conditions on medium or long-term basis then you should reset your ECU. One such instance could be when you think of boosting octane.

Resetting the ECU when you choose to boost Octane becomes necessary because your ECU has a memory bank for octane.

This means that if you've been using lower octane, the response of ECU will correspond to lower octane with the booster matching lower octane performance.

The ECU response will continue to correspond to lower octane even though you have started using higher-octane fuel. This is because the ECU has not been reset for higher octane. Thus even though higher octane is in actual use, the data in ECU memory still corresponds to that of lower octane. This mismatch affects performance, as you are unable to derive the benefits of boosting the octane. Therefore you should reset your ECU periodically after filling up full tank in order to ensure that ECU adjustments for its octane memory are made afresh corresponding to the octane actually in use.

You can even customize resetting of your ECU so as to enable it to adapt itself to seasonal changes. Since humidity, air density, oxygen levels etc in air affect performance you could reset the ECU to adapt to these variables too.

The advantage of such resetting made to your ECU is that your car performs the best in every climatic condition. This lends versatility to your car- and all this at no cost.

Now let's dive more into the technical detail of tuning - but still keeping it simple..

Back in the good old days, the task of timing the ignition spark was performed by the mechanical distributor.

The greater the RPM, the more the timing would advance. It was clunky and mechanical but seemed to work reasonably well.

This did a sufficiently good job, but for the most effective power you would need to vary the timing to a greater degree than a fixed ratio advance curve.

The electronic ignition system was born giving much finer control over fuel delivery and spark timing. You ended up with a perfect spark timing only in a limited RPM band.

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

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

What does ECU remapping do?

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. (Some manufacturers in the 2016 cheat software scandal have even created code to detect test conditions and run super lean to pass emissions limits.)

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 for improved economy.

Manufacturers do not want people breaking down, suffering premature parts failure or to get a reputation for uneconomical cars so they build in a wide margin of tolerance. Different countries use different grades of fuel and have varying degrees of extreme weather conditions, all these factors add to the fudge that has to be done to keep all the cars working well across the globe.

Each car that leaves the production line is also unique, some achieve 20bhp less and others can be 20bhp 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 get 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, when you add into the mix the fact that the average TorqueCars 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 i.e. 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 their engine should consider a remap. If your car is a turbo model & has electronically controlled fuel injection, there are massive power gains on offer and TorqueCars would 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 even high octane fuel if this was what the map was optimized for, 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. Any weak spots in an engine usually show up a couple of months after a remap has been done. Generally the turbo/clutch weaknesses will manifest themselves clearly at this point. 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's very little to be gained by a remap alone - perhaps only a few BHP so TorqueCars' 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 $260-$600.

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. TorqueCars 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.

Some maps use the cruise control to choose a map, other companies offer handheld flash devices which allow you to choose a range of maps and upload these. It typically takes about 3 minutes to flash a car through the OBD port so is not an on the fly option.

Most people will run an economy map through the weekly commute and then go for a performance map at the weekend or a race map for track days.

Please do not confuse a remap with the little 'tuning boxes' you can buy for $60 which generally contain little more than a $5 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 & Toyota ECU's are a case in point. The Manufacturer holds the key to the ECU and locks their Map into their firmware. Some ECU's are simply not reprogrammable. So what can you do? Is there an option? Well thankfully there is and they are called piggy back ECU's or aftermarket ECU's.

Piggy back & Aftermarket ECUs:

Piggy back ECUs connect between your existing ECU and the engine sensor inputs and outputs. All work slightly differently and apply some or all 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.

Tuning boxes are relatively new and these alter readings going to and from the ECU giving extra power or economy.

Aftermarket ECUs are often direct replacements for the car's ECU and will take over all the functions associated with it. They are generally faster and able to cope with a wide variety of additional factors such as water/methanol injection and a turbo timer.

Be wary though, as some piggy back ECUs and aftermarket ECUs do not include knock protection. If this is the case then set your timing conservatively and use high octane fuel.

3 Typical Questions When Attempting Car Tuning:

1. Should I get a 'one size-fits all'?
2. Should I get off-the-shelf chips like (Mugen, Jet, Spoon, Skunk2, Comptech, Neuspeed, FF Squad, Inline4, Power XS, Bayou Performance). Or Dinan ECU - which are 'best guess' chips?
3. Should I get one of those chips I see for sale on eBay all the time?

So here's the answers to them:

First, don't chip too early
There is no point in getting a new ECU program early in your engine build up and then later upgrading to bigger lift and duration cams, or larger injectors, bigger fuel pump, or an aftermarket IM/bigger bore TB , etc. , since these parts just render your 'new' ECU program obsolete and useless (ie. any power gains from the chip are eliminated).
So please do not get your chip reprogrammed just after i/h/c/e , if you later plan on going for bigger & better things in the future. It's supposed to be one of your last modifications and not one of your first, to prevent the need for multiple chip reprogrammings after each addition of a new modification.
The reason you see so many chips for resale on eBay?
Other enthusiasts made the mistake of buying a chip too early that was not programmed correctly for the unique way their engine package breathes. It made very little power for them , or likely made their engine run too rich, or both. They are now trying to recover the money lost from an obsolete or incompatible chip.
Then there are the programmers who take advantage of import enthusiasts who do not understand the performance difference between a pre-programmed, mail-order chip versus a chip tuned and programmed on your car at a dyno. They are selling them based on the attractiveness of convenience for unsuspecting people who don't have a local programmer and dyno, the hyped hp gains from the magazine articles or ads, and a lower cost compared to other significant hp gain modifications, like cams or an intake manifold (IM).

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Second, What does an ECU do and what am I doing when I get a new chip ?

The ECU controls:

• the fuel map (ie. program commands for how much fuel to add at each rpm) and sequential firing of the injectors
• ignition map (program commands for how much spark timing to advance or retard from the baseline ignition timing you set at the distibutor cap at each rpm)
• VTEC switchover
• Redline
• Speed limiter (JDM and European models)
• Knock sensor warning
• Second O2 sensor CEL warning in OBD 2 and OBD 2b cars for testpipes and high flow cats and closed loop operations
• Activates the opening of the secondary runners' valves based on the IAB vacuum input, if you have a dual stage IM (eg. 3rd gen. GSR)

The ECU also activates your other CEL error codes and controls A/C & Idle/EVAP inputs/outputs.
When you get a new chip, the programmer has changed the program's commands of the ignition map and fuel map in response to a change in air flow and rpm (ie. both are indicators of 'engine load'). The amount of ignition timing and fuel delivery is changed for a given air flow and rpm compared to the stock program. The programmer can also remove or inactivate the sensor CEL warning codes and move the VTEC point, redline, and speed limiter points to anywhere you like.
What do these ECU program's commands look like?
Example of a 3 dimensional ignition table of program commands (or 'ignition map'):
Manifold Absolute Pressure or MAP which monitors air flow (Y axis), RPM (X-axis), and Ignition Advance/Retard from Baseline Timing (Z-axis).

There is also a 3-D fuel table (or 'fuel map') which has Intake Manifold Pressure (Y-axis), RPM (X-axis), and Fuel Values instead of spark Advance (Z-axis).

The program commands can be entered on 2 dimenional tables.

Example of a 2-Dimensional fuel table's commands during a GSR's VTEC cam lobe operation:

RPM down the Y axis to far left, MAP (mBar) across the top row, and fuel values for the injector duty cycle in the table cells.

Third, 'Best Guess' programs are not as good.

An 'off the shelf' or mail order ECU is a programmer's best guess at trying to make a program that will fit as many different engine combination of mods as possible..that's why I call these 'one-size-fits-all'. These usually get you in the no gain or 5% disappointment gain ballpark. You will not get major gains with these 'best guess' chips. Save your money.

So you want to make major power gains (ie. 13-15% or at least 7 whp from midrange up) with an ECU reprogram?

Please get a true custom chip instead, programmed on YOUR unique car with its own combination of mods, on a dyno using a wideband exhaust O2 sensor/Air:Fuel Ratio meter. This is the only way to go, if you are serious about getting the most out of a computer program upgrade for a street/race setup. If you got your chip by mail then, please understand that you did not get the most out of it..even the custom pre-programmed, mail-order kind of chips. The only correct way is to do the reprogramming on the dyno. And this leads us to who do you go to?
If you are lucky like me and have a couple of local programmers with Honda experience near your town, then your local programmer will go with you to the dyno and work his experience in tuning on the laptop and EPROM or EEPROM burner.
If you do not have a local programmer or race shop that does programming, then I strongly recommend getting together with some friends and investing in a Hondata Stage 4 or P200 system. It allows YOU to tune YOUR car on the dyno or at the track using elapsed times between known rpm points.
It comes with a chip burner, chips ($25/each), emulation laptop capability, instructions, and tech support. Investing in a wide band O2 sensor like the MOTEC they sell is also a good idea. This takes the guess and disappointment out of ECU upgrading.
If you want to go at this alone, then an AEM EMS is worth looking into, since it has base programs and laptop emulation. This is a serious investment for serious people.

If neither of these appeal to you and you insist on getting a mail order chip knowing that it won't be the best program, then stick to the known programmers (PM me if you want recommendations from people I've known who do a decent 'best guess' chip). Most people who buy a mail order chip usually have a piggyback tuning box, like an Apex fuel controller (SAFC or VAFC) or Field SFC VTEC/fuel controller, and use those to further tune the fuel delivery on the dyno with a wideband O2 sensor.

Chip reprogramming at the dyno requires a wideband universal exhaust gas oxygen sensors (called an UEGO that you can get from dyno shop or race shop) to measure air:fuel ratio at each rpm. Expect at least 3-4 hr dyno time minimum to tune these even if you are experienced at partial and wide open throttle fuel tuning.

Other systems to consider are the Motec M4, Apex Power FC, Accel DFI, SDS EF3, and Electromotive Tec3. Compare processor speed (16 bit, 16 MHz versus 32 bit, 33MHz ), available baseline programs to get you going without startin from scratch, sensor compatibility, emulators availability, and a good track record for tech support/customer service (not just whether they have one or not).

2. Why an 'off the shelf' mail order ECU will disappoint:

SDS and Hondata agrees with me that the best way to rechip your computer is to program your ECU instead on the dyno on your car rather than buying a previously programmed 'best guess' chip made to fit as many different engine packages as possible.

Here is some very good advice when buying a pre-programmed , 'mail order' performance chip from SDS' website that I have found to be true:

Be careful. Some unscrupulous programmers will promise to sell you a 'Mugen' like chip but in reality, all they have done is moved the redline higher and removed the CEL warnings. The advice to stick to known reputable programmers is wise, if you plan on mail orders.

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What about standalone computers like a Hondata instead of a redone chip?

3. Some Basic ECU Info for OEM Honda ECUs

This is a brief introduction on how to tune a sample car map file using a good ECU HEX editor like TOAD.

NOTE: This is only a very brief introduction to tuning. There are many forums online on how to edit map files.

STEP 1: Download the stock ECU load from the vehicle. This image is the raw data from the ECU memory and is the application and Operating System code for the ECU. It controls how the car runs. Above the code area you will find the Constants and Maps, among other things.
Take a look at the figure below..

In the hex dump window you see a series of highlighted bytes, 43 7A 00 00, and in the Inspector window you see 'Float 250'.

This is showing a map or constant value, in 32 bit floating point format, of 250.

The next series of 4 bytes, 43 FA 00 00, is a value of 500.

A value of 00 00 00 00 is a zero value.

Notice there are lots of 32 bit floats in the area of memory. This is part of a table.

The 20 values shown are:

250, 500, 0,0, 9, 800, 1200, 1600, 2000, 2400, 2800, 3200, 3600, 4000, 4400, 4800, 5200, 5600, 6000 and 6400.

The values 200 and 500 are not RPM based on the magnitudes (RPM would not normally be lower than 650), the values 800 thru 6400 are most likely RPM values used in a lookup table or map.

What is a Map? Look at the array below..

The numbers in red represent RPM values, the green numbers represent Mass Air Flow and the numbers in the yellow matrix represent fuel injector pulse width.

The longer the injector pulse the more fuel gets injected into the rotor.

To find this table you would look for ascending RPM values, ascending MAP values and many fuel injector pulse values, RPM X MAP numbers, in this case 13X9. This is a purely hypothetical MAP for illustration only.

Going back to the ECU hex dump, the ascending RPM numbers could be the start of a fuel map, or it could be a timing map, or possibly a map to control oil injection, at this time we don't know the definition of that map.

To find a Constant, you need to know what to look for.

An RPM limit would be a 32bit float at 9000 for a standard transmission car or 7500 for a automatic.

You would do a search for '46 0C A0 00' to find all values of 9000.

Pick one and change to 8000 and see if you hit the RPM limit.

Not all values are stored as floats, there are also single byte values of 0-255, unknown if 16 bit integers are used.

Once you take a look at the MAP area in memory, you will see it's nearly all floats or byte values.

ECU Flashing / Programming / Tuning / Chiptuning Resources:

On the last note..

Even though chip tuning is possible with any ordinary HEX editor (as described above) — the fact is it can be very time consuming, tedious and error-prone.

That's why if you're serious about car ECU chip tuning — you want to look into dedicated ECU chip tuning software like TOAD. Software that not only provides HEX editing capabilities, but can also visually map out cars ECU map into sections.. without you having to look for them manually. This means you can tune a map in minutes vs. hours.. and without making any mistakes that could potentially render cars ECU chip useless. Check out the software here.

The benefits, advantages and fun to be had with car chip tuning…

Tuning your car’s engine takes some skill and know-how but once you have started to master it you will find yourself enjoying hours of fun.

What is meant by the phrase “engine tuning”. Let’s start by accepting that the engine comes in many different types and shapes. This explanation is a generic description of on how a car is tuned. The aim is to get readers up to a speed where they can rev up their game by talking to aficionados and grease monkeys who can be found aplenty on the numerous online car forums.

A lot of people think that a car is tuned when it’s running at the top of its game. These people often think this is achieved simply by the car getting breathed on at a full service and adjustments being made to the vehicle’s factory specifications.

For some people tuning means enhancing the car’s performance and running capabilities so it’s better than it was when it was transported out of the manufacturer and set up and polished at the dealership.

What is certain though is that there is no doubt there are lots of opportunities to improve an engine and the body in which it arrives because so many manufacturers these days are using conservative settings and cheaper production methods.

Having decided you would like to attempt to tune your car what does it involve and how do you get started?

Here a number of methods for tuning a variety of popular models and engine types will be presented.

The main thrust will be to maximize the car’s performance, but, in so doing, the methods used are also available to use to maximize the car’s economy pushing its power unit into the most efficient range.

Boosting a car’s performance

Begin by making sure the car is in tip-top conditions. A full service is required. The engine needs to be running as it is meant to be. New oil, filter, spark plugs need to be added. If any leads are old they also need to be replaced.

Check the engine’s compression and get any major issues – like worn piston rings or worn or broken valves rectified. Monitor the valve clearance to prevent a significant loss of power.

Tuning a carburettor engine

Carburettor engines tend to rely on the spark being distributed by a breaker. This is done with a very basic mechanical advance when the Revs Per Minute are rising. Timing a spark to happen just a fraction earlier a more complete burn cycle can be achieved. This converts the fuel and air mix more efficiently into the power for which we are looking. Beware though because advancing it too much is a bad thing. The engine starts to knock.

In general the desired effect can be achieved by a simple trial and error approach. This can be done by gradually turning up the advance until the engine begins to knock, when the advance can be reversed until a good balanced setup is in place.

Balancing the timing and spark duration helps improve both economy and power because the engine is efficient.

Employing a strobe light linked to the pulse of the spark plug pulse effectively freezes the engine and shows the timing mark, which is on the pulley at the bottom of the cam belt. Here, in most cases, there is a tiny groove and a small notch on the engine.

Use some white paint to mark the notch and groove and the timing mark will show up when hit by the strobe, to enable better adjustment of the engine’s timing.

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When the distributor housing is rotated the timing can be adjusted by retarding it or advancing it. This sort of adjustment needs to be tackled gradually. The engine will also require testing when it is under load and at the full range of rpm.

The best environment, which enables adjustments to be made live, involves the use of a rolling road dynometer. If the fuel needs to be increased to match the air that is taken a larger jet is needed.

Setting up a carburettor can take a lot of practice. When the car has twin carburettors then the job becomes even harder.

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Most carburettors are delivered with the right jet sizes. They should only be upgraded when the engine requires dramatic alterations and the amount of air taken in increases significantly.

Fuel to air delivery need to be matched. Of course in modern engines with fuel injection this is becoming a moribund skill .

Tuning a fuel injection engine

Compared to a carburettor engine, one that is fuel injected is a much more sophisticated affair. Timing when a spark is delivered and adjusted and the amount of fuel required is very different.

The old fashioned mechanical distribution of a spark was in no way an ideal solution. It meant that engine was not able to run at peak efficiency a lot of the time.

The fact is that the timing of each spark needs to vary much more than allowed by a linear curve. To tackle this issue computers have been fitted to cars so that a fuel and timing map can be stored. This operates across a variety of intake conditions and loads to enable optimum running.

The majority of today’s engines now operate on closed loops. This means the parameters for each combustion cycle are set by the one before. The exhaust is monitored for oxygen emissions to check whether the car is running lean or rich and if the fuel being taken in is being adjusted to match.

A lot of the most popular engines are able to adjust themselves so they run at their optimum settings. Roughly every 200 miles to keep running efficiently they are able to automatically make the necessary adjustments.

Driving style, temperatures and different grades of fuel are taken into account. There is a little a keen do-it-yourself tuner can do except change the chip when the computer controls a car’s fuel delivery and timing. But more of this later.

If the engine is naturally aspirated it may well be possible to squeeze another 10 per cent or so of power by tightening the maps for fuel delivery and timing. As said before it is common for manufacturers to set their engines conservatively.

Tuning a turbo engine.

In turbo engines fuel delivery and spark timing are as essential as they are in fuel-injected versions. Indeed the same advice applies to turbo engines. The difference is that the benefits are much more noticeable thanks to the turbo. A turbo pushing an increased quantity of air into the engine, generates a lot more power.

As the turbo is the engine’s heart and soul it needs attention. By matching what drives exhaust and intake compression to the air can seriously affect a car’s power band.

Turbos can be hybridized with a turbo casing from an original equipment manufacturer (OEM) and by upgrading its internals. Another method is to either change the existing turbo with a larger version or to add a second turbo. The only consideration is how much power is required.

Those engines that date from the last century are known for being a challenge to remap. This means that the options are limited to piggy back devices or risky chip changes.

Since 2000 though most models have been supplied with On-Board Diagnostics Parameter IDs (OBDII) ports – codes that request the vehicle’s data. These enable a car’s computer to change or update the program controlling air/fuel ratios, ignition timing, and a whole lot more. Windows software like TOAD can do advanced tuning.

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On these more modern turbo engines the computer tends to administer the boost and waste gates as well as the timing and fuelling providing much more scope for increasing power. Indeed, power gains of 40 per cent are relatively easy using stock parts and a simple remapping.

Other ways of tuning an engine.

Armed with the characteristics of timing there are many other modifications that can be done to a car’s power unit.

The huge number of modifications available for boosting an engine’s tune includes adding a sports camshaft that will increase the power, balancing the power unit so it’s able to run at higher RPM, and adjusting the timing. In addition a beneficial effect will be found by increasing the duration of an engine’s compression, induction, exhaust and bang cycles.

Causing the air to move though an engine more quickly is another priority for the home tuner. Sports exhausts, sport catalysts and head work like polishing and porting have further benefits for enhancing the power band.

With a turbo there are additional options available too. Intercoolers reduce intake air temperature and encourage larger power gains. A turbo can also be upgraded by either choosing a bigger turbo or getting and existing unit hybridized with improved internals.

Blow off and wastegate controls can be adjusted to boost power generated by an engine.

Tuning cars with chips

Typical DIY tuning kit

In spite of all the useful advice already given, it is a fact that the days of being able to simply get under the bonnet of a car with a set of spanners in an endeavour to make a car go faster are distinctly numbered.

The computers that operate modern engines (ECUs) have increasingly rapidly taken over a large number of the functions and controls that determine every aspect of how an engine is managed from timing to fuelling.

It means engines are now pumping out bigger and better power, coupled with cleaner burns and more reliable engines, but by no means is it the end of the road for the home tuner.

The map or program, call it what you will, is easily up rated in many of today’s cars. Chip tuning is a very loose term for describing processes for remapping a car’s engine.

Engine remaps and chip tuning are very similar but here the concentration is one the latter. The imperfect term is thought to derive from distant days when chips were not easily updateable and “reflashed”.

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Nowadays chip removal and replacement is coming back as an important option, not least because some ECUs are locked. This means that replacing the chip is the only choice even though these would often have to be soldered and thanks to delicate chips, are likely to fail.

EPROMS are read-only memories whose contents can be cleared (by various means including with ultraviolet lights) and reprogrammed. These were able to be removed, reflashed and reinstalled.

Chip replacements used to be the sole way of changing a car’s map but it is now easily possible with standardized diagnostic ports.

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Recently cars have been coming equipped with on board diagnostic ports which enable the uploading of a fresh map.

Chip tuning is not really something that can easily be done by the home tuner. To embark upon the task requires a detailed knowledge of the engine in question. Then the tuner has ideally to have access to a complete set of diagnostic equipment that is attached to a rolling road that allows “live” adjustments to be made to the mapping.

It is not just a matter of simply adjusting a few numbers and benefiting from a significant power gain.

DIY chip tuners also face the risk of bad flashes where the computer crashes and cannot be recovered. In the absence of a suitable restoration image either a new computer or an expensive visit to a main dealer may be required.

Chip tuning is best when it is possible to insert a custom map which takes into account a car’s characteristics, strong and weak, and whatever other modifications have been done to the car.

A few companies offer replacement chips which have a sportier feel. There are performance chips which can be installed either by a home tuner or a specialist installer.

Often off the shelf these maps are designed to be fitted in a large variety of vehicles. Although these offer benefits over the standard equipment they will never be as good as a custom map that has been specifically designed for a particular car and a driver’s idiosyncratic driving style.

In general most cars will demonstrate the benefits of a replacement chip but to see the really large gains turbocharged applications are required. In a Naturally Aspirated engine (NASP) power gains are generally between 10 and 20 per cent, but in turbo engines these power gains grow to about 40 per cent in a petrol engine and 30 per cent in a turbo diesel engine.

Even cars that receive relatively low power gains from remaps are going to be more lively drives.

Peak power gain figures are just a tiny proportion of the tuning equation. The first and foremost reasons for leaping into the fine art and science of chip tuning is to have an impact of how an engine responds under acceleration and how its torque curves.

There are downsides, however, there is an increased requirement for servicing and car maintenance on a regular basis.

By chip tuning a vehicle the safe margin of error that the manufacturer has built in is eroded by the action. This is an important consideration because those safe margins are there to protect against the effects of filling up with low quality fuel and the sort of wear and tear that comes with a car being services at longer intervals.

Any remap should only take place when a car has been serviced and is running in the best condition possible.

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Now, that you’ve read a basic intro guide to car tuning, time to delve deeper into the details with: Getting Started With Car Tuning: Part 2 the technical details