Since the mid 1990’s modern cars are controlled electronically by an engine management unit called an “ECU” for short. It is basically a computer system, just like your laptop or tablet. However instead of controlling programs or apps your car ECU monitors and controls different aspects of your engine, such as ignition timing, turbo boost, fuel economy and engine temperature
Do all cars have ECUs? Not all cars on the road have ECUs. Typically vehicles produced from the mid-1990s onwards have ECUs controlling how they deliver “engine performance”. |
Prior to electronic control units, the various aspects of your car engine were manually adjusted or “tuned” to improve the way its performance was delivered. Often this tuning had to be completed on a regular basis due to the use of less sophisticated carburetors that had to be “set” to ensure the best mix of fuel and air entered the combustion chamber of the engine.
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What are the benefits of ECUs?
Technology has improved massively since the first ECUs were introduced in cars. Today electronic systems control just about everything that your car does from your air conditioning system through to braking systems, through to your dashboard display. Specifically your engine control unit monitors many aspects of your cars power train and having software electronically control your car engine can provide numerous benefits.
For example:
What do engine ECUs do?
Engine ECUs contain “maps” which are basically multi-dimensional lookup tables of minimum, maximum and average values for various engine sensors. The software on your engine ECU then interprets the information from those tables and sends an appropriate signal to the relevant engine sensors so that the appropriate performance is delivered during your drive.A simple example of the above would be your engine idle. If the sensors on your car engine send a signal to your car ECU that your engine is cold, the ECU will tell your engine sensor to increase idle speed until normal operating temperature, so that the engine won’t stall.
Why should I remap my car’s ECU?
When car manufacturers create engine maps for the ECU, they have to develop them so that the engines they control have a balance between fuel economy and performance for all geographical regions and all driving styles. As a result, the software on your car is not necessarily optimized for your driving style or for fuel supplied in the country in which you live. Understanding this, many vehicle owners wish to further refine their car’s engine map through the process known as “ecu remapping” so more the engine’s performance potential can be released.
What sort of performance increases can I expect to gain?
It depends on whether your vehicle is petrol or diesel, turbo charged or not turbo charged. Typically non-turbo petrol engine cars have less to gain from remapping than turbo charged vehicles regardless of whether or not the engine is petrol or diesel. Turbo diesel engines tend to realize the most gain from ECU remapping as they benefit both from the turbo as well as from their higher compression ratio. But equally performance increases will differ because the requirement of the vehicle owner will be different. Not every car owner wants the most powerful vehicle, some would rather a blend of improved overtaking performance when required mixed in with improved fuel economy for the rest of the time. In such cases remapping “performance” will be different from one driver to the next let alone from one vehicle to the next. In all cases however, remapping is only beneficial if the remap itself is customized to what the vehicle owner / driver wants and needs. In short a properly remapped vehicle should tune the vehicle the customer wants into the vehicle they want to drive. If this is achieved, both the vehicle owner and the vehicle itself benefits.
Technology has improved massively since the first ECUs were introduced in cars. Today electronic systems control just about everything that your car does from your air conditioning system through to braking systems, through to your dashboard display. Specifically your engine control unit monitors many aspects of your cars power train and having software electronically control your car engine can provide numerous benefits.
For example:
- ECUs can ensure that your engine has the right mixture of air and fuel
- ECUs can monitor fuel economy according to engine and temperature conditions
- ECU’s can change engine idle speed depending on whether the engine is cold or hot
- ECUs can inform you if there are any engine problems that need your urgent attention
What do engine ECUs do?
Engine ECUs contain “maps” which are basically multi-dimensional lookup tables of minimum, maximum and average values for various engine sensors. The software on your engine ECU then interprets the information from those tables and sends an appropriate signal to the relevant engine sensors so that the appropriate performance is delivered during your drive.A simple example of the above would be your engine idle. If the sensors on your car engine send a signal to your car ECU that your engine is cold, the ECU will tell your engine sensor to increase idle speed until normal operating temperature, so that the engine won’t stall.
Why should I remap my car’s ECU?
When car manufacturers create engine maps for the ECU, they have to develop them so that the engines they control have a balance between fuel economy and performance for all geographical regions and all driving styles. As a result, the software on your car is not necessarily optimized for your driving style or for fuel supplied in the country in which you live. Understanding this, many vehicle owners wish to further refine their car’s engine map through the process known as “ecu remapping” so more the engine’s performance potential can be released.
What sort of performance increases can I expect to gain?
It depends on whether your vehicle is petrol or diesel, turbo charged or not turbo charged. Typically non-turbo petrol engine cars have less to gain from remapping than turbo charged vehicles regardless of whether or not the engine is petrol or diesel. Turbo diesel engines tend to realize the most gain from ECU remapping as they benefit both from the turbo as well as from their higher compression ratio. But equally performance increases will differ because the requirement of the vehicle owner will be different. Not every car owner wants the most powerful vehicle, some would rather a blend of improved overtaking performance when required mixed in with improved fuel economy for the rest of the time. In such cases remapping “performance” will be different from one driver to the next let alone from one vehicle to the next. In all cases however, remapping is only beneficial if the remap itself is customized to what the vehicle owner / driver wants and needs. In short a properly remapped vehicle should tune the vehicle the customer wants into the vehicle they want to drive. If this is achieved, both the vehicle owner and the vehicle itself benefits.