There are many advantages to remapping your vehicle. We discuss what remapping actually is, how it affects your vehicle and what the potential upsides and downsides may be.
Engine Control Unit
Remapping, sometimes called ECU tuning, is when the settings of a car’s ‘engine control unit’ (ECU) is altered to improve several areas of the vehicle’s performance. By overwriting the existing settings with new software, the owner can re-programme the car to manage the fuel injection, airflow, sensors and more (within legal limitations).
What effects can a remap have?
By tuning the ECU software, the engine can perform a lot closer to its maximum capabilities – often by increasing horsepower and torque upto 40% or more! By default, most vehicles have their performance intentionally dialled down when they leave the factory for a multitude of reasons. Often this can be to meet emissions regulations, or economy or noise regulations.
A car’s engine can also become more responsive, allowing the driver to overtake more easily. This can also cut down on the number of gear changes the driver has to make, allowing them to handle situations that require more torque without dropping down to lower gears. Again, this can help boost fuel economy if used strategically.
Is remapping dangerous or harmful to the engine?
Changing settings that affect the control of an engine can have harmful effects, it all depends on who wrote the software, and how the vehicle tuner configures it to the vehicle. For this reason we would never recommend installing your own software, or software from an unverified company. There are specialist tuning companies that write ECU software and they will usually test and tweak it for a year or more on many vehicles before making it available to the public. Going with one of these companies means the software you have installed is most likely going to be safe to use, but always check reviews first.
Is remapping really just for performance cars?
Remapping can increase both performance and economy in most types of vehicles. Even a car with a 1 litre engine can receive good power gains from a remap, especially if it has a turbocharger.
Most modern cars these days have a turbocharger (or supercharger) fitted to the engine. An engine works by mixing compressed fuel with air and then igniting this mix inside its cylinders. Turbochargers and superchargers increase the fuel compression therefore allowing more fuel to fit inside the cylinders before igniting. More fuel equals more power. It is more fuel efficient to increase power this way rather than just having a larger engine to begin with.
Onyx Performance LTD
4WD 1500hp Rolling Road
We have a state of the art 1500hp 4WD dyno with full engine analysis capabilities to ensure our developments are providing you with the best power gains on the market whilst maintaining optimum reliability for your engine via our live ECU Remapping service.
Would you like to find out what your car is pushing? Good, we also offer power runs on our dyno.
Vehicle Modifications
We offer performance modifications including Turbo upgrades, Supercharger kits, Intercooler upgrades, Exhausts, Induction kits, Uprated Clutch kits, Performance Brake kits, Suspension, Bushes, HID Light kits and the list goes on, being innovators of performance tuning we work with the top aftermarket part suppliers.
Servicing and Specialist Services
Onyx Performance is not just a performance house but we also offer Engine and Gearbox Servicing, Engine Carbon Cleaning, Boost Leak Smoke Test, DPF Cleaning, Window Tinting, Stereo Installations and Speaker Upgrades.
Onyx Performance – 4WD Dyno Runs near me – Engine Carbon Clean – Servicing – Performance Exhaust Systems