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 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 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 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 £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. Torque.Cars 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.

As with all ECU upgrades you are still dependant on having the car in top condition as you are removing the tolerances built in for dirty plugs, cheap fuel, or minor electrical faults.

Cold air intakes and induction kits and the effect on performance.

Improving the Suck – if you put a piece of cloth over your mouth and suck in air you will not have too much of a problem but if the cloth were wet or a double thickness things start to get harder. Your engine, just like you, needs to breath air.

The air filter is a very necessary part of the engine unless you are operating in a laboratory so the aim is to get an efficient air filter that is not too thick and is not oily, greasy or dirty. This is where induction kits and sports panel air filters come in.

This slight coating of oil will aid filtration. As an alternative to sponge get a filter which comprises layers of a fine grade metallic mesh as both of these will flow better than the standard paper filter.

The oil sprays for air filters have been traced to problems with the mass air flow sensor. We must stress that you should only use a light coating of oil on the air intake side of the filter. It is a good idea to clean the mass air flow sensor periodically anyway.

The bigger the surface area of the filter the better the air flow will be. Mainstream cars today can be fitted with an air induction kit which completely replaces the air intake box.

Cold air induction kits, a cheap way of making the most of induction roar
The plus is much better air flow, particularly at higher revs, and the induction roar as air is sucked into the engine the downside is also the roar - some people dislike the extra noise these kits create .

Smaller engined cars can actually lose power when an induction kit instead of an airfilter is fitted. It can be challenging to deliver COLD air (which carries more oxygen) to the engine as the temperature under the bonnet can get quite high and and a 20 degrees rise in temperature can rob you of up to 3% of your power!

Under bonnet temperatures can quickly rise to double this. An intercooler can be added which is sprayed with Co2 and reduces the temperature of the air intake. It should be noted that in some small engine non turbo applications the car will feel less powerful with an induction kit - in these instances the best option is a direct replacement panel air filter which goes in the standard airbox.

Sucking warm air in from the engine is a great way to lose power.
Make sure you have a cold air feed pipe to get cool air from outside of the engine bay - cold air carries more oxygen.
So the best air induction kits come with a cold air feed pipe and are fitted in an air box which shields the intake air from the high under bonnet temperatures – the best compromise between the standard air intake box and the induction kit. Some kits have a long pipe which the filter sits at the end nearest the bonnet which really does help cut down the noise and improves the intake temperature.

Induction kits that protrude under the front bumper which claim to get more air forced in through the pressure built up on the front of the car as it cuts through air do not have significant power gains, other than the benefit of the cold air from outside the engine bay, - the RAM effect takes speeds up over 100 mph before a benefit is realised - they are however a great way to collect many botanical specimens of fly's, moths and bugs in the air filter!

NB: Be careful where you site the cold air feed - the last thing you want is to be sucking water into the engine every time you splash through a puddle.

If the induction kits air filter is enclosed in a box with a cold air feed, then more power can be obtained avoiding the hot under bonnet air (Carbon fibre boxes are very good for their heat shielding and durability). It also good to wrap a the exhaust manifold with a heat resistant material to keep the under bonnet temperatures down and tasteful vents can be added to the bonnet to take away the heat.

Induction kits sometimes come with a guarantee of "more power". In reality though, the power gains are so small, on small engined cars, they would not be noticable in real life. Secondly the power increase tends to be at the higher end of the rev range and your low down power band will suffer.

So to summarise, if you have a large engined car (or an engine with good low to mid range torque) fit an induction kit with a cold air feed. If you ahve a small engined car or one with little power in the lower rev band fit a direct replacment sports panel air filter.

Adding spoilers and wings for aerodynamic enhancement

How do spoilers work?
The difference between a spoiler and a wing:

Spoilers are generally closer to the body of the car and help diffuse the air.
Wings are mounted much higher up and have an aerodyamic effect of creating downforce.

The angle of attack or deflection will have a bearing on the amount of down force generated, the larger the angle the more down force but the price you will pay is increased drag. Most wings have a two angled surface creating a two stage deflection forcing the air over the wing to take a shorter route than the air going under the spoiler.

Thinking about the principle of spolers and wing design ie: making the air travel further on one side than on the other, either by increasing the surface area on one side making the air travel further or by creating drag underneath to slow up the air. Brings us to look at the whole car and its effect on down force/lift.

If you look at the typical shape of a car the air will travel further and faster over the top of the car than it does underneath, this creates lift. Opening a sunroof at speed can make this problem even worse. So, an unmodified car, travelling at track speeds becomes very unstable and dangerous effectively losing grip, traction and control.

Cue the Coanda effect (a flow of liquid or air will follow the surface it is running over, try putting the side of a cup under a steady trickle of water and see what happens to the flow after it leaves the curve of the cup!) So once deflected the stream of air will continue on the deflected course after the end of the spoiler. Already we start to realise that just sticking a spoiler on the back of the car is not addressing the whole issue of aerodynamics.

If you imagine the car as a see-saw when you press down on the rear the front will lift slightly. When you fit a spoiler to the rear you have to expect that at higher speeds the front of the car will become lighter. In a front wheel drive car this is very undesirable, in a rear wheel drive car you still need the front wheels to steer so although traction is improved a degree of lift at the front is undesirable.

To counter the front lift you can fit front splitters, and front and rear skirts, which create down force at the front of the car and control the amount of air rushing under the car to create down force. When you start redirecting the air rushing over the car you will create an amount of drag which will rob you of speed and economy so there is a fine line between an efficient spoiler and wing design and an inefficient one.

Sometimes in Formula 1 and other motorsports you will have noticed spectacular crashes where the car has lifted due to a bump and the spoilers have effectively helped the car to get airborne and crash. Some cars generate more down force than they weigh creating the possibility of driving upside down on the roof of a tunnel (aside from the logistics of how you get it there in the first place.)

The best wings are adjustable, allowing the driver to set his preferences to the track conditions. For example a slow track with many bends will need a different setup to a fast track with plenty of straights. They also are mounted high up on the rear so they have an effect on the air flowing over the car. Vertical slats in the spoiler help to increase a cars straight line stability, something you see in motorsports spoilers.

Side skirts and sills help to cause the air moving under the car to move faster creating down force and enhancing cornering stability. For the best effect TorqueCars recommend that you do not just go out to the 'chavs n tarts' part catalogue and order a spoiler with pretty stickers.

Instead go to a proper motorsports tuner and get a rear wing specced up to your car and your requirements. A single rear spoiler is a pointless addition as a performance enhancement as you need to address the nose of the car, get some suitable sills and have the underneath of the car designed to create down force as well.

Wings can provide down force at speeds of around 50mph but it's not until about 70mph that this becomes significant and offers a benefit to the handling of a car. Spoilers can help to reduce drag on a car but are little more than cosmetic add ons.

Fitting a strut brace and performance benefits

Strut braces will reduce body flexing allowing better cornering and enhanced driver feedback.

Combined with a roll cage a very rigid car can be created. The front of the car is more subject to flexing than the rear, so most people fitness strut brace in the front of the car. 

The strut braces need to be precision made, and many allow fine tuning adjustment after fitting. They need to be a strong and light, so many are constructed from aluminium or carbon fibre, but steel rods are also suitable. 



When fitted as strut brace will improve the handling of the car by maintaining the angles in the suspension geometry, even under heavy load. You will also get better feedback from the chassis, and cornering grip will be greatly increased. 

Fitting a strut brace is a very simple job and easily accomplished in a short period of time. You will require a torque wrench, allen Key and socket. (Sometimes you need a metal drill with a slow speed setting.) 



First off lay the strut brace over the struts and ensure :-

1) They fit (you will be really stuck if they are too short/long or the bolt holes are in the wrong place. 


2) They will not interfere or touch the engine or components therin. 

You must ensure that the car is on a level surface, use a spirit level and check for vertical and horizontal level. You need to undo the bolts on the top of the suspension, fit the strut brace and refit the bolts.

Don't overtighten them, they will snap easily so use the Torque Wrench to get a measure for the amount of force to use. (Some cars/strut brace kits may require drilling, so check the instructions before you start! If the strut only has one nut you will typically need to drill new holes around the top in order to connect the strut brace.) 



Adjust the strut brace when it is on to straighten out the tops of the struts. (Over time the strusts will have started to pull in so you are looking to correct this and restore the cars original geometry.) 

The lower strut requires removal of the lower part of the suspension, but again is a simple job. It is easier to do this on axle stands or ramps but you must ensure that the car is on a level surface. Join us in our friendly forum to discuss all aspects of car tuning and modifications.