Chip Tuning - Software Remapping FAQ's
The most difficult concept to grasp for most people is that remapping is merely "chip tuning", albeit that it's being done electronically rather than mechanically. A 'chip' is simply an electronic storage device or EPROM which is located on a circuit board inside the ECU (the Engine Control Unit). The chip contains values in a hexadecimal form which the ECU's main processor (another device on the same circuit board) can understand and use to control the engine. Each value inside the chip is held in its own separate position (known as an 'address'), and due to the way manufacturers develop many engine on the same unit and to fit into tax bands, engines are de-tuned to fit into these bands and achieve the manufacturers desired place into the market. As a result the car never performs as well as its mechanically controlled counterpart from the factory. When a car is remapped, we are basically altering the values at the groups of addresses that control fuelling, ignition timing and on turbo engines, turbo boost, there are many other tables we change to allow for this to scale with other systems that most other tuners miss whilst they search for gimmicky trial solutions.
Naturally, this is a complex and skilled operation. It requires experienced personnel who understand the hardware and software, and of course have the appropriate electronics qualifications in order to understand the procedures. Nowadays the technology is becoming even more complex. Gone are the days of the 28-pin plug in chip, a simple 8-bit device. We've experienced the occasional wake-up calls from chips soldered to the circuit board and with unusual sets of contents, and have now moved into territory which is definitely not for the faint hearted. Modern engines such as the VW 1.8T and Audi TT have ECU's with 16-bit 44-pin devices, surface-mounted to the circuit board. Not just new hardware on the outside but also some mind-boggling software on the inside. Luckily, our engineers have kept abreast of the technology, and the company has invested heavily in state of the art de-soldering equipment, datalogging and remapping software. We do not, therefore, have to rely on modem-downloads from any other source, all the software is written here and you see the price saving accordingly.
How is Remapping done?
The first job to do with a new ECU type is for the chip content to be read and stored on a PC. Then, using a combination of in-house software, in-depth experience of engine management software, utilising experience and knowledge from Damos/A2L/functionsrahrmen files and processor instruction sets the maps of interest are identified. Our state of the art datalogging software allows us to log more channels simultaneously than other tuners. The new software is then programmed into the ECU either by OBD or a chip is replaced using our state of the art soldering equipment.
Contact us for further information or if you have any questions.
Naturally, this is a complex and skilled operation. It requires experienced personnel who understand the hardware and software, and of course have the appropriate electronics qualifications in order to understand the procedures. Nowadays the technology is becoming even more complex. Gone are the days of the 28-pin plug in chip, a simple 8-bit device. We've experienced the occasional wake-up calls from chips soldered to the circuit board and with unusual sets of contents, and have now moved into territory which is definitely not for the faint hearted. Modern engines such as the VW 1.8T and Audi TT have ECU's with 16-bit 44-pin devices, surface-mounted to the circuit board. Not just new hardware on the outside but also some mind-boggling software on the inside. Luckily, our engineers have kept abreast of the technology, and the company has invested heavily in state of the art de-soldering equipment, datalogging and remapping software. We do not, therefore, have to rely on modem-downloads from any other source, all the software is written here and you see the price saving accordingly.
How is Remapping done?
The first job to do with a new ECU type is for the chip content to be read and stored on a PC. Then, using a combination of in-house software, in-depth experience of engine management software, utilising experience and knowledge from Damos/A2L/functionsrahrmen files and processor instruction sets the maps of interest are identified. Our state of the art datalogging software allows us to log more channels simultaneously than other tuners. The new software is then programmed into the ECU either by OBD or a chip is replaced using our state of the art soldering equipment.
Contact us for further information or if you have any questions.
Please note that we are an independent company. We are not affiliated with Lamborghini, Ferrari, Porsche, BMW, Corvette, Volvo, Mercedes, Ford, Mitsubishi, Nissan, Audi, MINI, VW, Saab and Land Rover or any other subsidiary or other vehicle manufacturers referred to on this site. The use of company corporate identities is used solely for clarification purposes.
