Regardless of the vehicle, there’s never enough power for a true gearhead. Upgrading your car with performance parts is awesome but also expensive. Still, there’s also a cheaper and less intrusive way to gain some ponies.
Not long ago, those who couldn’t afford forged pistons and conrods, a bigger turbo, or other performance upgrades would opt for ‘chipping’ their rides to gain more power. In most cases, this process involved swapping the car’s factory Electronic Control Unit (ECU) with an aftermarket one programmed to boost overall performance.
Nowadays, this wizardry has evolved, and rather than swapping the ECU, tuners can remap the factory chip without any physical alterations to your car.
Photo: ColinMB on Wikimedia Commons
They just plug a laptop into the vehicle’s onboard diagnostic port (OBD) and overwrite the manufacturer’s software with a custom one, enabling the engine to produce more power.
How much more depends on several factors but generally, turbocharged units can gain between 10 and 50 additional horsepower just by fiddling with the ECU.
Apart from the increase in power, are there other benefits?
I’m tempted to say no, but many people who remapped their car’s ECUs have reported an improvement in fuel economy. Theoretically, an increase in torque means the engine revs reduce so under normal driving conditions, you should see an improvement in fuel consumption.
I remapped my car’s ECU about a year ago, and I haven’t been able to drive normally ever since. The power gain is obvious and impossible to resist, so I didn’t see any improvements in this department, on the contrary, fuel consumption has gone up.
Photo: Martin Katler on Unsplash
But, for all you sane folks, a remap will probably improve fuel economy if you can adjust your driving style.
Other benefits include unlocking various features like immobilizer and valet modes, which can be extremely useful. If you own a fleet, remapping can also limit the speed of the vehicles to make sure your employees don’t break any speed limits.
Can remapping damage the engine or cause reliability issues?
This process puts extra strain on the engine; that much is obvious. But a remap done right won’t go over what your powerplant can handle.
Most carmakers limit the potential of their engines for multiple reasons. The most obvious one is that at some point, they will release a facelifted version of the vehicle or a new model with the same engine, so they leave a little bit of room on the power spectrum to boast about the improvements of the new model without actually improving the engine's internals in any way.
Photo: Asyrafunk RKTW on Unsplash
Also, if you choose to remap the engine yourself by following YouTube tutorials and have no prior experience with this process, the chances that something goes wrong are high. The same applies to quasi-tuners or gearhead friends with a laptop and an ODB cable.
If you decide to do this, a wise choice is to go to a professional tuner where you will find technicians with countless hours of experience in the field and stable, widely used software solutions.
Another important factor that you should consider is that a remap can void the car’s warranty. Sure, the remapping process can be reversed in most cases by overwriting the optimized software with the car’s original, factory version, but dealership technicians will likely trace ECU modifications.
How much does it cost?
This depends on the amount of programming and testing required, the model in question, and the tuner you choose. Generally, for a popular vehicle, a quality remap will cost around $700.
In conclusion, a basic ECU remap has its advantages, especially if your choose a reputable tuner and your vehicle is out of warranty.
Vlad's first car was custom coach built: an exotic he made out of wood, cardboard and a borrowed steering wheel at the age of five. Combining his previous experience in writing and car dealership years, his articles focus in depth on special cars of past and present times. Full profile
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