AIan Anderson M.l.M,l. explains how to transform your car'spertormance by changing just one small component in its ECU.

egular readers may remembera recent Editor's edict con-cerning how DIY is not onlystill alive but kicking along

nicely. That may be so, but we de$r any-one, no matter how dab-handed theyare with cars. not to break into a coldsweat when confionted by the sight of afuel-injected engine!

A bonnet full of pipes, trunking,wiring and not forgetting a computerappears as complex as the workings of

the Space Shuttle and that's not a sillycomparison. In fact, a modern fuel-in-jected engine uses more powerful com-puters than the ones Neil ArmstrongandBrzz Aldrin relied upon to takethem to the moon and back.

However, looks can be deceptive and,while an EFI set-up doesn't lend itselftoweekend tinkering, itcertainly holds thekey to unlock a healthy increase in per-formance. And it's all down to a simplechip change.

Engine tuning has shifted dramati-callyoflate, moving away fiom the dirtyhands, a box of tools and trial and errormethod, which served us so well admit-tedly, to the sophisticated clinical high-tech approach. And it's more than a wel-come advance.

Just a simple change of microchip inthe engine's management system canreap potentially racing car-like bhp fig-ures. You don't have to go quite that farbut a slight increase in performance, to

42 CAiR MECHAIIIICS DECEMBER 1995

help when towing or travelling fully-laden perhaps, would certainly not goamiss for many drivers even though theaverage family car is quicker than its GTrelation of 10-15 years ago.

How?Although a typical electronic fu el injec-tion system is pretty complicated, theway a'super-chip'works is almost sim-plicity itself.

Essentially, all modern EFI systemsrely upon an on-board car computerknown as the ECU (Electronic ControlUnit). This is whatmakes the engine tickbecause it governs how much fuel is sup-plied to the engine and the optimumig-nition timing setting for any given timeafter taking into consideration vital fac-tors such as operating temperature,throttle opening, engine load and so on.

At the heart of an ECU is the micro-chip which is the unit's'brain'because itis pre-programmed to correspond withthe car makers' wishes. A new re-pro-grammed chip simply sends out differ-ent messages to the ECU, tricking it intobelieving that more fuel and differentignition settings are needed. The net re-sult is more power. It is that easy and,unlike power tuning of old, does notsuffer reliability or temperamentaltantrums and still retains the originalengine tuning settings.

Why don't the carmakers do it?Ifjusta simple change ofmicro-chip canreap so much reward, the big questionis how come the car makers don't fitthese optimum performance micro-chips as standard or at least offer than asan option?

The answer according to leadingchipswapper, Bucks-based Superchips (Tel:01280 816781) is due to compromise.Astandard mass-produced car must suita wide range of driving conditions anddrivers. Amanufacturer must also allowfor the factacar must be able to run sat-isfactorily without proper regular ser-vicing and cope with varying fuel qual-ity. So, as long as you are a typical ownerwho looks after your car properly, thenyou can enjoy a healthy performance in-crease that is totally usable at the ex-pense of only a couple of miles per gal-lon at best.

The other major engine chip comesfrom Weber (Carburettors) no less. CalledStar-Chip (Tel: 01932 788805), itwas de-veloped by racer tuned car developerDavid Brodie and his Brodie BrittainRacing concern (Tel: 01280 702389).Star-Chip even claims increased fueleconomy with its modified micro marvel,particularly on motorways.

The chip that needs changing is inside the EGU. Thismight be under a seat, a bonnet or, as in this case,up and underthe dash - usually more satisfactory asit's better protected from damp and dirt up there.

The great thing about re-chip tuningis that the gains aren't solely about extrapower. Indeed, performance increasesare quite conservative for non-tur-bocharged cars, usually 10 per cent interms of power and 15 per cent moretorque. However, the real improvementis in all round drivability.

Thanks to emission regulations and afanatical fixation with statutory fuel con-sumption figures, some EFl-equippedcars display certain unwelcome side ef-fects. Peugeots, for example, are fittedwith a fuel shut-off device when thethrottle is closed and this can lead to anannoying jerking motion when drivingin town. Vauxhalls have been known tosuffer fiom a similar snatching sensation

when in a high gear and on light throttle.Amodified chip can cure these maladies.

Drivability also means response and,while it is hard to criticise the perfor-mance the majority of cars these days,the throttle response can leave some-thing to be desired with many cars feel-ing rather woolly.

Does anyone remember the acceler-ator pump? On the old fixedjet carbu-rettor it provided an instantjet of neatfuel when the right foot was planted tothe floor. Now a Ford Cortina 1600 wasnever the fastest thing on four wheelsbut at least felt as though the loud pedalwas connected to the engine withoutany fluffiness and flat spots. A good re-chippingjob rekindles this lost feeling.

There are numerous tuning compa-nies around specialising in re-mappedchips and the vast majority of cars canbe converted.

Do it yourselfDespite its sophisticated nature you canquite easily fit a new pre-programmedchip yourself, although it does dependupon the engines involved. Some re-quire specialist soldering in place and,while it's true that your local TV re-pairer can easily do it, most chip sup-pliers would prefer you to take your caralong to one of their agents where theengine would be set up on a rolling roadto make the most of the new pro-gramme.

What you should ensure before anymodifications are carried out is that thecar is fit for tweaking, particularly theengine. Cylinder .o-pt.sions shouldbe within spec and any servicing itemsuch as spark plugs and air filters ingood order.

Prices? On average less than f200

DECEMBER 1995 GAR MECHAIUICS 43

across theboard, plus af25 fittingchargeand the dreaded VAT, although costs dovary depending upon which re-chippingcompany you select. Weber agents, inci-dentally, will fit a Star-Chip free.

The vital memory chip itself. Doesn't look a lot forover 0200, does it? | wouldn't fancy soldering areplacement in myself!

TurbochipsOwners ofturbocharged cars can enjoysome massive power hikes -by as muchas 40 per cent -yetachip change on itsown reaps little gain. It is only when aresultant tweak to the turbo's boostpressure really pulls out the extrahorses.

We're not kidding. For example, aFord Escort RS Turbo in standard trimdevelops an honest 132bhp; after chip-ping this can soar to a massive 210bhpwhile a standard Cosworth Sierra (a1-ready quick enough for most normalpeople, thank you - Ed) can be tuned todevelop a whopping 330bhp accordingto Superchips.

Turbo tuning is considerably moreexpensive than a normally-aspiratedcar. Prices can run to the thick end of agrand on certain Sierra and Escort Cos-worths and Nissan's twin turbo 3002Xsports car but, on average, look atspendingbetween f,350 to f500 for themajority of cars, depending upon whocarries out the work.

With such dramatic power increasesit is vital with an old turbocharged carthat not only must the engine be strongenough for the additional urge but the

rest of the mechanicals, chassis, suspen-sion and brakes are up to the job anduprated if necessary.

DrawbacksAs long as you use a reputable enginedeveloper of known experience thenyou shouldn't encounter any problems.Back to Superchips again who offer alZ-month guarantee for their products,plus a full refund scheme after sevendays' trial ifyou aren't satisfied with anynon-turbo conversion. Any good com-pany should offer a similar deal. Onlydeal with well-known companies; bothStar-Chip and Superchips have.theirown dedicated franchise dealer net-works.

Some re-chippers advise convertedcars to run on a diet ofleaded fuel or Su-pergreen ifcat-equipped,to get the bestffom the new set-up, the notable excep-tion being Star-Chip which still runs onstandard unleaded - far more conve-nient and cheaper.

Make sure to that the engine is keptin tip-top tune. There's no evidence tosuggest that modified cars suffer unre-liability problems but some engines maybe more sensitive if they go out of tune.There again, any good Car Mechani,csreader wouldn't dream of neglectingtheir pride andjoy, would they?

Owners of newish cars still under themanufacturer's warranty should bear inmind that it will most likely be invali-dated after the conversion, and re-member that any tuning project willmost certainly effect the standard in-surance cover. Have a word with yourinsurers firstbecause on non-turbo carsthe slight power gains may be lookedupon pretty favourably.

The next stepUntil recently, a few cars were deemed'unchippable', such as certain Toyotas,Mazdas, Mercedes, VWs and Peugeots.However, this has been overcome witha new type of engine managementcomputer that interfaces with the en-gine's existing ECU. It is more expen-sive than a simple re-chip, Superchips'ICON range starts from f225 and re-quires the engine to be set up on arolling road.

Some companies can also provide abespoke service where you can have ablank micro-chip specially re-mappedfor your particular engine for finetuning. This is more use to cars whichhave already been specifically tweakedwith a modified cylinder head or ex-haust system.

A new idea from Superchips is theswitchable chip. Called Romswap, it al-lows a converted car to revert to stan-dard form at the flick of a switch whichsome turbo owners may find useful ifother people of varying skills drive thecar. You can also opt for a blank chipwhich means that it can act as a usefulanti-theft immobiliser.

Diesels haven't been forgotten andthere is a dedicated range for turbo-diesels that can offer good power in-creases. For example, the 90bhp VWGolf TDI unit can raise its game to ahealthier 115bhp with an even more im-pressive torque curve.

So there you have it. Anew era of en-gine tuning is fast gaining widespreadapproval, and not simply with go-fasterenthusiasts. Many ordinary drivers afterjust that little bit extra driving pleasureare seeing the benefits of fitting modi-fied chips to their cars.

Superchips supply a wide range of chips for modifying performance, not all of them to improveperformance. Chips are also available to improve pulling power and overall driveability.

44 GAR MECHAIIIICS DECEMBER 1995

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