What is ECU Remapping?

What is ECU Remapping?

So… I am a mobile ECU remap specialist, I do diesel tuning, petrol tuning eco tuning, performance tuning, power tuning and DPF removal.

Well that’s great for you I hear you say, but what is ECU remapping? What does it mean?

Well here goes!

The majority of cars and vans on the road today have an ECU. That is an Engine Control Unit which basically is a little computer that makes the engine do its thing once you have turned the key. It analyses the engine temperature, how hard you are pressing the accelerator and lots of other stuff so giving the engine the right amount of fuel, at the right time so it will do the job you ask. Pulling away, overtaking, pottering down the road or zooming down the motorway.

Right so that’s what an ECU is, but what is the remapping bit?

Well, when your car or van left the factory it was given some software (a map) so the engine would run OK under lots of different conditions. This software (map) in the Engine Control Unit (ECU) will let the vehicle drive in the same way if behind the wheel is a boy racer, a granny, a travelling salesman or a mum doing the school run (terrible stereotyping but I am wanting everyone to understand). Now this car or van also has to drive ok no matter if you are using it here in the UK or if you are taking it to Africa or America where the fuel is either low quality or really quite weak. If you are not thinking of taking your car or van to Africa or America then why not make it use our UK spec fuel, better.

I was watching an ad on the tele the other evening where one of the big petrol suppliers was claiming to have it best fuel ever. Now your car or van doesn’t have the ability to upgrade its own software to take advantage of this better fuel.

So in basic terms, a remap is when the car or van is given a software upgrade, just like a smartphone or printer, so the engine can do its job more efficiently on our European fuels, and either give more bang for your buck if you choose a performance map or reduce your running costs if you have an Eco map.