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What
is Road Tuning?
Road tuning involves programming or mapping of an
aftermarket electronic control unit (ECU) to gain more power and
drivability, based upon the car's actual over the road experiences.
In
a factory standard specification vehicle the OEM ECU is programmed to
enable the engine to perform well under all types of varying
conditions. While most of us have the luxury of access to good quality
fuel and service our vehicles regularly, this is not the case all over
the world. In some countries fuel grades are extremely poor and cars
are just run and run until destruction without any servicing or repair.
When producing a vehicle car manufacturer's have to take all these
scenario's into consideration.
The
result of all of this is a vehicle that is not tuned to perform as well
as it could and in many applications there is a lot of untapped power
and torque that can be gained, over and above the aftermarket ECU's
pre-programmed map.
Mapping /
Re-Mapping:
To
gain the extra potential from your vehicle, you have to alter
parameters within the performance ECU, based on the effect of the Real
World, actual driving conditions, on your car. These include values for
timing, fuelling, air flow, rev limits and boost control (where
applicable).
An
aftermarket ECU will have been re-mapped to allow all these parameters
to be pushed to the maximum safe, reliable value thus creating a more
responsive, more powerful and a more torque delivering car.
When
looking at re-mapping your performance ECU, it is easy to be drawn
towards the maximum bhp / torque figure claims from Dyno Tuning. Your
actual performance on the road, may not always be best based on just
maximums alone; there are a number of factors to be taken into account.
Most
production line engines will produce varying power and torque figures
even though they were all built on the same production line.
Manufacturers will always quote the ultimate best figure they have seen
out of a run of say one hundred engines. This means your engine may
produce less power than is claimed to begin with. Dyno Tuning may
achieve maximum Bhp and torque but will the vehicle be driveable on the
road?
If
you are building an all out racer then you can afford to achieve the
maximum power and torque at what ever cost, however when you are
talking about a road going car that is a different matter. You can
achieve big bhp and torque out of an engine but you must ask yourself
what the disadvantages are. Generally these are running too lean,
running to rich, engine component failure and a variety of issues
concerning every day drivablilty.
What you should be looking for in a performance car is
how the vehicle performs in all conditions: Urban, cruising, idling
etc. coupled with power delivery, crispness and responsiveness.
'Road Tuning' accomplishes this:
Road Tuning involves several hours of diagnostic
evaluation of the car's performance, your driving habits and the
mapping of your aftermarket ECU. Then, the process of re-mapping, on
the road testing, re-evaluation and necessary map adjustments to
achieve the best on the road performance, for 'YOUR
Real World'. 
Contact us for
additional information on 'Real World
Road Tuning'.
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