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-   -   ECU Remaps : About Tools, Software & Tuners! (https://www.team-bhp.com/forum/technical-stuff/190894-ecu-remaps-about-tools-software-tuners.html)

ECU Remaps have become very popular everywhere. There are many tuners in India now who do ECU remaps. I was very curious and interested in ECU tuning. I have got my diesel cars remapped from various tuners. I wanted to know more and was doing research since a year. I joined few ECU forums / groups and got lot of information. I wish to share everything here by writing in detail.

How do you start ECU remaps?

ECU tuning Tools

There are many tools available in the market to read and write different kinds of Engine Control Units (ECU). I would be discussing here only about genuine tools and not the cheap Chinese clones.

Alientech Italy :
Most of the tuners across the globe use tools from Alientech. Alientech has large dealer network and known for fast support. They even conduct ECU tuning courses. The tools are expensive compared to the competition. Alientech has still not come up with protocols for few cars while the competitors already have it.

K-TAG ( for Bench flash)


KESS (for OBD flash)


https://www.alientech-tools.com/en/home/

CMD Flash
This tool is also very good. Their support for VAG cars are brilliant. CMD tool can do PCR 2.1 ECU (1.5 /1.6 TDI VAG) fully by OBD now. The development team is also very enthusiastic and they have even cracked the protocol for Indian New Figo diesel.


http://flashtec.ch/

Magic Motorsports
They are getting very popular since last few years. MMS were the first to crack protocols for many ECU. I have heard that the support is also good. Even this tool can do 1.5 / 1.6 TDI VAG fully by OBD.

Mag Pro2 XL17


https://www.magicmotorsport.com/

MPPS
Most of the tuners in Europe use this as secondary tool. The tool supports many cars and the main advantage is free updates. There are no yearly subscription charges and lifetime support is free.


https://amtcartech.com/

Dimsport
I do not have much knowledge about this company. They have a fancy touch screen tool for OBD flash :D


http://www.dimsport.it/en/

There are few more companies who provide the tools. They are not well known and hence I am not posting it here. All the tools listed above come with OBD and Bench flash protocols. The tuner has to pay for tools, protocols and yearly subscription. Most of the tuners get OBD and Bench flash tools with car & bike protocols. There is no point in investing on protocols for Tractors, Boats and Cranes in India lol. I will post the approximate price in INR for the tools listed above with car and bike protocols. This doesn't include shipping and custom duty.

Alientech
KESS V2 (Master Version) : 3.5 lakhs
K-Tag (Master Version) : 3 lakhs
Total : 6.5 lakhs

CMD :
OBD + Bench flash (Master) : 5.25 lakhs

Magic Motorsports :
Mag Pro2 XL 17 : OBD + Bench (Master) : 4 lakhs

MPPS
OBD + Bench (Master) : 2.65 lakhs ( This is super VFM for master tool)

Dimpsort
New Genius (OBD Master) : 4 lakhs
New Transdata (Bench flash Master) : 3 lakhs
Total : 7 lakhs
This tool is very expensive and not that famous too. I would not recommend this.

Check out this site for shopping!!
https://www.chiptuningshop.co.uk/

All the tools and pricing mentioned above are for Master tools. The Master tools have total control and non encrypted files are read from the ECU. The tuner can buy any of these tools to safely read and write files. A good tuner would never depend on only one tool. Most of the tuners have at least 2 tools from different companies to support more cars.

What Next??

Now the tuner with master tool is able to read and write files safely. After getting the read of stock file, the tuner has to flash MOD file. What are his options? The tuner can invest on tuning software and make a custom remap. Another option is to buy the MOD file from suppliers. There are many file suppliers and the pricing is cheap. It ranges from just 50 Euros to 150 Euros. The tuner has to just upload the stock file and MOD file would be available within 1 hour. The tuner with master tool can use the same MOD file n number of times for that particular car. It is just one time investment for a car.

Few examples for file suppliers :
http://www.ecumap.com/
http://remap-files.co.uk/
https://www.dyno-chiptuningfiles.com/

There are many file suppliers globally. Just search "ECU file service" in Google.

Message for customers : Do not believe that tuner with Master tool always does custom remaps. Do check if the tuner in question emails the file to somebody else, if so we don't know where is the file going.

ECU Tuning Software :
This is applicable only for tuners with Master tools who wants to remap on their own. There are many software available in the market which allows the tuner to identify various maps, make changes, correct the checksum etc.

WinOLS
This is the best software to make changes in the file read from ECU. The tuner has total control here. But this software is not for newbies and for those who love spoon feeding. The tuner has to use his "brain" most of the times here. There are many options and features in this software and all the pro tuners use only WinOLS.


The tuner can buy DAMOS file (this has full definition of that particular ECU), Map packs etc from OLS resellers and develop a good tune on his own. A good tuner would invest on these files for each ECU than experimenting on customer cars.

The demo version is available for free download in their website. I have been using it since last few months, studying the stock file of S-Cross 1.6.. It's fun!!
https://www.evc.de/en/download/down_winols.asp

ECM TITANIUM :
This is a tuning software by Alientech. It is good for newbies and lazy tuners haha. The software has drivers for each ECU which shows few maps to tune. The options are very limited and most of the pro tuners hate this software. There are many cases where the maps were wrongly defined etc

https://www.alientech-tools.com/en/ecm-titanium/

Swiftec
Most of the tuners in Europe use this as secondary tuning software. Swiftec has modules to disable EGR, Torque monitoring etc for most of the ECU. It just makes life easier.
https://www.vcpowerteam.com/products/

There are few more tuning softwares which are not popular and I am not discussing it here.

Next Question : How to Tune??
To name some of the maps which are basically changed during remap are :

1. Drivers wish map : Changes made to this map improves "throttle response". This is the main advantage for tuners and also one of the easiest way to fool the customer. Yes, I said fool the customer. If the tuner makes changes only in this map, customer would feel that the car is more faster and be very very happy with the results. It would act like a sprint booster / pedal tune box.

Quoting few lines from a tuning / remap document:

I had experienced the same on my S-Cross 1.6 with Tune O Tronics remap. The first map by TOT had torque monitoring error codes. So they gave me a second map which felt faster but did not have any errors. I drove on this map for almost one month and luckily I found out that 0--100, in gear figures were as good as stock map. I did raise this issue with TOT way back in September 2016 and they gave me another map later which had real gains on V box.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post4066267

So guys, please be very careful and don't let your butt dyno fool you . Easiest way to check gains is to do 40-120 kmph run in 3rd / 4 th gear.

2. Smoke limiter maps : This is like a limiter map. It limits the fuel by looking at amount of air going into the engine.

3. Torque limiter maps : There are many torque limiters maps in ECU based on atmospheric pressure, gear based, engine coolant temperature etc

4. Injection maps ( SOI / duration) : Injector duration maps define the amount of time for the injectors to remain open to inject X quantity of fuel. Start of injection (SOI) is the timing of when fuel is injected into cylinder. It is based on degrees of crank rotation.

5. Turbo boost pressure / limiters maps : These maps define the turbo boost and the amount of air going into the engine.

I have mentioned only few major maps which are mostly changed during a good remap.

Now the Challenges :

There are different ECUs and the maps are not the same. It takes lot of effort for a tuner to identify all maps on his own. Basically the tuners depend on Map packs / DAMOS /A2L files to identify the various maps in ECU. These are sold for each ECU type and makes the work lot more easier. If the tuner is able to identify the required maps, half job is done!!

But, what I have seen is most of these custom remap tuners in India don't invest on these small things and get over confident. They develop the tune by experimenting on customer cars.

Few examples of remap going wrong :

My Grand I10 :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...bangalore.html

Suraj's Abarth Punto :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...ml#post4157807

I hope everyone understands how difficult / complex it is to tailor a good map. Tuning box looks like much simpler and easy power. But, a remap if done rightly has better control and you can extract more power across the revv band.

I have explained about ECU remaps by a tuner with master tools. Now let me come to tuners who use Slave Tools. These tuners are basically tied to their Master. They are the majority in every market. Reason?? : Low investment, less risks and early break even!!

The tuner can buy the entire kit(slave tools) for around 4-5 lakhs. The files are supplied to them at dirt cheap prices by tuning firms like Quantum Tuning UK, Viezu etc. Quantum Tuning and Viezu have good market and biggest clients of Alientech. The pricing is as low as 40 Pounds per file from Quantum UK. Be it Swift or BMW : Quantum would charge the same amount to their dealer. The dealer would sell the map to customers at a price which is around 6 times higher. The tuner would break even the investment by remapping just 25 cars.

Quantum Tuning UK Dealer Plan details :

We offer the lowest cost quality tuning files in the remapping industry; the more you buy the cheaper they are.
6x Remapping Files are £295 - That’s £49.16 each
14x Remapping Files are £595 - That’s £42.50 each
25x Remapping Files are £995 - That’s £39.80 each

http://www.quantumdealer.co.uk/becom...ng-dealer.aspx

I believe most of them should have an idea now that how remap prices range from 15k to 35k for a same car from different tuners lol:

Who Are Different?

I would be listing down few tuners who have done unique stuff and succeeded ll

APR
I respect these guys a lot. They are at totally different level. They invest a lot on R & D. APR is known across the globe for their tried and tested VAG remaps (especially petrol). Tuning tools, Softwares, everything is in house in APR. They do not depend on any 3rd party companies like Alientech, CMD etc. APR is known to tweak the ECU codes. They have switchable maps for few cars in software itself (no personal flasher or anything like other tuners). The maps could be changed via cruise control button. I have also heard that nobody can copy / steal their maps as ECU codes are altered. VAG owners are lucky to have 3 APR dealers in India :)
https://www.goapr.com/

Revo Technik
I believe even Revo has their own tools to remap the ECU. They too do lot of R & D. We are again lucky to have Revo dealers in India.
http://www.revotechnik.com/

Wolf Moto, Kochi
Yes, an Indian tuner. Rajiv is the only tuner in India /(World??) to offer switchable remaps (without any personal flasher) in software itself for Fiat 1.3 MJD, Fiat 1.4 Tjet, Nissan : Renault 1.5 dCi. Rajiv has cracked switchable maps like APR even for old Octavia VRS. Wolf Moto has also made their maps encrypted for these cars (can't be copied by others as Rajiv has dealt with ECU codes).I believe this old thread on Team BHP was by Rajiv :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...tavia-vrs.html

Few tips for customers :
1. Never blindly believe the numbers quoted by tuners. If it's very high compared to the competition : then it's fake most of the times.

2. This is based on my personal experience. I had bad experience with few tuners and did think that all the cars tuned by them would be not good. I have realised that it is not true. There is no good or bad tuner. Choose the tuner based on the car which you are planning to remap. Do some research and if possible drive a car remapped by the said tuner before you bite the bullet.

3. Do not get fooled by the throttle response. This can be easily manipulated to fool the driver. Make sure there is good difference : Stock vs Remap under Wide open throttle. A simple GPS app comparo of 0-100 / in gear acceleration would be enough.

4. Do remember that dyno figures could be easily manipulated. Dyno should be used for comparison. Always ask for the stock map graph on same dyno and compare it with tuned graph.

5. Black smoke : Do not look for black smoke using ORVM. It's better to follow the car and look for it personally. If the car is smoking heavily and continuously under WOT : It's not good!!

6. Remapping a turbo diesel car is very easy, most of the tuners can make more power. The real challenge is tuning a petrol which is very sensitive to AFR. Make a wise decision if your car is hardly remapped turbo petrol and first time for the tuner.

ECU Tuning / Remaps in India :
There are many guys here in India and all are active on FB. I will list their names and FB page. Hope it's helpful.

1. Pete's Automotive
https://www.facebook.com/petesindia/

2. Autopsyche ( Pete's, Revo, Shark, Code 6 remaps)
https://www.facebook.com/AutopsycheIndia/

3. Code 6 Tuning
https://www.facebook.com/Code6Tuning/

4. Tune O Tronics
https://www.facebook.com/TuneOTronics/

5. Kiirus
https://www.facebook.com/KIIRUSAUTOSPORTS/

6. GT Tunerz (Quantum UK & APR remaps)
https://www.facebook.com/gttunerz/

7. Wolf Moto
https://www.facebook.com/Wolfmotoperformance/

8. T8 Performance
https://www.facebook.com/t8performance/

9. Viezu Tuning
https://www.facebook.com/viezubengaluruindia/

10. Etuners Motorsport
https://www.facebook.com/Etuners-Mot...1711105125774/

11. N1 Racing (APR & Super Chips UK)
https://www.facebook.com/n1racingequipment/

12. KS Motorsport(Revo technik)
https://www.facebook.com/KSMotorsportindia/

13. Lmntrix tuning
https://www.facebook.com/lmntrixtuning/

14. Verge Racing
https://www.facebook.com/VergeRacing/

15. RAC.Eng
https://www.facebook.com/thegarageblr/

I have not included few sub dealers for these tuning brands. I would have missed out a few. I see at least one new tuner page on FB every month haha!!

Disclaimer :
I am not associated with any of the tuners / brands mentioned in the thread.

I have tried my best to write down everything in detail and also keep it simple. There might be few mistakes which I am not aware of.

Cheers!!

Thanks Doc for providing such stockpile of information on re-tuning.

Does this remapped output stress the engine, gearbox and other parts due more power and torque?

And about the repercussions on usual warranty by manufacturers, how do we cope with this subsequently?:)

7. Never be the first customer. Check if the map development for your make & model has been completed on another car with results to show.

8. Don't work with tuners who keep you waiting after you have made an appointment.

9. Be wary of tuners who have a strong aversion towards written correspondence and prefer only phone calls.

Yes, it will. But how many remapped cars are sitting with blown engine?? Very few!! Say the engine parts, turbo, gb etc would run without any issues for 1.5 lakhs KM in a stock car.. It would take more than 1 lakh km for the same with remap (even if you consider it reduces life of the components by 25 percentage). Manufacturers design most of the parts with some safety margin and that is what the tuners exploit.

If the remap is not detected : All is Well

If detected : Engine, transmission and ECU warranty void!!

Have been trawling the net for chipping my BMW when bingo here comes your tread.....thanks dear Dr. Actually wouldn't mind just the better throttle response:D only. Don't want a blown turbo

Haha.. If you want only better throttle response : Pedal tune box is what you should look for :D. There is no point doing surgery on BMW ECU just for crisp throttle response.

Could you recommend some place in Pune or Mumbai I could get that done please ?

Let's not go off topic here on this thread. There is a separate thread about pedal tune box here :
http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/modifi...-response.html

Cheers!

What is Decalibrated MOD File?
This is done by many tuners. Advantage is very easy way of making power. This is something not very ethical in tuning industry and those type of tuners have no respect at all in ECU tuning forums.

The tuner can fool the ECU by remap just like how a tuning box does. Injector duration opening maps are the favourite for many tuners. It is very easy to decalibrate and fool the ECU.

This is the stock injector opening duration map of S-Cross 1.6


X axis : Rail pressure in bars
Y axis : Injected quantity of fuel in mm3
Table values : Injector opening duration in micro seconds

Now the tuner can very easily fool the ECU and make more power by only changing injector duration. He would just do a guesswork and increase the values by X percentage. This is how the tuner can select the values in the table and increase the percentage.


How ECU gets fooled?

Injector has to be open for X amount of time to inject Y amount of fuel : Stock map

Injector would be open for X + a amount of time to inject Y amount of fuel : Decalibrated. In reality more amount of fuel would be injected as the injectors are open for longer duration but the ECU still thinks that same amount of fuel is injected like stock (FOOLED). When a tuner changes only this map and makes power.. FE in MID might show very good figures lol:

Message to Customers : If it's a diesel car and it's first time for the tuner.. The tuner does a remap within 30 minutes on his own : it's very likely that he has changed only injector opening duration.

Thanks, Sir! for providing detailed information on remapping. After 17days & 750kms with my new MS Vitara Brezza, I feel that turbo lag between 1800-2000 RPM is prominent. I started considering remap of my new vehicle but worried about warranty and mileage.

This solves my dilemma about warranty but what about mileage?

One more question which is bothering me is, when should I go for remapping, after some specific KMs/months/years or is it fine to go for it in a new vehicle?

FE post remap depends on your driving style. Fuel consumption is very sensitive to throttle input post remap. If you are hard on A pedal.. Expect little drop. If you drive normally like before, it should be same or even better than stock.

Drive the car for at least 5000 km. You will understand the car better and also this is good time to rule out manufacturing defects if any.

Hi, thanks for sharing info. Do you know how the checksums are corrected?

Spike

I don't think the tuner has to manually correct the checksum. WinOLS software and most of the tuning tools do auto correction.