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Tag Archives: tuning box

Fuel savings
Fuel Saving

Fuel Economy Part 2 – What Does Work, Our View

February 4, 2016 Oilem Leave a comment

This article concentrates on fuel-saving methods that work. It is based on a combination of common sense and significant testing and experience. If you haven’t already done so, we recommend you read our earlier blog entry, Fuel Economy Part 1 – What Doesn’t Work, Our View by clicking HERE.

General Vehicle Maintenance

If you’re completely disillusioned with magic fuel pills, magnets and other fuel-saving devices that didn’t work (as expected) or the miles per gallon (MPG) on your vehicle has dramatically reduced, don’t lose hope. Vehicle maintenance plays a key role in fuel economy. This is basic, but valuable information.

Firstly, check your tire pressure. They should be at the correct pressure for your vehicle, assuming you are using the recommended size wheels and tyres.

If you are serious about saving every ounce of fuel you can, then consider changing the brand of tyre to a good-quality, low-resistance tyre. The lower the resistance, the less the engine has to work. As a result, less fuel is consumed.

Ensure you vehicle is regularly serviced. You would be surprised the difference a clean air filter and quality oil will make. It also is possible to change the oil for a lower viscosity, which helps reduce “drag” on the moving components, but this should not be done at the detriment of engine protection, which is the primary function of the oil.

Engine Cleaning

Accumulating deposits on parts such as fuel injectors, exhaust gas recirculation (EGR) systems, plenum runners, throttle bodies, pistons and intake valves significantly impairs engine efficiency. The result is invariably power loss, rough idle and reduced fuel economy. Cutting through the tenacious fuel deposits is no ordinary task, however, and only the best cleaners make any notable difference. Therefore, invest in a high-quality fuel system and engine cleaner.

It is remarkable that most vehicle owners wait until their vehicle encounters running problems or very poor MPG before investing in fuel cleaners or conditioners. We have seen significant MPG increases from simply cleaning the fuel injectors and removing carbon build-up.

Oil Additives

Although we consider this to be a bit of a minefield, we would be remiss if we didn’t inform you that we have discovered that there are small, but tangible gains to be had from oil additives.  Gains are not just from reducing friction but also from restoring engine compression by removing deposits from piston rings, cylinder bores etc.

These are safe gains we might add, but please tread with caution as it is true that there is a lot of rubbish on the market. Do your research but in the meantime, if you require a recommendation for a particular vehicle/application then please don’t hesitate to contact us.

Engine Chipping / Re-mapping / ECU Re-flash / Tuning Modules

The fourth way of improving MPG is by remapping or chipping your vehicle. This is achieved by altering the fuel and/or ignition timing and other parameters within the engine control unit (ECU) or through the use of a piggyback tuning module.

Although results can vary widely, this can be a very effective and safe way of improving MPG if you know where to go and who to trust. Depending on the vehicle and quality of mapping, improvements of up to five percent can be achieved.

Driving Style

For our tips on how your driving style can improve fuel economy click HERE.

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Engine remapping
Engine Tuning / Mapping & Tuning Boxes

Why are ECU / Engine Remaps and Tuning Boxes so Effective?

April 30, 2015 Oilem 10 Comments

When one purchases a vehicle they likely expect engine ECUs to be optimally mapped prior to sale. While they are normally very well mapped, whether or not it is done in an optimum way is very subjective.

In this article I will look at engine/ECU remapping and chipping and the use of tuning boxes. Particularly, I will explain why remapping works and in most cases, why it is safe.

With most manufacturing, compromises have to be made. ECU maps are no different. Yes, manufacturers invest a great deal of time in engine tuning and testing in the harshest climates. However, tuning criteria is designed around extremes that do not necessarily fit the requirements of the average customer or where the vehicle will be used.

Manufacturers have to adhere and comply with various legislative constraints surrounding emissions and other parameters that are set by the various governing bodies. As a result, this may affect the quality of factory ECU maps, with regards to available performance and/or MPG.

Many manufacturers produce vehicles in their range that to some degree compete with each other and in some cases even share the same engine. For example, a VW Golf may share the same engine as a VW Polo or a Porsche Boxter competing with the Porsche 997. The point being that it would be marketing suicide for a Porsche 997 to be considered slower than its younger brother. As a result, some engines are intentionally detuned or let’s say, not tuned to their full potential.

Furthermore, manufacturers are obliged to tune vehicles for wildly varying conditions, i.e. -40 to +130 degrees or really high altitudes where the air is much thinner. This is one of the reasons why engines run rich from the factory. It’s to accommodate dramatic climatic conditions that the average driver will never see. Even with the latest technology in fuel and ignition control, compromises on engine tune still have to be made just in case the vehicle is used in such conditions.

Vehicles need to survive the factory warranty period without fault. For example, it’s not uncommon to find an engine that is detuned with regards to torque output to ensure that the drivetrain doesn’t fail. Now, this begs the question: Why would anyone want to remap/chip their vehicle if there is an increased risk of component failure?

Well, here is the point I am really trying to make here. Car manufacturers must tune vehicles to cater to customers that are mechanically unsympathetic! This is very important. Drivetrains or engines (as an example) can fail when they are abused or raced from cold. It is this type of customer and not your average enthusiast that manufacturers are really trying to protect themselves against, at least within the factory warranty period.

Furthermore, fuel quality is not guaranteed. Customers embracing remaps are more inclined to use higher-quality branded fuels and/or fuel conditioners, unlike the average user. Manufacturers have little control over this so engines are tuned accordingly and with a little to spare in regards to turbo pressure, air/fuel ratio, ignition timing, etc.

A combination of the above is why we see so many forced induction engines running rich from the factory. This and all of the above gives reputable tuners the opportunity to liberate additional performance in a safe manner and under certain conditions, improve MPG from engines.

If in doubt, stick with reputable tuners and tuning box manufactures as this helps ensure you are receiving a well-developed tune.

Also bear in mind that even though normally aspirated engines can be remapped, the gains are very small when compared to forced induction engines. It would also be prudent to notify your car insurance provider.

UPDATE: We were asked how ECU remaps or Tuning Boxes can improve MPG?

With naturally aspirated petrol engines mpg gains are marginal at best. Minor adjustments can be made to ignition timing and air/fuel ratios but both power and mpg gains are minimal. This is the case with virtually all non-forced induction engine.

With turbo or supercharged petrol engines power gains usually very good with tangible but small MPG gains. MPG gains are two-fold on forced induction petrol engines. Many turbo charged engines run very rich from the factory under acceleration (open loop lambda). By carefully leaning out air/fuel mixture under open loop conditions fuel consumption can be reduced. This is more difficult with more modern engines that utilise wideband lambda technology. That said, most of the gains (if any) are achieved by improving the spread of torque across the rev range, or in particular, lowering it. If more torque is available lower in the rev range then less throttle is required to achieve the same level of accelerative effort. Of course, more fuel may be required to achieve the additional torque but lowering engine RPM more than compensates for this. And this is where diesel engines excel…

Turbo diesel engines – very good power (torque) gains and potential mpg gains. Most mpg gains are achieved in turbo diesel engines by using the principle described above – making more torque available lower in the rev range. If you used to use 40% throttle but now only have to use 35% throttle to achieve the same accelerative effort then you will most likely save fuel, once the novelty of the extra power has worn off!

Hope that helps.

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