FAQ's
The combined data of both fuel mixture and ignition timing of “open loop” digital systems are held on a chip within your Electronic Control Unit (ECU). This data is then used by the ECU programme to set ignition timing and fuel supply to the engine as required. The data (or “characteristics” of the information) can be depicted as a graph which, when analysed and altered, is known as engine (re)mapping.
When a manufacturer releases a car into the market, the vehicle has to be able to cope with pressure coming from many different environments, by many different users, and all elements must be “off the shelf” to respond to many demands whilst still being economical to produce. For example, the car has to cope with possible poor fuel quality, dusty environments, poor servicing and at the same time provide reliability and economy. This has meant that, historically, manufacturers may ‘detune’ the engines to cater for all this. As the market is relatively compact, engines compete within certain ranges: they perform in a similar way. When the vehicle is sold in a variety of countries, it will have to be engineered so that it is still respectful of emission regulations, as well as a variety of weather conditions (heat, altitude, humidity, etc..). If the engine is mapped to produce, say, 105bhp officially, it will need to be mapped to hit its official figure in all countries where the car is marketed. Engine performance is therefore optimised for the countries in which the vehicle is sold. It is capable of more than it is mapped to do. Cornwall Remaps stretch that metaphoric ‘elastic band’, overcoming the state of compromised tuning most UK motorists know and experience with their cars.
OBD Engine Mapping is the modern version of ‘chipping’. When you “chip” a car you basically put in a chip that has a set of data already burnt onto it, into your ECU. When you OBD remap an ECU, you save the data currently stored on the chip and overwrite it with the performance data. This then allows you to apply different maps, where applicable, as well as restore the original data – should you require it. As no standard part of the car has been changed, warranty is unaffected. Angel Tuning’s ‘remapping’ is a real, standard version of engine tuning, using a modern approach.
It is difficult to predict an exact figure for each car. However, for both normally aspirated petrol diesel engines, we expect to gain 10%. For example, an 83bhp 1.2 Punto will gain 8bhp, as well as 8lb ft torque. For a turbo derivative, bigger increases are expected: some 35bhp on, say, the 1.9 JTD and a massive 60bhp+ on the 2.4 JTD Fiat engines, to stay in theme.