Chip-tuning the engine: the pros and cons
Any motorist dreams of increasing the power of the power unit of his car. There are quite real ways to achieve this result. First of all, this is a constructive intervention in the engine - an increase in its volume by replacing the cylinder-piston group. It is clear that such an event will be quite expensive. Secondly, you can make changes to the exhaust system, such as installing a downpipe on turbocharged engines, as well as getting rid of the catalytic converter and diesel particulate filter.
But there is a cheaper method without interfering with the engine system - chip tuning. What it is? In this article on our website Vodi.su we will try to deal with this issue.
What is chip tuning?
As you know, even the most budget cars today are equipped with an electronic control unit (ECU, ECU). What is this block responsible for? The electronic control unit is responsible for the operation of the injection system, that is, the injector. The chip contains standard programs with numerous settings. As a rule, the manufacturer introduces some restrictions on the operation of the engine. The most striking example is that many Premium class cars could easily reach speeds of over 250-300 km/h, but their maximum speed is limited to 250 km/h. Accordingly, if some amendments are made to the program code, it will be possible to easily accelerate to 280 km / h and above. It is clear that this will increase engine power, and fuel consumption will remain the same.
With chip tuning, you can change the following settings:
- ignition timing;
- fuel supply modes;
- air supply modes;
- enrichment or depletion of the fuel-air mixture.
It is also possible to reprogram the Lambda probe so that it does not generate an error if a low oxygen content in the exhaust gases is detected. Recall that if the catalyst is removed, chip tuning is necessary, we already wrote about this earlier on Vodi.su.
In a word, the standard factory settings for cars manufactured in the European Union, the USA, Japan, and South Korea are “sharpened” not for power and efficiency, but for the strict requirements of Euro-5. That is, in Europe they are ready to sacrifice the characteristics of the power unit for the sake of the environment. Thus, chip tuning is the process of reprogramming, flashing the ECU in order to remove the restrictions set by the manufacturer.
They do chip tuning for the following categories of cars:
- with diesel turbocharged engines - power increase up to 30%;
- with gasoline engines with a turbine - up to 25%:
- sports cars and cars of the highest price segment;
- when installing HBO.
In principle, it is possible to make chip tuning for a conventional gasoline engine, but the increase will be no more than 10 percent. If you use your car to drive to work, then you will hardly notice such an improvement, it is tantamount to switching from A-92 gasoline to 95th.
Chip tuning advantages
If you order this service from real experts, you can be sure of some advantages:
- increased power;
- increase in engine speed;
- improved dynamics;
- fuel consumption optimization;
- torque increase.
What should be considered? All programs for the operation of the ECU are developed by the car manufacturer. While the car is under warranty, some firmware updates are possible if errors are found, but these updates do not affect the performance of the engine.
In tuning studios, there are two approaches to chip tuning. This is either a small improvement to an existing program, or the installation of a completely new one with completely changed calibrations. Let's say right away that it is the latter method that gives the most tangible increase in power, but such chip tuning is not suitable for all car models, because there may be a blockage from flashing. It is also possible that a similar program has not yet been developed for your engine model.
Disadvantages of chip tuning
The main drawback, in our opinion, is that chip tuning you do at your own peril and risk. The fact is that in any automotive company, huge departments of programmers work on software. Also, millions of measurements, experiments, crash tests, etc. are carried out there. That is, the programs are run in real conditions and only after that they are integrated into the computer.
Licensed programs for chip tuning simply do not exist in nature.except for rare exceptions. Therefore, if you have done a flashing and made sure that all the characteristics have improved, this is not a reason to rejoice, because no one knows what will happen after 10 or 50 thousand kilometers. Even people who are professionally involved in tuning will say that the resource of the power unit will decrease by 5-10 percent.
The question arises: is the automatic transmission or CVT designed for increased torque? As a rule, automatic transmissions react very painfully to an increase in torque. The same applies to the turbocharger - the increase in horsepower is achieved by increasing the pressure in the turbine, respectively, its service life is reduced.
Another point - professional chip tuning is expensive, while you are guaranteed a maximum improvement in engine performance by no more than 20%. The fact is that many automakers artificially lower the capacity in order to pay less customs duties and taxes for importing their products into Russia. After all, the duty is paid just from the "horses" - the more of them, the higher the taxes. This is also done to make the model attractive in terms of paying taxes.
Conclusions
With the help of chip tuning, you can really improve the dynamic and technical performance. But, an increase in power by 20 percent or more inevitably leads to a reduction in the resource of the transmission and engine.
We would recommend contacting only those services where they give a guarantee on all work performed. Be sure to specify which version of the firmware you are going to install. Programs downloaded from unknown sites and forums are guaranteed harm to your vehicle.
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