How much does car chipping and remapping cost? You must tell your insurer about any modifications you make to your car and there’s a good chance that remapping the engine will increase your insurance premiums, especially if the remap boosts performance. The other major consideration is insurance. Power delivery could become less smooth and progressive or fuel economy could be reduced, for example.
It always pays to listen to the professionals when considering which remap to go for because it is possible for upgrades in power and torque to have negative effects on the driving experience as well as positive ones. But it shouldn’t affect reliability if you use a reputable company. Some people are concerned that engine remapping could cause problems with their car. Are there any downsides to getting your car 'chipped'? A quick search online also reveals a multitude of suppliers offering upgrades for all manner of vehicles and manufacturers. Spend £349 and you get 18bhp, 69Nm, and an up to 20% increase in mpg. For example RaceChips have a range of DIY upgrades for a Skoda Rapid 1.6 TDI starting with an extra 12bhp and 46Nm of torque for just £119. The claimed performance gains are often eye-catching, and achievable for minimal outlay on even fairly mundane cars.
#DIESEL CHIP TUNING SOFTWARE UPGRADE#
It's these turbo diesel engines (often known as TDI, HDi, CDTi depending on the manufacturer) that are the cornerstone of the car chipping industry because an engine chip or software upgrade can cheaply add so much to the performance. This means the engine doesn’t have to work as hard as before. Here at Auto Express we receive plenty of emails asking advice about ECU software changes, and we've compiled this guide to explore the pros, cons and costs.Ĭhipping turbo diesel engines can increase economy by seven to 10 per cent, because it adds torque lower down the rev range. So if you want greater performance and pulling power from your car, or alternatively if you’re seeking mpg improvements, the first place to look is the little black box under the bonnet. These days the power and performance of most cars is limited, not by any particular mechanical factor, but by the software running in the engine control unit (ECU).Ĭomputer algorithms running behind the scenes while you’re driving a modern car affect all sorts of parameters, such as ignition timing, air/fuel ratio and turbocharging boost pressure. When your car left the factory there’s a very good chance its performance was deliberately muted in order to meet product planning objectives or economy and efficiency targets. There are two primary reasons for wanting a remap, and they’re called power and torque. It may sound radical, but in fact it’s little different in concept to the selectable drive mode settings provided as part of the spec by many car makers these days.
Other remapping systems include the one produced by RaceChip which adds a small extra ECU to the wiring loom and provides remote control of a range of engine map settings as you drive, either by a hard-wired rotary controller or wirelessly via a smartphone app. This is a DIY unit that plugs into your car’s Onboard Diagnostic Port (OBD) and will overwrite the engine map with an upgraded version in around 20 minutes – or revert to the standard factory map just as easily. We’d never recommend that approach on a new car, as getting it wrong could be hideously expensive, but it works for the tuner brigade. The geekiest enthusiasts these days write their own ECU programmes on readily available laptop software, and upload them via the car’s Onboard Diagnostic Port (OBD). As remapping technology has advanced, the techniques have changed too.
So even if you’re not fully up to speed on the remapping concept, the chances are you’ll know it’s a process that involves altering the software that controls how the engine delivers its performance.įiddling with the systems in your car’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) used to be known as ‘chipping’, because you literally had to swap out a factory microchip for a new one programmed by your supplier of choice. While it still requires a degree of interest and enthusiasm to explore the remapping options for your car, the techniques employed in the field are increasingly well-understood – and the benefits of a remap are increasingly appreciated. It’s true that engine remaps were once the preserve of geeky car enthusiasts and the boy-racer brigade, but what was once regarded as a dark and often dubious art has become surprisingly mainstream over the years.