WHAT ELSE CAN I DO?

ECU REMAPPING + SYNERGY

Experience with several different vehicles has shown that a mild remap combined with a Synergy 1 or 2 on a medium setting gives the best performance over the widest rev range.

Synergy owners often comment that the remap alone seems very tame by comparison, often only seeming to be of much benefit above about 3000rpm. This was the case on my X-Type though I did notice improved throttle response at very low rpm (~ 1200). However with the Synergy 1 on setting 6, the performance is outstanding, as much for the very sensitive and instantly responsive throttle action as for the strong torque and improved 'top end'. I also noticed an improvement in fuel economy of upto 10%.

Undoubtedly, remapping companies will tell you that you do not need or should not use a Synergy (or any other tuning box) as well but my non partisan approach means that I am only interested in the end results. NB I'm not advocating squeezing as much as you can out of the engine with a strong remap and then adding a Synergy as well unless you accept the increased risk of something breaking!

ECU REMAPPING PROS AND CONS

I prefer adjustable tuning products and a remap is therefore not my first choice regardless of the cost.

When in for a service the dealer will often do a routine ecu firmware update. This will overwrite the remap and you will usually have to pay to have it redone - check on the cost of this before going ahead.

When you change your car, the remap goes with it, whereas the Synergy can be transferred to most common rail vehicles, though a new cable may be needed (~£15) or reprogramming (foc)

Not all remaps are the same. The remap is just a replacement file for the rewriteable memory within the ecu. This contains are large number of parameters such as torque limiter, smoke limiter, rev limiter, injection timing map, egr & maf sensor calibration, throttle position sensor calibration, fuel maps, fuel versus temperature and boost pressure etc etc even possibly a means to disable the particulate filter (to enable it to be removed). Its down to the skill and experience of the tuner as to how well the remap performs. This also means that lower cost ones will be the mildest, and custom ones will be a lot more costly. Bear in mind that a rolling road cannot measure how your car will 'feel' on the road - I'd always sacrifice 10bhp at 4000rpm for another 10bhp at 2500rpm which is about 75mph...

Ebay ECU flashers . be careful...

Attempting your own remap with the 'ecu flashers' sold on Ebay is fraught with dangers and can end in tears and a depleted bank account. The tuning (mod) file may not be compatible, the file can take upto an hour to download and if the battery voltage drops, your laptop shuts down or slows down, or you knock the connector, the result could be disaster and mean removal of the ecu and sending it to a specialist for reprogramming at the board level. 

COSTS: Remap £300* + Synergy 1 £159 =  £459

This compares very favourably with the cost of many ordinary tuning boxes. * Prices vary considerably so it pays to shop around.

I can recommend these two companies should you wish to have your car remapped: Please mention Roverron sent you.

IN SCOTLAND: POWER-TUNE.NET

IN N.E. ENGLAND: WANSBECKPERFORMANCE .CO.UK

MAXIMISING PERFORMANCE & ECONOMY:

If you have gone to the expense of tuning your engine, it makes sense to take a few simple steps to maximise the performance and economy and enhance the reliability.

Here are a few suggestions:

  1. Fit a performance air filter element such as the BMC ones on sale in the online shop.
  2. On high mileage vehicles clean the egr valve. This is particularly worthwhile on BMW engines.
  3. Ensure that the crankcase ventilation system is clean and operating correctly. On Rover 75, MG ZT, Freelander TD4 & BMW diesels clean or replace the pcv valve every 2-3 years.
  4. Clean the maf sensor and replace if the car goes better with it unplugged.
  5. Add Millers Diesel  Sport 4 to the fuel at every fill up. I recommend their oils too, XFD is a fully synthetic oil at 2/3rds the price of the big name brands - i.e. same price as Halfords dubious own brand oil.
  6. Do NOT use supermarket fuel or you will lose a few mpg and get worse performance, more noise and roughness.
  7. Add ZX-1 to the engine, transmission, steering, cooling and fuel to vastly reduce friction, improve cold start protection and help power and economy. The only additive I know of with a Nato stock number.
  8. Put one or two more psi in the tyres or keep them at the high speed setting. (helps handling as well)
  9. Change the oil and filter twice as often.
  10. On older engines with a fixed geometry turbo, consider increasing the boost pressure slightly (about 2-3psi) by adjusting the wastegate actuator linkage. The extra airflow helps performance and efficiency and will reduce any smoke. A boost control (bleed) valve could also be used but a boost gauge is advisable, or monitor it via the diagnostic port (more here)
  11. If the cat is a bolt on type it can be replaced with a decat pipe often found for sale on Ebay. This may liberate more bhp and will improve the throttle response, reduce turbo lag and bring in the turbo a little sooner.

BRAKES:

A low cost and easy upgrade is to fit a set of EBC Red Stuff pads to the front unless you are a very gentle on the  brakes in which case, use their Green Stuff ones.  You can expect more bite, less pedal pressure, more feel, less fade, but a little a bit more noise and slightly increased disc wear. There is no need to upgrade the discs unless you want to when the original ones need replacing.

I have the Red Stuff ones on my X-type, which had unimpressive brakes, not any more, even when cold! I have the Green Stuff ones on my Mitsubishi FTO and these are also a big improvement on the oem pads at the expense of some noise.

USEFUL TOOLS:

Checkout the low cost fault code readers now in stock for most diesels from 2004 onwards. For the price of one diagnostic check at a garage, you can do your own whenever you want. Also reads live sensor data so you can check the boost pressure, check for correct throttle adjustment, etc More here.

LINKS:

MILLERS OILS   ZX1   EBC   BMC   BOOST CONTROL VALVES ETC  FAULT CODE READERS

MY GALLERY PAGE WITH MORE DETAILS OF ZX1 ETC

MORE ON REMAPPING - the nuts and bolts in brief.

The first step in developing new firmware for an engine management system is open the ecu and either unsolder the eprom or as is common nowadays, read it in situ. On recent vehicles it will most likely be encrypted.

Once this has been done the next stage is to determine which memory addresses contain which parameters and where the various maps are located. This takes much trial and error and is usually done using an emulator and 'live' remapping. See images below.

In order to be able to reprogram the eprom via the diagnostic port it is necessary to crack the security which prevents unauthorised ecu access. Rumour has it that BMW have introduced 512bit encryption on their latest models to make this impossible.

Next you need to know where in the ecu's address range the eprom resides so that you can read and write it. Some ecus aren't readable via the diagnostic port and some are neither readable nor writeable so the ecu has to be removed from the vehicle and the eprom replaced (hence the term 'chipping'). Hardware exists which enables the eprom to be accessed without removal from the circuit board (in-circuit programming) which is clearly easier & quicker than unsoldering the surface mounted chip.

To make a tuning file (mod file), software exists which has been designed for specific ecu families. The addresses of the various areas of interest to the tuner are built-in and so all the he has to do is to modify the entries. Except, its not quite that simple...

A 'checksum' algorithm is used by the ecu to verify the integrity of the eprom each time the engine is started. The checksum of the modified file must match that of the original. For example, a simple checksum would be the sum of all the bytes in the file, so change one and the checksum would change. However because there are usually many unused locations within the eprom, the data in these can be changed to readjust the checksum until it matches the unmodified file. Specific checksum algorithms are used for the various ecu families so its not just a matter of adding up all the bytes!

So to sum up: To remap an ecu you need to: