Essing Performance Center

Everything about
Chiptuning

Chiptuning in the ECU is the most direct way to improve the performance of your car. Whether it’s the best method for your car (age, lease) and for your wishes, we will sum up before we begin. Only in this way we know that the chip tuning for your car is also wise for a long term.

The method we are discussing here is the direct modification of engine management, ie the Electronic Control Unit. This unit is in all modern cars and controls things like the injected gasoline or diesel, the turbo pressure and, for example, the ignition torque. The manufacturer determines the amount of power, emissions and so forth that engine will have in the ECU software. It is clear that especially the heavy environmental demands on cars make engines as economical as possible.

Certainly, with major brands, it is almost always true that a particular engine series is technically largely equal, but due to changes in the software, deliver less or more power and thus could be mounted in a smaller or larger model of that brand. Technically, changing the software in the ECU can hardly cause any problems, but it is very important that we first know what type of engine there is in your car. We actually know all the engines (gasoline, diesel, with or without turbo) and because we develop our software ourselves, we know what may or may not be possible.

This method is called OBD chip tuning (On-Board Diagnostics). We fully read the software in the ECU and then adapt it to the wishes you have and the options that the engine offers. You will understand that there is less to optimize with an old atmospheric diesel engine than with a young turbine engine. In general, we can realize a 25% power growth (sometimes more) with a turbocharged engine. The engine becomes livelier, responds more to the accelerator pedal and you notice that the pulling force and top speed increase. You can also use the OBD tuning to reduce consumption. With a quiet driving style, a saving of 5 to 8 percent is possible.

We want to be honest: the chip tuning in the ECU also has a disadvantage. Automobile manufacturers do not want their factory settings to change. This is certainly due to ‘dieselgate’ they’re rather sensitive because the environmental characteristics of the engine (consumption vs emissions) are therefore changed. In the event of a return into the brand garage, the chip tuning in the engine control device will definitely be noted and this may lead to the revocation of the factory warranty. Leasing companies also think about it: they can break the lease contract or impose financial fines.

If you are sure that your car is affected by one of these effects, it may be wise to deviate from the other method of chiptuning: an external ECU. It is also possible that your leasing company does not work so hard or that the warranty period has expired. Then you run the risk that the brand warranty in the case of an ECU update overrides the custom software. We generally know which car brands are strictly controlled and will advise you on this, but it will ultimately be your responsibility.