![what is ecu tuning what is ecu tuning](http://www.fluidmotorunion.com/wp-content/uploads/2019/01/ECU_Blog_OpenBox.png)
Staying between 11.2 and 12.5 AFR when your car is on wide open throttle throughout the entire rev range is what every tuner aims for, it’s the sweet spot that makes your ride really come alive. For the former, a wideband AFR gauge is compulsory and for the latter you have to rely on your aural senses unless your ECU has visual knock detection or headphone input. The idea is to keep adjusting these values ensuring that the air fuel ratio (AFR) is within certain thresholds and there is no knock or preignition.
![what is ecu tuning what is ecu tuning](https://tunerpro.net/images/TestBench.jpg)
These cells need to be updated one by one to get the optimal results. These values are represented in cells within a table spread out across the rev range and load points. Without digging too deep into it, the two main variables that are changed are the timing and fuel values. So whilst I was driving, Jay was on the laptop connected to the ECU monitoring, logging and tweaking parameters.
#WHAT IS ECU TUNING SOFTWARE#
Well in the case of the Nistune software and hardware, it allows us to modify the factory ECU maps on the fly. Now you’re probably wondering what we did exactly to achieve this increase in power…
#WHAT IS ECU TUNING MODS#
And now that we have an optimal tune for Pearl’s mods, we can simply apply the same tune onto another S15 with identical mods (cool huh?).
![what is ecu tuning what is ecu tuning](https://static.wixstatic.com/media/4ddf04_4713442cc45442768bd2103ff66fd888~mv2.jpg)
How much power will Pearl get without blowing up anything?ĭon’t let the video fool you though, creating the optimal tune didn’t take 2 minutes and 30 seconds… it took several days of road tuning and constant revisions as we didn’t have access to a dyno until the final tune. So equipped with our Nistune license, software, laptop consult cable and desire to learn, Jay and I went about creating the “best” tune for my S15. Yup that’s pretty much all there is to it which makes it easy to question the value of using a workshop to tune your car. No… on the most basic level it essentially involves watching a gauge, adjusting boost, modifying some values in the tuning software whilst running your car on a dyno and then going for a spin on the road to ensure it’s all running correctly. It’s no special dark art where ECU sacrificial rituals and voodoo ceremonies are performed just to get those extra “killawasps”. So what exactly is the “tuning” that workshops perform behind the scenes?
#WHAT IS ECU TUNING PROFESSIONAL#
Sure, they might be reputable workshops with professional mechanics but spending $1000+ (excluding ECU costs) for work that isn’t really laborious seems a tad exorbitant. Like most of you, I didn’t like the idea of leaving my beloved in someone else’s hands and paying wads of cash for something I had no idea about. This time around however, I had better ideas. The next logical step for most would have then involved paying someone a visit (usually a workshop) to “tune” my car – I went down this route 8 years ago with my GC8 WRX. In my latest pursuit for more power and response for my treasured Nissan S15, I recently embarked down the ECU tuning path by purchasing a Nistune Type 4 daughterboard and installed it into my stock ECU.