What is ECU remapping?

ECU remapping is a simple, affordable way to improve your vehicle’s performance. It involves modifying the Electronic/Engine Control Module (ECU) with software recalibration to change its behaviour. You can watch this video to see how we tuned our Audio RS4

From factory, the vast majority of vehicles will not be using the full potential of their engines. In most cases vehicle manufacturers will use one engine in multiple cars and then tune them to different figures to meet a certain price range. If we take the 2011-2015 BMW 114i, 116i and 118i as an example. Same car, same engine, different power outputs! This means that we can tune a lower price range vehicle like the 114i (102BHP) to the same level of power that we could tune the more powerful 118i (170BHP)! In this example we can tune them to a whopping 220BHP!

How to remap a car

The two most common ways to tune a modern vehicle via OBD or Bench tuning. OBD is the most common and therefore more widely known method of remapping a vehicle. This utilises the On Board Diagnostics Port to connect to the ECU. Bench tuning on the other hand involves removing the ECU from the vehicle and accessing the software via the pins directly. We could go on about this for hours but you can find out more about OBD here and Bench here.

Using one of these methods we can then get a read of the standard map on the vehicle and begin to rewrite the software to optimise boost, timing, fuelling and various limiters for maximum performance. After the new software has been saved to the ECU and as soon as we have run some final tests, you’re ready to hit the open roads!

What is a Stage 1 remap?

A Stage 1 remap is widely accepted as a software recalibration without any other engine modifications. With the software changes and our knowledge we can increase your vehicle’s horsepower and torque! Looking to go beyond the power of a Stage 1 remap? A Stage 2 or 3 remap can provide that extra power, but that requires additional hardware mods. Keep in mind that other tuning facilities will have their own variation of the Stages. You may hear the word “Dyno” being thrown around when talking about remapping. Check out this article about Dynos and how we use then when tuning!

Where can I go to get my vehicle remapped?

Our tuning facility is situated in Kent, England where we write all of our custom maps for vehicles and you can get the full JFA experience. If this is too far out of your way then you can use our dealer locator to find a map of other companies who all use our custom maps!

Interested in ECU remapping for your vehicle?

You can find out what performance gains we can give to your car by searching your vehicle reg here!