Does Upgrading ECU Really Enhance Power? What You Don’t Know!

Hello everyone, I’m BaoBao~

The simplest and most effective way to upgrade power is to upgrade the ECU, many friends have some questions and misunderstandings about upgrading the ECU, today BaoBao will thoroughly explain it to you!

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ECU (Electronic Control Unit). If the engine is the heart of a person, the ECU is the brain. The working state of the engine is controlled by it. Through some sensors, signals are sent to the ECU, which analyzes these signals and then controls the fuel injection, ignition, air intake, etc., to maintain the working state of the engine.

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Most people who think of upgrading the ECU are likely unsatisfied with their car’s power, which leads them to focus on programming. It should be noted that when friends go to tuning shops to upgrade the ECU, the owner might say: “Hey buddy, after I flash this program on your Fit, you’ll gain 100 horsepower!”

Wrong! The increase in power from factory ECU upgrades is based on percentage increases. Naturally aspirated engines typically see an increase of 5-20%, while turbocharged engines generally see an increase of 20-40%.

There’s even a so-called car expert who said in an article: “A car originally with 1.6T power was flashed to 2.0T power.” Even more wrong! While it is possible to flash a 1.6T car to achieve 2.0T power, the only way to truly upgrade from 1.6T to 2.0T is through cylinder expansion, which is impossible through programming alone!

Thus, turbocharged cars generally show a more significant improvement when upgrading the ECU compared to naturally aspirated cars, and in terms of cost-effectiveness, it is one of the most worthwhile methods to enhance a car’s power.

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Cars produced by manufacturers are meant to be sold nationwide, and due to differences in altitude and climate conditions across regions, the tuning of the engine will have some variations, while also considering durability. Therefore, manufacturers program the ECU to be relatively stable and conservative.

These ECU values can be changed by writing a new program to remove the protective constraints, releasing the power suppressed by the manufacturer, and rewriting the data to better match the local climate conditions, thereby enhancing power.

Currently, it is quite common for Volkswagen and Audi owners to upgrade their ECUs, as these models have relatively mature technology and the prices are not too high. For niche models, some shops may lack the corresponding cracking software, so prices may be relatively higher.

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Most beginner tuners choose this method, which involves writing to the original ECU, removing protections, changing ignition timing, fuel injection, etc. to enhance combustion efficiency and thus increase the corresponding power. There are also methods to specifically enhance low torque and peak horsepower. However, due to the limitations of the original ECU, the improvements are not very significant.

Tip: This type of upgrade does not require any hardware modifications, including intake and exhaust. Do not listen to the shop’s suggestions about modifying the exhaust.

Here BaoBao also saw in a certain expert’s article the viewpoint that “flashing the ECU will consume more fuel”. This statement is very inaccurate! In fact, with this basic ECU tuning, under non-aggressive driving conditions, it can actually be more fuel-efficient than the factory settings, as technicians refine the engine program based on local driving environments to improve fuel efficiency, thus saving fuel!

What if the original ECU has too many protections? External ECUs have emerged. They can deceive the original ECU through certain means, preventing it from receiving error signals from sensors, and emit signals that make the original ECU feel “safe, allowing the original ECU to send signals to the engine to execute commands.

Tip: External computers are now rarely seen, as they have basically been replaced by writing methods.

External ECUs are mostly found in new cars and luxury brands because the original ECUs cannot be completely cracked using writing methods, so they rely on deception to complete the programming.

There is also a situation with especially old ECUs, where their ECUs run slowly and have too few “paths” to execute commands, needing an external computer to share some of the workload. Some tuners also prefer external ECUs because they can change programs as needed.

Replacement ECUs (fully replacing computers) are relatively more professional and are generally used in racing fields. Because of the internal strengthening, enhancement, and modification of the vehicle’s engine, the original ECU can no longer meet the requirements, and its running speed cannot keep up.

At this point, a more advanced computer is needed to handle these tasks. These computers are very expensive, starting at thousands. Their programming is quite complex, and thus the tuning costs will be very high.

Little Story: A friend of BaoBao is a world-renowned programmer for the fully replaced computer Haltech. He previously worked on a 9th generation EVO with about 700 horsepower, using a Haltech fully replaced computer. Later, he sold this car to Guangdong, and the new owner went to find a Japanese programmer to reprogram it with a more aggressive program. As a result, until now, the car hasn’t started, and amusingly, when the horn is pressed, the wipers start! Isn’t that fun?

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Generally, the only way for friends to upgrade the ECU is through tuning shops. The most important thing is to find a reliable shop, otherwise, your car could be at risk. BaoBao previously reported on an incident where a car caught fire due to improper construction during an ECU upgrade, which we should learn from!

Secondly, some shops will use the banner of special tuning to attract business. First of all, special tuning prices are not something that can be achieved for a few thousand yuan. You can observe whether the programmer is constantly holding a computer to modify values item by item while writing the program. A more intuitive way is to check if they are tuning on a dyno. If you see only simple operations like copying and pasting, that’s just a canned program!

Little Knowledge: A canned program refers to pre-written values directly written into the ECU. Most tuning shops now use canned programs for ECU upgrades, such as APR, MTM, GIAC, etc. Unless in racing or heavily modified vehicles, special tuning is rarely used.

Many friends may have heard of stages 1, 2, 3 which do not refer to a single program, but rather to the overall tuning upgrade stage of your car, where the program is just one aspect. Generally speaking, up to stage 2 does not require any hardware changes; above stage 2 requires replacing the turbo, improving exhaust, and cooling, etc.; above stage 3 requires engine reinforcement, transmission reinforcement, etc. because the original factory cannot support it anymore. The specifics depend on the model.

Alright~ I believe after reading this, friends will not be “duped” when trying to upgrade an ECU!

Do friends have any questions regarding ECU upgrades? What is the limit of the original factory status for different cars?

Please follow our Automotive Onion Circle, leave your questions in the comments, and let’s discuss ECU upgrades together!