The most popular way of tuning your car is dyno tuning. A dyno is basically a thread mill that the car drives on which is connected to a computer which shows the performance of the engine by how fast the car can spin the rollers on the dyno. By tuning the car while it is on the dyno you can get the most accurate results as you have the car under load and it’s all recorded and analyzed in order to make changes that best suit the engine to make the most power. Through the process of dyno tuning you get a very detailed readout of air and fuel ratio, different power gains on charts, and the difference in the before and after tuning. This kind of tuning is for dedicated enthusiasts and serious power gains usually for track driven cars. Even though this is the best way to tune, it is a limited amount of places that do it and it comes with a pretty high price tag. Another popular way to get the ECU up to speed is to buy an off the shelf EPROM chip. The chip is pre programmed with a variety of options to choose from. For example you can select different stages like cat back exhaust, or intake, or headers, and other parts in order to get the pre tuned chip with the basic understanding of the performance parts. This is not as precise as the dyno tune, but it is relatively cheap and easy to install. EPROM chips usually are installed by simply taking out the old chip and soldering in the new so all you really need to know is how to solder. This is usually enough for your usual street car that does occasional track times, but mostly has fun on the street.
Many people rely on professionals to do the tuning for them, but now the "do it yourself-ers" have the ability to tune their ECU to their own custom program. Cobb Tuning has made a small hand held device that plugs into the OBD connector and allows you to save your stock tune and load a tune that you like onto your ECU. You can make changes to air fuel ratio, timing, speed and rev limiters, idle rpm, and basically everything there is to adjust to your own specific needs. It is also a great data logger as it can record 0-60 times or ¼ mile times, as well as recording the engine performance in order to change and adjust for later.
Cobb Tuning is a company that specializes in ECU tuning. They offer dyno, EPROM, and the access port self tuning device. They have great support and professionals that work on the tunes to ensure you get the best possible results. If you’re looking to get your car tuned or looking for products to help you do it yourself this is the place to go.
PLX also has a set of nice products to control what’s going on in the computer. Their product Street Tuner has an amazing function that allows you to tune while the engine is on so that you don’t have to go back and forth changing the map settings. This feature saves a lot of time and is very convenient. They also have live data loggers with the option to see everything in real time or downloadable data. This will let you see everything your sensors were recording and what exactly is going on under the hood.
Having a properly tuned ECU for your modifications is as important as having the right tires on your ride. Keeping your cars' brain up to date with the new parts will help make power, as the car will know how to use the parts to their maximum abilities. Every car is different and has a different driver with different needs. Tuning your car with fine adjustments to make everything you have work together in unison will make the best of what you have in your car. With great companies like Cobb Tuning, PLX, and many more, tuning will be as easy as anything else you’ve done to your car.
Check out PLX Devices & Cobb Tuning Products for all your tuning needs on THMotorsports.com