More Benefits of Engine Chip Tuning

Benefits of Engine Chip Tuning

If you’re into upgrading or customizing your car, then you’ve probably heard about engine chip tuning. Whether the ECU is changed, the engine is remapped, or a performance chip is added, the change in the software can make a big difference in how your vehicle functions.

1. You Get More Horsepower

When the ECU comes from the factory it comes with conservative software settings, and that includes power settings. These help the car be more stable under a variety of different conditions, but it also means there’s some power left behind. Chip tuning can change the fuel/air ratio and timing to give your car extra power and torque.

2. You Get More Fuel Efficiency

For a long time, engine chip tuning was almost exclusively used to get more power out of vehicles. However, the recent emphasis on fuel efficiency and environmentalism has changed that. The right chip tuning can make a substantial difference in your fuel economy. It may be at the sacrifice of horsepower, but many cars have a lot more power than they need for everyday driving.

3. They’re Affordable Upgrades

There are plenty of upgrades that can increase your horsepower or improve your fuel efficiency. For example, a custom exhaust system can make a big difference. But these cost a lot to have made, and require a lot of labor to install correctly. Chip tuning, on the other hand, is a much more affordable option. Even if you pay extra to get the tuning done by a pro shop, it’s still cheaper than other options.

4. They’re Easy to Install

A big part of that affordability comes from the ease of installation. Universal diagnostic ports make it easy to plug new engine chips or chip management units into the existing system without having to take apart the ECU. This cuts down on the necessary labor immensely. This makes it extra affordable to have the chip tuning done by a pro, since the labor costs are low.

5. They’re Tuned to Fit Your Driving

Manufacturers set the software to fit a variety of conditions, everything from the high elevation cold of the northern Rockies to the humid heat of south Florida. They’re also made to work with a wide variety of gasoline grades for versatility. Unless you’re road tripping across the country on a regular basis, you don’t need that versatility. Chip tuning allows you to make sure that your car is specifically made to work at its best in the conditions where you drive it.

6. They Give You a Cleaner Burn

There are a wide variety of different technologies that need to work together to get the most out of your fuel, including the timing, fuel/air ratio, injection, transmission, and more. The cleaner the burn, the more efficiency, more power, and less build-up you’ll have. This kind of fine tuning means that you’ll have to be much more selective in your gas choices, but it can pay off in a big way.

Costs and Benefits: The Numbers Behind Chip Tuning

Costs and Benefits Of Chip Tuning

When you’re considering engine chip tuning or remapping, it’s easy to run into conflicting and confusing information. It can be tough to track down concrete numbers for what it can and can’t do for your car. Believe it or not, there’s actually a good reason for that.

So Why the Ambiguity?

There are a couple reasons why chip tuning doesn’t always get the same results. The first is the variation of cars out there. For example, a 1997 Honda Civic has little in common with a 2007 Ford F-150 4×4. There’s also a large variety of environments where the cars are driven. Chip tuning for a steadily hot environment can give much more stable results than chip tuning for an environment that swings from cold and dry to hot and humid.

The other big reason is the chip tuners themselves. There’s a wide variety of ways to change your car computer’s software, everything from a cheap “plug and play” external chip module to having a professional remap the software or switch out the engine chip. As you can imagine, this produces a wide range of results.

By the Numbers

All of that being said, there are a few numbers that can be thrown out there. With upgrades like this, it’s a good idea to look at the upper ranges of what you can accomplish. Then you can adjust downwards depending on your budget or abilities.

Tuning for Performance:
Up to 30% more power and up to 25% more torque

To get these results, your best bet is to go to a professional. They’ll perform complete diagnostics and tuning with the car on a rolling road. Be prepared to answer questions about your driving habits, and be honest. A pro will tune the software to specifically give you the most power for those driving conditions, so the more accurate you are, the more power you’ll get.

Tuning for Efficiency:
Lower fuel consumption by up to 16%

This doesn’t necessarily mean sacrificing engine power. In fact, many software remaps can actually increase your power and lower your fuel consumption at the same time. Again, the key here is to have the chip tuned to specifically fit your car, your driving conditions, and to have consistent driving behavior.

The Costs of Chip Tuning

This is another area where it can be tough to track down numbers, but here are a few rough ranges:

Performance Chips: $300-$700

This is for a chip or module that you plug into the diagnostic ports yourself. Performance chips or modules are the cheaper option, and pretty easy to install. That being said, they’re also not going to give you the best results. That cheaper price tag might only give you a tiny fraction of what you could get.

Professional Chip Tuning or Remapping: $400-$900

This price is really an incredibly broad estimate, since every situation is different. The more precisely you want the engine tuned, the more time it’s going to take, which means the more it’s going to cost. This also varies depending on the car. Some cars are capable of a lot more fine-tuning than others, and a pro can help you get the most out of them.

Additional Costs:

Chip tuning changes how your engine runs, and you should be prepared for a change in how you use your car. A great example is fuel costs. Chip tuning focuses your engine to the point where you have to be a lot more choosy when it comes to the gas you use. This can lead to increased fuel costs. That being said, those increase costs could be easily offset by the increase fuel economy.

Ultimately, chip tuning is like any other car upgrade: The more you put into the improvements, the more you’ll get out of them.