ECU Chips
In order to chip your car, it will need to have an ECU (Electronic Control Unit) which controls the ignition timing and fuelling for an engine.
The ECU receives information from sensors around the engine, so it can tell if the engine is hot, cold, at idle etc. and then it adjusts the timing and fuelling to cope with the needs of the engine in various different situations. The ECU is pre-programmed by the manufacturer before it hits the street, but their settings have been produced to think about fuel consumption, emissions and safety rather than performance.
Why should I chip my car?
Getting your car chipped involves remapping or replacing the chip or programme which is already in your ECU so that it behaves differently making it possible to squeeze more power and better drivability from the engine.
On a turbo car the ECU also controls the turbo, so by chipping the ECU on a turbo car it is possible to get very large power gains, because it alters the settings so the turbo can run more pressure.
On a naturally aspirated car however you won’t receive the same performance gains, although a chip will still make your n/a car perform better, especially if it is fitted along with other mods to smooth out the performance, but dont expect the massive power gains that are possible by chipping a turbo car.
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