The Power of Choice
If there is one thing the computer age has given us, it is the power of choice. In the 1980s, very few electronics were used in cars. With mechanical parts such as carburettors and distributors, it was almost impossible to optimise your engine without changing the hardware. Today, computers control everything and it is as easy as changing a software programme to alter spark timing and fuelling. People wrongfully think that electronics make cars too complicated. The truth is that they make it easier and cheaper to change things without having to change physical parts.
A limited ECU reach
The manufacturer does not give you much of a choice when buying a new car. It is virtually impossible to manufacture every engine to the exact same tolerances. What they do is to write standardised engine control unit (ECU) maps that cater to all these variances. Your car will have the same standardised ECU programming that all cars with that engine have. That programming may or may not work in harmony with your particular engine. There are limits within which these standard computer maps are allowed to vary their settings, which is usually not ideal. Why do we stick to the standard engine setup when we have the power of choice? Because we don’t want to risk something going wrong with our cars. We hope, by sticking to it, that our cars will perform at its best. After all, ECU settings are factory settings, they must be correct and sufficient.
Get more from the ECU
There is a way to turn your car’s ECU into a supercomputer, making it smarter and more adaptable. Your car will remain standard, but your control unit will cater for a far wider range of variables. This way will also ensure that you enjoy the best possible performance when you want to overtake someone. You will also enjoy the best possible economy when doing your Sunday afternoon drive down the freeway. This is what is great about having the power of choice.
When you fit a Unichip, your ECU is left intact. The Unichip fine-tunes the settings of the ECU to optimise them for every possible driving scenario. Several customisable maps can be specified, giving you not only maximum performance but also the maximum economy. You can have control over turbo boost pressure, fuelling, and spark timing. Specify your own special map set combination if you so require.