ECU Upgrades
- also know as “Chipping” -
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any
readers to this site will know that all modern engines are controlled by a
computer, or the ECU (Engine
Control Unit). Although a grossly
simplistic point of view, the ECU meters the necessary fuel into the engine
according to what the driver and engine want and need. The ECU is fed data from a number of
sensors, and compares this data with stored tables dictating the precise
quantity of fuel to squirt into each cylinder.
The EEC-V is a very sophisticated unit, and has been deliberately
optimised by Ford to allow the engine to continue to operate on low quality
petrol, with inadequate servicing, and with a view to maintaining tight
emission levels. You can monitor the
EEC-V’s data using an OBD-II Scanner
system. If you are prepared to relax
these requirements, it is quite possible to liberate some power and torque from
the engine - although not without some provisos.
The
first proviso is that you must continue to use good quality fuel. Kermit’s regular diet is now Shell 95 RON,
after flirting with Shell’s Optimax, but when this is unavailable, I’ll stick
to non-supermarket petrol as much as possible. I’ll use supermarket petrol without worrying about it too much,
but in York at least, Kermit seems to perform better running on the Shell
unleaded.
The
second proviso is that you keep the engine well maintained. In Kermit’s case, this goes without
saying. Kermit is serviced when needed,
and if something needs doing, it gets done – as you can see here.
When
you “chip” a car, you are modifying or replacing the algorithms and tables
present within the unit, to modify the behaviour of the engine. In the case of most “atmo” petrol engines,
i.e. those without a turbocharger, the headline
power and torque increases are usually quite small - this is simply because
when setting up the engine at the factory, the manufacturer has simply backed
the unit off a little to allow for missed services, so on and so forth.
This
Superchips plot below (click to enlarge), shows the improvement they
found after superchipping a Ka. They
have informed me that the Ka used had a standard engine, but have not confirmed
any other details about the Ka. There’s
more information about what this shows in my Superchips Bluefin article.
The
headline improvement in power shows an increase in maximum power of 5 PS, and
in maximum torque of 5 Nm. However, the
maximum increases are greater: 7 PS, at 5,300 rpm, and 9 Nm, at 2,300 rpm. Furthermore, upon inspection of the power
curve, we can see that the chipped module reaches peak power at a lower engine
speed than the original, and maintains this power output for almost 600
rpm. There is also a consistently
greater maximum power output being released by the engine at almost all road
speeds, which from inspection of the plot, looks to be about 5%.
It
is the torque curve that is of more interest to me. Superchips have retained the same curve, but have shifted it
higher up the scale. The improvement of
9 Nm occurs immediately before the hike in torque output for the standard Ka,
and at 2,400 rpm, both engines appear to be producing the same torque. However, as the revs rise, so the torque
produced by the superchipped engine is consistently approximately 5 Nm
higher. Statistically, this is around
5%.
5%!
So
there we have it: a 5% hike in power and torque, right across the rev range,
and not concentrated at the top end of the power band. 5% is not a great improvement, but if this
translated to a 5% reduction in acceleration times, it would see Kermit’s quarter mile fall from 20·4 seconds to 19·4 seconds
- just about matching my superchipped buddy, SkinDemon.
Options
There
are a number of different “chipping” options available, with the most popular
being Superchips. Whilst some Ka organisations claim to have
special discount arrangement in place, asking can usually better these deals
and you won’t have to join up. During
2004, Superchips were discounting the Bluefin device at shows too so it’s worth
checking.
I’d
recommend the Bluefin for a couple of reasons and it’s the option we went for,
see here. The key differential for me was the ability to use either the
original code or the modified code.
Ford
offer a Motorsport version of the ECU, although I have been yet to find a
dealership with this upgrade for sale.
Van Aaken Developments
offer a chip upgrade, in addition to turbocharging the Ka too.
Collins Power Chips is
another alternative.
Unichip
offer to program an ECU that’s just right for your engine, so although the
price is twice that of Bluefin, you do get a tailor-made ECU. This is only really worth it if you have
other engine modifications.
Is It Worth It?
For
over two hundred notes from Superchips, you can have your Ka’s ECU
modified. After chipping, people have
reported that it improves the response of the engine (something the standard
Ka doesn’t suffer from, really), does improve performance a little, but
smoothes out any flat spots. No Ka
owner has bothered to check their fuel consumption before and after the
conversion, although it could theoretically be superior at a cruise, but less
so when using all of the additional power.
You can read my Bluefin
article for what we’ve noticed.
Is
this worth the price? In terms of PS /
£, it’s pretty expensive. Working on the
assumption of a 5% increase in power, with the ordinary Superchip conversion
costing £225, that’s £75 per single PS.
However,
working on tanks of petrol, that’s only eleven tanks. Kermit has been known to go through this much fuel in a little
over a month.
Footnote: Chipping Turbos
As
a footnote, you can usually get much better results from chipping a turbocharged car - petrol or
diesel - by virtue that the ECU’s algorithms can also control the turbo, as
well as fuel. By stuffing more fuel
into the engine, and raising the boost pressure, you can obtain significantly
higher power and torque outputs - some claims are put at 30% - together with an
improvement in cruising fuel efficiency.
Of course, the chipping companies have figured on to this, and you’ll
find that the cost to chip a Mondeo TDCi is rather more than to chip the 2·0.