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ECU FLASHING FAQ

Turbo Diesel & Petrol Car ECU Remapping FAQ’s

Check out or Complete Guide to ECU Remapping Here for additional information.

Does ECUWEST tune our diesel 4×4’s and cars for our market? We have some of Australia’s and Europe’s best ECU tuning specialists working with us to provide a relative and reliable tune for your vehicle, each tune we do is tailored to your specific car and its modifications. We develop our tunes locally on Australian Domestic Market (ADM) delivered vehicles, we don’t use guessed generic tunes made for cars in Europe.

Why do you get better performance and power from a remap? Vehicle and car manufacturer’s detune their products for many reasons. Warranty, emissions, global fuel quality, safety reasons, and ease of performance upgrades in subsequent model releases. We go into the ECU and give you the best tune possible straight up, often gaining real torque and power gains exceeding 40% and fuel economy gains from 5 – 25% from stock trim.

What is the difference between ECU remapping and diesel chips? Where possible, ECU tuning is by far a better option than chip tuning or diesel chips. The reasons are briefly summarised here:

  • You cant raise torque limiters, boost limiters, change injection angle (BTDC), remove Diagnostic Trouble Codes, remove immobiliser codes or edit many other parameters via chips. This is because Chip tuning is all done downstream of the ECU, intercepting inputs to and outputs from the ECU, so the ECU has no idea what is happening within the engine.
  • Because we can modify every aspect of the engines control system, you get better gains and results in terms of performance and economy.
  • ECU tuning is a safer option as the ECU is still in control of all aspects of the engines operations, retaining all of its original safety controls and alarms.
  • You also wont be left with nuisance Check Engine Lights as is common when fitting diesel chips.
  • We can remap back to stock and we can rewrite a performance ECU tune if a factory “update” has been installed by the dealer- however, this is highly unlikely.
  • There is no additional wiring or any components that can fail when your vehicle is remapped.
  • It is virtually undetectable
  • Cruise Control will unaffected by ECU Remapping

Will the dealer overwrite the performance tune during a service? We’ve not seen any dealers overwrite the software before, nor have we heard of it first hand. Its not impossible though, and if they were to update some software version it will overwrite the performance tune. When servicing the dealer will typically only look for outstanding diagnostic trouble codes (DTC’s). You can always state that you are happy with the way it runs and you don’t want them to update software, remember that it is your car and not their property.
Should this improbable scenario occur, the worst case is that the ECUWEST dealer who did the job for you shall just charge for the time taken to reflash as they will have your modified and stock tunefiles on file and so does head office.
A good way to ensure this never happens is by going to Ultratune or the like for your servicing, this will keep your new car warranty valid also.

Bike ECU Remapping FAQ’s

ECUWEST Overview: ECUWEST tunes are a flash. So the stock Engine Control Unit (ECU) is flashed. There is no hardware, software, etc that you’re given. You send your ECU to us and we reflash/program the ECU and then send it back to you with the new parameters programmed in. You then just plug your ECU back into your bike and you’re done.

What exactly is changed inside my ECU? Your ECU is constantly altering data, sending data, and receiving data from all the sensors an aspects of the bike. ECU tuning will change how your ECU uses this data, when it sends check engine lights, alter the fuel and timing maps, etc. The stock is limited and held back by many variables. One of the most hindering aspects is passing emissions. ECUWEST goes in and alters hundreds to thousands of variables in an effort to give you the best performing bike. However, the downside, like all aftermarket parts, is that ECUWEST is for off road use only (same as powercommander, Bazzaz, all exhausts, etc).

Will any bike see a difference with ECUWEST? Yes! Every bike will notice a difference on deceleration/engine braking, smoother throttle, smoother off throttle, and on most all bikes a power increase is given. Such as the R1’s 4-10hp is achieved at different parts of the powerband. On Suzuki’s you won’t need to buy a TRE or plug for your oem steering damper if you go with an aftermarket damper as the ecu code for the set valve and steering damper have been removed. You can raise the idle of your bike, when the fans kick in for the radiator, etc.

If I have the ECUWEST ECU Tuning Service done do I also need a fuel control module like Power Commander or Bazzaz? No, You do not need a Piggy Back. The ECUWEST service optimises each of the parameters inside your ECU delivering an excellent overall tune with maximum performance. Because of this your vehicle will not require an additional Fuel Control Module. However some find adding a “piggy back” for specific conditions such as different Track Type, Fuel Type, Atmospheric & Elevation Levels. This should be done ON A DYNO With a professional Tuner.

Can my ECU be taken back to stock? “Return to Stock” Option allows us to return your ECU back to it’s stock settings, maps and parameters at anytime. (fee’s will apply)

Why adjust variable velocity stacks and what are the results or advantages of this? On vehicles equipped with variable velocity stacks, we are able to adjust and optimize the times in which the stacks lengthen and shorten according to the characteristics and variables of the motor. The results can offer improved performance, shifting the power curve or increasing power in a particular area of the curve and lastly reducing the sometimes abrupt disruption in power at the point the velocities perform the switch from long to short and vise-versa.

What are “deceleration Maps”? What happens when you adjust or remove fuel injector shut off on deceleration? On most of today’s modern fuel injected sport bikes, the factory shuts the fuel injectors off immediately when the rider lets off of the throttle. They do this, to lower emissions on the vehicle and justify this by saying, fuel is only needed to accelerate. However when the fuel injectors are shut off and stop delivering fuel in such an abrupt method the results are normally not very good on ride-ability. 2 of the main problems that result from this are (1)The bike will have a very choppy on/off throttle control which not only makes for a “jerky” feeling under normal riding conditions but will also significantly upset the chassis during corner entry, corner corrections, and corner exits. What we at ECUWEST take the time to improve and adjust these deceleration maps that slowly and consistently ramp the fuel down as you let of the throttle making for a smooth and predictable deceleration and/or on/off throttle control. The deceleration can improve track times as much if not more than a quality fuel map. High speed corner entry becomes very smooth and less violent helping the suspension geometry work for the rider instead of against, mid corner throttle corrections are now very linear with reduced ON/OFF throttle jerk, and corner exit is consistent because the fuel is down being increased and decreased in a very linear and cohesive manner.

Would the ECUWEST reprogram sync with the Bazzaz Z-Fi without problems?

Yes the Bazzaz Z-F1 will work with the ECUWEST reflash. It will function just as it would with the stock ECU … HOWEVER…. due to the many changes and improvements we make to the internal mapping parameters inside the ECU, we strongly suggest not running the Bazzaz Unit until you can have a quality fuel map built by a credible tuner. Until you can get this custom map completed we suggest either removing the bazzaz unit or at least ZERO mapping the unit. The ECU will work excellent by itself and once you get to a quality tuner, they will be able to fine tune in the subtle improvements to the fuel map through the Bazzaz.

What is a Timing Retard Eliminator? what does it do? and what does ECUWEST do different? Many of today’s sportbikes, mostly Suzuki and Kawasaki models, are restricted in he lower gears by retarding the factory ignition timing. The purpose of a “Timing Retard Eliminator” is to “trick” the ECU into thinking the bike is always in it’s optimum gear (usually this is 5th gear). Optimum gear has no timing retard, no restrictions and no top end limit. HOWEVER what people do not realize is that if you are “tricking” the ECU into thinking it is always in 5th than you are also telling the ECU to use all of the other 5th gear maps like fuel, ignition, injector, deceleration maps etc. The ECU has individual maps developed for each gear (fuel, ignition etc etc) and to tune the bike correctly you need to address each parameter in each gear. ECUWEST does things a little different. We remove the timing retard, restrictions and top end limiters in each gear, but we do so while still tuning each individual gear and allowing the bike to use those parameter maps appropriately. No “tricking”, but instead fixing the issue at the source and tuning the bike properly.

What results from adjusting “injector phasing” ? In basic terms, overall adjusting (increase or decrease) the pulse widths and timing in which the fuel injectors deliver fuel to the engine. The basic purpose for adjusting these parameters is simply to fine tune and match the proper timing in which fuel is delivered (or not)to the cylinders in a manner that optimizes the overall power and ride-ability of the vehicle. This phasing will vary per vehicle/motor/conditions, however it is another variable that when adjusted to an optimum state, it can improve the overall performance and efficiency of your motorcycle.

My bike has an irritating jerkiness or delay with the on/off throttle at certain RPM. Can the ECUWEST ECU Service fix this problem? In each of the ECU parameters (Fuel, Ignition, etc) we have the ability to tune each maps, in each gear, at each RPM. We develop our Tune Files not only for maximum power increase but we also significantly smooth out the power/torque curves making the bike more consistent feeling. This helps a ton with the jerky on/off throttle that is notorious in most modern sportbikes. It helps eliminate upsetting the chassis during mid corner throttle corrections, while also assisting in corner entry and exit. We also work on the deceleration maps which considerably helps corner entry. It reduces the amount of engine braking that comes on when decelerating for a corner.

Specific Bike Changes? This is a list of changes that ECUWEST does for a specific brand, model, and year of bike.

09-2011 R1: 9.5rwhp gain. Removes the stock ECU closed loop tuning so you can run the dynojet auto tuner without having it fight the ECU. There is no need for the o2 optimizer/controller when you’re ECU has been flashed and you should remove it. Enhances the fly by wire so you can reach full throttle. Removes the throttle restriction on US bikes above 12k rpm. Bike will start in A mode after the flash.

09-2011 VMAX: 22rwhp gain. Throttle restriction removed. Increased top speed.

2011 ZX10R: 15rwhp gain. Speed and Rev limit increased. On this model the server check engine light cannot be eliminated due to how Mitsubishi programmed the ECU.

06+ R6: Some of the best deceleration maps out there. Makes a very drastic difference in rideability at the track.

06-07 GSXR 600/750: At this time the check engine lights can not be removed on this ecu.

03-2012 CBR 600RR: 7-8 hp gain on the 600RR on a stock bike with just the flash! Rev limit on the 600RR increased to 15,800rpm. This model requires sending to us and then we send them to ECUWEST as they are a very complicated ECU to flash compared to other models. The turn around time is around 2 weeks. You can pick the idle you want, rev limiter, it fully alters the ignition for the best performance so you no longer need to run a the Bazzaz Zbomb or Dynojet IRC. Top speed eliminator removed. ECUWEST has more control over the internal parameters in the factory ECU than “race kit ECU’s” offers. Where the Kit ECU continues to restrict things like Ignition Advance and/or Rev limit, we have unlimited control giving us the ability to attain maximum performance and ride-ability from the Honda CBR’s. Supersport team in Europe track tested the flash.

08-2012 CBR 1000RR: 16hp increase with reflash and Akrapovic full exhaust. Akrapovic full exhaust offers 6-7hp where the flash offers 9-10 hp. HP gain and torque in the entire range. Rev limiter increased to 14,100rpm. Our revised throttle maps, ignition maps, and increased rev limit work together to create a much larger “sweet spot” in the power band without concerns or issues with bumping the Rev limit. We have more control over the internal parameters in the factory ECU than “race kit ECU’s” offers. Where the Kit ECU continues to restrict things like Ignition Advance and/or Rev limit, we have unlimited control giving us the ability to attain maximum performance and ride-ability from the Honda CBR’s. Tested by a super sport team in Europe for 3 months to ensure a perfect flash.