Performance Tuning
Tuning is a process optimizing the fuel, air, ignition timing and spark to optimize a vehicle’s operation. Tuning should not be confused with a tune up or merely bolting on performance parts to modify a vehicle’s performance and styling.
A lot of misconceptions have been spread throughout the tuning community. Some are the result of a lack of knowledge and others are sourced directly to unprofessional conduct of a few individuals. Needless to say, the whole industry suffers. Many companies in this industry are finding they are spending millions of dollars on technical support to tackle problems that are wholly created by these misconceptions.
The first thing everyone should know is that tuning as a basic process is not difficult. Rather it is time-consuming and detail-oriented. Once the principles are understood, then the process can be performed by almost anyone. All it takes is time and money to perfect the process. A good tuner utilizes his or her knowledge of engine characteristics, personal experience and training to quickly create lookup maps for the Engine Control Module (ECM). The most common of these maps is the base fuel map, ignition timing map and correction tables for temperature and air density. Once the maps are optimized, they are loaded into the stand-alone ECU’s memory, flashed into the ECM’s memory or burned on to an EEPROM.
Tuning can alleviate simple problems and address driveability concerns, but the main focus of tuning is to extract all of the potential horsepower and torque available to the engine. There are many ways to conduct the process and each has its advantages.