Scion FR-S, Subaru BRZ rough idle issues require ECU reflash originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 05 Oct 2012 11:30:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: 2010 Nissan Patrol

Nissan Patrol recalled overseas but kissing-cousin Infiniti QX56 not affected [*UPDATED] originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 27 Jul 2010 17:58:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Nissan to halt NA output of Altima, Sentra on Hitachi part supply delays? originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 14 Jul 2010 08:01:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Hackers tap into ECU to kill engine, brakes and more originally appeared on Autoblog on Sun, 16 May 2010 12:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: IFR Automotive Aspid

Spanish supercar company working on infinitely adjustable vehicle settings? originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 28 Jul 2009 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Gallery: Nissan GT-R SpecV

NISMO renting GT-R engine and transmission computers in Japan originally appeared on Autoblog on Mon, 18 May 2009 15:59:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Dinan gets around to offering ECU upgrade for BMW's 335i originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 07 Dec 2007 18:32:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading BMW USA offering factory performance parts, with full warranty

BMW USA offering factory performance parts, with full warranty originally appeared on Autoblog on Wed, 19 Sep 2007 08:56:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

The first assessment of the John Cooper Works tuning package is in, and the verdict is a qualified "Buy." According to the JCW site, the kit has an air filter ,a remapped ECU, and a central twin exhaust. The test car was kitted out with a host of other JCW fittings, including an aero kit, 18" wheels, and lowered suspension. The now-turbocharged (instead of supercharged, as on the first-gen MINI) S gets 17 more horsepower at 6,000 rpm, but the effect is more massage than it is a Frankenstein job. The traction is great, the exhaust sounds the same from inside but blurbles nicely outside (there are a couple of videos on which to feast), and the car is certainly fast. While he's sure it will beat any R53, it didn't give him the kick in the pants that the old supercharged engine did. In the end, his advice is to buy -- unless you want to wait for the Stage II kit....

[Source: MotoringFile]

First review of the R56 MINI Cooper S JCW package originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 10 Aug 2007 10:29:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Continue reading Germany going after aftermarket ECU tuning

Germany going after aftermarket ECU tuning originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 13 Apr 2007 08:51:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

As any fledgling tuner knows, a car's ECU's are the little things that mean a lot, and the modern car has dozens of them. For Toyota, which is working with suppliers to create an in-house operating system that will rationalize the number of control units and the amount of code controlling them, fewer ECUs will mean massive cost savings, faster development, and increased efficiency.

Currently, new software is written from scratch for each ECU in each new model. By working with its suppliers early in the development phase, Toyota wants to integrate components into modular systems, making for safer, less complex, and less expensive (for Toyota, at least) vehicles. As part of Toyota's two-year-old Value Initiative program -- only the latest step in Toyota's ruthless drive to be a leaner car company and stay in front of its competitors -- in-house software development will aid in CEO Katsuake Watanabe's aim to cut nearly $9 billion in costs.

Software teams are in place now, but a working version isn't expected until 2015. With fewer ECU's and one OS to rule them all, the word "crash" could take on new meaning. We can only hope that Toyota will take its OS-writing lessons from Apple, and not Microsoft.

[Source: Engadget]

Camry-soft? Toyota developing its own operating system originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 03 Apr 2007 19:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Traction control banned in F1 beginning in 2008 originally appeared on Autoblog on Sat, 31 Mar 2007 09:07:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

BMW Car magazine

Currency's 810 HP, twin-turbo M5 originally appeared on Autoblog on Fri, 23 Feb 2007 10:54:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Few people would argue that the Alfa Romeo Brera, Spider and 159 aren't among the most beautiful cars gracing the road - few people with any taste, anyway. Unfortunately, while the legendary Italian marque has made a huge comeback in the styling department, reviews suggest the driving dynamics, in this range at least, leave a lot of room for improvement.

That's where Autodelta steps in. The British tuning house is the world's expert on Alfa Romeos, and they certainly weren't going to back down from the challenge of improving the performance of this most beautiful of Italian automobiles. Autodelta's latest innovation is a simple reprogramming of the 3.2-liter V6 engine's ECU that yields an extra fourteen horsepower and twenty-three lb.-ft. of torque, boosting the former up to 274 and the latter up to 260. That may not sound like much to those used to tuners strapping on turbos and intercoolers, but Autodelta squeezed out that extra power while improving both delivery and fuel economy. (If you're still looking for superchargers and spoilers, Autodelta's got plenty of that, too: check out the 348-hp Autodelta Brera J5 3.2, hitting the market in less than two weeks.)

Over on this side of the pond, we're anxiously awaiting Alfa Romeo's impending return to the US market. And when the infatuation with the Alfa's beauty wears off and the dynamic flaws begin to show, American buyers will have Autodelta to call.

The press release is posted after the jump.

[Source: Autodelta]

Continue reading Tuner Tuesdays: Autodelta remaps Alfa 3.2 V6

Tuner Tuesdays: Autodelta remaps Alfa 3.2 V6 originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 23 Jan 2007 10:33:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Just a decade ago, engine management was a relatively simple affair. Spark advance and fuel injection quantities were the key parameters, and the determination of both was a relatively simple matter of determining engine speed and load and using those values to index a lookup table. Nowadays, however, technology to improve power, drivability, and fuel consumption - such as variable valve timing and lift, intake tuning, and variable displacement - have greatly complicated the task of calibrating an engine control unit (ECU).

Steve Magner from Ford was at the 2006 SAE Convergence electronics show to speak on this topic and discuss what steps might be taken in the future to improve engine performance and decrease time-to-market. He used the term "high degree of freedom" (HDOF) to describe the typical modern powerplant, and explained that the table-based method ("full factorial mapping") of calibrating ECUs has basically reached its limit. Where as it's desirable to complete the calibration of a new engine in about four months, a HDOF engine currently requires up to 15 months to fully define in the laboratory. In one example, developing just the timing maps for the EPA' s fuel economy test cycle involved 630 states of operation and three months of time on the dyno. Design-of-experiment techniques can be developed to simplify the mapping process, but at the cost of effectiveness - over 25% of a new technology's potential benefit can be lost via incomplete mapping efforts.

Ultimately, the solution proposed by Magner is the direct monitoring of combustion quality, with closed-loop feedback constantly working to optimize the various operation parameters. The two technologies currently being explored are pressure measurement and ion detection schemes, with the former being easier to implement but the latter perhaps being more cost-effective (indeed, Saab has used such a technique for quite some time, albeit with significantly reduced functionality than what is being discussed here). Variations between each cylinder will require that each carry its own sensor, and the required resolution (with data collected for each degree of crankshaft rotation) requiring computational horespower beyond that provided by modern ECUs. Systems based on digital signal processors (DSPs) may be of some use to make sense of all this data and react quickly enough during transients.

[Source: Ford]

SAE Convergence 2006: The difficulty in implementing effective engine management systems originally appeared on Autoblog on Thu, 19 Oct 2006 17:42:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.

Camry ECU won't let drivers give it the boot originally appeared on Autoblog on Tue, 17 Oct 2006 07:55:00 EST. Please see our terms for use of feeds.