Difference between chipping and mapping ?

what is the difference between chipping and remapping or are they the same thing by replacing the chip inside the ECu?

Charlotte

[gnhuk]

"Chipping" is, as I understand it, the act of physically changing the chip with one that holds a different program whereas "remapping" is a modification of the code on the existing chip.

As I don't have a turbo charged car it is immaterial to me but if I did, I'd probably favour a remap because that way I could have some input into the result. Having said that I think some of the "chippers" also offer a "custom map". To a degree the exponents of the art rely on smoke and mirrors to make it sound like a science.

You've probably noticed, as I have, the childish flame wars which seem to crop up frequently when this subject is discussed......................

[Pedro Fandango]

thats what i understand the differences to be as well

Originally Posted by gnhuk

As I don't have a turbo charged car it is immaterial to me but if I did, I'd probably favour a remap because that way I could have some input into the result.

any ecu controlled car can be chipped/remapped, it doesn't need to be a turbo

So in short if i remap my ECu I will use more fuel and more air giving more power the car and more tax the chancellor ? If i replace the chip it's going to a similar job ?

Oh yes I've seen the flame wars.

Ok thanks won't bother

Charlotte

PS if anyone can tell me where to get a standalone Ignition and fuel injection system I'd appreciate it also if anyone can tell me what this is I'd also appreciate it.

Need it for part of my mad 2.8i V6 stock engine Turbo charge conversion

[pault5]

standby..... bobcat alert, bobcat alert!

[gnhuk]

Originally Posted by Pedro Fandango

any ecu controlled car can be chipped/remapped, it doesn't need to be a turbo

On a cost/benefit basis it just isn't worth the effort because gains are so much smaller which probably explains why, other than cheap resistors which fool the ECU, it doesn't seem to be advertised widely (well not anything I've noticed anyway)

[TheJoyOfSix]

I agree there is little to be gained by chipping an NA car as the cost of the chip is likely to be in the region of £350 or more for possibly only a 10bhp gain.

What is worthwhile, however, is swapping to an aftermarket/standalone Engine Management System like MegaSquirt, Haltech, Autronic etc. the cheapest is Megasquirt at about £100 for the kit, but you'll need to solder it up yourself and buy a wideband O2 sensor and you'll also need access to a laptop to tune it. You will also need in your instance a 850 Throttle Position Switch and an air intake temp sensor to get it to work. MS controls just the fuel side, but for a little extra you can get MS&S which does the ign side as well.
Pettaw has his 360GLEi SE running on MS and whilst it may only be producing 10-15bhp more than the factory LE-Jet, it has way more torque and flatter curves making it far faster in the real world. Fuel economy has improved dramatically too.

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by charlotte001

what is the difference between chipping and remapping or are they the same thing by replacing the chip inside the ECu?

Charlotte

seems that your question has been answered but i will add my 2c.

yes chipping and remapping are the same, but the term chipping really came about first as on the older cars the chip\eprom that held the software and maps to run the engine was often stored on a once write device (like a cd-r that can only be written to once) or a uv erasable chip. so when tuners wanted to modify the car they would just remove the std eprom\chip and put another in, so thats where chipping came from.

remapping does the same as chipping, but with modern car (for example the 850) the eeprom\chip can be written to time and time again (for example the eeprom in an 850 ecu can be written to 100,000 times. ). so the ecu can often be connected to a computer and the new modified maps uploaded to it, thus the term remapping as the tuner really has nothing to do with the eproms.

You could also say its called remapping as it is exactly that, changing the maps. with the complexity of modern ecu's virtually every tuner just changes a few values in a map (fuel,ign, knock,boost) and basically leaves the main code which accounts for say 80% alone.

hope that helps.

[bobcat]

Originally Posted by pault5

standby..... bobcat alert, bobcat alert!

Good to see that as usual paul, you have provided a valuable post that will be of great benefit to the volvo community.

[foggyjames]

Chipping and remapping are the same thing - adjusting values in the stock ECU. I'm not at all sure that the terms were originally defined as having anything to do with whether or not the EEPROM gets taken out to do it. I think you might be reading a bit too much into it there.

You'll definitely want to go programmable to get suitable control for a +T where no ECU exists for that engine config.

cheers

James