Frequently Asked Questions

Why Choose NZ Performance Tuning?

NZ Performance Tuning is not just “another tuning outfit”: our tuning solutions have been developed over the last 20 years and are some of the very best available in the world today.

NZ Performance Tuning gives you the choice of the level of tune you want. Be it performance or economy tuning, we have the ability to reach your exact requirements. If you can’t decide between a multitude of options, then fear not, as we also have an option that allows you to have multiple maps available for your car at the press of a button – our V-Switch device.

So what does ECU remapping do?

Electronic ignition allows the manufacturer to fine tune economy at popular road speeds such as 30kmh, 50kmh and 100kmh where most cars spend a large proportion of their time. It is now possible to advance the timing if the throttle is wide open to give greater power or back off the timing when cruising at constant speed.
When a manufacturer creates a timing MAP they build into it a big margin of error

When a manufacturer creates a timing MAP they build into it a big margin of error to cope with: Adverse temperature ranges, minor faults & bad conditions. Manufacturers do not want people breaking down, suffering premature parts failure or a reputation for uneconomical cars.

Each car that leaves the production line is also unique some achieve 10bhp less and others can be 10bhp up on standard specs, depending on how well the components are machined and put together. So rather than put each car through a unique assessment and a bespoke timing map, they adopt a standard one map fits all philosophy.

It is also a fact that manufacturers use the remap to produce different power versions of the same engine and get lower insurance cover ratings and better fuel consumption.

Other things that the manufacturer builds in to their map equation is the possibility of user neglect ie: infrequent servicing with items struggling like dirty plugs, bad leads, clogged air filter, partially blocked injectors etc… The list goes on.

Who should remap? Anyone who has added performance parts to the engine should consider a remap. If your car is a turbo model, there are massive power gains on offer.

What are the hidden costs or drawbacks? You will need to be prepared to keep the car serviced more frequently, and, sometimes decreasing the service interval by half. When you fill up you are also restricting yourself to high quality fuel and you must be prepared to replace components that fail due to the extra work they are doing.

Please do not confuse a remap with the little “tuning boxes” you can buy for £50 which generally contain little more than a $3 resistor and often do little more than fool the car into thinking the air is cooler than it is. If it was really this easy to get more power from a car then the manufacturers would have already done that themselves.

Piggy back ECUs connect between your existing ECU and the engine sensor inputs and outputs. All work slightly differently and apply all or some of the following combinations.

Some will adjust the sensor readings such as air temp engine speed crank position and effectively lie to the standard ECU forcing a more aggressive timing. Some will actually perform their own calculations and take over control of some aspects of engine management like turbo waste gate control and ignition timing. Some will take the standard ECU output and modify the signals sent to change timing and learn to guess the next output a split second before it is needed using the base ECU map and just enhancing it a little.

Aftermarket ECUS are often direct replacements for the cars ECU and will take over all the function associated with it. They are generally faster and able to cope with a wide variety of additional factors such as water/methanol injection and a turbo timer.

Be wary though as some piggy back ecus and aftermarket ECU do not include knock protection. If this is the case then set your timing conservatively and use high octane fuel.

As with all ECU upgrades you are still dependent on having the car in top condition as you are removing the tolerances built in for dirty plugs, cheap fuel, or minor electrical faults.

 

Why is having a full remap a better option than getting a plug-in tuning box?

There are many companies that are offering plug-in tuning boxes.  However when trying to gain better performance from your engine, a full remap is irrefutably the better option. A tuning box sends false sensor values throughout the complete rev-range. This tells the ECU that there is not enough fuel entering the engine, the ECU then over-fuels in order to gain performance.  This leads to faster fuel consumption. Although performance gains are made with a plug-in tuning box, they are at the cost of high emissions, higher engine temperatures, and general abuse of the engine. This may result in poor running, black smoke emitting from the exhaust, clogged injectors, rough idle, and engine cut-out. Also over fueling can result in bore washing which will dramatically reduce the life of any engine.When looking at the cost of a full remap compared to a plug-in tuning box, don’t think purely on the cost of the upgrade itself.  The future costs that may be incurred through installing a plug-in box are considerably higher than that of a full remap.  In fact a full remap creates better performance throughout with increased fuel economy.  In the long run a full remap will actually save you money, not cost you more.A full remap will take into account all factors and will deliver much smoother performance with much better gains and again the key thing is this is all dealt with in a completely safe way.

 

Will re-mapping invalidate my car’s warranty?

The way NZ Performance Tuning files reprogramme a vehicle is completely undetectable. All codes and diagnostics that a dealer may read will remain exactly the same. We say it with confidence because of the rigorous testing regime all files go through, and we even give a 24 month software warranty to you.

But be warned – not all tuning companies can say this.

Can the car be put back to its standard BHP?

Of course it can and this service free of charge. But we’ll be very suprised if that’s what you want after taking control of your vehicle’s performance.

Should you lose your tuning files due to dealer actions or parts failure your dealer will be happy to re-install the map onto your car free of charge for as long as you own the vehicle.

Should I tell my insurance company?

Whilst the upgrade is undetectable, the responsible answer to this question has to be “yes”, your insurance company should be notified. However, many insurance companies do not penalise you for upgrades of this nature, particularly if you’re tuning for increased economy.

Will my fuel consumption go up after an upgrade?

No, in fact quite the opposite. Even on a performance tune, if you continue to drive the car in the same way as you did before the upgrade, your fuel consumption will probably improve. Of course if you have a track map installed on the car and you are driving the car under the conditions with which a track map is intended you’re likely to find a slightly reduced mpg figure.

Economy tuning can have a dramatic effect on fuel consumption, with considerable improvements being achieved along with huge money savings on fuel.

Will the life span of my engine be reduced?

No, not at all if you use NZ Performance Tuning. Sadly some engines can be over tuned, “stressing” the engine, transmission, cooling systems, etc, and reducing the life span and reliability of the car. This is why it’s so important to choose the best – choose NZ Performance Tuning.

We take great care to ensure that all of our modifications have no detrimental effect on your car. In a lot of cases the economy tune actually helps to extend the life of components such as the clutch and gearbox by making the delivery of the power far less aggressive and smoothing the overall drive of the vehicle.

Are plug and play re-maps and files sold on E-bay/TradeMe any good?

There are a number of basic power upgrades available in a plug and play format or are downloadable from the web. Whilst some of these items can offer slight increases in power, they operate by merely adjusting a specified signal within the ECU by a set tolerance. It’s impossible to compare these inferior upgrades with a full rolling road re-map which measures and adjusts hundreds of signals and data files within the ECU.

We advise that these generic files and unsupported devices for sale on the web should be avoided at all cost. We’ve seen too many customers come to us after a bad experience – and there was no one else to turn to either. We’re always happy to advise on your tuning needs.

Benefits of remapping your vehicle

Back in the good old days – the task of timing the ignition spark was performed by the distributor. The greater the RPM, the more the timing would advance.

This did a reasonable job but for the most effective power you would need to vary the timing to a greater degree than a fixed ratio advance curve. The electronic ignition system was borne.

A complete map of variables was entered into the ignition program and preset timing would be read from a table.

Now air temperature, engine speed, engine load and even control over turbo waste gate control means that precise management of the engine ignition timing is possible and you can achieve the maximum power output throughout the rev range.