DOES THE SOFTWARE TUNER HAVE A BACKGROUND
IN VEHICLE TECHNOLOGY / DIAGNOSIS OR REPAIR?
Many company's have sprung up over the
recent years all offering performance software tuning, however it is our experience that many of them have no technical background
in vehicle technology but simply know how to use a laptop and a software tuning program. There for they have little understanding
of exactly what it is they are doing and there for can offer almost no technical backup should problems arise.
We
have attended many vehicles for fuelling faults, loss of vehicle communication for diagnosis, poor starting etc all directly
caused by poor quality tuning and in most cases the company involved were unable to offer any solutions.
DOES THE SOFTWARE TUNER KNOW THE SOURCE OF THE SOFTWARE
TUNE THEY ARE SELLING OR WERE IT ORIGINATED FROM?
We suspect in many cases if you asked this question
to most tuning only businesses that they would not be able to answer. There are more poor quality unknown tunes on the market
and there original source is mostly unknown. Would you be happy to have your modern engine control system software modified with
a piece of software that may have been written by a school boy on his PC after school, sound silly? well it is but this
is what is happening.
Scantec GB only supply performance tuning files from known sources, all our tunes are
written by Ex-Master technicians in there field and in fact we know every one of them by name and can contact and speak
with them as and when we please, this allows us to offer a full 100% technical backup.
WILL THE SOFTWARE TUNER TEST YOUR VEHICLE BEFORE TUNING IT?
In most cases NO, why? because they are mostly not vehicle technicians with a technical background, they simply
know how to use a laptop and run a tuning program on it and mostly they would not have the correct tooling to carry out diagnostic
testing anyway.
Why is this important?
All vehicles should have there engine control
systems tested before tuning for may reasons. Firstly we need to confirm that there are know underlying faults
that could affect your benefits of the tuning and if this was not done, finding the fault after the tune could be
more difficult as the original known parameters used for diagnostic testing may have changed. It can also be proved instantly
if a fault is present directly following the tune that this fault is caused by the tune and can be dealt with instantly,
if this was not carried out it would not be possible to ascertain if this fault was present before or after tuning. It is
also not wise to ask your engine to do more work if it has not been fully tested before hand.
WILL THE SOFTWARE TUNER UPDATE YOUR ENGINE CONTROL UNIT TO THE LATEST MANUFACTURER SOFTWARE
BEFORE CARRYING OUT THE TUNE?
In most cases, no. Why? probably to main reasons. Firstly they don't
have manufacturer level tooling and or access to genuine manufacturers software. And secondly because this would take
longer.
Why is it important?
Like any modern computer software these days, there are normally
multiple software updates written for your engine control system software. Some to improve drive-ability but mostly to correct
known issues. The risk if your vehicle is not updated first is that if your vehicle ever ended up at a dealership or with
a specialist like ourselves for some form of engine issue, they may consider it viable to carry out a software update on your
engine, particularly if the problem or fault your are experiencing is a know software fault rectified by a recent update.
By them carrying out a genuine manufacturer update they will completly unknown to them overwrite your performance
tune, and even if they were aware there would be no way round this problem.
Although we cant prevent this, we can make
it extremely unlikely to occur by simply updating your engine the the latest software before we tune the vehicle.
WILL THE SOFTWARE TUNER CARRY OUT THE TUNE
AGAIN IF THE TUNE IS OVER WRITTEN BY A MANUFACTURERS UPDATE?
Scantec GB will re-tune
your vehicle if the tune is overwritten by a genuine manufacturers software update completely free of charge.
WHY
DO THE MANUFACTURERS LIMIT THE VEHICLES PERFORMANCE TO START WITH?
The standard manufacturer
tune is a compromise of hundreds of factors. Principally, the manufacturer must ensure a high degree of engine reliability
across the worldwide market taking into account factors such as:
- Fuel quality
- Different
servicing schedules
- Different operating environments, such as altitude and terrain
- Local legislation with
regard to power output and emissions
During testing, manufacturers 'tweak'
the tunes constantly to achieve individual results for individual tests, thus compromising the overall smoothness of the original
tune. Scantec GB's Performance Tunes are optimised for UK driving conditions. As long as the manufacturer's
service schedule is adhered to, there is no reason why this extra power cannot be 'unlocked'.
HOW
WILL THE EMISSIONS BE AFFECTED?
All Scantec GB Performance Tunes
are tested to ensure that they comply with UK emissions laws.
IS THE TUNING PROCESS REVERSIBLE?
Yes. In the unlikely event that you require the Performance Tune to be removed, the
process can be reversed without any side effects.
ARE THERE ANY PHYSICAL
CHANGES TO THE VEHICLE?
Not usually. Most Performance Tunes are ECM software downloads only. There will be no physical evidence that the
engine has been up-rated.
The exception to this statement is the BMW Mini Cooper S. We have two different tunes
available. The first is diagnostic only, the second has been optimised for a smaller supercharger pulley.
