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ECU tuning options
Yes, the Unichip is a piggyback, yes it “tricks” the OE ECU, and yes it controls both sets of injectors.
There’s a perception piggybacking is somehow less sophisticated or less technical than other tuning options… that’s hardly the case with the Unichip. Let’s boil engine management way, way down and look at tuning options.
To accomplish any of its tasks, the OE ECU uses programming code to look at input signals (what’s happening in the engine), refer to stored data, and send commands to the engine (what should be happening in the engine). Let’s look at injector control for a practical example.
For simplicity, think of the OE ECU’s fuel map as an Excel spreadsheet. The horizontal axis is engine speed (rpm) which is the input from the crank sensor. The vertical axis is engine load (airflow) which is the input from the MAF. Each spreadsheet data point is an injector command fueling value; each data point is unique from every other data point and they range from small values (~ 0%) at low speed/low load to big numbers (~ 90%) at high speed/high load.
When it’s time to fire an injector, the ECU looks at the engine speed input to go to the correct column and the load input for the correct cell containing the appropriate injector command data point. To “tune” the engine, you want it to "find" a different value. To do that, you can…
… change the data in the cells – with a reflash.
… change the inputs to find different data – with a piggyback.
… replace the spreadsheet with new one you build from scratch – with a standalone.
As long as the device is capable of doing its job, from a functional perspective at least, there’s absolutely no difference between the three… as long as the tuner creates a good map, the engine will function exactly the same way. That’s not to say there aren’t major differences between the options, but each can produce the same results from the same engine. In practice, there’s a lot more to the fueling solution than that but each of the individual calculations happening in the ECU can be similarly broken down and changed.
Can the Unichip computer correctly process all of the inputs… absolutely yes. Does it “actually” control both sets of injectors, absolutely yes... with more than 90,000 individual fuel data points and 90,000 ignition timing points… in 5 maps you can change at the flip of a switch… in a computer you can reprogram at home in less than a minute… that you can custom program on your own... without leaving any footprint for the OE dealership to see you’ve been messing around with the car…
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