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What is chipping?
Chipping is usually linked to some sort of modification of the cars performance. The term came into use when electronic fuel injection was introduced. Modication of the EFI engines required some kind of electronic hack to alter performance.
Nowadays the term is used loosely to describe a modded vehicle.
How do we go about it then? Well the CTR has a complicated OBDII ECU which is difficult to work on. Luckily there a ways around this:
Air-Fuel controllers such as HKS & Apexi AFC intercept sensor signals, allowing alteration of the A/F ratio. As we all know, the CTR runs a little rich, hence leaning out the engine will release a bit more power.
While A/F controllers are good for lighlty modded car, they are no good for major mods where the fuelling needs to be radically altered.
Don't assume that A/F controllers are no use. More advanced types of AF controller have inbuilt ECus which allow full fuel curve tuning.
What AF controllers do not do is alter the ignition timing. Advancing the ignition can create more power by sparking earlier and increasing cylinder pressure. The problem is that by advancing ignition/timing is the increased likelihood of detonation/knock which can be catastrophic for an engine.
The HKS FCON and UNICHIP can alter both ignition and fuelling by directly manipulating existing maps in the ECU. THe ECU itself remains unaltered. Hence these chips are also referred to as piggyback ECUs. These need to specialist tuned as you will destroy your car if you don't know what you are doing.
HKS produce pre-programmed maps (like lancaster honda's) for plug and play purposes. These are often installed with specific mods such as intake and exhaust. Modules can be purchased for piggyback ECUs which allow greater control and flexibility, such as altered vtec actuation.
You can also opt for a fully independant ECU upgrade which ditches the std ECU, such as AEMs and a motec. While these are great for racecars, where aircon and lights are not so important, they might lack the abilty to control the more mundane features of your motor. Remember the ECU controls almost everything.
Standalone ECUs require much more setup time in general, and cost a lot more. Some may require dedicated sensors too. The CTR ECU is highly specific for ivtec and a standalone may not have the abilty to control it properly.
This brings us to the hacked ECU. Hondata have managed to hack the firmware of honda ECU and reflash it, allowing them to control nearly all ECU parameters. THe adavantage of this is that non of the original ECU functions are lost. Cam timing can also be altered, as well as raising the rev limit and altering vtec actuation.
These are known now as the S100, K100 and KPro.
Altering cam timing and vtec actuation have great benefits for modded engines. The former can help squeeze more power out the engine by adavancing the intake cam, and increase low end torque. The latter can remove the torque dip during vtec engagement, giving smoother power delivery.
Chipping is usually linked to some sort of modification of the cars performance. The term came into use when electronic fuel injection was introduced. Modication of the EFI engines required some kind of electronic hack to alter performance.
Nowadays the term is used loosely to describe a modded vehicle.
How do we go about it then? Well the CTR has a complicated OBDII ECU which is difficult to work on. Luckily there a ways around this:
Air-Fuel controllers such as HKS & Apexi AFC intercept sensor signals, allowing alteration of the A/F ratio. As we all know, the CTR runs a little rich, hence leaning out the engine will release a bit more power.
While A/F controllers are good for lighlty modded car, they are no good for major mods where the fuelling needs to be radically altered.
Don't assume that A/F controllers are no use. More advanced types of AF controller have inbuilt ECus which allow full fuel curve tuning.
What AF controllers do not do is alter the ignition timing. Advancing the ignition can create more power by sparking earlier and increasing cylinder pressure. The problem is that by advancing ignition/timing is the increased likelihood of detonation/knock which can be catastrophic for an engine.
The HKS FCON and UNICHIP can alter both ignition and fuelling by directly manipulating existing maps in the ECU. THe ECU itself remains unaltered. Hence these chips are also referred to as piggyback ECUs. These need to specialist tuned as you will destroy your car if you don't know what you are doing.
HKS produce pre-programmed maps (like lancaster honda's) for plug and play purposes. These are often installed with specific mods such as intake and exhaust. Modules can be purchased for piggyback ECUs which allow greater control and flexibility, such as altered vtec actuation.
You can also opt for a fully independant ECU upgrade which ditches the std ECU, such as AEMs and a motec. While these are great for racecars, where aircon and lights are not so important, they might lack the abilty to control the more mundane features of your motor. Remember the ECU controls almost everything.
Standalone ECUs require much more setup time in general, and cost a lot more. Some may require dedicated sensors too. The CTR ECU is highly specific for ivtec and a standalone may not have the abilty to control it properly.
This brings us to the hacked ECU. Hondata have managed to hack the firmware of honda ECU and reflash it, allowing them to control nearly all ECU parameters. THe adavantage of this is that non of the original ECU functions are lost. Cam timing can also be altered, as well as raising the rev limit and altering vtec actuation.
These are known now as the S100, K100 and KPro.
Altering cam timing and vtec actuation have great benefits for modded engines. The former can help squeeze more power out the engine by adavancing the intake cam, and increase low end torque. The latter can remove the torque dip during vtec engagement, giving smoother power delivery.