Car Remapping & Tuning

Our experts are here to guide you through the entire car remapping and tuning process, from your initial contact, through to drop off and pick up afterwards. 

Here’s a breakdown of the process and a little insight into the questions we may ask. 

When you drop your vehicle off with us, we’ll ask you what fuel octane level you run the vehicle on (this is usually 95 or 99 Ron) and which options you’d like adding to the calibration such as Start/Stop (SS) invert, Hard Cut Limiter (HCL), Pops and Bangs (P&B) and more. 

Some of the above options are only available when running specific hardware, so that’s why it’s important that we understand your needs so we can ensure the hardware package is in line with your requirements. 

Once we have the vehicle in our workshop, we’ll run a comprehensive system fault scan to ensure there’s no detectable evidence of an issue that would prevent us from proceeding to tune your car. If the car is also having a Dynonameter Pre-Tune test, we’d carry that out next. 

If not, the software optimisation process can then begin. If your car’s also in for a stage 2 or stage 3 car tune, we’d then also install the required hardware at this stage. 

Once the software and hardware has been installed and fitted, the vehicle is either signed off as finished or in some cases with a stage 3 tune we may need to revise the software or diagnostics if some adjustments are required. 

Stage 1 and Stage 2 tunes almost always include what’s known as a ‘production file’ which has been vigorously tested to a level that Ecotune are confident that no alterations should be required. 

Often also referred to as ‘Car Remapping’ (although this usually refers to software changes only), Car Tuning is the process of modifying a car’s software and hardware beyond its initial ‘factory settings’ to further unlock and improve its performance. The engine’s power and torque can be increased as can the vehicle’s fuel efficiency and handling. Some vehicle owners could also look to alter their vehicle’s appearance too as part of the car tuning process. 

The car tuning process is usually split into stages. Here at Moorfield German Motors we offer three stages within our car tuning service. 

Stage 1 - Adjusts and optimises the Engine Control Unit’s (ECU) software to provide performance upgrades. 

Stage 2 - Improves the car’s primary hardware itself alongside the software upgrades that a stage 1 tune provides. 

Stage 3 - Builds on the hardware improvements made at stage 2 with the addition of more involved hardware such as Turbochargers, Camshafts, fuel system upgrades and more depending on the desired power goal.. 

The main aim of tuning your car is to increase the power and speed of your vehicle, improve its handling and increase the fuel efficiency of your vehicle. 

The process of remapping a car involves the reprogramming of the data and software within the vehicle’s Engine Control Unit (ECU). Remapping a car strictly only involves the altering of the factory settings within the software of the car. It doesn’t involve any hardware changes. So essentially a ‘Stage 1’ tune with us, is a ‘remap’ of a vehicle. However sometimes the term ‘remapping’ is used instead of ‘tuning’ for the process of tuning a car’s software and parts.

Whilst technically it’s possible to remap an electric car, like with conventional engines, it takes time to develop systems that allow people to actually reprogram factory electric vehicle control systems. 

As you can imagine, Tesla cars are the most widely supported in this regard at the moment, with some tuners offering plug-in performance upgrades with up to an increase of 150+ brake horsepower on some models. 

However, here at Moorfield German Motors we specialise in tuning petrol and diesel vehicles and we don’t currently provide an electric vehicle tuning service.

If you use a reputable, experienced tuning specialist, then the actual process of tuning your car shouldn’t ‘damage’ it. Software could only really be ‘damaged’ if power or connection was lost during the process, however most ECU’s can be ‘recovered’ if that was the case. 

When it comes to hardware, your chosen tuner should tune your vehicle to the hardware’s capabilities to avoid any failures. However you have to take into consideration that running more power puts more load and wear on the engine components, so the lifespan of the vehicle will be reduced. 

However using higher grade engine oil and shortening the time and mileage you drive between each maintenance will help to extend the lifespan of your vehicle.

Yes, as long as the hardware remains within the laws of what the vehicle is being used for. For road vehicles pretty much anything is legal as long as it conforms to the MOT test requirements and doesn’t breach any emissions standards. 

Race or track vehicles are not subject to MOT requirements for emissions but may be held to Noise limits for certain race tracks and also different race classes have their own rules on what is “legal” to race in that class such as weight and power limits or certain types of hardware modification.

It’s important to inform your insurers of any remapping or hardware changes you make to your vehicle as undisclosed changes to your vehicle’s makeup could void your insurance in the event of a claim.