When tuning any car, it’s important to remember to modify its brains as well as its brawn. Here’s the low-down on what a Syvecs ECU can offer.
ECUs are a vital part of car tuning if you’re running a modern car with electronic ignition. To put it simply, ECUs are in charge of maintaining the rhythm and balance of all the intricate mechanical dances that turn air and fuel into speed. So, when you start swapping out factory parts for high-performance aftermarket ones, the car’s stock ECU may suddenly be out of its depth – and that ain’t great for your motor’s health.
To give you more of an idea how this might happen, let’s take a look at a common example…
Case Study: Ford Focus ST & RS Mk2
The Mk2 Ford Focus ST and RS models are very tunable and reliable too, but the standard management system simply isn’t up to the job once you tune beyond the 500-550hp mark. The reason for this is mainly due to the factory MAF (Mass Air Flow) sensor, which is located inside the crossover pipe just after the air filter. This sensor measures the amount of air passing across it and therefore going into the engine – from this reading, the ECU makes the crucial calculations required to determine how much fuel to add. However, on big power builds that run at higher boost levels, the sensor becomes overwhelmed and simply can’t compute the amount of airflow passing by.
Furthermore, in this scenario the sensor’s response time to rapid increments is slightly delayed, and whilst this is fine for a majority of high-performance cars, it’s not ideal for heavily modified vehicles where more precise and accurate changes would be preferable.
Also, there’s a lack of control over the entire system. Even after a custom remap that changes the stock ECU’s parameters, the MAF sensor ultimately still dictates how much fuel to add. Fully tailored map adjustments to both the fueling and ignition properties are not possible. Instead, only mild adjustments to the map file can be performed. That’s fine for the majority of mildly modified cars, but when looking to extract maximum power potential, working within these tightly controlled parameters does limit what is possible. The original MAF sensor cannot simply be uprated either.
Plug & Play
This is where the Syvecs plug-and-play conversion comes in. It entirely replaces the standard Ford ECU and its limiting MAF sensor set-up, in favor of an aftermarket motorsport control unit that works with a MAP (Manifold Absolute Pressure) sensor reading instead, among others. Therefore, the previous MAF set-up restrictions are no longer an issue. What’s more, the Syvecs ECU integrates seamlessly with the car, so nothing changes in terms of creature comforts, dials, gauges, or controls.
Syvecs ECU Features & Benefits
One key benefit to the Syvecs system is the ability to fully control the engine’s ignition and fueling settings, allowing more accurate adjustment to improve power and response, but there are plenty of additional extras, too. For a start, different pre-set maps can be selected on the move, giving the driver options of low, medium or high boost settings, for example, or ‘wet’ and ‘dry’ settings on a track car.
There’s also a full suite of extra features, such as full-throttle gearshifts, meaning you don’t need to lift the accelerator pedal during a gear change to reduce shifting times. Launch control is another option; a feature which limits revs whilst at standstill to improve traction off the line. In addition, the introduction of anti-lag will help to keep the turbo spooling. But perhaps most importantly, it’s the dramatically improved throttle response and much improved torque-biasing traction control that gives the most noticeable gains on a road car.
There’s also an improved soundtrack to consider as the Syvecs ECU considerably alters the car’s engine and exhaust tone. There are also the options to add a fuel-flex feature. This is a sensor that can read the quality of fuel flowing through it (such as running regular 99RON pump fuel, race fuels, or even methanol-mixes) so the ECU can automatically calibrate itself to suit the fuel being used. All of the ECU’s readings can be displayed on a Toucan touch-screen display unit.
How to fit a Syvecs ECU
In terms of fitting, the ECU itself is a true plug-and-play conversion; literally you can just unplug the old ECU and plug the new Syvecs one in with the wiring harness provided. A base map to suit the car’s specification is then uploaded via a laptop (or this can be preloaded onto the ECU) and immediately the car will start and drive as normal, with all standard features of both the car and ECU immediately enabled. Final mapping is then done via a tuner, ideally on a dyno where everything can be closely monitored.
Head over to syvecs.com to see what packages they can provide for your own car.
Words by Simon Holmes.
