Andy McCord

Just wondering, alot off people put there hard earned pride & joys in your hands whilst you tweek away with ECU's but exactly what sort off training or apprenticeship do you go through if any to qualify you as a ECU Boff, I cant believe its a case off trial & errrror

john banks

If there was a qualifcation available that I was aware of I would have gone for it. Anything I could find had a rather dubious connection with Subaru ECU mapping, which is a skill that lies in the hands of not a huge number of people in the UK and is almost invariably self taught.

Some people tuning ECUs have an engineering background, some with qualifications to various levels. Some have a training in other professions. Not aware of anyone doing Subaru ECUs exclusively as a full time job in the UK.

A mechanic's training would not on the whole be a good background to mapping ECUs, having mapped cars with mechanics who have come along out of interest with owners the concepts are quite alien.

An electronics/IT knowledge is very useful, as is meticulous attention to detail.

I have to admit I had primarily the latter and a postgraduate understanding of science. I am not at all a good spanner twirler, and have a far more theoretical experience of engine tweaking.

In an unregulated, immature, extreme niche such as Subaru ECU mapping I think it would be difficult to have a recognised training. It is far too narrow.

At the end of the day it comes down to customer care, attitude, proven results/reliability and reputation/recommendation. Everyone has to start somewhere.

FWIW, Ecutek gave me 16 hours of training, and that was aimed at learning their software rather than learning to map, which I taught myself by learning about the ECU well before and designing and making solutions to manipulate piggy back style ECU inputs to get the desired effects with some success. There is not a massive difference to changing from variable resistors and op amps on sensor lines, or pneumatic/mechanical solutions to putting numbers into 16*16 or whatever maps. However, I have swallowed a fair few books and digested just about everything I can lay my hands on on the web about ECUs and engine tuning. Having rather too many qualifications under my belt in other areas I can confirm that the knowledge that can be attained by these methods is at least equally as valuable as a degree in a generic subject which might have a few lectures on ECU mapping. Applied knowledge and experience of Subaru ECU mapping IMHO counts for far more than a generic qualification which may or may not have much relevance at all. The information is all there if you look for it. For designing my EBC I started from a basic electronics understanding (was happy playing with op amps and flashing lights). I researched process control on the internet and ploughed through to understand PID control to a level which baffled several engineers I quizzed about it. I went through on line University tutorials which some lecturers kindly provide and dug out all the papers I could find on PID control until I was happy I understood it - it is not that difficult. After that I read up on microcontrollers and found a suitable package. Within a few months I had a pretty decent working EBC which I posted details of on here including all the background and development. After that it is pretty easy to program an ECU's boost control However, Bob Rawle kindly shared his experience of 3 port boost control which he had picked up from other ECUs and applied to the JECS and this helped massively in progressing my own car.

Sorry if my answer disappoints, but it is honest, and on the whole most have been pleased and nothing has blown up yet

I am not aware of any mainstream UK Subaru tuners to whom I would not offer my car to to map. On the whole there are good relationships between us all, exchange of information and an enthusiast's approach.

ECU mapping is nothing like the mysterious dark art some people make it out as and is just application of methodical logic and reason supported by real world data and results/feedback. Detonation is the biggest issue on these cars and a healthy paranoid attitude about it is a good thing.

[Edited by john banks - 3/4/2003 2:54:28 PM]

Andy McCord

Thanks for that John, Ive been reading many off your posts & various other like you, i am currently the nervous owner off STi V which is mildly modded i.e SS/BB & SS/Decat cen & a K&N but i have retained the D/P cat 4 now but i am desperate to release the potential so following posts like yours have been a must knowing the tendency off series II units too melt pistons.

I just thought too myself how do these people know what they are doing, know i have a keen interest in pc's but the thought off plug & play with a scooby ecu would frighten the tomtit out off me.
Excuse my ignorance, but AFAIK the tek3 is a car specific map but where did the guidelines originate from as to whats what, tolerance wise? I can now understand why you spend so much time on here & other sites learning as much as possible as in a business like yours knowledge is money!! but thanks for the honest reply

john banks

The approach is to consider the capability of the turbo, intercooler, fuel system and octane used and set an appropriate level of fuelling, timing and boost to give a performance gain and increase safety. I do this on STis by leaving the fuelling pretty much alone apart from filling in a lean spot during spool up. I reset the boost so it doesn't spike but holds at a higher (but within the turbo's capabilities) level. I retard the full load timing to suit UK fuels and the higher boost, and I increase the sensitivity of the knock sensor towards detonation.