I have been watching Rallying, Grand Touring, Touring and many other sports where named manufactures (BMW, Nissan, Porsche, Subaru, just to name a few) never reprogrammed their ECU’s to run those cars for such Motorsports, even when the power is close to stock and I always ask myself what were the reasons why this was done. As I matured in ecuflashing, Instructing in EMS courses and tuning EMS over the years, I came to understand why this is so, even if such technology was tempting, accessible and cost effective.

The Stock/OEM ECU/ECM:

1. By design is just enough to support all functions of the stock car
2. Cannot log at a high rate. This is needed to capture events for remediation
3. Not powerful enough and high storage areas for Advance Engine Strategies and Operations (Antilag, Fuel, Ignition – all inter-related to multiple level mapping, Complex features and operations). Such enhancements comes in the form of FPGA’s implementations, dedicated CPU Processors per functions and the type of Processors used. For additional reading, please visit the following link –
   1. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Field-programmable_gate_array
   2. https://www.design-reuse.com/news/6629/actel-fpgas-development-multiple-race-car-engine-control-units.html
   3. https://www.xilinx.com/video/hardware/what-is-the-difference-between-an-fpga-and-an-asic.html
4. Do not have enough Inputs/Outputs (I/O’s) for additional functions for a sports car
5. Ability to program in the field with new strategies for performance operations and access to new features. That is, changing the core functions of the device itself. Kind of like model versions upgrades all happening with just one devices without internal hardware architecture changes.

For a quick read, please review XRT owned link – EMS/Powertrain review thoughts

If all of the above continues to hold true going into the future (and I do not expect it to change due to production cost of vehicles), why then would I want to reflash the Stock/OEM ECU/ECM and as a tuner, not have the best in tuning for a very efficient and responsive engine?!?

That being said, we focus more on EMS tuning for specific operations and functions for an engine needing that edge in performance and development. 

The necessary skills, strategies, experience and mental aptitude is so extensive & intensive in this type of tuning and support, that one can achieve the highest goals needed for sports and performance tuning, in relation to the configurations of the car, driver needs and environments.

With such focuses highlighted and discussed above, XRT by its nature and having such backgrounds in these fields (tuning and support), can seriously, precisely and accurately provide reflashing services that is Top Class to none, taking every bit of time to provide the finest tunes in tuning your car, regardless if in Motorsports or every day street driving; especially when it comes to reflashing using Open-Source technology or Cobb Accessport for tuning.

Bringing along those core aptitudes, customers can gain a new experience in tuning support and better operations of their cars. That is, achieving great review in whatever we do when working with the clients. One could accurately say we are customer oriented 🙂

So what do we do?

1. Provides the greatest level of known support to clients in the tuning industry- https://xtremeracingtuning.com/forum/viewtopic.php?f=122&t=670
2. Does not distinguish the difference between Local & Remote tuning
3. Seek the best possible reviews as much as possible for the finest work in tuning of client cars – https://xtremeracingtuning.com/forum/viewforum.php?f=48
4. Provide accurate detailed Diagnostic support throughout the tuning process or XRT Live Group supports
5. Very log oriented. That is, clients must log for fine tuning; as much as possible. Logging defines the tune!
6. Custom Tune all cars starting from Base-Line tunes to fine tuning. We do not make OTS (Off The Shelf) tunes the final tune.
7. Work with the client closely in the optimisation of the tune while fine tuning.
8. Encourage and insist greater levels of communication between XRT and clients. This provides the best possible experience in tuning and support.

So…. out of what we do, we just do it better by taking our time, which is reflected in our tunes and support that makes us different to other Tuners and tuning support companies. Logging and communication with our customers defines the outcomes.