They don’t manufacture them similarly.

It is sad but true when it comes to engines, they don’t manufacture them similarly. The user manual and official literature might state that your car’s engine produces, let’s say, 100 kW.  Well, they just round that figure off from the average that they obtain from other similar engines. Very few of these engine types will develop exactly 100 kW. The reason is that engines are mechanical devices that consist of hundreds of parts. These parts all have to fit together well to make it work. The constraints of economical mass production mean that manufacturers allow a certain tolerance range for the parts it manufactures. That means that these parts have to be of certain dimensions within an accepted range of variance. It would simply be too expensive – and virtually impossible – to mass-manufacture engines to such fine tolerances that they are identical.

A Difference in power production

These manufacturing tolerances vary from engine to engine. Each engine’s compression ratio varies between pistons, as well as the balancing of parts and how tightly they fit together. As a logical consequence, these variables have an influence on the power each engine develops. If you have an outlier, it could develop quite a bit more or less power than it is supposed to produce. It can even be as much as a 10% difference either way. Such a difference is often accepted as being within acceptable norms. This means that your 100 kW engine could have as little as 90 kW or as much as 110 kW.

Optimising the ECU

Not all of these differences are down to manufacturing clearances, of course. The standardised programming of the Engine Control Unit (ECU), shoulder some of the blame. You will find the same engine in cars in different countries, driving at different altitudes, and with different fuel octanes. The standard ECU programming has to be flexible enough to allow for these differences. The programming may however not be ideal for your specific set of conditions. This can account for a few of those lost kilowatts. So, if you are one of the lucky ones with an engine that performs above its station, be indeed thankful.

If you are not one of the lucky ones, then don’t despair. There is a very safe and proven way to extract those hidden kilowatts from your vehicle’s engine. Choose to fit a Unichip and optimise the ECU settings. In doing so, you get the best possible power output that your engine is capable of. With the Unichip, we offer five map sets from which you may choose, with the click of a button. It offers you an economy setting to preserve your fuel consumption when you are just cruising about. Need full power? With a click, the Unichip will safely optimise your engine for that requirement. You also have the option of a 4×4 and tow setting, as well as an anti-theft setting. To return to normal mode also requires a mere click of your radio frequency (RF) remote.

With the Unichip, you get the best of many worlds. Engines are not created equally – that is true, but yours can be more equal than most other engines. Do not miss out; become part of the Unichip family and buy your Unichip today.