Aftermarket Car ECU Tuning

A little over two decades ago ECUs or electronic control units were introduced to passenger vehicles. ECUs drastically changed how modern cars operate, making them more efficient in the production of power, pollution control and fuel consumption. A car’s ECU manages multiple aspects of the engine’s combustion process as well as several other functions. In fact the tasks a car’s ECU performs have steadily increased over time.

Can a Smart Fortwo Be Fast?

People dream of fast cars, or at least enthusiasts and people who have places to be do. Of all the cars sold in the United States, the Smart Fortwo is one that is definitely not considered to be peppy in the least. If you've ever driven one you know that they behave oddly, thanks to a highly unrefined transmission and a little one-liter three-cylinder engine that puts out a measly 70 horsepower.

The Evolution of Fast and Furious

The new Fast and Furious movie is coming out on May 24th, and so in the spirit of the movie I wanted to talk about the evolution of franchise.

When the first movie came out I was in college and was swamped with homework, trying to balance a social life, etc. I knew vaguely of the movie but that was about it. It wasn't until the movie came out on DVD that I saw it and was intrigued by its portrayal (however unrealistic) of the tuner world. I had experience modifying cars and was adding onto my car at the time, so that made the movie that much more interesting to me. Of course the cars in the movie looked pretty ridiculous, but that was a thing among some tuners at the time (kind of like with donks now). Some of those zany looks were a way to ruffle people's feathers and for the tuners to thumb their nose at them. And of course the scene where the Supra "smokes" the Ferrari further infuriated many automotive purists that solemnly and foolishly believed a Ferrari would win any race by virtue of the prancing pony slapped on it.

The Dreaded Exhaust Back Pressure

I remember the first time I saw a tuner's huge tailpipe. I'm pretty sure it was on a Civic and was at least large enough to fit a small cantaloupe inside of it. It was intriguing and almost laughable at the same time. I quickly learned from someone that the idea behind having a huge exhaust system on a car is to allow for the freer flow of the exhaust gases from the engine block with the aim of increasing power output.