Modern cars are equipped with complex electronic control and diagnostic systems which are controlled by an embedded electronic control unit (ECU). All critical variables that describe modes of operation of all car systems are stored in ECU memory. As car manufacturers limit car users' possibilities in adjustment of these variables, special tuning tools have to be used to gain access to ECU memory. On-board electronics data transfer protocols and interfaces are very different from those used in personal computers, so special equipment, like car tuning adapters, has to be used to ensure connection between PC and ECU.
ECU Tools online store at https://ecutools.eu/chip-tuning/adapters/ offers a huge selection of licensed adapters for automotive chip tuning.
Adapter for chip-tuning is a hardware-software complex which enables connection between PC with installed tuning software and car local network. Adapters allow reading ECU memory and rewriting it with adjusted files. Most adapters have USB-to-ODB interface and are provided with compatible USB-to-serial driver. These tools require the use of third-party editors for preparation of alternated dynamic options files.
In order to find most suitable adapter for your car, it is advisable to consider the following factors:
When selecting editors for use with adapters, you should check if considered software supports checksum correction for tuning files. Many popular editors don’t have this feature, which means they can only be used with flashers, not adapters. Among popular editor software, BitBox, PCM Flash and MMC Flasher support automatic checksum correction for most popular ECU models.