Still having questions?
Business hours:
Monday to Friday
from 9:00 AM to 12:30 PM CET and
from 2:30 PM to 4:00 PM CET
Address:
Smart Vehicle Engineering GmbH
Customer Support Tuningkit
Ulmer Str. 123
73037 Göppingen
Germany
Contact:
Telephone: +4971611587870
E-mail: [email protected]
Internet: www.tuningkit.com
TOP QUESTIONS ON CHIP TUNING BY TUNINGKIT
The Tuningkit ECU is connected to engine's sensors, for example for injector and turbo boost pressures. It optimises the values generated by the sensors in real time and then sends them on to car's own ECU. The optimized values mean that the engine has more torque, more power and uses less fuel. Performance can be improved by up to 30%.
No, Tuningkit chip tuning only makes use of the power reserves that have been designed into your engine. The chip tuning does not affect your car's own ECU system, and so all of the engine’s safety systems remain active. That means you cannot overstress the engine. Simply de-install the Tuningkit chip tuning module to return your engine to stock condition.
Yes. Chip tuning by Tuningkit increases the engine's torque, which means you can change into a higher gear more quickly. As a result, the car needs fewer revs and so uses less fuel. You need to adopt the right driving style, however: pull away smartly, change up a gear as soon as possible and drive defensively, avoiding unnecessary braking and acceleration.
There are two methods for enhancing performance with electronic systems. The first is to re-program the vehicle's ECU, which is often called OBD tuning or remapping. The second approach is use an additional ECU to improve performance and is called chip tuning. OBD tuning or remapping involves making changes to parameters in the vehicle's on-board electronics, and these cannot be reversed. Tuningkit's chip tuning products extract more performance by optimising the engine sensor’s signals in an additional ECU, which can be removed at any time to return the vehicle to stock tuning. Find out more about the difference between chip tuning and remapping/OBD tuning by clicking here.
Yes, our products are compatible with all types of transmission – chip tuning does not affect the gearbox.
They do. Cars with different power outputs, e.g. BMW 318d and 320d, have basically the same engine – it is the software that makes the difference. And even larger engines have reserves designed into them to allow for future development. The engine components are more than robust enough, and it is no problem for Tuningkit to release the power reserves.
Tuningkit Speed and Race each offer the right solution to answer different customer demands. You can find a detailed comparison between the products, including a list of their features, by clicking here.
Yes. Our add-on ECUs are developed and programmed specially for each application. You can also fine-tune your chip to your needs even after you have installed it. To find out more, contact our customer service.
You can use our products regardless of how many miles your vehicle has done – we do not set any general limits. As long as the vehicle has been serviced regularly, has no faults and will continue to be serviced according to schedule, you can install Tuningkit chip tuning without worrying. If your vehicle is brand new, you should make sure to follow the manufacturer's running-in guidelines.
If you have already done some tuning on your car and are not sure whether it is compatible with Tuningkit chip tuning, please contact our customer service directly. As a general guideline, after-market air filters, intercoolers or exhaust systems do not affect our chip tuning systems.
Our chip tuning works with most forced induction, direct injection engines. That means modern diesel and petrol engines with turbochargers, in other words common rail or pump-injector diesels, and turbocharged direct injection petrol engines. We can also optimise direct injection engines with superchargers.
TOP QUESTIONS ON INSTALLATION
Our products are designed so that they can easily be installed by following the instructions included. No special tools or skills are necessary. If you do have any difficulties, our customer service experts will be happy to help.
Simply follow the instructions on how to fix the Tuningkit module provided in the installation manual. It should be fixed securely in a location that does not become extremely hot, does not vibrate strongly and does not become excessively wet.
First, make sure that you follow our installation instructions. If you are still uncertain, please feel free to contact our customer service.
Tuningkit does not currently offer any installation service. But you can have your module installed by any workshop.
A technician at our headquarters in Göppingen in southern Germany will be happy to show you how to install the module. Once you have seen how to do it, you should be able to do the installation yourself in just a few minutes. As a rule, we think it is important that our products can be installed without any specialised skills or technical knowledge.
If you follow the installation instructions, you cannot do any damage to your engine. Our products are designed to be Plug & Play, i.e. they have simple connector plugs. Our installation instructions also explain every installation step very clearly.
Yes, and it is quick and easy. As soon as you have de-installed the Tuningkit module completely and reconnected all the connectors as they were before the installation, your car is back in stock condition. You can also put the car back into stock tune even with the wiring loom in place: simply replace the chip itself with the deactivation plug.
TOP QUESTIONS ON SAFETY AND SERVICE
At Tuningkit, we design and tune our ECUs to work with every type of engine, and then fine tune them to the specific engine in your car. So, if you want to continue to use your chip, your new car needs to have exactly the same engine.
If you buy a Tuningkit Race, you have the option of having your chip re-programmed for your new car. Simply send the chip to us, we will load the correct software on to it and make sure you have the right wiring loom. That assumes, of course, that your new car accepts chip tuning. For the re-programming to work, the hardware must also still function correctly.
If you buy a Tuningkit Race, you have the option of having your chip re-programmed for your new car. Simply send the chip to us, we will load the correct software on to it and make sure you have the right wiring loom. That assumes, of course, that your new car accepts chip tuning. For the re-programming to work, the hardware must also still function correctly.
If you have a turbocharged petrol or diesel engine in your car but you cannot find it in our database, please contact our customer service. Alternatively, visit our online shop again in a few weeks – it is possible that we are working on the software for your car right now.
Vmax limiters cannot be removed by Tuningkit products. Our ECUs are add-on devices that do not alter the parameters in the vehicle’s own ECU. That means any speed limiter set by the manufacturer remains in place.
The engine warranty covers the following engine components in an eligible car against damage caused by the use of a Tuningkit add-on ECU during the warranty period.
- intake manifold
- drive shafts
- all internal parts of the engine that are linked to the oil circulation system
- gearboxes (with the exception of the couplings and coupling parts integrated into the gearbox)
- cardan shafts
- cardan shaft bearings
- pistons
- crankcases
- crankshafts
- crankshaft sprockets
- engine blocks
- inlet and outlet valves including the valve guide
- cylinder heads
- cylinder liners
- camshafts
- camshaft sprockets
- connecting rods
- turbochargers
The Tuningkit Speed has a 3-year warranty and the Tuningkit Race a full 5-year warranty. We also offer a 1-year engine warranty when you purchase a Tuningkit Race.
In that case, we ask you to contact our customer service and to give them as much detail as you can about the changes you notice in your vehicle and the way it drives. We will find the right solution.
Manufacturers’ diagnostics tools (also called OBD scanners) access the data stored in the car’s ECU. As Tuningkit’s add-on ECUs do not access the OEM ECU and do not change any OEM hardware or software, the manufacturer’s own diagnostics tool generally cannot detect that any performance enhancement has taken place. This assumes, of course, that the Tuningkit chip is no longer in the engine bay. Nonetheless, we must point out that data can still sometimes indicate that the performance of the engine is enhanced. Similar read-outs can also be the result of variation within manufacturing tolerances, however.
Some countries, such as Austria, France, Germany and Switzerland, do require performance increases to be officially registered in the vehicle documents. Tuningkit modules all fulfil the relevant criteria and so the registration process should be relatively straightforward. Simply take your vehicle and the relevant registration documents to the authority responsible for technical inspection of vehicles in your area. Our products have been tested and approved by the German vehicle registration authority, the Kraftfahrtbundesamt (KBA).
Here in Germany, as long as your car has passed the official technical inspection, you are covered under the terms of your insurance policy. However, if you do not tell your insurer about the Tuningkit performance enhancement, you might lose your insurance cover. Our experience has been that many insurers accept chip tuning without any problems.