ECUFlash

Overview of ECUFlash

ECUFlash is software developed by Tactrix that can be used to reflash the OEM ECU and TCU (Transmission Control Unit).

Reflashing the OEM ECU not only can increase performance, but allows the ability to flash a modded ECU Rom.

Benefits of using ECUFlash

Fundamentally, the benefit of using ECUFlash to apply a custom tune to a stock ECU is the reduction in cost of installing an aftermarket ECU. This may not be suitable for all circumstances, but for the majority of VR-4 owners it is the cheapest and best method to re-tune the VR4.

Benefit	Details
No ECU hardware costs	Tuning your vehicle without ECU hardware costs
No wiring costs	Aftermarket ECUs will generally require some modification of the vehicle wiring harness, even if they are provided in a "Plug and Play" format that connects to the factory ECU connector plugs.
Support for E85 flex fuel	Via the custom ROMs developed by Bill Turner and TME, the stock ECU can support E85 flex fuel, with excellent interpolation tables for different ethanol contents.

Limitations of using ECUFlash

The primary downside of ECUFlash is the inability to perform real-time tuning. Tuning requires altering values in the ECUFlash tool, shutting down the engine for a reflash and then re-starting the engine. This can increase the time taken to complete a tune.

Disclaimer

Whilst using ECUFlash is slower than real-time tuning of aftermarket ECUs, it removes the need to create an entire fuel and ignition map from scratch, as this information is already contained in the stock ECU tune, needing deviations from the stock baseline only.

Definitions

See ECUFlash Definitions for more info relating to VR-4 definitions