Tuners for Cars

How does changing the radio in your vehicle improve performance and efficiency of the engine. Maybe you should explain what you mean by a tuner?

The tuner is a number of computer programs that are installed on the ECU Engine Control Unit to change the tuning of the engine and transmission from factory settings to something else. The diesel tuner I had was made by EDGE Products and met all emission requirements but best of all I could afford to drive the vehicle afterwards. I am not a computer expert but at the drag strip the people are changing programs all the time for performance with a laptop. Results can be startling from horsepower to fuel economy and street tunes meet emission standards. When I enquire as to why I cannot get one for my little Ford all I get is a big NO. No one seems to know why a car that has sold millions is not a viable market for this product. They are available for turbo models.

This company is one of many in the business http://www.bullydog.com/

They do make them for your car.

Just the turbo charged version yet there are probably a million of the normally aspirated on the road of which should indicate some serious sales potential.

Wait a minute, the presumably more performance turbo charged model has a boost chip but the normally aspirated model does not. I think that the people that buy the normally aspirated model don't want to push their three year old vehicles prematurely out of warranty.

The tuners do not affect the warranty and the installed tune can be erased in seconds anyway in case of doubts in this dept and put back to stock. Incidentally the factory through the dealer on occasion changes the tune as part of a recall or to correct something like the Toyota syndrome. There are chips you can install but most are done from a hand held device that plugs into the diagnostic port..

Great, you've found a niche market that is not being served. So now you have to develop a product.

Maybe I'm missing something. I've found a bunch of these on-line.

Well you're either less fussy than Roy or know of a better search engine.

I still like the idea of a radio improving engine performance.

I know your are pulling a leg or two but for those that are not familiar with the computer controlled vehicles a tuner is a special tuneup possibly many different approaches to economy, power and drive-ability. Then again who wants to drive long distance with out a radio that is tuned in to something of intellectually value.

I'm glad you appreciate my warped sense of humor, not everyone does.

As for your real question about why a tuner software or chip replacement package is not readily apparent to you, I see only a few possibilities:

1. They are available but you don't recognize it. Maybe all aspirated Fords of this vintage take the same tuning system. Only the Fusion Turbo requires a different package.
2. Unlike your diesel, the existing tune on the aspirated Ford Fusion is already optimized. Changing any setting will just not provide any good returns.
3. Only Ford Fusion turbo customers have any desire to change the tune of their vehicles. This could be just to change the pressure boost of the turbo with an acceptance of greater wear and tear of the engine.

I came to the opinion that the system may be locked but even those in the industry do not seem to have an answer. Thus I tried my associates at CR4. I find at a leap of faith that the manufacturer performed to perfection. If they cannot get a $ 60,000.00 diesel right there is not much chance that a plain car will be perfect. Did I mention that I really hate the computer controlled throttle.

I'll go with less fussy.

Maybe Lyn's engine has a tuner

My favorite car was my 1949 Dodge pickup truck. It was simple. It always worked. And it always got you there.

The reason for the apparent lack of aftermarket chip tuners for your car is that these cars are not popular with those who might choose to improve their vehicle performance.

In spite of the sheer numbers of your build type they are deemed not worthy of the effort. No demand volume to justify a product specifically for your shopping cart.

Sorry to say this. Tuning for improved fuel economy or different shift feel may yield small benefits.

There may be an aftermarket ECU that is "chippable" available for your car...it didn't jump out when I had aquick look.

Best bet is to contact a peddler of these things and ask them.

Have you visited a local performance tuning shop to see what they might recommend? They're accustomed to self spannerers and would be happy to sell you a kit if you ordered one that they recommended even if they don't fit it. They'll have a dyno too....just saying.

The answer is obvious, sell yours and buy a Turbo!!!

I can well imagine that your model is difficult to "improve" upon...as several have already mentioned.....no big improvement, no big sales.....

Many of the people who operate dynomometers, do custom tuning. The won't sell you a tuner, but if you supply a performance profile, they can custom tune your vehicle to match it.

The main reason you can't find much in the range of tuners for your Focus is because its basically a renamed Ford Escort which in itself was an unpolishable turd of a car.

If you want to pep it up I suggest making a custom manifold that would let you put a B&S V twin riding lawn mower carb on it or a downdraft carb from a Wisconsin V4 engine.

I have no problem with power at this time and this is my 4 th Focus and mechanically all were excellent, 540,000 KM, 363,000 km Rearended, 230.000 km traded for present 2011. I had two Escort and this is not from that family of cars. My desire is to alter the shift points to get back to the throttle cable charistics that were much more in line with my type of driving. The way this 2011 acts one has very little control over the car especially under acceleration such as pulling out into traffic or merging on freeway. Far too much computer control to suit me and I get same comments from many other drivers with a with variety of makes and models.

A office supply business I worked for years ago had escort wagons for our service fleet vehicles.

What a POS they were. Honestly if you wanted to pass someone in order to get enough power out of them with all of our service gear we had to downshift one gear and turn the AC off!

WE had a joke about why they named then the escort.

They were like $5 prostitutes. You never admitted to having one and you did your best to never be seen in public by your friends if you did have one.

That and they were high maintenance low output and after you had spent any time with one you always felt like you just got screwed.

Good to know Ford stepped it up a bit on the Focus models.

I think with the turbo models, there's more to play with - certainly boost. I understand that timing and fuel (both mixture and the assumed octane rating you'll use) are also set pretty conservatively by the factory.

You can always go to a good dyno tuner (do your homework) and have them optimise or re-map your UCU. This sort of thing is common here in Aus as are off the shelf (re-mapped) chips. I have had my current and previous Subaru (petrol) Turbo UCU's modified for 20% more power, better fuel economy and good driveability at a similar price to re-chipping.

Thanks for that info. I figured it could be done but for some reason no one has jumped on the wagon for the sales. My people in the industry and in the repair shops tell me that the cars are set quite rich in fuel air ratio whereas in the 80's with the carbs they were too lean all in the name of emissions. In those days it easy to pick up 10-25% with timing curve, rejetting and if the customer had the cash camshaft timing. I know what it did for my 03 7.3 diesel and it made the vehicle easier to drive especially in the fuel use area.

I have Bully dog programmers on all my diesel trucks. About the same improvements that you mentioned. It makes a great difference in changing the air/fuel map. Basically changing it from a towing vehicle to a road vehicle. But in normally aspirated and non turbos, you may only see a gain of about 1-3 mpg. The map is already set up for the best performance. They are not worth it unless its a diesel.

Thanks good info but the factory shift points in relation to throttle position leave a lot to be desired. I am getting a lot of discussion and learning a bit also..

Tcmtech I am sure your opinion is a valid one but that does not rule out Roy's.

Obviously, Roy 's experience is different than yours. I do get annoyed when someone feels their opinion is so important it supersedes the facts or anyone else's opinion. I had s drag em out with my brother the Dr. He discounted what I had to say about a medical experience I had. I told him just because you can't figure it out medically doesn't mean it didn't happen. I found out the next day he interpreted what I said as that he was stupid. I said I know you are very smart but you are super arrogant. Back on topic, Roy wouldn't like the Focus if he had a bad experience would he? I discount the other possibility that he is a raving lunatic but there is no evidence of that.

What makes a good a good tuner? Like Lyn I have found tuners for the Focus. What makes them bad?

So I take it you're a Ford Escort owner.

"I do get annoyed when someone feels their opinion is so important it supersedes the facts or anyone else's opinion."

And yet you chose to share your opinion about me with everyone else without first hand knowledge of who I am what I know or what life experiences I have and use as references to my opinions.

BTW I am not just super arrogant. I'm also cocky too!

No, I am like minded even though I never drove either the Escort or Focus. I like simple, low tech cars with 'tight tolerances' so I avoid US designed cars.

I was still POed from my condescending brother and took it out on you. I get the most frustrated with Drs. A not so rare side effect of statins is Fibromyalgia. This took years to come out because Drs discounter their patients complaints. My wife suffered for 3 years from the side effect. Can you even quantify the arrogance of a Dr who must assume their patient is too stupid to figure out that they are in pain or that they are just being a hypochondriac?

Do some research on the benefits of MMS on Fibromyalgia. I have been trained in the use of this water purification product and the benefits are to be conservative astounding in every positive aspect. Briefly it is an oxidative therapy similar to ozone, hydrogen peroxide and hyperbaric chamber protocols but much gentler due to lower voltage potential.

Fibromyalgia is code for we do not know what is giving you pain. My wife was lucky since the cause was discovered then eliminated. After 3 years of pain, the side effect was discovered and tens of thousands of fibromyalgia patients were cured overnight. Your treatment sounds like it acts on the nerves instead of the cause. When my wife was in pain, she would have been grateful for some relief.

It works on the cause, anything in health correction I pass on always goes to the cause. The cause of many conditions is inflammation that overwhelms the immune system leaving no capacity for other corrections. Get rid of the inflammation and things turn out quite nice.

It's okay. Believe me I an quite used to having people take things out on me because they had a bad day. My wife does it to me every day.

She too suffers from health issues that can't be medically diagnosed and thusly fixed according to her.

Granted not going to the doctor is largely why they can't be diagnosed and thusly fixed.

Heaven forbid if actually went to a real doctor she could very well loose her mile long list of medically related excuses for doing or not doing what ever she wants when she feels like it.

Well, I did think you were 'piling on'. You made your case, I thought it was a good one but then you were only confirming my opinion. However, when the owner came back with a defense I thought it was in poor taste to discount his opinion. Had I not had a bad day I would have not invested my time to come down on you. Sorry about that.

BTW, my wife can also drive me up a wall but then that is part of their job description.

Lastly, having the right Dr helps a great deal but as you stated you need to go to the Dr and actually do what they tell you to do. You also need to tell them if you think their advice is crap and that you will not comply. Most of my Drs don't mind that and they listen to my reasoning and an alternative plan is created that works for both of us. Sometimes Drs forget things needed to chart a proper course of action. Sometimes my reservations are unfounded. You need to speak up for yourself.

Found this....

http://www.focus-power.com/tuning-products

http://www.focusfanatics.com/forum/forumdisplay.php?f=72

Thanks Solar Eagle I shall take a good look into this. Someone did see a market and acted upon it.