Ichiban offer a wide range of tuning services from revisions on standard street cars to high HP monsters at the track. Ichiban can tune nearly all stock ECU’s for turbocharged Subarus as well as being certified to work with Cobb Access Port, link, motec, adaptronic, emtron and Haltech ECU’s. We conduct all tuning inhouse by qualified auto technicians in a controlled environment using our Mainline dynamometer. High speed cooling fans and effective exhaust ventilation keeps your vehicle safe from overheating while tuning.
Tuning a vehicle requires acceleration usually up to 160km/h. Having an inhouse dynamometer means this can be carried out safely as opposed to road tuning which typically involve similar speeds on the road.
The base tune within your vehicle from factory is typically a generic tune installed by the manufacturer. Unfortunately, every engine is slightly different from the way the engine was run in through to its age and health. Custom tuning your vehicle provides a tune tailored for your engine and needs. This can have a range of benefits including increased fuel economy, better reliability or increased power output depending on what you would like out of your vehicle.
Tuning on a standard vehicle without additional modifications is not mandatory however provides benefits as listed above. If you have carried out modifications on your vehicle which will affect the performance of the vehicle then tuning is almost always recommended or required to maximise on the modifications carried out. This is particularly important for any change to a vehicles air intake system as a change will typically affect the air fuel ratios of the vehicle to which a custom tune will correct and ensure the vehicle continues to operate safely.
A custom tune can also introduce additional functionality to a vehicle depending on its application some of these enhancements include:
Flex fuel systems allow for the simultaneous use of premium unleaded and E85 fuels. This system consists of an ethanol sensor and tuning to accommodate the different fuels. E85 provides a number of performance advantages over unleaded fuel however is sold in fewer places. The introduction of flex provides a solid compromise to those seeking additional power without the hassle of strictly running E85.
Most commonly associated with drag applications, launch control assists in launching a vehicle from a stand still with maximum acceleration. A vehicles ECU can be programmed to allow a function from the vehicles OEM controls to engage launch control. Once engaged launch control will allow the vehicle to rev to a desired RPM until the clutch is disengaged to minimise skidding or bogging down when taking off
One of the biggest advantageous of replacing a vehicles standard ECU is the ability to make use of additional sensors to protect high performance engines. Aftermarket ECU’s can use this additional information to detect when there is a problem within the engine and adjust elements of the tune to maintain safety and provide additional warnings to the driver. Most aftermarket ECU’s also have the benefit of data logging which allows a tuner to identify the performance of the engine particularly common in track environments.
