Is Ford locking the 2018 ECU?

[Bartly]

So is this true? A guy at work told me he read that Ford is going to do something to make it much harder to put a custom tune on the 2018. Is it true?

Sponsored

 

[MELLOWYELLOW06]

Im sure there will be some computer nut out there that will find their way in

 

[Jay-rod427]

They said that about the copperhead! LOL Anything can be hacked with enough resources, just ask the chinese.

 

[HISSMAN]

Probably something like what was done on late model Dodge/Chrysler vehicles. They were a real PITA to figure out.

 

[Bartly]

Probably something like what was done on late model Dodge/Chrysler vehicles. They were a real PITA to figure out.

Yeah, I remember looking into my Jeep tune back in 2005 and it was a serious hurdle that nobody had figured out yet.

 

[2015 Silver GT]

Probably something like what was done on late model Dodge/Chrysler vehicles. They were a real PITA to figure out.

We have to purchase separate PCM's in order to tune our 2015 up Dodge vehicles.

 

[Gurjit]

chance of aftermarket tune on any mustang, regardless of how much they spend on locking the ecm = 100%

 

[GTRacerX.]

Back engineering

will take care of that - a simple hardware swap with your custom tune and your done. Besides anything can be hacked. Believe me I know. ;)

 

[FrancoP]

We have to purchase separate PCM's in order to tune our 2015 up Dodge vehicles.

Yeap we do

 

[Keith_PDX]

With the success of the Ford Performance Power Packs along with the fact that Ford knows people buy these cars to be enthusiast, I don't think they will. If they do, someone WILL crack it or find an alternative implementation. On the other hand, I hope they lock it up tight! Super tight! It will make my 2017 Job2 even more valuable! ;)

 

[Chameleon]

We have to purchase separate PCM's in order to tune our 2015 up Dodge vehicles.

Yeah, no thanks.

 

[Nuked]

If you watch Yolodouchebag's youtube stuff, he mentioned this a couple weeks back. Said it would take some time before they could tune them. Basically, your not gonna be able to just pull the ECU image and start changing stuff. Gonna be workarounds that need implemented.

One thing I have learned over the years is that the tuner community is a pretty tight knit group. The well known guys all know one another and usually most of them have a direct link to the OEM guys. So when they say stuff like this, it is usually pretty spot on.

 

[Glenn G]

When Nissan released the R35 GTR, it had an "Unmoddable" Encrypted ECU, Cobb cracked it before it even went on sale in the US.
http://jalopnik.com/377411/unmoddable-gt-r-ecu-cracked-bye-bye-speed-limiter
What is hilarious is that older cars already had un-moddable ECUs, for my R33 Skyline and Supra, your choices were either a stand alone, piggy back, or open the ecu and de-solder the rom chip that contained the tune to reinstall a new one.

I love how they spend millions, if not billions, on research to create ecu's that can be written to, just to spend millions more trying to keep people from doing it.
If a manufacturer can write to an ecu, and wants it's dealers to be able to as well, it really is only a matter of time before the aftermarket gets ahold of a device and figures out how to do it too.

 

[Dr. Norts]

Anything can be reverse engineered, the 2018 ECU included.

 

[Edelbrock Tech]

Yeah, no thanks.

This has been one of the bigger challenges on late model vehicles especially for supercharger development.

On our 2015+ Hemi Supercharger kits you do have to ship the ECM out to us for it to get unlocked and then bench flashed. We eliminated the need to buy a second ECM in most cases but still is one more hoop to jump though.

Support for Mustangs will be a priority given the size of the market. The Ford community already has 2017 Raptor, Ford GT and 10-Speed auto support. I think we'll be okay ;)

Sponsored