My ECU arrived at Caterham from Rover yesterday, and should be with me today. I won't get a chance to fit it until tomorrow (Friday) and then I need to check the car runs before heading off to a track day at Donnington on Sunday.
A couple of people have asked me what the ECU map changes are; well, there doesn't seem to be any official statement so what follows could be completely incorrect, but this is info pulled together from three or four different people at Caterham and outside.
The map has remained unchanged for a number of years. During a recent race series in France though, a couple of engines let go due to overheating at sustained high revs (i.e. during race conditions). Rover modified the map to help prevent this from happening. These ECUs were given to Academy competitors, but halfway through the run they changed the ECU again so it was decided to make everyone use the very latest map so that it was completely fair. My understanding is that the map overfuels the engine at high revs/temps to add some additional cooling - but effectively this will reduce power a little.
Posted by charles at May 20, 2004 9:55 AM