Creating & Smoothing Custom Maps ~7m

Creating & Smoothing Custom Maps

With the fundamentals covered, it’s time to create and refine your own maps. This module teaches you how to use the Map Viewer, Map Scale Adjuster and ECU Map Editor tools to build custom fuel and torque tables, apply safe scaling and smooth values for driveability.

🗺️ What Is a Map?

A map is a grid of values used by the ECU to make decisions, such as how much fuel to inject or how much torque to request. Rows typically represent RPM and columns represent load or throttle position. Higher numbers usually mean more of something—more fuel, more boost or more torque.

🛠 Tools You’ll Use

• Map Viewer: Paste or import map values and visualise them as a table or graph.
• Map Scale Adjuster: Increase or decrease map values by a percentage or an absolute amount, globally or by row/column.
• ECU Map Editor: Edit map values directly in a spreadsheet‑like interface; import and export map sections.
• Map Profile Loader (optional): Load predefined axis definitions and labels for specific ECUs to aid orientation.

✍️ Try It Yourself

Follow these steps to practise creating and scaling a map:

1. 1 Open the Map Viewer
   Launch the tool and load the sample torque limiter map.
2. 2 Render & observe
   Click render to visualise how values rise across RPM and load.
3. 3 Copy the values
   Select the entire table and copy it to your clipboard.
4. 4 Open the Map Scale Adjuster
   Paste the values into the input box.
5. 5 Apply scaling
   Increase values by +10% globally or choose specific rows/columns.
6. 6 Copy adjusted output
   Copy the scaled map back to the viewer to compare.
7. 7 Inspect & smooth
   Check for any spikes or irregularities. Manually adjust outliers in the ECU Map Editor.
8. 8 Export
   Save your refined map for later use or further simulation.

🧠 Smoothing Guidelines

Smoothing is about ensuring the ECU sees realistic, gradual transitions when interpolating between cells. To smooth a map:

• Look for spikes: Values that jump suddenly compared to neighbours should be reduced or averaged.
• Follow trends: Increase values gradually along both axes. Diagonal gradients are common in fuel and torque maps.
• Use averages: When in doubt, replace an outlier with the average of adjacent cells.
• Iterate: After scaling, revisit the map to ensure shape consistency across the whole table.

✅ Key Takeaways

• Maps are tables that define fuel, torque and other parameters across RPM and load.
• Use the Map Viewer to visualise maps, Map Scale Adjuster to apply uniform changes and the ECU Map Editor for fine adjustments.
• Apply scaling in small increments and smooth your maps to maintain good drivability.
• Practise creating and editing maps in the browser before tuning a real ECU.

In the next module you’ll delve into limiter maps and advanced controls—like torque limiters, boost limiters and gear‑specific limits.