ECU reverse engineering · Lahore, Pakistan
We read the firmware. Then we change what the car can do.
Hex and Boost works on engine and gearbox computers at the level of their program code. We do not stop at the tables a manufacturer left adjustable. We write new functions into the factory ECU, prove them in an emulator, and then drive them.
Animation is illustrative. Figures are from the car.
What we do
Three kinds of work, one standard
Read the controller
We disassemble the engine or gearbox computer, map its software and find out what it can do, including what the manufacturer switched off.
Write what is missing
Boost control, drive modes, paddle shifting, self-learning, dash displays. New program code inside the factory ECU, using the buttons and lamps the car already has.
Tune from evidence
Fuel, ignition, boost and shift calibration fitted from logged drives, with protections added alongside the performance.
Case studies
Built, driven and logged
Every one of these is running on a real car. Each write-up says what it does, how it was proven and what it does not do yet.
A turbo Civic R18 that still runs on its factory ECU
13.5 psi on the original computer. Boost control, protections, speed-density fuelling and self-learning, all written into the factory firmware.
Driven on the car Read the case study → Honda Civic X · 1.8 CVTPaddle shifting on a CVT, from buttons the car already has
A complete 7-step manual mode was sitting disabled in the factory software. We enabled it and mapped it to the cruise buttons. No new parts.
Driven on the car Read the case study → Boost control · hardware and firmwareAn electronic wastegate the factory ECU commands
Our own controller on the CAN network, modelled on how Honda runs its 1.5 turbo. If anything fails, the gate opens and the car reports a standard code.
Driven on the car Read the case study → Honda Civic 9th gen · driver interfaceFault codes on the dash, no scan tool needed
Stored codes shown on the check-engine lamp and the i-MID screen, scrolled and cleared from the cruise stalk.
Driven on the car Read the case study →Feature list
A few things a factory ECU was never meant to do
Boost control per gear
The ECU chooses the boost for each gear and engine speed and enforces it.
Drive modes on factory buttons
ECO, NORMAL and EXTREME from the ECON button and the cruise stalk.
Paddle shifting without paddles
Cruise buttons become up and down shifts on an automatic and on a CVT.
Self-learning timing and fuel
The ECU learns per cylinder and per operating point, and what it learns can be made permanent.
Boost that protects itself
It backs off on knock, backs off when lean and stops hard at a fixed limit.
Fault codes on the dash
Read and clear stored codes from the driver's seat with no scan tool.
Platforms
Honda today. More manufacturers in progress.
Civic 9th gen 1.8 (R18)
Engine and 5-speed automatic in one controller. Our main development car: turbocharged, on its factory ECU, with more than a hundred firmware builds behind it.
Deepest platform Honda · Renesas SH-2ACivic X 1.8 CVT
Sibling controller to the 9th gen. Hidden 7-step manual mode enabled, plus an audit of every factory feature left switched off.
Features driven Mitsubishi · M32RPajero 3.0 V6 automatic
A different manufacturer and a different processor. We wrote our own disassembler and mapped the engine and gearbox software. No modifications yet.
In studyMethod
Proven on a desk before it touches the car
We run the manufacturer's code in our own emulator. Every change is compared with the file it came from, tested against thousands of recorded facts about the controller, and audited before it is flashed.
PRE-FLASH AUDIT
- Starts in emulator
- Required
- Hard limits respected
- Required
- Regressions vs previous file
- Zero allowed
- Linking and reference check
- Required
- Verdict
- GO / HOLD / NO
Have a car the usual tools cannot touch?
Tell us the car, the engine, the gearbox and what you want it to do. We reply to every serious enquiry.