Autotuner is about to celebrate its 5th anniversary: let us reflect.
With an experience of more than 10 years in the field of chiptuning, Autotuner has remained constantly attentive to market developments.
Since 2017, our main objective has been the same: to offer a tool that is innovative, intuitive and without the heavy constraint of an annual subscription. Undeniably, this modern vision has borne its fruits. In fact, for all these years, we have made it a point of honour to dedicate considerable time to research and development. As a result, we have repeatedly demonstrated our expertise by providing exclusive solutions that are immediately available to all our users via a simple update. For free.
On the flipside
We obviously hope to see the chiptuning industry last for as long as possible. In order to do so, we have to take key strategic decisions.
To illustrate this point, kindly allow us to show you how a mistake from the past now serves as an example to be avoided in the future.
In July 2019, we exclusively published the protocol that allowed us to read and write the entire Bosch MDG1 ECUs via the bench method. Unfortunately, this release has been published too early. Indeed, never in the chiptuning history has a backdoor been closed so quickly by the ECU manufacturer. Previously, such corrections were only happening with the release of the next generation of ECUs. As a result and having learned from our mistakes, we are convinced that we must now pay special attention to the protection of our solutions in order to avoid any permanent fixing. Every single fixed flaw is a closed door and we can no longer take that risk.
The solution
To avoid these issues, some of our competitors have recently decided to offer a solution which consists in shipping the ECU to them in order for it to be unlocked. We understand that this vision is not unanimously accepted by the public, but we believe that in the long run it should be considered for three reasons:
- To limit the spread of a solution that could be quickly corrected by the manufacturer. Indeed, if the solution is not publicly available, the manufacturer has less information to correct any flaws.
- Restore decent rates for customer service given the inherent logistical costs: the need to immobilize the vehicle for a certain period of time and the shipping of the ECU.
- Prevent copying of our proprietary solutions by other tool manufacturers.
Protected release: the future of chiptuning?
Clearly No, for two reasons:
- A solution via ECU unlocking will not be possible on all ECUs.
- Some solutions are not likely to be corrected by the manufacturer.
The vast majority of solutions will still be developed and published as usual. Only a very small percentage of solutions would be eligible for this new protected release method.
Conclusion
As you can see, we are positioned favourably with regards to protected releases, but only for some ECUs . This is the reason why we remain open to the possibility of using such methods in the future.
Rest assured, however, that we would do our best to facilitate and expedite the entire shipping process while doing it in the most efficient and most hassle free fashion possible.
