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Have you ever wondered about the principles of tuning Ford automobiles? This book is not a How-to manual (we do not talk about which specific numbers to change in your car, where are the byte locations in the ROM, etc.). Instead, it enables you to really understand the mechanisms behind the electronic performance tuning, even if you are an absolute beginner. Detailed descriptions will answer many of your questions. It is the most comprehensive collection of information on Ford electronic tuning ever printed. Now the secrets, hidden in the machinery of only a few companies, can be yours! Author Ivan J. Kotzig, longtime designer of automotive electronics, presents this interesting subject in layman's terms. Ivan has a Master's degree in Engineering from Hungarian Technical University and has dedicated his life to creating many inventive electronic circuits in the car repair industry. Ivan is also a co-founder of several recognized firms in the automotive industry: ProgRama, a leading remanufacturer of automotive electronics ToolRama, a creator of handheld diagnostic tools DiabloSport, a manufacturer of performance electronics

Contents top

The chapter Steeda’s Dario Orlando gets his 380rwhp Mustang tuned shows you a picture-document of a real life tuning from begining to end. The story takes you to Florida, where the owner of Steeda Autosports, Dario Orlando, gets his street-fighting Mustang dynotuned by the DiabloSport crew. The chapter How engines work is a basic overview of all components found under the hood of any modern Ford. It will turn your attention to a single component of importance for our purpose: the Ford Electronic Engine Control computer. Satisfy your curiosity about what is inside that computer box that you just removed from your vehicle, by reading the chapter Basics of Ford Electronic Engine Control. It takes you to the layman's world of electronics and feeds you a healthy knowledge base needed for a true understanding of electronic performance tuning. Once your Ford's computer is on your desk, you'll want to read out the factory program from it. If you want to know how the equipment used for this purpose works, read the chapter EEC program reader. Now that you've obtained your car's original program, all you can see are thousands of numbers! Don't worry, just go on and read the next chapter How the original EEC program was born. Now you are really ready to modify the factory program, but don't know enough about the tool required. The chapter Tuning software should enlighten you. Which numbers should you change and which you shouldn't dare to touch, will vary from one Ford model to another. Learn by example, literally, and read the chapter EEC program example. Even though most professional tuning is done on a PC in the comfort of the office, there are times when one must take the laptop computer into the car and tune live. A portable unit called a ROM emulator is used and it is described in the next chapter. Once you are done with PC tuning, you'll want to go back to your beloved Ford and drive it! The way your work gets transferred from the PC to the car is described in the chapter Performance module. The times are changing and the future is here, now! The tuning principles are still the same, but the new Fords are 'missing' the familiar opening in the computer box for the performance module. Read the Handheld performance tool chapter to familiarize yourself with this new technology. Read about an objective way to compare one vehicle to another in the chapter Measuring Performance, and learn about various types of dynamometers. The OBD-II diagnostic chapter is an introduction to the world of contemporary Ford diagnostic and scanner tools. Tuners can take advantage of taking various measurements from a running engine and monitor effects of their tuning - real time. 1500hp down the 1/4 Mile with Willie Figueroa chapter will take you through one complete run in a Wild Street low-8-second car. Willie will take you through inspection, staging, and crossing the 1/4 mile mark. After a successful day of tuning, read the most important chapter, Cooking with DiabloSport and treat your close ones with a whole dinner course, hot and spicy, this time Hungarian style. As you buy each of the Secrets Revealed books, just cut the recipes out, collect them, and you will have... well, just that, a collection.