Ever since burble/crackle and pop has become the new hype in the online world, we’ve (Speed Projects Lab) been asked many times if we can do it. The answer is YES, our go-to tuning company ECU Tuning Group can do burble tunes, but please read through the FAQ’s below before making the decision if burble tune is really what you want.
What is a Burble / Crackle & Pop Tune?
Burble tune in short is basically calibrating your ECU to set up specifically targeted, misfires once you lift off the throttle. In order words, delaying ignition timing and adding fuel once your pistons have passed the TDC (top dead center) of the combustion process. With adjustments to other parameters such as opening your exhaust valves, these combustions after TDC will create a burble/ crackle & pop sound. We will refer these to “Manufactured Burbles” thereafter.
What is the Difference between Natural and Manufactured Burbles?
Burbles has been around for many years, ever since car modding has been around. It’s became more popular because more and more new engines can accommodate ECU programming for manufactured burbles.
Natural burbles can occur when your vehicle has been modified and usually equipped with an unrestricted exhaust system. The more unrestricted exhaust system, the louder your exhaust and the more aggressive your vehicle’s burbles will be.
Manufactured burbles on the other hand, is done through ECU calibration by dumping fuel into the combustion process to create post TDC combustions.
What is an Unrestricted Exhaust System?
A vehicle’s exhaust system is made up of three parts, your headers/downpipes which contains the catalyst converter(s) (commonly known as cats), mid-pipe which contains the resonator, and your rear piping which contains your muffler (often referred as mufflers). The cats, resonator, or mufflers all 3 combined serve the purpose of exhaust sound dampening and converting carbon and oxygen into carbon dioxide (co2).
By eliminating the cats (cat-less downpipes/headers), resonator (resonator delete), muffler(s), (muffler delete), you will get a louder/more aggressive exhaust and possibility of more performance from less restriction.
Performance Tune vs Burble Tune
In short, performance tune is calibrating different parameters of the engine to achieve optimal air/fuel ratio, timing, shift points, to give the vehicle the best performance possible. A manufactured burble performance tune adds no additional performance but instead, may have a negative impact as more fuel is used and possibly cause the engine to run too rich.
Will Manufactured Burble harm the engine?
This is a very controversial question. Some tuners will say Yes and some will say No. It really depends on how aggressive the burble tune is and the vehicle’s tolerance. Bear in mind, to create “manufactured burbles”, more fuel is is dumped into the combustion process after the throttle is released which is not part of the “normal combustion” process. This will add more stress and load to the engine. The more aggressive the burble tune is, the more fuel, the more stress and load on the engine.
Because there is too many variables with burble tunes and it’s not part of the natural normal combustion process, ECU Tuning Group will not warranty any of their work and tune files. Yes they can do the files, but by proceeding with a burble tune and not a regular performance tune, they will basically send the tune and that will be it. If any problems do occur, we (Speed Projects Lab), can still take care of you but will be at your expense.
In regards to how long before problem start arising, this will vary based on vehicle conditions and how aggressive the burble tune is. It could be years or never for mild burbles or weeks for more aggressive burbles. There is no formula or way to predict as it all depends on the aggressiveness of the burble and the current life of the components of your vehicle.
Can I just do the burble tune and not the performance tune for a cheaper price?
Prices for burble tune or performance tune is the same with ECU Tuning Group. Regardless of which one you do, the work and time involved is pretty much the same. We will still need to read/write the ECU files, modify them, and write them back in. Choosing one or another, or both, is the same price.
The above warranty related and general information is from ECU Tuning Group. Other tuning brands that we work with such as Weistec and Renntech may differ, please refer to their website for further information.
Please do not hesitate to contact us for further questions that are not discussed above or to book an appointment for ECU tuning service. If inquiries containing points discussed in this post, we will simply redirect you back to this post or ignore your inquiry altogether. We have been overwhelmed with inquiries relating to this topic that’s why we have decided to publish a post on this topic.