imagine a CPU where 6 and 8 core variants are the same but the 6 core is locked in bios and you can unlock it with some tuning software, its like that.
and manufacturers dont like that
This also happens with car manufacturers, in racing and such. Tuners are more under the radar so they don't like that, as well as the warranty claims that were mentioned.
the difference on the base model mercedes c class between getting a less powerful engine and the one that is one level up is like 3.5-4k eur.
that is a lot of money. if i could unlock the bigger engine with just 400 eur i would buy the base model.
manufacturers don't want that, and is one part of blocking the touching of the ecu. the other is also that the navigation and a lot of other things is just disabled in ecu, and could be easily unlocked with software.
There are some other differences, the 280bhp is AWS vs RWD for the 200bhp version, and you can get the 200 with smaller wheels. However when going for larger wheels on the 200bhp, you also get the exact same larger brakes...
It's a cool €6000 difference, for a similarly equipped car. I actually don't want AWD and the chassis can clearly handle this much power on the rear-wheels alone, the top-of-the-line 510bhp version is also RWD - so going for the 200bhp version and giving a reputable tuner €700 is a tempting proposition...
and if i would guess you are talking about mx-5 nd, those are natural aspired engines, where something like this is not really viable.
But isn't this already the case (except locking might be in CPU firmware)? AFAIR this is the case with GPUs.
[1] https://www.techpowerup.com/articles/overclocking/vidcard/15...