Modern automotive engines are controlled by an electronic control unit (ECU), and engine power performance is significantly affected by the selection of both ECU parameters and engine components. The engine performance tuning is usually done by a trial-and-error method. In the current literature, very little research has considered the selection of engine parts because engine parts are complicated objects that are usually represented as nominal data. These data are meaningless values in terms of computation. This paper presents a novel multiple-input/output least-squares support vector machine plus one-of-n remapping method for modelling engine power performance using both numerical (ECU parameters) and nominal data (candidate engine parts). The Quasi-Newton method, a genetic algorithm and particle swarm optimisation are then applied to the engine model to determine the optimal engine setup automatically. A simple binary code synthesis rule is also proposed to optimise the nominal variable. Both experimental and simulation results show that the proposed methodology can successfully yield an optimal engine setup.