Engine re-mapping - Thoughts?

Man of Honour
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Even if you put it on a dyno it's not always clear. Many cars produce more power than official figures as stock (see Yaris GR, Skyline, Supra). Some of the figures are comically understated.

There is also many ways to tune a car without actually increasing the peak power much. Unless you drive a known standard car and lightly tuned one back to back you probably won't be able to tell.
You can't say understated, conditions of measurement are entirely different.

Manufacture testing is done on an engine dyno, in controlled ambient conditions with reference fuel.

X,Y,Z chassis dyno measuring power as the tyre, then make an educated guess at all of the power lost from there to the crankshaft. Yes some produce figures more in line with the manufacturer than others but totally different testing methods cannot be compared
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
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7,243
As already pointed out, the standard is that you need to have acted reasonably and in good faith presenting any information you aren’t sure about to your insurer for them to decide. Insurers have (or have been made to) accept that most people couldn’t tell if the wrong generation of alloys were on a used car unless they had a specific interest in the brand/model or something was obviously wrong, like the centre caps, colour or branding. Of course if you happen to have aftermarket alloys fitted and work at the UK distributor for the brand of alloys in question and that came to light, that may be a little different.

Remap wise an insurer would need a reason to check, your average car park ding isn’t going to justify it, what could cause them to ask questions is where the police accident investigation team perhaps determine excessive speed was an issue or the assessor notices something obvious like a remap company sticker on the back window etc.
 
Soldato
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20 Nov 2005
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Redditch
Had my 430 remapped recently.
Been out on a couple of decent runs to see if any issues show up after it

A) was it worth it? (do you notice any improvement over stock/standard/factory tune)
Definitely. Car is as smooth as ever but mid range performance is much better.

B) How much did your insurance premium go up? if at all and who do you insure with?
£20

C) would you recommend it?
Yes, as long as the car in question is sound with no underlying issues as the extra power could make them worse.
 
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Associate
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16 Jan 2005
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2,225
Location
South Wales
Remapped my TT TDI Ultra with Revo (having used them a few times in the past).

A. Definitely - when I got it done I wish I had done it sooner. Much better in-gear acceleration. No drop in economy.

B. £35, Directline.

C. Depends really. I haven't bothered remapping my Mini Clubman SD, it's plenty of performance really for every-day driving which I don't really do much of any more.
 
Soldato
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24 Jul 2004
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22,594
Location
Devon, UK
Bought my Focus ST Mk2.5 in 2013 with the Mountune MP260 upgrade already fitted.

A) was it worth it? (do you notice any improvement over stock/standard/factory tune)

I bought my car with the MP260 kit already installed, so I never got to experience it without. However the first thing that happened was it ate the clutch, necessitating a replacement, of which I decided to have to RS clutch upgrade to prevent it happening in the future. The car is pretty quick with it though, and dynos at 295bhp. This is all put through the front wheels mind, which can make it a bit lairy.

B) How much did your insurance premium go up? if at all and who do you insure with?

No change to insurance as it's a manufacturer approved upgrade that doesn't invalidate the warranty. I just have to phone up and point out that it's the ST with the upgrade and it's added. So far no insurer has changed the quote price upon hearing this. I recently renewed with Direct Line for £211.

C) would you recommend it?

Hell yes, but do your research on it and whether it makes a difference, how warranty would pan out, insurance etc.
 
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