How to find out if my car is remapped?

shauncr91

shauncr91

shauncr91

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Hi guys quick question,

I'm driving a Fiesta ST which I'm fairly certain is remapped for three reasons:
1) I have a full milltek exhaust system which is decatted and this should turn on the engine management light for an emissions failure but doesn't.
2) My rev limiter seems to be higher than standard (I've read 6900 to be standard but mine is at around 7300ish).
3) I know the previous owner had it modified but put it mostly back to standard before trade-in because the garage told me, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they'd done it at some point.

Is there any way to find out for certain whether it has been done and if so, where(Don't know if the map files have like a 'signature' of tuners in the software or whatever) ?

Thanks in advance :)
 
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I am not sure how to tell if it has been remapped other than by getting a mapping company to plug their laptop into the coms port and read the map that is on there.

Be careful about upping your rev limit, as it may stretch the con rods over time. How is the rev limit raised? I would imagine on a circa 2005 Fiesta the limit would be electronic rather than mechanical (and so easier to increase).
 
I never push my engine that far really anyway, I just did it once out of curiosity to find out where the limit was as I'd never hit it. I'm guessing that it's an electronic limit though as instead of having the exhaust banging away on the limiter the car just 'jolted' almost as if it has stalled. I'm guessing this is the ECU cutting off the fuel and ignition?
 
shauncr91 said:
I never push my engine that far really anyway, I just did it once out of curiosity to find out where the limit was as I'd never hit it. I'm guessing that it's an electronic limit though as instead of having the exhaust banging away on the limiter the car just 'jolted' almost as if it has stalled. I'm guessing this is the ECU cutting off the fuel and ignition?
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You are probably right.
I would say that if the rpm limit has been electronically raised then this would be a remap in itself.
 
OpenToSuggestions said:
You are probably right.
I would say that if the rpm limit has been electronically raised then this would be a remap in itself.
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Hmm, might ring round a couple of places and see how much they'd charge just to read it and see what's actually on there :D Really want to find out because next year I'm aiming for uprated cams which in themselves would need a fresh remap to get the most from, might be able to find out whether this would be necessary or not?
 
Matt82 said:
Off topic but can anyone name a car that specifically benefits from a raised rev limit?
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Depends on use.

Depending on gearing it will help in a 0-60, 1/4 mile etc as an increased rev limit may mean 1 less gearchange.

I know that in my golf I can get to 60 about half a second quicker when I timed it by not changing into third
 
Matt82 said:
Very true, I didn't think about timed runs

What does it do for the Clio?
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Makes you smile even more when ragging the **** off it :D

Clio makes its power at the top of the rev range, the standard clio has a limit of 6900 when cold and 7200 when warmed up.
A remap raises it to 7500 and I must say the short time i owned a mapped Clio i loved it :D
 
DogsBody said:
Makes you smile even more when ragging the **** off it :D

Clio makes its power at the top of the rev range, the standard clio has a limit of 6900 when cold and 7200 when warmed up.
A remap raises it to 7500 and I must say the short time i owned a mapped Clio i loved it :D
Click to expand...

but when it maximum power made, or are the gears that missmatched that it needs the extra revs?
 
Matt82 said:
but when it maximum power made, or are the gears that missmatched that it needs the extra revs?
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I coulnd't give you power figures, but the clio engine is a very revvy engine, I would imagine peak power is around 6800, the power doesn't really drop off much when you go higher, I seem to remember it pulled all the way to the 7500. Its the kind of engine that needs to be pushed to get the best out of it, I think the extra 300 revs helped to get that bit more from it :)
 
Higher rpm will help a bit in the lower gears out of corners, even if your power is tailing off. EG I'm pretty sure the car will still pull faster in 2nd gear from peak power to the limiter than it would if you'd dropped into 3rd at the lower original rpm limit. Once into the higher gears though I think torque will come into play a little more thus it wouldn't really be worth using those extra rpm. Cammed cars could benefit as they hold their power for longer.

OP, does it really matter if it is mapped? If you intend to get cams fitted then I'd suggest you get yourself a custom map created anway so that you get the best from all the mods you have fitted. Generic maps are OK but not ideal IMO. Don't expect massive gains from an NA engine without spending lots of money. I will say when I cammed my gti6 along with fitting a free flowing exhaust / decat it not only made a little more power it also revs a lot free'er.

On a note of your engine management light, surely it would only come on if your lambda was left out of the loop? My blueflame decat is made so that a lambda can be fitted thus no engine management lights on and no need for it to run extra rich at low rpm due to no lambda.
 
shauncr91 said:
Hi guys quick question,

I'm driving a Fiesta ST which I'm fairly certain is remapped for three reasons:
1) I have a full milltek exhaust system which is decatted and this should turn on the engine management light for an emissions failure but doesn't.
2) My rev limiter seems to be higher than standard (I've read 6900 to be standard but mine is at around 7300ish).
3) I know the previous owner had it modified but put it mostly back to standard before trade-in because the garage told me, so it wouldn't be a surprise if they'd done it at some point.

Is there any way to find out for certain whether it has been done and if so, where(Don't know if the map files have like a 'signature' of tuners in the software or whatever) ?

Thanks in advance :)
Click to expand...

I didn't know garages were able to sell modified cars even if they had been put back, a guy told me at the local Mazda garage that they have to auction off cars and aren't allowed to sell them on the forecourt.
 
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