Remapping worth it?

Associate
Joined
5 Apr 2008
Posts
1,828
Location
Deepest, Darkest, Essex.
Did you calculate the mpg yourself or just take the readout from the car. It can be off after a remap apparently.

I work out my mileage myself, but I hear what you're saying. I think my improvements were simply down to a detuned engine that was originally designed for more performance.

When I converted the car to use an EVO X turbo, and upped the power a bit more, I still saw no loss in MPG.

I fully believe the smaller turbo and intercooler strangled the engine and the OEM map wasn't very good. Mind you, an OEM map is not going to compete with an excellent aftermarket mapping session tweaked on a rolling road.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2006
Posts
23,424
I work out my mileage myself, but I hear what you're saying. I think my improvements were simply down to a detuned engine that was originally designed for more performance.

When I converted the car to use an EVO X turbo, and upped the power a bit more, I still saw no loss in MPG.

I fully believe the smaller turbo and intercooler strangled the engine and the OEM map wasn't very good. Mind you, an OEM map is not going to compete with an excellent aftermarket mapping session tweaked on a rolling road.

Most of the time OEM is tuned for emissions and to fit in to tax brackets. So it's held back quite a bit. Emissions will likely be higher when tuned.
 
Last edited:
Caporegime
Joined
18 Oct 2002
Posts
33,397
Location
West Yorks
The thing to remember with remaps is that their sole purpose is to enable you to make a choice of wanting a differing priority from the manufacturer. The manufacturer has to consider all of the possible variables and find a mid point that works for them all. It has to work in the north of Alaska in the middle of winter at 20 below zero, equally it has to work in the summer of Las Vegas in Death Valley at plus 50. It has to balance emissions, reliability, economy, performance, responsiveness etc.. it takes manufacturers years to get this stuff just right.

If you want to prioritise torque and in gear acceleration at the expense of reliability and putting extra strain on the engine then a remap can do that. Likewise if you want to compromise on responsiveness, reliability, performance or whatever in the name of more fuel effeciency - the remap can do that.

But rarely in my experience is it worth those compromises on a daily driver. Unless you're buying a car which you know is specifically a de-tuned version of another higher power engine where the manufacturer de-tunes it to provide price options in the middle of the range, it's just not worth it

Nothing comes for free. Remaps can't just magically make the engine better with zero compromise (unless like I said you're just making your engine have the same ECU map as a higher model which has identicaly mechanical components in the engine). You'll lose something, and the gains are rarely worth it.
 
Associate
Joined
16 Mar 2004
Posts
1,894
Location
Oxford
I considered getting my Focus ST-3 (225) rempped, I just don't really see the point given how bad the roads are around here with potholes, and the traffic infrastructure around here is slowing everything down either by traffic lights everywhere, general poor road layout. I'd also like to keep the Focus as standard as possible.

The Monaro has a remap on it taking it from 400ps to 440ps, it was like that when I bought it, not too much point in it though, it hardly gets driven and a 6.0 V8 is never going to be efficient whatever you do to it.
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Jul 2009
Posts
14,097
Location
Bath
The thing that puts me off is having to use 98RON fuel. I wouldn't mind spending 4-500 quid as a one off, but then if you are running standard petrol you are just gonna get your knock sensor retarding the timings anyways so half the tune goes out the window. It's that ongoing cost that puts me off.
 
Associate
Joined
10 Sep 2022
Posts
722
Location
essex
The thing that puts me off is having to use 98RON fuel. I wouldn't mind spending 4-500 quid as a one off, but then if you are running standard petrol you are just gonna get your knock sensor retarding the timings anyways so half the tune goes out the window. It's that ongoing cost that puts me off.

Don't run my cars on anything else.

Tbh when you buy the sporty models the handbook usually advises to use the higher Ron fuel.
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Jul 2009
Posts
14,097
Location
Bath
Don't run my cars on anything else.

Tbh when you buy the sporty models the handbook usually advises to use the higher Ron fuel.
See mine doesn't. I have a mini cooper S and it just says to run 95. I would like to see if the extra mileage from E5 vs E10 is actually noticeable because then I could convince my wife we should run 98 instead as it's a break even, but I don't think that's really gonna math like that

A stage 1 apparently gets from 200 to 260 bhp and torque from 260 to 400Nm which is pretty sizeable and tempting.
 
Last edited:
Don
Joined
19 May 2012
Posts
17,219
Location
Spalding, Lincolnshire
See mine doesn't. I have a mini cooper S and it just says to run 95. I would like to see if the extra mileage from E5 vs E10 is actually noticeable because then I could convince my wife we should run 98 instead as it's a break even, but I don't think that's really gonna math like that
Pretty sure it states 95 minimum with something along the lines of

“You can also run the engine on: Super Plus, octane number 98 RON, in order to increase engine output slightly.”
 
Caporegime
Joined
20 Oct 2002
Posts
74,218
Location
Wish i was in a Ramen Shop Counter
I considered getting my Focus ST-3 (225) rempped, I just don't really see the point given how bad the roads are around here with potholes, and the traffic infrastructure around here is slowing everything down either by traffic lights everywhere, general poor road layout. I'd also like to keep the Focus as standard as possible.

The Monaro has a remap on it taking it from 400ps to 440ps, it was like that when I bought it, not too much point in it though, it hardly gets driven and a 6.0 V8 is never going to be efficient whatever you do to it.

I too have thought about putting a Polestar tune in my T5 to go from 227 to 250 but it’s just not worth it either for same reasons above. 227 is more than enough to do an overtake easy enough.
 
Last edited:
Associate
Joined
10 Sep 2022
Posts
722
Location
essex
See mine doesn't. I have a mini cooper S and it just says to run 95. I would like to see if the extra mileage from E5 vs E10 is actually noticeable because then I could convince my wife we should run 98 instead as it's a break even, but I don't think that's really gonna math like that

A stage 1 apparently gets from 200 to 260 bhp and torque from 260 to 400Nm which is pretty sizeable and tempting.

Ah ok, my Audi one says to use 98, but 95 is ok with a caveat of reduced engine power

The other plus side of using the higher octane is that it has additional cleaners In the fuel, with old normal fuel injection this doesn't make a huge difference, but on direct injection it does make a significant enough difference.

But at the end of the day if you don't see much of a difference stick with what your doing
 
Soldato
Joined
23 Jul 2009
Posts
14,097
Location
Bath
Pretty sure it states 95 minimum with something along the lines of

“You can also run the engine on: Super Plus, octane number 98 RON, in order to increase engine output slightly.”
Nope, it states 95 with a minimum 91. So going to 98 would be extra. The 98 near me is E5 so I guess I'm technically getting more petrol for the money, but it's quite a bit pricier.
 
Soldato
Joined
29 Dec 2002
Posts
7,268
Most cars I have had mapped have been smoother in terms of power delivery afterwards, i've rarely been bothered about headline power as non of them were what I would consider 'quick' to begin with. After the initial novelty wore off, they all returned the same or better mpg if driven normally. In terms of failures or additional wear and tear, nothing obvious jumps out, my DSG stuff was always torque limited to suit the box's capability and the Japanese SUV's are stupidly reliable anyway as a rule,
 
Soldato
Joined
26 Aug 2010
Posts
3,128
Ive had my van remapped with an eco map, its give me more power and slightly better mpg's

The guy put a performance map on it first as that's what he was sent. It was crazy how fast it was. Didnt think a tranny van would go that fast :D it would spin the wheels even in 3rd gear on a bone dry day with new tyres on.
 
Soldato
Joined
22 Nov 2006
Posts
23,424
I had that with a cheap Kia diesel runabout which I bought quickly and semi-blind. Someone had stuck an aggressive remap on it. I didn't even think tuning them was an option. It felt quicker in a straight line than the Abarth 500 I had previously. Just didn't brake or corner lol.
 
Last edited:
Back
Top Bottom