To remap, or not to remap...

MouthBoy · 14 Jul 2019 at 21:13

jigger said:
I’m not sure, but I know of a tuned A3 and crap that throws out is boarder line offensive. I’d imagine that will build up in the filter quickly.

It’s just something I’d look into before hand.

Thanks for the heads up - very much appreciated!

adam cool dude · 14 Jul 2019 at 21:16

smeaney said:
Thanks for the heads up. I will do my research.

Although I would love high figures, honestly I just want a little bit more from what I already have. If I was really pushing for performance, I probably would not be a in diesel. Whats weird is that I thought the high torque figure of 500NM/369ftlbs would seem 'faster' than it actually does when I put my foot down, although that could be the gearbox thinking about the change down rather than the power from the engine.

Always a pinch of salt with figures, but what I hope is that because my car is under 3 years old still I would be lucky to get a little more than if the engine was 5-7 years old. I could be utterly wrong though. Like I have said above though, I am not after 'wow figures' but a better driving experience overall. Not saying it is bad as it is though, but just want a little more.

Regarding insurance I will call my insurance company at some point to find out some theoretical prices. Wife and I agree that if my insurance gets silly it wouldn't be worth it.

That is a healthy increase. Was model was that on? I was looking at a 9-3 2.8 V6 before my old man put his Mercedes up for sale.

2.3 4 cylinder. Remap only cost £90. Guy is well respected in the Saab world and does it as a hobby. Far too much torque for the front wheels however!

Stephanie Peterson · 14 Jul 2019 at 23:08

Nasher said:
That sounds more like stage 1 even for a non-turbo O_o

Well its not good bang for buck thats for sure but it makes a bigger difference than it seems on paper... or on screen.

Knocked about a second or slightly more off the 0-60, reported via "Torque" and although thats not exactly accurate it was consistently 6 seconds to 60 which is a lot better than the 7.2 Mazda quotes. A lot of that is from holding onto second though to 60 though.

BUDFORCE · 15 Jul 2019 at 14:00

I got my Volvo booked in for Monday.

Getting the Polestar (official Volvo) map put on, which goes from 150bhp to 180bhp on my car, only problem is official Volvo = ££££££££££ I am not even telling you guys how much it is in fear of redicule.

But oh well, it's a one off and I guess its far less likely to blow my car up, Volvo even state it wont affect your warranty.

MouthBoy · 15 Jul 2019 at 14:15

BUDFORCE said:
I got my Volvo booked in for Monday.

Getting the Polestar (official Volvo) map put on, which goes from 150bhp to 180bhp on my car, only problem is official Volvo = ££££££££££ I am not even telling you guys how much it is in fear of redicule.

But oh well, it's a one off and I guess its far less likely to blow my car up, Volvo even state it wont affect your warranty.

I think for the sake of the thread, we need to know how much.

BUDFORCE · 15 Jul 2019 at 14:19

smeaney said:
I think for the sake of the thread, we need to know how much.

Not happening.

iaind · 15 Jul 2019 at 14:25

smeaney said:
I think for the sake of the thread, we need to know how much.

£700-£800 it looks like

weathmatth · 15 Jul 2019 at 14:37

A remap on a diesel is well worth it, just remember its not about peak numbers its about how the remap makes the car more driveable and fun through more of the rev-range. Do you have any warranty left on your car to worry about as a remap can void it.

MouthBoy · 15 Jul 2019 at 14:51

weathmatth said:
A remap on a diesel is well worth it, just remember its not about peak numbers its about how the remap makes the car more driveable and fun through more of the rev-range. Do you have any warranty left on your car to worry about as a remap can void it.

In September it will be 3yrs old so warranty ends then.

brendy · 15 Jul 2019 at 16:48

smeaney said:
Have you encountered any issues at all with any of the remaps? I presume as you have done 3 cars now you're an advocate of it?

Where did you get yours done?

No issues, the Leon was done by a Revo franchise, the Impreza I learned and did all myself 7 years ago, even did a bigger turbo and larger injectors etc myself, it has changed hands twice since and still going well, BMW was done by OBD Autotune (NI co.). If it's done sensibly it shouldn't ever cause issues. Chasing numbers is where it can go wrong. As for smoke, none gave off any additional smoke/reek.
Insurance wise, I used greenlight for the leon and wrx as they were ticking the boxes perfectly into their modified cars only policy basis. I did have to go elsewhere to cover my bmw as it was quite standard in all other ways.

Nasher · 15 Jul 2019 at 16:59

Yep don't go nuts unless you are also changing physical parts. It's quite likely that you remap for X more power, but it can't sustain it due to cooling not being adequate.

A better power curve and how the turbo behaves makes a more noticeable difference.

Stephanie Peterson · 15 Jul 2019 at 17:09

I never actually did "chip" the SX when i had it, it had an emanage ecu and i did the maps with a laptop from logs produced from the wideband o2 and knock sensors.
It went in for a couple of RR runs and had its fueling tweaked, picked up 20+ hp with just a few changes to the fueling let alone timing and boost.

Those were the days... put your foot down in that thing and it felt like you were going back in time - but i wouldnt change my 5 for it as it provides bigger thrills more of the time now.

Demon · 15 Jul 2019 at 17:10

BUDFORCE said:
I got my Volvo booked in for Monday.

Getting the Polestar (official Volvo) map put on, which goes from 150bhp to 180bhp on my car, only problem is official Volvo = ££££££££££ I am not even telling you guys how much it is in fear of redicule.

But oh well, it's a one off and I guess its far less likely to blow my car up, Volvo even state it wont affect your warranty.

I had my Zafira CDTi remapped by 888 Racing who did the touring cars and special versions of the Astra. It cost me £650 quite a few years ago and gave me a switchable +50BHP / +90Nm (switchable on the Sport button) (150BHP -> 200BHP was quite noticeable) and it had a full Vauxhall warranty. That car is still going well on 160K Miles with no issues related to the remap. People thought I was crazy as a cheap remap was £250, however, seeing how it never missed a beat and never threw up any emissions issues, I would happily pay main dealer prices for a remap, these days I'd say that would be the equivolent of a £1000 option which is a bargain IMO.

Funky-Melon said:
Do some careful reading about CelticTuning, they're a franchise so some will obviously be better than others but historically from what I've read they quote very optimistic figures and many have had ECU's bodged/poor quality work etc.

Some of the higher power Volvos and Skodas have had issues with them.

Plenty happy with them though so depends what your local one is like I guess.

LOL, they reckon +87BHP / +140Nm on the X3 35d, that looks insanely optimistic, I'd like to see them back that up on a before/after dyno, and I can't imagine it wouldn't absolutely muller the DPF!

My brothers had a few cars tuned through them, generally they've been OK, but he's had to pop back a few time with 'emission' related hiccups causing the EML to come on, however they've always sorted it and to be honest the butt dyno leaves you in no doubt that its been remapped, although that is always on larger engined Petrol/Diesel turbos'.

Stephanie Peterson · 15 Jul 2019 at 17:13

Is the x3 a manual? Cant see the clutch being too happy with that kind of uplift to torque.
I had to use a much higher duty clutch on the old nissan, nearly 400ft pounds annihilated the stocker and its a wonder i didnt kill the gearbox with all the launches and stuff i did with it (did about half a dozen quarter mile days)

BUDFORCE · 16 Jul 2019 at 16:38

Demon said:
I had my Zafira CDTi remapped by 888 Racing who did the touring cars and special versions of the Astra. It cost me £650 quite a few years ago and gave me a switchable +50BHP / +90Nm (switchable on the Sport button) (150BHP -> 200BHP was quite noticeable) and it had a full Vauxhall warranty. That car is still going well on 160K Miles with no issues related to the remap. People thought I was crazy as a cheap remap was £250, however, seeing how it never missed a beat and never threw up any emissions issues, I would happily pay main dealer prices for a remap, these days I'd say that would be the equivolent of a £1000 option which is a bargain IMO.

Well thats what I figured, last thing I want to do is cause issues or worse and ruin the car. I figure as its the official Volvo software plus they state it's fine to use on stock parts and wont affect your warranty (not that mine has any left anyway) that chances are it should be ok.

I could go to celtric tuning who will map it to 209HP and do it for half the cost, or some **** who will do it even less, but for me the performance vs risk factor just isnt worth it.

You could argue then why do it at all? But the way I see it, this should be as close to risk free as it gets for an extra 30bhp, if I dont it will always be something at the back of my mind, regret the things you do, as they say....

bainbridge · 16 Jul 2019 at 22:08

I've recently had an mx5 remap which went from 158hp to 180hp and although the numbers aren't huge it has really woken up the engine.

It's not just about top end power, torque is up across the range, all gears are unlocked to 100% throttle, fuelling has been tweaked to use less fuel at idle but provide more when it's needed, flat foot shifting, rev matching, 4 switchable maps (tuned map, race rom, standard unleaded and valet) and the engine runs beautifully with not so much as a pop or bang.

£574 well spent.

BUDFORCE · 19 Jul 2019 at 19:10

Well, as I'm getting it done Monday, called Tesco my current insurer to tell them, said they couldn't cover me, had a bit oh a, uh oh here we go moment.

Anyway, long story short ended up getting it with LVE cheaper, about £60 less annually and because I've only been on with Tesco this year about a month the amount they refunded is about the same as the cost of the new policy.

Chicken dinner!!!!!

bainbridge · 19 Jul 2019 at 22:37

BUDFORCE said:
Well, as I'm getting it done Monday, called Tesco my current insurer to tell them, said they couldn't cover me, had a bit oh a, uh oh here we go moment.

Anyway, long story short ended up getting it with LVE cheaper, about £60 less annually and because I've only been on with Tesco this year about a month the amount they refunded is about the same as the cost of the new policy.

Chicken dinner!!!!!

Yes LV gave me the best rates based on a remap and some other mods. Playing around on the site it looks like up to 3 mods cost the same price and then further mods carry an additional loading.

BUDFORCE · 20 Jul 2019 at 06:35

bainbridge said:
Yes LV gave me the best rates based on a remap and some other mods. Playing around on the site it looks like up to 3 mods cost the same price and then further mods carry an additional loading.

Yea I couldn't believe it was cheaper, my renewal is normally around the start of June and I do shop around. When I was chatting to the guy at Tesco whilst cancelling the existing ones, he says insurance costs fluctuate quite a bit depending on the markets.

I had to double check I put everything correctly into the LVE quote but pretty sure I did.

I've read a lot more on the "Polestar" official Volvo ECU upgrade an have read nothing but positive comments so fingers crossed.

m4rmite · 20 Jul 2019 at 19:00

Midland remaps is where i had my 320d stage 1 remapped, up from 184bhp to 220bhp. Torque 380Nm to 445Nm.

I had the remap done 15 months ago and the car has never had any issue, its done 136k as well

I have a daily battle with myself and Autotrader, looking at 335's. I know i will lose my license soon as they seem to be putting up average speed cams around my area :eek: