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Please explain remapping!


judith_sw
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Apologies if this is a frequent question. I'm not particularly interested in getting it at the moment, but am curious to find out a bit more!

The obvious questions are:

How much more power can you expect?

How much does it cost?

Does it affect your warranty (I have 18 months left)?

Does it affect insurance?

Does it have knock-on effects on the rest of the car ... clutch, braking, etc?

If more performance is available, why don't the manufacturers automatically give it?

Does it affect fuel economy?

Sorry if any of these seem stupid questions, but am interested to know more!

Thanks smashfreakB.gif

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How much more power can you expect?

Depends on the car you're having remapped. If you're only having a remap, and not uprating the exhaust or anything else, you can expect anything between 10-50bhp - forced induction (turbo'd or supercharged) cars generally return better results from a remap.

How much does it cost?

Depends on who does it for you - around £500 from the mainstream tuners like www.amdtechnik.com www.revotechnik.com or www.awesome-gti.co.uk or less from a roadside tuner.

Does it affect your warranty (I have 18 months left)?

Generally manufacturer's warranties are voided if you have the car remapped.

Does it affect insurance?

You modify the car if you have it remapped, so you need to declare it to your insurance company. Please don't ask if "you can get away with it" on Tyresmoke, becuase you'll generally be shot down in flames. If you don't declare it,you're effectively uninsured. If you accidentally kill someone in a road accident, you'll be uninsured for that as well, so it's just not worth not doing.

Does it have knock-on effects on the rest of the car ... clutch, braking, etc?

Clutch, typically not, unless you're having some additional serious tuning done to the car. Brakes, generally not for a remap alone. What you have to think about is being able to slow a car down that accelerates quicker than it used to. Brake upgrades start from £500 up to about £5K.

If more performance is available, why don't the manufacturers automatically give it?

To meet European regs, to keep fuel economy as high as possible, to keep in line with their competition, to ensure the car is reliable over a 100,000+ mile lifetime - take your pick!

Does it affect fuel economy?

Depends on how you drive. Generally, if you've more power, you'll tend to use it. A lot of people have found that driving their remapped car "normally" returns better MPG.

HTH

beerchug.gif

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HI, You can generaly expect 10%-15% power gain on N/A cars, 25% on turbo petrol cars, and 30% on turbo deisel cars. If this is done by a good tuner it should not affect the reliability of the car. The map will affect your insurance if you tell them(which you should)and the warrenty wil be void in theory but the dealers are unable to see if the car has been mapped as they dont have the facillitys. Some new ecu's come with a write counter built in which the dealers can see, but some cars can come of the production line with 2-3 writes allready on the count.....so you can draw your own conclusion.

Hope this helps!

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[ QUOTE ]

HI, You can generaly expect 10%-15% power gain on N/A cars, 25% on turbo petrol cars, and 30% on turbo deisel cars. If this is done by a good tuner it should not affect the reliability of the car. The map will affect your insurance if you tell them(which you should)and the warrenty wil be void in theory but the dealers are unable to see if the car has been mapped as they dont have the facillitys. Some new ecu's come with a write counter built in which the dealers can see, but some cars can come of the production line with 2-3 writes allready on the count.....so you can draw your own conclusion.

Hope this helps!

[/ QUOTE ]

On most cars, we reset the counter, to ensure the flash stays invisible in terms of flash counters

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Thank you for the very helpful replies - I posted thanks yesterday, but I think there was a problem with my internet link.

It all looks very interesting - my 2.0 TDI has pretty good performance (compared to what I expected from a diesel, never having owned one before), but more can be better!!! I guess it's best to wait until the car is out of warranty - I still have 18 months to go - but can a remap be reversed if, say, you want to p/ex the car at a dealership later on? Also, what effect does it have on the insurance?

Thanks, Judith beerchug.gif

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Hi Judith,

Yes a remap can be reversed. If you go somewhere to have it remapped, then you just go back again for them to upload the stock ECU map and you're sorted.

You can also remap your car via a plug-in device, and therefore it can be done through the post. You order one of these remapping boxes which when you receive it, you plug it into the car and it downloads your map into the box. You then pop this in the post and in a few days it returns with new code which you then just plug back into the car and press a button. That's your new map loaded and you're ready to roll!

Again, since you now have the box, you can revert to the stock mapping when you need to and it only takes a few mins. It's about £500-£550 for this option.

169144-ok.gif

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Don't discount it until the warranty expires - many many dealers now remap their cars - three Q7s done recently at a dealer chain I know of plus many TTs done via the dealer I use. If it is done by a reputable company it won't necessarily invalidate your warranty and you will have comeback should there be problems. If your turbo blew up then the dealer may say it is due to the remap but many dealers are very mod friendly. Speak with them. grin.gif

Insurance - yes you must declare but on the TTQS a remap, exhaust and some work on the DV and hoses only put my premium up by £50 a year. Some insurers won't touch modified cars though. frown.gif

Even if its remapped the dealer may well set it back to stock if they part ex it. Otherwise a reputable tuner will take it back to original state for you if you decide to sell it. 169144-ok.gif

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[ QUOTE ]

I think on average, they tend to be friendly when they have a remapped car in stock which they might be trying to sell but otherwise you might as well be calling their mother a ****** crazy.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You obviously don't have a "special" relationship with your dealer coffee.gifgrin.gif

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Yep second that lottie, I have no trouble with re-mapped cars being returned and I dont re-set them back to normal either. 169144-ok.gif

As will says the counters are reset so undetectable. coffee.gif Check sum checks out smirk.gif

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[ QUOTE ]

[ QUOTE ]

I think on average, they tend to be friendly when they have a remapped car in stock which they might be trying to sell but otherwise you might as well be calling their mother a ****** crazy.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

You obviously don't have a "special" relationship with your dealer coffee.gifgrin.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Err, mine knows the full status of my car, but I agree. Yes. coffee.giftongue.gif

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Chipped UK has dealers all over the place, they're great too!

[/ QUOTE ]

Hmm. OK. But I think the poster meant mod friendly main dealers not agents who carry out remaps.

A word of warning guys. It isn't a good idea to mention mod friendly dealers. VAG do have a history of monitoring forums and voiding warranties.

Oh, and Judith. You'll love a remap on a diesel. They were made for tuning grin.gif

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Thanks - what improvement could I expect on a 2.0l TDI on a bog standard remap (ie not need ing any other upgrades)?

[/ QUOTE ]

A shed load more torque for a start (get it into 3rd and not much will catch you!) and depending on the tuner a more 'petrol' like drive ie a more free revving engine. None of that all or nothing feel that some diesels have.

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[ QUOTE ]

Thanks - what improvement could I expect on a 2.0l TDI on a bog standard remap (ie not need ing any other upgrades)?

[/ QUOTE ]

AmD quote 35 bhp and 40 lb/ft of torque. Check out http://www.amdtechnik.com/products.variant.cfm?variantid=74

This is based on the 140PS model, not the new 170PS model, which you would probably expect to get 200 bhp out of and a bucket load of torque!

HTH

beerchug.gif

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Oh dear, this is getting tempting!!! My 2.0TDI is a 2005 model, so I'm not sure what BHP it is (I'm not overly technical). It's my first diesel and I'm really pleased with the performance, although it's not particularly quick in sports terms...

I might give Admiral a call and ask what the cost would be. If I got it done, I would almost certainly reverse the remap when it came to trade-in time, so I could sell it in its original condition. I take it that this is possible and that the car would be deemed 'normal' for insurance and DVLA. (Also, would DVLA need to know about this?)

Can dealers not tell if a car has been remapped then reversed? Can it affect the value?

Can a remap wear a car more?

I'm keeping the car for at least 3 years, so it would be nice to have some fun in it!

Sorry about all the questions ... but you all keep sending me helpful (and tempting replies) notworthy.gifECLIPSe.gif

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It'll be 140PS (about 138 bhp) - the 170PS model has only just been introduced.

DVLA don't need to know. If you want to reverse it, you would be better going for a REVO remap www.revotechnik.com as you can switch it on or off.

When you speak to Admiral, do NOT tell them it's a remap - tell them it's an ECU upgrade - there's a big difference when it comes to premiums.

HTH

beerchug.gif

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[ QUOTE ]

Oh dear, this is getting tempting!!! My 2.0TDI is a 2005 model, so I'm not sure what BHP it is (I'm not overly technical). It's my first diesel and I'm really pleased with the performance, although it's not particularly quick in sports terms...

I might give Admiral a call and ask what the cost would be. If I got it done, I would almost certainly reverse the remap when it came to trade-in time, so I could sell it in its original condition. I take it that this is possible and that the car would be deemed 'normal' for insurance and DVLA. (Also, would DVLA need to know about this?)

Can dealers not tell if a car has been remapped then reversed? Can it affect the value?

Can a remap wear a car more?

I'm keeping the car for at least 3 years, so it would be nice to have some fun in it!

Sorry about all the questions ... but you all keep sending me helpful (and tempting replies) notworthy.gifECLIPSe.gif

[/ QUOTE ]

Goodness. A whole new kettle of ballgames grin.gif

I'm glad you're talking about insurance. There are plenty out there who don't and hopefully I'll never meet them on the road. Forget the DVLA but certainly sound out your insurers, some point blank refuse modifications. Mook obviously has experience with Admiral so follow his advice but be prepared for a hike in price. There's no point asking us how much because obviously everyone's circumstances are different.

When it comes to selling the car most tuners will return your car to standard, some for a small fee, some for nothing. I reckon this mostly depends on what sort of relationship you have with the agent.

Re: dealers. What they don't know won't hurt them but if you're worried about warranties being voided then don't map. Seriously. Some tuners such as Custom Code and Revo do offer a 'back to stock' option for servicing etc but if a dealer is looking then they will find it. You have to be honest with yourself and know that if you've been running oodles more boost and the turbo goes pop then really a warranty claim is a tad dishonest.

My advice? Sound out your insurers, get the remap, forget the main dealers for servicing and use a good independent with tuning experience from now on.

Oh and Custom Code all the way laugh.gif

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