Thread: ECU Remapping

I was just after a bit of advice/feedback from fellow ARRSER's.

I am looking at the possibility of getting an ECU remap done on the motor, a turbo diesel, and wondered if anyone out there had any good/bad experiences, and in particular, and recommendations on particular companies. I want to make damn sure that I use a reputable company with a solid background in aftercare and support.

Any help would be greatly appreciated, although it might be best to stick to PM's rather than bore everyone with my own vehicle details.

Thanks

Ignore the "chips" that are on ebay for a few quid they work but will detonate your engine in about 1000 miles, Depending on your car there's a few different ones out there. If I was you I'd look to see if there is a specific forum your your make/model of car and ask there. Just be careful some will invalidate your warrenty

Some manufacturers offer the service themselves with no warrantee implications - worth asking your dealer first just to see what he can do for you.

What vehicle? There are good and bad out there and it would help to know which manufacturer your car is.

Fair point, car is a Vectra 1.9CDTi, currently 150 bhp, but one company I have a quote from say that they can boost that up to about 180/190, with an extra 50-60 lb ft of torque.

Will speak to Vauxhall dealer also to see if they can do it, cheers!







edited for mongy spelling :(

Do be aware that any performance increase will come with increased fuel use and shorten the life of the engine - warantee or no warantee.

i used to work in car dealerships and they don't usually offer re-maps mate some just send it to other companies.
I take it the car is no longer under manufacturers warranty? if not it makes no odds really as long as you use a reputable dealer.

My advice would be go on some vauxhall owners club forums and check out on there. They will tell you exactly what gains they have and which are the best re-maps / chips.

My experience with modified volkswagon and audi diesels has been great. I had an A3 170 tdi running in the region of 220bhp. Kept pace with scoobies and megane 225's + torque was better

As far as I know the only common issue with chipping a TDCi Vauxhall is Engine Management Light problems.
Not a huge issue but worth doing some research on, it can occasionally drop the vehicle into limp mode but a decent re-map should be able to avoid that
Some engines have long term problems after re-mapping but the TDCi doesn't seem to have anything common.

Jagman, thanks mate, much appreciated.

Bloke, I'm not so sure about increased fuel use, as the claim by everyone is that it will actually improve fuel efficiency, due to an improved power curve and less revs required for the same speed. Same allegedly goes for engine wear as they claim to only imprve output within set tolerances of engine parts, not so excessive as to blow the engine apart. But thanks for the input, it's exactly this kind of stuff I want to iron out in my head before I go ahead with it.

The vehicle is not still under warranty, being a 55 plate.

Try superchips, nationally recognised brand with quite a few locations around the UK for the work to be done, i had a 306hd d-turbo and iirc it was a flat cost of £500 and produced gains of 20-25%bhp and 40% torque i think, i never had any issues with it mechanically or otherwise after fitment, didnt improve fuel consumption, took it down a touch actually but only by a small amount, probably as i was driving a bit more 'enthusiasticaly ' after the chip was in, hope that helps.

As for fuel efficiency, yes, it will use fuel more efficiently but ultimately power comes from fuel burnt. Want more power-burn more fuel. If you drive at the same sppeds and accelerate at the same rates the higher state-of-tune engine may actually be more economical due to a marginally more efficient burn but you wont drive like that, will you? You want the power for a reason and that reason is, unless I am completely wrong, mainly improved acceleration and that is where you will get the benefits of the extra power and the downside of drinking like a squaddie at all-you-can-drink-for-ten-quid night.

As for premature wear, it is pretty much a straight line graph - increase power output by 20% and expect 20% faster wear rates on all engine components that are routinely subject to wear through pressure.

Consider also the rest of the drive train. You are potentially putting more than the design specifications through the clutch, gearbox, drive shaft(s), CV joints and tires. All will wear out faster but maybe not so fast that you will notice (although I would bet on you noticing the faster tyre wear fairly fast).

Have you also considered that you might want to improve the suspension and brakes before/at the same time as you increase the available acceleration and top speed. Its all very well going fast in straight lines but......................

Bloke,

I never said I wasn't going to drive like a loon!!! :D

I know what you mean, there are fuel efficiency savings to be made, but I also doubt that I will see them. Whilst I will drive carefully and considerately when I have my little on in the car, when I'm 'home alone' as it were I will return to factory settings and get the hammer down, otherwise what's the point in being a bloke?

Life's too short.........

Originally Posted by whosthedaddy

Jagman, thanks mate, much appreciated.

Bloke, I'm not so sure about increased fuel use, as the claim by everyone is that it will actually improve fuel efficiency, due to an improved power curve and less revs required for the same speed. Same allegedly goes for engine wear as they claim to only imprve output within set tolerances of engine parts, not so excessive as to blow the engine apart. But thanks for the input, it's exactly this kind of stuff I want to iron out in my head before I go ahead with it.

The vehicle is not still under warranty, being a 55 plate.

You have swallowed the manufacturer's blurb, haven't you?

Your speed is directly linked to the number of engine revolutions; no chip will alter that. If you want to change that, change the gearbox.

Engine wear depends on lots of things but mainly on the quality of the engine oil and the amount of stress on the engine. Increase the amount of stress on the engine as you plan and wear will increase somewhere. Whether that is sufficient to break the engine within a reasonable lifespan is a question that can only be answered by the company's engineers.

My attitude to chipping has always been that, if the manufacturer thought it could get away with a more powerful engine, it would do so. But, what the manufacturer wants is reliability and economy, so it doesn't rate the engine at its maximum output.

You will increase both the power output and fuel consumption. You might increase your top speed because there might be more torque at the top end of the rev range. If you take advantage of the increased power, you will reduce the life of the engine.

Litotes

If you live close to, or are prepared to travel then contact THORNEY MOTORSPORT in Milton Keynes.

There are an appproved Vauxhall Garage (Masterfit servicing and engine mods etc, but not car sales), and well known in the motor racing world. They race VX,s and BMW's.

They may not be the cheapest.

I use them to service my Vauxhall Corsa and I have had no problems with them, unlike the other Vauxhall dealer in MK.

Contact; 01908 238798
Email; info@thorneymotorsport.co.uk
Web; www.thorneymotorsport.co.uk

Hope this is useful

DB, cheers mate, might be a bit far.

Litotes, the reason they don't squeeze the extra power out is mainly for tax reasons. Road tax in most countires is linked to either BHP or emissions. I have a vectra, the vast majority of which are snapped up as company cars, companies don't like spending money on taxing cars, hence keeping the power below a certain point.

Allegedly,