...and so far it's all good.
There's useful extra urge in all gears, but not so much as to make the car less drivable.
Hills which might have required a change down now don't, and block changes are an option.
Motorway acceleration in sixth is transformed, so I can now deal with Beemer man when he looms large in the rear view mirror.
All the gadgets, trip computer, warning lights, etc work as before, the only change is the extra oomph.
There's not so much extra go as to leave me needing uprated brakes or handling, and I do have a chocolate flywheel to consider, so I wouldn't want any more power.
The guy who did it said most customers notice an improvement in fuel consumption.
Early indications are he's right, although I've not done enough miles to be certain.
My remap was a £199 stage one special offer and took about an hour.
All done via a laptop and the diagnostic port - no need to open the bonnet.
The price didn't include rolling road, but the guy said the new map will give about 30 extra bhp and about 40 Nm of torque.
He has a copy of my old map, and will reinstall it free of charge.
I was also instructed to provide some feedback, which shows his confidence in the product, and shows a level of customer service which is a pleasant surprise in itself.
Wish I'd remapped the car years ago.
www.dyno-tuning.co.uk/
Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 3 Oct 11 at 16:06
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and the insurance company has said............?
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and does your engine ECU have an event logger..............?
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Sounds good, Iffy. Must get around to getting the Golf done, although for the 50 miles a month it is now doing, it's hardly worth it. 175 bhp for £300 is very tempting though. Let us now how the economy pans out.
Had from the horses mouth of a BMW technician who attended a breakdown callout on my 318i last week that the ONLY difference between a 318d/320d, 325d/330d, 318i/320i and 325i/330i is software. They are mechanically identical in every single other way, and yes, you can apparently upload the "wrong" software with the BMW equipment. Although he naturally refused to get involved with such a thing (and yes, I did ask!). :-)
You can see how the remappers make their money.
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Thanks to DP for the positive response, fewer thanks, but thanks all the same to pmh and ON for the negative ones.
If someone invented a perpetual motion machine, there would be a post to say it's unsafe because you can't stop it.
My insurer is not interested, or at least, not interested in increasing my premium because of the remap.
It's a common attitude with stage one remaps, from what I can gather.
I imagine the ECU will have an event logger, but so what?
If the car breaks, the dealer will either find the remap or not, and they will either pay the warranty claim or they won't.
But the question brings to mind something else the remap guy told me.
He comes across all sorts of things on ECUs, including attempts to load Skoda maps onto VWs, because they are cheaper, or the VW owner got the Skoda map for free.
Many ECUs record the mileage, and the guy told me he's seen discrepancies between the ECU mileage, and the figure displayed on the dashboard.
No prizes for guessing which is higher.
Last edited by: Iffy on Mon 3 Oct 11 at 18:06
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>> I imagine the ECU will have an event logger, but so what?
>>
>> If the car breaks, the dealer will either find the remap or not, and they
>> will either pay the warranty claim or they won't.
>>
Its not the dealer you need to worry about. If someone makes a six figure claim against your insurance they might just go over your car with a fine tooth comb. But if the insurance company have OK'd it no problem, your house won't be on the line.
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But won't the higher powered versions have better brakes etc?
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>> But won't the higher powered versions have better brakes etc?
It might need those if Iffy were racing it. I don't think he is, just gaining speed up a few hills at 1500rpm in 6th.
>> There's not so much extra go as to leave me needing uprated brakes or handling
I'd be more concerned about extra wear on front suspension bushes and CV joints from the greater torque - that's the reason I didn't chip my Skoda.
I'm still revelling in the fact that the Mondeo will accelerate up Bradgate Hill in 6th with the a/c switched on, where the Escort would barely hold its own in 5th with a/c turned off especially for the climb :)
Iffster, does the remap increase the spread of torque? Will the CC3 pull away from rest without any accelerator input now?
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Mon 3 Oct 11 at 19:42
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...Iffster, does the remap increase the spread of torque? Will the CC3 pull away from rest without any accelerator input now?...
Hard to say in the absence of a rolling road read out.
But as soon as I put the car in first and the clutch bit, I knew there was extra power.
The new map is very usable because the extra torque is there low down in the rev range.
I will have to watch the lower speed limits, the same sequence of throttle openings and gear changes now produces a higher speed than before.
A couple of times I've found myself running up 35mph+ in a 30mph limit.
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you kind of know how fast you are going by the time and distance you reach things, not by the amount of foot you have angled.
Last edited by: Zero on Mon 3 Oct 11 at 20:14
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>> The price didn't include rolling road, but the guy said the new map will give
>> about 30 extra bhp and about 40 Nm of torque.
Sounds great iffy. Can you just remind me which engine you've got - is it the 2.0 diesel?
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Is there an insurance implication ?
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...Is there an insurance implication ?...
As mentioned further up, my insurer didn't load the premium.
I believe most don't for mild stage one remaps.
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...Sounds great iffy. Can you just remind me which engine you've got - is it the 2.0 diesel?...
Yes.
The impression I got was remapping the car was a doddle because there are so many of that engine about, so it's worth the remap company - Sedox- fully developing the map.
I recall yours is a petrol, but the same might apply.
DP's Golf is the 1.9 diesel, another popular engine, So I expect remapping one of those will also be easy.
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>> DP's Golf is the 1.9 diesel, another popular engine, So I expect remapping one of
>> those will also be easy.
Easy and cheap, iffy. The engine will, believe it or not, go to over 200 bhp with just remapping, but the standard clutch cries enough between 170 and 180 (or rather the 400 odd NM of torque that goes with it) depending on the delivery of the map. Most therefore offer 170-175 with the reputable ones paying careful attention to the way the torque is delivered.
I used to be cynical about remapping, but having known quite a few people run remapped VW, Ford and Vauxhall diesels to big mileages without any problems, I think it's a good way to go.
Good to hear about your insurers as well.
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...fuel consumption update...
Done a few miles now and the fuel consumption has decreased.
It used to drop to around 43/44mpg at this time of year, but I'm currently on just over 48mpg.
The weather's not been bitterly cold, but it looks like the promised extra three or four mpg has materialised.
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Mine's still got the dodgy starting problem, which I gather needs a Mandela-only software update as per TSB 34/2006, at between £80-£110 depending. The brain gets confused about applying full fuel pressure immediately after an engine start, or something, so it splutters along for 4 or 5 seconds, then rights itself. It's a well known Mondeo III TDCi problem on Talkford.org, at any rate.
If a £199 remap involves complete replacement of the ECU contents, that would cure the starting problem as well, wouldn't it...? ;)
Last edited by: Dave_TDCi on Tue 11 Oct 11 at 21:24
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...If a £199 remap involves complete replacement of the ECU contents, that would cure the starting problem as well, wouldn't it...? ;)...
Stands a chance.
When mine was first done, I thought it was ticking over a little faster, but it isn't now, so if it was, it's settled down.
There's still the occasional missed beat at tick over, which I'm told is also common with this engine.
I find the fact it still does that reassuring - not much has changed, other than extra power and economy.
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The only down side will be poor performance in snow.
Just when you're pottering along nicely, using minimal throttle...you'll get to the revs where the increased power feeds in...and have a surge of power when you don't want it.
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...The only down side will be poor performance in snow...
Makes sense, I had thought the car couldn't be any more hopeless on snow.
Perhaps I'll try fitting slicks.
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