dave a

Thanks for the update Dave, glad you are happy with it

well I have both a Fabia Vrs and a Dyno Dynamics rolling road.

Not at all, its just a question that I get asked all the time, possibly once or twice a day sometimes. Thought it would be interesting for people to see what goes on behind the scenes of the cheap remap scene. yes, an experienced ecu mapper can open a file and will know what they are looking at and sometimes have a good guess at what to modify and how to modify it and they would get decent results, however, a person with this amount of knowledge and equipment would not need to buy a cheap file that has been modified by a 'bedroom tuner' in a distant Eastern European contry, he would write the file himself. Modifying files without a dyno is possible and can get good results, but without something to tell you (a dyno for example) how the changes to the map file are affecting the power output and other factors, its just a good guess. As always, some guesses are far better than others! Some map file wrtiers will write very good maps without even seeing the car, these files are generally sold to tuners that can extensively test them before allowing the customer to drive away. However, the end user that writes the file to the car generally pays a premium price for them and charges a premium price to the customer. Nothing wrong with this method of mapping. The other side to that is the poeple buying files for 15-30 quid and just banging them into the ecu, no testing or knowledge, just whack it on and hope for the best! but the customer does save 150 quid, should help a bit towards the cost of the new turbo;)

Ever wondered why some companies charge 100 quid and other are 300+? Noticed the large amount of wannabe 'ecu mappers' appearing on the market lately and offering remaps on ebay for next to nothing? Well its simple, the old fashioned way of mapping an ecu was to get the car on a dyno (rolling road) carry out extensive testing, use specialist software and equipment to be able to read the files from the ECU and view the information held within the maps, then modify the information held within the maps and re-test, re-map, re-test etc.... until they were 100% happy. These days there is a massive amount of cheap, cloned and fake hardware and software out there. It can be bought from as little as 75 pounds! but that isnt the real problem, cheap hardware is one thing but without the knowledge of how to actually write a modified ECU map this cheap equipment is useless. Recently there has been a HUGE amount of companies right accross europe popping up that sell modified ECU map files, mostly these are known in the trade as 'bedroom tunes' as the vast majority of them are files that have been simply modified purely by guesswork, no real testing or R&D just a few tweeks here and there and hope for the best. I have found people in Lithuania, Romania, Turkey etc.. all trying to seel cheap files. Most of these files are corrupt, unsuitable or just plain angerous to use, but your average 'have a go' cheap remap dealer wont care! Just look at some of these prices: Skoda Fabia 1.9 TDI Bosch EDC15V - Fabia - Tunefood ECU File Service yes, RRP is 350 pounds, File price is 65 pounds and trade price is even less! Nobody knows where the file is from, who wrote it or even what the file is, just load it up and hope for the best. Takes less than 10 mins to download one of these files and upload to the ECU. Would you risk it? Hope this helps people realise why some companies are so much more expensive when it comes to remapping an ecu. As a guide, if the outlet doesnt have their own dyno its likley they dont write their own maps and they are simply a file re-seller, not a proffesional mapping centre.

As a fully qualified EFI technician and ecu mapper with years of experience tuning everything from road to race cars I can highly advise AGAINST using any type of plug in 'tuning box' type of device. I have tried and tested many, never been impressed by any of them especially when you read live parameters while running a car on the dyno that has a box fitted. black smog anyone?

sounds very much like a cheap replacement cat, theres loads of them about and I often get cars in with them fitted for diagnostic and emissions tests. As a mechanic of 10 years I have seen a huge rise in this very same problem due to the amount of cheap aftermarket cats coming in to the UK from china. I cant guarantee its the cat of course but I would put £20 on it that if you fitted a good condition used cat or a higher quality new cat the problem would be resolved.

thanks alex, after searching my parts catalogues, it seems the hubs are 100% interchangable with nothing else needing replacing.

Am I right in thinking that the Fabia/Polo/ibiza PD100 engined cars came with different hubs (the type that have the pad guides fixed to the hub) If I am right, I need to find out if the hubs are interchangable between the 130 and 100 models and if the splines on the shaft /hubs are the same, or will shafts/cv's need swapping as well? thanks in advance for any help:thumbup:

this one: have some more pics with the bumper finished, will post them up if you need some. (and ignore the brackets, they were mock-ups until we fabricate some nice stainless ones!)

not totally relevant to this thread, but we always leave an engine to get HOT before removing manifold/turbo bolts, they come off a LOT easier that when they are cold. Just wear some gloves

I spend a lot of my time mapping purely for economy, some cars see good gains but I rarely see the claims of 20% that some companies quote! I wrote a map for my fabia recently that was an eco map, even driving very sensibly the 20 mile run to work only gained an extra 4mpg. I did map a Ford Focus common rail diesel once and the owner reported an extra 10mpg, did an audi Q7 as well (diesel) and the owner claimed a gain of 12-14 mpg over what he used to get on a long run. Personally i really dislike powerboxes or 'tuning boxes' and have NEVER had a car equipped with one show the gains in MPG they claim, let alone the power they claim. I have seen them cause more problems than anything else. Black smog anyone? Dave.

having people in the workshop has all sorts of insurance issues Ian, what course are you doing and where? we run training days and work experience with most of the colleges and training suppliers in the area.

thats the next step... then turbo and injectors.