Yeah, if you were that genned up on where it is, etc., and the garage remapping it physically change the chip (more than likely if not absolutely) just swap it back quickly post crash. Bosh!

Still gotta ask if it's worth the bother though!

blackspaven,

as has been said it really isnt worth with holding the remap from the IC to risk voiding your policy or warranty.

I dont know how many different posters and ways of saying "dont do it" it will take to dissuade you from your current stance that you know best.

Many remaps will use the original chip, and alarms would be ringing with any repairer if you wanted to toy around with the car prior to a repair.

Without sounding harsh, sounds like you will do it regardless. So go ahead. Just remember you've been warned against 'fiddling the IC' by not telling them about a remap should you have an accident and post back the car was pranged and the IC wont cough up or Skoda wont honour warranty work.

Fair enough, but if you smash your car and get the chance to get it repaired, YOU get the say on who you send it to to do the work, you don't have to send it to who they want: Your car, your choice. Just screw your loaf and send it someone to you know.

Trust me, I know very well about that fact!

Why are you asking the question then?

I’m thinking of the worst case scenario, where you were involved in a major accident where there was a loss of life. I imaging the Police would be interested in all the cars concerned and as the cost of repairs/injury payouts/pay outs for loss of life, will be huge who knows what tests will be done. So what would happen when someone works out the total cost of the accident is say, 1-2 million quid and they discover your car was modified and hence not insured? You could lose your home, belongings everything!!!! It really isn’t worth taking the risk for a small premium is it, we insure not just against the little accidents, but the major and significant ones too.

It's asimple procedure to detect a remap anyway. Plug in a computer - et voila - no insurance, book thrown at you....your choice. Although, uninsured drivers hack me off almost as much as drunk ones.

Struggling to understand this remap thing. Why not buy a car with 200bhp in the first place? I have had an insurance quote with a map and it was a 22% increase in price to reflect a 22% increase in power. I am currently insured for £398 fully comprehensive with a £150 excess with legal protection and its a good policy. The policy for the modified car was a 'barebones' policy and the excess was around £350. Make sure you are comparing like for like with policys. Insurers don't like modified cars. Either chip it and 'take a chance' which I couldn't live with or leave it alone.

Struggling to understand this remap thing. Why not buy a car with 200bhp in the first place? I have had an insurance quote with a map and it was a 22% increase in price to reflect a 22% increase in power. I am currently insured for £398 fully comprehensive with a £150 excess with legal protection and its a good policy. The policy for the modified car was a 'barebones' policy and the excess was around £350. Make sure you are comparing like for like with policys. Insurers don't like modified cars. Either chip it and 'take a chance' which I couldn't live with or leave it alone.

Because for some of us insurance is the limiting factor in buying a car. I've got a 200bhp vRS and I pay £3600 a year (£500 excess) to insure it due to being 21 and having a license 20 months. the main attraction of the vRS over the golf gti other than being able to get it in estate form is that it is group 15 insurance rather than group 17 of the golf gti,

but if i want something with more umph why should i be tarred with the same brush as every other young driver and thus not be able to afford to insure a 250bhp car?

yes i know young drivers are more likely to have a prang but its a bit of a sweeping statement dont you think? to assume all young drivers are of equal risk? i maybe 21 but i've passed my IAM test and cover 60k a year accident free. daft thing is i've got a hell of a lot more driving experience in my 18 months than my girlfriend who has being driving 4 years, has 2 claims but is still considerably cheaper to insure on my vRS than myself simply because she is female and had her license longer than me

Because for some of us insurance is the limiting factor in buying a car. I've got a 200bhp vRS and I pay £3600 a year (£500 excess) to insure it

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: Did you want a vRS that much ?

Because for some of us insurance is the limiting factor in buying a car. I've got a 200bhp vRS and I pay £3600 a year (£500 excess)

I think that is just bonkers. I thought paying £420 on my fabia was more than enough. I couldn't possibly warrant spending that sort of money on the insurance just to get a quick car (which you can't drive over 70 anyway). Sheer madness, as far as I'm concerned.

Whoa, whoa, whoa!!

Gadgetman, et al, you're reading this all wrong. I'm just raising the question playing devils advocate trying to push it from both sides: someone has to in all disputes don't they?! As I said, I currently run a modded G60 which is insured correctly for that reason (not that expensive over the original price) and am 32, a homeowner and in a stable job with ample money so don't have a need to fiddle the insurance to lower my premium! I'm not like poor dan who is paying through the nose for a fast car.:( Your last line gadget links with what i've said: i'm not interested in doing the remap for 3 years cos I don't want to knacker my warranty, even though the dealer offered to do it for me before collection. It's the same mentality that will make me declare any alterations. What's £50 extra a year compared to a possible record for fraud from the rozzers? ...especially when it looks like we're all gonna get f*cked in the coming months every time we turn up at the petrol station!

Throughout this thread, the only point i'm sticking up for personally is that you don't have to send a car to your IC's preferred repairer, but apart from that I personally agree that you SHOULD declare alterations: it's not worth the minimal cost saving not to.:thumbdwn:

You guys are intelligent enough to know that, thought you could read between the lines? Sorry if I gave you the wrong impression.

Having said that, I am curious to see what my insurance will be.

:eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek::eek: Did you want a vRS that much ?

certainly did, thought i better get it outa my system before im tied down with kids and a mortgage. i get paid quite well to say im 21. daft thing is, if i had my vRS remapped and declared it with my current insurer (direct line) they wouldn't touch me lol and i think id be struggling to get it insured full stop.

There is an old 'fable' (from Top Gear and other publications IIRC) that some head honcho technician from saab looked into tolerences years ago and from testing concluded that the most you should realistically put into a front wheel drive car is 220bhp before it gets uncontrollable/undriveable in the real world, so if you believe that, you shouldn't really need to tweak a VRs much anyway, if at all.

There is an old 'fable' (from Top Gear and other publications IIRC) that some head honcho technician from saab looked into tolerences years ago and from testing concluded that the most you should realistically put into a front wheel drive car is 220bhp before it gets uncontrollable/undriveable in the real world, so if you believe that, you shouldn't really need to tweak a VRs much anyway, if at all.

More recent suspension, transmissions tyres etc suggest 250 is the perfect compromise in a FWD car. Assuming equal length drive shafts such as Saab use too.

Remapping the vRS gives more usable torque which is more beneficial than the bhp increase.

Keep a hammer in your boot, and if you total your car, pop the bonnet and smash your ECU with it.

Keep a hammer in your boot, and if you total your car, pop the bonnet and smash your ECU with it.

Lol, classy!

certainly did, thought i better get it outa my system before im tied down with kids and a mortgage. i get paid quite well to say im 21. daft thing is, if i had my vRS remapped and declared it with my current insurer (direct line) they wouldn't touch me lol and i think id be struggling to get it insured full stop.

My point exactly you say you can't afford to insure a car with 250bhp? Well I am sure as hell it will cost more to modify a car to 250bhp and insure it year on year, especially at your age.

I'm sure this has been discussed several times before - insurance companies don't always charge that much extra for a remap, but faced with a big claim they'll do anything they can to get out of paying.

It's all very well saying reflash it after the accident if using bluefin/AMD one-click etc. but what if you end up hospitalised as a result of the accident or can't get access to the car?

In the grand scheme of things is it really worth it?

Just my view from experience with insurance companies....

When someone decided it would be a good idea to reverse into the side of my old Saab, I claimed via the insurance......

The company insisted that I went to one of their 'authorised' body shop's, but I inisted on a Saab specialist as I wanted a decent job done...

They said yes but I had to pay an extra £50 on top of my excess... The assessor went and had a look at my car, which had a pannel filter on it (not declared to the insurance company)... when he viewed the car he spent a total of 30 seconds walking around the car - he didn't lift the bonnet let alone start plugging in diagnostic equipment to see if it had been remapped...

The claim was in excess of £2k

My point exactly you say you can't afford to insure a car with 250bhp? Well I am sure as hell it will cost more to modify a car to 250bhp and insure it year on year, especially at your age.

correct, which is why im watching this thread to see the pro's and con's of declaring a remap and once i've weighed em up, whether to purchase a bluefin unit or not

The cons far outweigh the pros.

pros: save money on insurance premiums.

cons: void all or part of the manufacturers warranty on your nice new car.

Have an accident and get found out - insurance company void policy, get prosecuted by the the law resulting in a fine and criminal record, find it very difficult to get future car insurance and make someone elses life a complete mess when they can't work due to injury and your own life a financial mess when you get sued for everything that you have.

It's just not worth the risk.

I do agree that you can take your car to whoever you want for repair, though the insurance company will try to tell you otherwise, or that they will not provide a replacement vehicle, though any bodyshop who wants the business will provide one.

Yeah, they might not give you a courtesy car if you take it to where YOU want to go, unless it's written in your contract and not reliant on the garage. That helped my mate with the M3 (earlier in the thread) cos one of the preferred garages didn't have a courtesy car so he complained about that too.

The money you save through the forum sponsors on parts, remaps pays for the small insurance gain, if any.

All of my mods are declared, and all I've paid is the minimum fee to do so.

I have worry free driving and knowing 3rd parties are also taken care of if I was to have an accident. Not because of my stupidity of hiding a modification.

Its law to tell your insurance company anyways. Don't want the hassle of breaking the laws, a solicitor would cost me ££££££'s.

You have to pick your insurance company carefully too. When i renewed my insurance I asked about mods and they said that I could do anything to the car as long as it didn't increase engine power and my insurance wouldn't go up at all, as long as I declared it with them. They also told me that exhausts and induction kits were cosmetic mods and so were taken as increasing power.

I asked about a remap and was told that although it would increase it wouldn't be silly money. (Obvoiusly they couldn't say more than that until I told them exactly what I was intending).

If your spending £400 on a remap - whats an extra £50 for insurance?

BTW I'm 24 and 3 yrs NCB. Currently pay £500.

correct, which is why im watching this thread to see the pro's and con's of declaring a remap and once i've weighed em up, whether to purchase a bluefin unit or not

I am 36 and have never owned a car with 200bhp, my mk1 vRS is the fastest I have owned. I was also very fortunate at your age I owned a mk1 XR2 and had owned a Honda Prelude. The Ford had a staggering 84 bhp and the Honda 110 bhp. In those days cars were much lighter and both cars performed well for the day.

What I am trying to say is I would be more than happy with a new Golf GTI with 200bhp but my family dictates that I need a larger car. Just enjoy your GTi (with a different badge) and think how lucky your are to have a car that will nudge 150 mph and handles very well too.

I have just returned from a holiday to Newquay and my mk1 vRS returned 35.5 mpg over 1200 miles, and thats using air-con a fair amount too. There are not many cars which perform like ours yet are still reasonable to run. The world is changing and the big V8 monsters have had there day. I am sure there are many Scooby drivers or Evo drivers that dream of mid 30s to the gallon! There are not many cars that can go as fast as yours safely point to point, certainly not at an affordable price anyway.

Hope this helps.