Why are you intent on dragging this out

 

I'm sure when the time comes you'll either decide to have it done or not

 

Personally, for the service provided, you won't find much (if any) better than Ben

 

Plus, if you join Freedom, you might even qualify for a 10% discount  

 

Hi Brimma, the intent wasnt to drag it out mate (again, I hope this isnt being taken in a negative way, i just noticed the difference in cost between marks and got curious).... I saw the "tongue-in-cheek" post by JuanCarr, and thought I would correct it with tongue similarly "in-cheek".... lol 

 

I also appreciate the recommendation for Ben, as from previous experience I struggle to trust mechanics (£2K subframe restoration job that turned out to be a bodge of "Cowboy Builder" proportions :( ) - Once the Octy vRS arrives, Briskoda will be getting my coin for a membership and a black Tax disc holder ...

 

SHARK (Ben?) -  I have a feeling I will also be dropping in with an apology hamper and a keg of Tea / Coffee   - Sometimes I can be a little too blunt... Thanks for the long explanation (the mention of the Dyno being used during the remap pretty much explains the cost difference), and I'm genuinely interested to see what you put together (Miltek has a good rep in the MG world, so a real "twin-exit" free-er breathing backbox from you guys forthe Octysounds great).

Alfa re-map for the Cloverleaf is around £6-700, and that's for >10% BHP increase.

 

If Shark price their re-map at £499, I'd certainly consider taking the plunge....

I was paying £350-£400 for Subaru remaps incl a dyno run 15 years ago. Add inflation, VAT increases, etc.., and £500 would seem a very fair price to pay. I would certainly pay that for 10-15% additional grunt on my TSI, when it eventually arrives.....

Edited 7 November, 201312 yr by Orville

I trust you didn't visit their website?

 

Jesus, what a bucketfull of WTF is that?  Powerpoint-esque slides zooming in and out.......1997 or what?

 

ZNF?  Employ some grown ups to design your website?  I'd offer to do it but my rates are obviously well above what you're paying.

 

But I wish you well.

 I had a MG TF 135 tweaked by Z and F a few years ago and the difference, for a normally aspirated engine, was far more noticeable than I expected.

 

So 10/10 as far as I am concerned, and I was paying for the quality of the tuning, not the quality of their website

For that sort of improvement, do people really experience more issues with the car, or is it negligible? I'd imagine a car thrashed to death on a standard map vs. One cherished with some extra bhp (200+ is a nice number!) Would last longer regardless.

Well just as a reference point, mines running a 104% increase in power and 71% increase in torque over what the factory originally intended thanks to Shark Performance and its proved totally reliable and is now approaching 40,000 miles! Admittedly it gets all of its important fluids changed at least twice as ofter as Skoda recommend but mines had no issues.

For that sort of improvement, do people really experience more issues with the car, or is it negligible? I'd imagine a car thrashed to death on a standard map vs. One cherished with some extra bhp (200+ is a nice number!) Would last longer regardless.

There are many factors. Each component has inherent tolerances (safety margin). Tuning generally eats into these margins, but a good tuner can produce a final result which provides great performance but maintains plenty of margin for long term motoring. Say for instance that the standard engine internals and turbo are good for 200K miles when driven by the average owner. Adding 10-15% power may reduce the engine lifespan by 10-50%, but as the average driver only covers 12K pa, most will not encounter engine related problems. Gearbox, clutch and transmission components may also take a similar hit.

 

Short answer is that an averagely driven tuned car will be more likely to fail than an averagely driven standard car. It does not make them unreliable, rather prone to more wear and tear. Most people will however only ever notice the performance increase.

 

All of the above regards expert tuning/tuners. Poor tuning can very quickly create big repair bills. More BHP is never completely risk free. Just look at how frequently F1 engines used to let go 10 years ago compared to nowadays when there is a power cap.

 

In my opinion it is safe to allow an expert to tune your car within reasonable parameters (10-15%). It will not be as safe a leaving the car in stock trim, but even stock cars go wrong sometimes.

Edited 27 May, 201610 yr by Orville

I was paying £350-£400 for Subaru remaps incl a dyno run 15 years ago. Add inflation, VAT increases, etc.., and £500 would seem a very fair price to pay. I would certainly pay that for 10-15% additional grunt on my TSI, when it eventually arrives.....

the other thing as well is the price isn't just for the map or whatever its for the support. I had a few issues with both a DPF off remap and an EGR delete that I had done at separate times on my Mk 2 vrs, which necessitated a few revisits to shark HQ, and both these issues were resolved speedily and at no extra cost- have issues on an ebay chip and I suspect you'd be on your own.

 

The sofa in the waiting room is hideously uncomfortable though.

As a fellow tuner, (some on this thread would probably argue that selling tuning boxes doesn't qualify me as a tuner, but to those people i say .... "yawn") id have to agree with Ben 100%,

 

like everything in life you do get what you pay for and tuning boxes are no different from remaps as the quality ranges from fantastic to down right ****

 

Ive only met Ben a couple of times but we speak regularly and I'm sure he would agree that both he and i are very much alike, like brothers from another mother. He tunes cars via remapping and i tune via boxes, and again I'm sure he would agree that we both try and offer our customers the best of what we can achieve.

 

When we had our own S3, the only person i would trust to remap the car was Ben and if i ever have any petrol cars in the future then they will be going back to him too..

 

As for the Shark octavia I'm hopefully seeing it tomorrow as I'm taking the white vrs estate down for a photoshoot and some play time on the dyno

Edited 8 November, 201312 yr by Andrew@DTUK