Hi All,

 

Newbie to the forums here, just wanted to get some feedback if anybody has used or tried ECU chip upgrades to their Superb? I'm looking at getting a 2.0 TDI 125kw (170PS) Superb Elegance.

Are the chips worth it? Do they improve fuel economy, if so - by how much?

Are there any negatives for using an remapped ECU chip?

 

For example:

http://www.chipexpress.com/products/2094/

 

Any thoughts/comments would be appreciated!

 

Thanks

Everybody has opinions on chipping a car. Here's mine.

 

1. Economy. If you think the economy will improve so drastically it will gain you 400 £ (price of the chip) during the time you have the car, you better be prepared to hold onto the car for a LONG time. While you can see the car is more economical after a chip, most of those improvements are between your ears. It's not a magic bullet. 

 

2. Reliability. You can leave your car unchipped, and have 500.000 miles of trouble-free motoring. You can leave your car unchipped, and after 500 miles you're at the side of the road, broken down. Every car needs a bit of luck...This does NOT change when you chip a car. If you go for a stage 1 remap (just a remap, so no turbo/intercooler swap etc), and the tuner uses his head, it should not affect reliability one bit. That being said, you still need a bit of luck. If you really push the max values, and you actually use those max values from time to time, you might affect the clutch life. But then again, clutches wear out in unmapped cars aswell...

 

3. Why chip? Easy. I want to know when my car is at max torque. 

 

Here's my 140PS 320Nm CFFB Engined Superb, chipped to 186PS 405Nm;

 

 

As you can see, my car now delivers max torque at 2250rpm. It is my understanding that a car is at it's peak performance (consumption vs. power) when you're at max torque. So I know that if I rev the nuts off untill 3000rpm, it's going to go faster, but it will be less efficient. I now change gear when I hit 2250, and that gives me the best bang for buck, so to speak. 

 

(There's a wonderfull website run by a reputable guy where he explains this whole -max torque means max performance, shifting after or before this point wastes energy and fuel- idea, but I can't seem to find it atm...)

 

Another reason to chip? Some cars leave the factory with HORRIBLE mapping...you can see in my picture above, no big dips or spikes...most tuners have a "wall of shame", readouts of maps that have HUGE dips and stuff...sometimes they leave the factory like this, sometimes they will be caused by bad tuners. You want a smooth curve.

 

Now, to conclude.

 

I STRONGLY suggest you try to find a competent mapper near to you, who has a rolling road and who edits your map based on the actual car...the website you use (which might be very good...) offers a powerbox. These things have a bad reputation. Not only are you messing with an external module, but also the mapping on that is not written specifically for your car or needs. It's propably just designed to make your car inject more fuel (more fuel = more powerrrrrrr) but that INCREASES consumption, and is very bad news for our modern DPF equipped diesels. In the old days, a badly tuned diesel car was easely seen as it had a massive black cloud following it. Nowadays they are harder to spot, but still. Increasing the amount of fuel injected into the engine will increase power, but it's a bad way to remap a car. And even worse, without a rolling road result, how can you tell the difference?

 

Ofcourse, the next guy who posts here will tell you all about his good experiences using your website. But that's his view. This was mine :-)

Edited 5 July, 201411 yr by Too Tall

Great reply Too Tall

Thanks...and to add, about fuel economy, here's my view (I have too much free time today ;-) )

 

1. Car needs to be in order. This means regular maintenance, good tyres (Goodyear EfficientGrip Performance's are a good choice), and you need to check their pressure every month. Try to keep your car light, do you really need all that stuff in the boot? Next up, minimise drag. Do you have a roof box? Sell it. If you go even further, keep the car clean...a well cleaned, well waxed car will be smoother, will use less fuel. For me, chipping a car is just part of the regular maintenance. It will not give you massive improvements, but it will help.

 

2. You need to change your habits. Don't let the car idle for too long in the winter to heat it up, a modern diesel does NOT heat up idling. Give it 10 seconds, then drive off (gently). If you need to go to 3 places, visit the farthest place first. This means your car will be up to or closer to operating temperature (and thus use less fuel), when you visit the 2 closer places. Also, use the Maxidot to check the oil temperature...too many people wait untill their coolant temp is up to 90 degrees before giving it the beans, the oil takes longer!

 

3. Don't brake uselessly. Ever. Braking turns fuel into useless energy (heat). Anticipate. Anticipate. Anticipate. Coast to a light in gear (modern cars shut off the fuel flow when you let go of the throttle completely), only braking at the very end. When in stop/start traffic, try to creep along instead of rushing up and stopping.

 

4. Track your consumption. Use spritmonitor.de (here's MINE), or fuelly or excel to keep track of fuel consumption. And while the Maxidot gives you a readout, focus more on the real brim-to-brim figures. Look for differences between fillups, effects of AC, heated seats, and long trips vs. short trips. Find out when you use more fuel, then try to avoid that situation.

 

Now, try to combine all of the above without being on an economy run all the time. From time to time, have some fun, find a nice road and give it some whelly, stay in a lower gear, the 170 CR engine is a beauty. And ofcourse it's a diesel, it produces soot. The car will love you for it, when you clean it out a bit.

 

Also be aware, in my experience it takes about 15.000km / 10.000mi before you *know* a new car, you know how to drive it economically. Don't pay too much attention to the consumption during those first few months, just enjoy the car. The consumption will go down as time passes.

 

Finally, don't be an ahole on the road because of the consumption figures...when you're on an ecorun during rushhour, and you are passing a truck, and faster traffic comes up behind you, step on the loud pedal and get out of the way   It won't affect your avg. consumption, and everybody is happy!

(Last post, I promise...)

 

Here's my previous car, Octavia II Combi. Had a 1.9 105HP 250Nm engine mapped to 138HP 305Nm.

 

The red line is where I had it remapped, the pink line is my average consumption during fillups...do you see the trend, the green line? 

 

Edited 5 July, 201411 yr by Too Tall

My god, you do have a lot of spare time today

The other half is getting ready for a wedding we have to attend tonight.

 

I think I might get started on my memoirs....

Thank you for the response so far. My main aim would be for slightly better performance with better fuel economy. I'm not looking for maximum power output. The reason I showed that link was perhaps because it's easy to disconnect the unit when it goes in for service to not void warranty etc. Also I'm looking at buying a new or near new Superb, so I'm unsure if I should really do this?

In my view, I would only remap a car when it's out of warranty, even when you use an external box. 

 

This also gives you time to learn how the car drives, before you get a remap. If you buy a car, and immediately remap it, you will never "sense" the improvements. Only when you really know the car (say after 2 years and it's now out of warranty) you will then feel the difference of the map a whole lot more. Also, the 170HP car will have plenty of go...after a while, you get used to it. THEN you can get a remap. If you get the remap immediately, you will get used to the mapped car in the same timeframe. You will never sense the improvement.

 

I also should think a proper remap is impossible to detect during normal servicing. In my view it's more likely they notice the (missing) powerbox...they know which plug goes to the ECU, if that plug has been undone it will show. It will be more/less dirty in the place where the box sat. Any reputable tuner will offer the option to put the original mapping back for servicing (at no extra cost), and do the same when you want to sell the car later.

 

I cannot stress enough the risks it brings to add a box to the engine of a car...can it stand the heat? Will it always function? What if it breaks (or never works), will you be able to tell? And if you have an accident, and the car is checked by the insurance, which are they more likely to find, some bits and bytes changed in the ECU, or a big shiny metal box that doesn't belong in the engine bay? And say you take the car in for servicing once a year...do you really want to unplug that thing every year? What happens when the car starts up and the box is missing, does it go back to the stock settings without issue? Or does it go "hey, somethings missing, I better protect myself by going into limp mode"?

 

I know people like the powerbox idea, but I just can't see why you would spend all that money if you can get a much better, safer and proven option for the same cost?

Thank you for your opinion, seeing that new Superb's are coming with 5 yr warranty here in Australia, it's probably a long time to wait. I would only plan to keep the car for 5-6 years as it is.

Then I would say stuff it, and get a remap after 1 year, after the "new" of the 170HP has worn off.