Remapping question

[lichfielddriver]

Having only a 1.6tdi 105PS (250NM?) I am planning on a remap for more torque, the car has only done 2250 miles so it wont be for a while, ive been quoted £300 and a result of 125PS, and a torque figure I forget now, but about 20%, all in the quest for a tad more MPG

 

has anyone any words of wisdom?

Edited 7 May, 2015 by lichfielddriver

[zeddicus]

You could check out a tuning box as opposed to a remap?

 

http://www.diesel-performance.co.uk/vehicle-skoda_superb_1.6-tdi-105-ps-greenline

 

Looks like you could get up to 136PS and 330NM with DTUK for around £350 incl Briskoda discount.

 

I haven't had one fitted, so can't comment directly, but heard lots of good things about them from this forum.

[Too Tall]

Ready?

 

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 X £ (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 "tuning boxes" (which might be very good...) 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 that I'm full of ****e. But that's his view. This was mine :-)

 

Onto 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 if you don't have to. 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 Superb 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!

 

And now to finish;

 

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? 

 

 

There's a difference, but it's not much...

Edited 7 May, 2015 by Too Tall

[linf]

Now that's what I call a thorough and informative answer , well said Too Tall .

[lichfielddriver]

Cheers...still reading..

 

 

In the event of a problem would it be obvious to Skoda the ECU had been fiddled with?

[sherlocks VRS]

Unfortunately yes and dont let anyone try to kid you otherwise! We use the odis system at work which replaced the old vas software, The new odis software can see and also flag a remap up, it gives us a code of "cd1" which will under certain circumstances will send it to factory and if you are under warranty and have a engine/transmission etc issue that factory think could have been influenced by the remap the warranty claim then could be rejected. Never had a engine issue that was proved to be caused by a remap though especially if its a reputable remapper like Revo or Shark etc, My 64 plate superb 170cr 4x4 dsg is mapped and havnt had any issues and it motors on like a train.

[lichfielddriver]

i wont go near it till its on 20,000 miles at least so might be a year yet

 

will have more mpg results by then too

[linni]

Thinkinb about upgrading.

Remap or tuning box?

I had Mondeo Ecoboost remapped by Superchips and I wasn`t quite happy with it.

 

What about DTUK? And CRD - T+ box? As I understand, no DPF removal or similar needed, just configuration of ECU sent to them?

[Superb170]

i wont go near it till its on 20,000 miles at least so might be a year yet

will have more mpg results by then too

If you are running it as a taxi does this change your main Skoda warranty conditions anyway?

Sent from my iPhone using Tapatalk

[lichfielddriver]

Ive got 2 years/60,000

 

Cant extend it

[jimmyf]

Great post,  busts the myth IMHO about a tuning box giving 20% more MPG

[numskull]

Great post,  busts the myth IMHO about a tuning box giving 20% more MPG

 

I've got at least a 10% improvement urban and 15 to 20% motorway on cruise.

[lichfielddriver]

I've got at least a 10% improvement urban and 15 to 20% motorway on cruise.

 

how do you know? has it been on a dyno?

[numskull]

how do you know? has it been on a dyno?

For MPG? Oddly... No. Fill to fill.

[lichfielddriver]

For MPG? Oddly... No. Fill to fill.

 

But you can state accurate and differing increase for urban/motorway and on cruise useage?

 

im just confused

 

I could (at best) declare an overall change for my weeks mileage, trying to separate urban from extra urban would mean fills of small and inaccurate amounts

[numskull]

But you can state accurate and differing increase for urban/motorway and on cruise useage?

im just confused

I could (at best) declare an overall change for my weeks mileage, trying to separate urban from extra urban would mean fills of small and inaccurate amounts

No, fill to fills. I basically do nowt but urban driving for weeks and then I have the odd 120 and 200 mile round trips on motorways. I simply fill at the start and end and take the miles / volume used and compare vs. the figures I had for the same, prior to fitting the chip. I try to drive very economically and I don't think I'm the only Chip Express user that has experienced good MPG improvements.

[lichfielddriver]

So what actual mpg figures do you get?

[Sparkly]

Not a remap but complementary I found a lower engine mount upgrade on my Fabia gave me an average of 2-3 extra MPG across all driving.

It seemed to stop torque being lost transferred into the soggy voided OEM bushes, but I would advise caution as on a pretty smooth petrol engine it did bring some vibration into the cabin at idle.

Worked fantastic in conjunction with a remap.

[numskull]

So what actual mpg figures do you get?

Fill to fill today, 138 miles, all urban, 3.306 gallons = 41.7 mpg.

[Gizmo]

Having only a 1.6tdi 105PS (250NM?) I am planning on a remap for more torque, the car has only done 2250 miles so it wont be for a while, ive been quoted £300 and a result of 125PS, and a torque figure I forget now, but about 20%, all in the quest for a tad more MPG

 

has anyone any words of wisdom?

 

Yes, get a Shark map on it... end of discussion 

 

You could check out a tuning box as opposed to a remap?

 

http://www.diesel-performance.co.uk/vehicle-skoda_superb_1.6-tdi-105-ps-greenline

 

Looks like you could get up to 136PS and 330NM with DTUK for around £350 incl Briskoda discount.

 

I haven't had one fitted, so can't comment directly, but heard lots of good things about them from this forum.

 

I bought a new style DTUK tuning box as they were offering a money back guarantee if you were not satisfied, lets just say that it DRANK loads more fuel when on light throttle, I lost £50 when sending it back (re-stocking fee... or words to that effect... which were NOT mentioned when I ordered!)

I then got Shark to remap it and I am much happier.

 

I've got at least a 10% improvement urban and 15 to 20% motorway on cruise.

 

 

Fill to fill today, 138 miles, all urban, 3.306 gallons = 41.7 mpg.

 

Thats a 10% increase?? wow my 170 Superb NEVER returned less than 44MPG with urban driving (the Shark remap increased it by 1-2 MPG.)

[lichfielddriver]

Fill to fill today, 138 miles, all urban, 3.306 gallons = 41.7 mpg.

 

Fill to Fill today (a weeks work) 646 miles 51.45ltrs = 57mpg

 

That is with no motorway but half on fast dual carriageways

 

from that fill to tonight on town taxi work - 122 miles (today) 10.03ltrs = 55mpg

Edited 16 May, 2015 by lichfielddriver

[numskull]

Fill to Fill today (a weeks work) 646 miles 51.45ltrs = 57mpg

 

That is with no motorway but half on fast dual carriageways

 

from that fill to tonight on town taxi work - 122 miles (today) 10.03ltrs = 55mpg

 

That is excellent. I should add, the 138 miles I covered was over 71 days, with some journeys as short as a mile.

[lichfielddriver]

1 mile trips wont help mpg

[Sparkly]

Is this a remapping thread or a Hypermileing one?

[lichfielddriver]

Is this a remapping thread or a Hypermileing one?

 

the 2 are 1.....

 

surely MPG is the Holy Grail?