2006 PD100 TDI 58,000 miles, well serviced with regular oil changes throughout it's life.

 

Rather than the plug in module I was considering, I am now leaning towards a re map. 

 

Most seem to give you 130BHP and 310 Nm (Up from 100 and 240) . A local garage last week offered me one from "top gear tuning". The quoted figures were 141BHP and 320 Nm. If spending the money on a re map it feels tempting to go for the higher power but is the gearbox and possibly turbo likely to be at much more risk? Who thinks is should be safe, or not..?

 

Incidentally, I had thought re mapping was manipulation of your specific vehicle's ECU/running but my chats to a couple of garages who do re mapping are leading me to conclude they are simply re programming my vehicle's ECU with pre made maps. If this is the case, it surely ought not to cost quite as much as it does? It appears further that the ECU doesn't even need removed, I assume the vehicle's OBD port is then the access point? If this is the case why isn't there then kits available to re program your own ECU? I am missing something about it? I suppose some vehicles maybe do need the ECU removed but we are pretty much all paying the same..

 

Thanks

Edited 15 May, 20179 yr by silver50

How much are the prices you are being quoted, and who is it that you are having the remap done by?

 

http://autohausedinburgh.co.uk 

Edited 15 May, 20179 yr by Awayoffski

Look at http://blacksmoke.co.uk/ for a DIY option.

Car tuning clinic in Edinburgh quoting £250 but this isn't including using roller's/printout (+£80 for that) and a well respected repairs garage at Whitecraig just outside Edinburgh who appear to be an outlet for the "top gear tuning" people. They were saying £295. I rung Autohaus above, they say £349. 

 

Many thanks KeithCheetam, that's Interesting re blacksmoke. As appeared to me to be the case, it does look like the whole job could be done at home in no time at all and could be very straightforward. Emphasis on "could" be very straightforward! You obviously need the necessary lead, preferably an OE one.

 

What do those here think about going 140BHP rather than 130 from a PD100 Fabia?

 

 

I would have thought that 140 might be pushing the limits a little if nothing else is upgraded,I will probably be getting a remap on a similar engine later this year but would definitely keep it as a subtle/mild remap.

A large increase in power/torque would probably be a bit of a strain on clutch/gearbox etc.

That's what worries me a bit too. I'd need to hear from quite a few people that there wasn't really anything to worry about. The clutch doesn't bother me too much but don't want the 'box going south

I'm trying to think of the member who has a remapped pd100 and swears by it, claiming "the Vrs is not the best fabia" haha. 

Let's hope he will be along shortly. 

Where are you based? I'm assuming Edinburgh based on the garages you mentioned. 

 

JRJG 

• @silver50 I recently remapped my car, the same car, to 140bhp and 320nm and...love it! My car is from 2004 and has 260000+ kms. I too was a little worried in advance...what about my clutch and turbo? I decided to put my doubts aside and go for it. I did go to a well renowned (vag) tuner, perhaps a little bit more expensive but well worth the extra money. Car feels really good and runs even better. Extra powerrrrr available in every gear, especially from 3 and up. Of course we'll have to see how the car will hold up in the future since the remap but I haven't got the slightest fear that it'll hurt my car (in the near future)

 

http://www.jdengineering.nl/1-9-tdi-pd-100pk-edc15/

Edited 15 May, 20179 yr by Woutr

Thanks for posts.

 

I can imagine it being ok, and certainly a pretty substantial step up not to mention a lot of fun. It is good to get some opinions here. There are presumably loads of people with the 140BHP map. Probably not many problems, just a sake of deciding if worth some extra risk.

 

 

It might of course depend on the owner/driver and how smooth his/her driving 'style' is 

You're dead right, that's pretty fair to say too. I'm 45 yrs old and much more mechanically sympathetic than I used to be!

If you can completely avoid the temptation to subject the car to hard standing starts then there's no reason to not to have the extra power and torque, reliability will be unnaffected.

I think as well, just because the tuner says they can get 140, doesn't mean your car will. Take headline numbers with a pinch of salt. 

Thanks for the replies folks. If anything, having decided I don't grudge spending on a proper remap (within reason money wise I guess..) I feel a bit disappointed to have learnt that the remaps for a TDI like this are simply re programming of the ECU with a set map. I had thought it was something which required the vehicle to be on a rolling road and then have it's ecu tweaked in line with rolling road information/results. This not being the case then, I feel I want to choose wisely which I buy. 

 

I should maybe just go back to the plug in module idea! It does feel difficult to be sure what the benefit of an actual remap really is going to be.

 

 

All vehicles come from the factory with a stock standardised map.

 

So all the remaps are just using those standard maps but with tweaked figures.

 

They will have been tested on a real vehicle at some point.

 

You can pay extra for a custom map but there is zero point without other mods.

 

Honestly a generic map is fine.

 

The engines are strong. The turbo is also a reliable unit (borg warner I think) and can take much higher boost than standard.

 

Gearbox is also very strong (actually less prone to failures than the 6 speed) and the clutch if in good condition will cope just fine.

I've had a PD100 remapped to a claimed 145BHP and a PD105 remapped to a claimed 155BHP by Celtic tuning (generic style maps)and although I know these figures could well be a bit on the optimistic side,they were quite aggressive running about 20+ PSI of boost and I never had any engine or turbo troubles. I did decide to do a SMF conversion on the 105 though and at the same time I fitted a valeo uprated clutch so that is always an option if it gives way.

 

I think the turbo is a KKK unit which i think is part of the Borg Warner group

 

Edited 15 May, 20179 yr by SuperbTWM

140bhp is max on a PD100, done a lot of them myself and they go really well, it'll probably be more like 130-135 anyway quoted figures are just that, quoted.

 

I like the PD100 they way it spins up quicker due to the smaller turbo, I also recommend Blacksmoke, Andrew does good safe maps and will not push the car to the limit, your clutch will be fine.

 

My mates Fabia I mapped with a Blacksmoke one is quicker in 2nd to 3rd gear than my CR170 Octy estate, really snappy to drive, get a cable off EBay MPPS V13 and do it yourself it is not difficult, £250 for a generic map is crazy money now there are people doing them for less than £100, the PD is easy to tune and most if not all maps will be generic unless you have mod and are mapped on a RR on the fly to your car.

Yes the relatively low weight, short gearing, small turbo and punchy PD torque delivery will mean it feels very punchy!

 

Looking at some pictures of the turbo it does look pretty small. Looks about the same size as turbo no.1 on my car.

 

So I imagine it will run our of puff towards the red line.

Yeah they do but are great for short squirts, the bigger turbo's do rev out far more and will eventually catch up and pass but for 2-3rd gear sprints they are great with a map.

Thanks again folks. The Blacksmoke route is certainly pretty appealing. For easiness and peace of mind I guess just putting the car in to get this done would be my preference, but only if the price was fair. £250 and over feels like too much. 

 

What is the worst case scenario if you manage to make a mess with the Blacksmoke? Having to send the ECU down to them to sort it out? Or is it almost idiot proof with the MPPS system, it seemingly backing up the info?

With MPPS you have recovery mode, it is very hard to **** it up to be honest, just make sure your battery is good, turn off all electrical items and keep the doors closed, don't hit the horn, electrical spikes can cause a hitch.

 

It's just a case of read ECU, download factory map and save it and then flash it with the new map and job done, Andrew does offer a 7 day recovery service if you brick it but it's highly unlikely, I have done a LOT of PD's in various guises and they have all flashed fine, you may have to remove a fuse or 2 on some cars but most give you access, rule of thumb is if you can read the map from the ECU then you can write it.

I think any perceived improvement also depends on how good (or bad) the original map was - I had a C3 90 picasso remapped a few years ago,the 90 seemed to be a strangled version of the 110 - ie mechanically identical but electronically limited in power - the remap opened that up to 110 -115 and made it a much nicer car to drive.The original map must have been extremely poor LOL

Ive had my pd100 remapped to a claimed 145bhp in  Dec 2006.   Still drives fine.   Same gearbox,   turbo etc..    Done about 120k since it was remapped.  

1 hour ago, fabia145re-map said:

Ive had my pd100 remapped to a claimed 145bhp in  Dec 2006.   Still drives fine.   Same gearbox,   turbo etc..    Done about 120k since it was remapped.  

Now that sounds comforting! Cheers 

So long as you are prepared to fix any issues that could arise from an older car being pushed harder than go for it 

 

It could be perfect and with a dose of say Bp ultimate make the 141 bhp. 

 

Just be prepared to fix or upgrade if things go wrong.

In my experience once you taste a good map it never stops there