Recommendations- Revo or Shark

[Redboy]

As title, I have been the sole driver of my manual 220Bhp TSI, 26000 miles, A roads and motorways, i.e. good condition clutch and brakes. Rather than buying a new one, I am thinking of either Stage 1 Shark or Revo map, which seem to have good reviews. I just want a bit more umph in between gears. Revo 300Bhp is £599, Shark 280Bhp is £499 without the STS box. As it will soon be out of warranty I am not bothered about taking the map off.  Any positive or negative comments from owners of remapped petrol versions about Shark or Revo welcome along with recommendations on good insurance companies. I had a decent-sounding quote from Chris Knott insurance today of £370-£423 depending on Bhp. Not interested in a tuning box, so please no long discussions on their merits.

[Tim1631]

Revo 

[john999boy]

I've had three vehicles mapped by Shark and I can't praise them enough.

[Ads230]

I'm in the same boat at the moment, but have APR to throw in the mix, as well as Shark and Revo... I'm still undecided too, as I have APR c/f intake and Scorpion turbo-back exhaust on mine (so could go Stage 2) - but don't want 'overly massive gainz' for longevity reasons. Shark has had extremely good reviews on here and elsewhere, both from delivery and post-map support.

[themanwithnoaim]

Saw a Revo Stage 1 Mk3 vRS230 make 304bhp on the heartbreak rollers in Portsmouth.

 

If you're going for a remap you've gotta go for the MOST power

[themanwithnoaim]

1 minute ago, Ads230 said:

I'm in the same boat at the moment, but have APR to throw in the mix, as well as Shark and Revo... I'm still undecided too, as I have APR c/f intake and Scorpion turbo-back exhaust on mine (so could go Stage 2) - but don't want 'overly massive gainz' for longevity reasons. Shark has had extremely good reviews on here and elsewhere, both from delivery and post-map support.

APR had some nasty turbo failures on the Mk7 GTI's in the early days, I'd rule them out on that basis alone

[Redboy]

1 hour ago, Ads230 said:

I'm in the same boat at the moment, but have APR to throw in the mix, as well as Shark and Revo... I'm still undecided too, as I have APR c/f intake and Scorpion turbo-back exhaust on mine (so could go Stage 2) - but don't want 'overly massive gainz' for longevity reasons. Shark has had extremely good reviews on here and elsewhere, both from delivery and post-map support.

 

Thanks for replying, I will stick to Shark/Revo and like you don't want to blow anything up, just get a bit more of a  shove in back when I need to move along. 

[flybynite]

50 minutes ago, themanwithnoaim said:

APR had some nasty turbo failures on the Mk7 GTI's in the early days, I'd rule them out on that basis alone

 

I've got no allegiance either way with the tuners, never really done much of that in recent years. I have looked at a few IS20 turbos and looked into those failures. I have a nice 'L' revision IS20 looking at me as I type.

 

To be fair on APR those early IS20 turbos were pants and failed on bog-standard GTis in huge numbers as well, much of it before APR even had a map out. It has taken them 7 revisions to get a decent one (actually only 5 revisions before they cured the problem) like the one fitted to the vRS 

 

No doubt the map made the problem worse (it was always a few BHP up on the competition) but the turbo was made of chocolate and that was difficult to know.

 

One of the problems of going for the MOST power 

 

 

[Redboy]

1 hour ago, themanwithnoaim said:

Saw a Revo Stage 1 Mk3 vRS230 make 304bhp on the heartbreak rollers in Portsmouth.

 

If you're going for a remap you've gotta go for the MOST power

 

Yep I spoke to a local Revo guy today, sounded very reassuring when I explained my requirements and he quoted 300-310 Bhp. As long as there's decent torque and pick-up it doesn't have to be absolutely on the limit. 

[GoneToBeemer]

Personally I’d recommend Shark - they remapped my mk2 FL vRS TSI with great results.

 

It’s not just about peak figures, it’s about the nature of the delivery and what the increase in power and torque is across the entire RPM band.

 

Also used Superchips on a couple of other cars, again a very good company / product.

[themanwithnoaim]

1 hour ago, Redboy said:

 

Yep I spoke to a local Revo guy today, sounded very reassuring when I explained my requirements and he quoted 300-310 Bhp. As long as there's decent torque and pick-up it doesn't have to be absolutely on the limit. 

How much torque were they talking ?

 

I've got 330ftlbs or 447-1/2Nm which feels enough on dry tarmac, breaks free very easily on wet or even damp tarmac, we are currently revising the boost settings on my tune/map though

[Redboy]

Didn't mention the torque but from a vague memory of a Revo advert there is a reasonable increase.

[Pilotguy]

How about Celtic Tuning? A couple of colleagues have had their VAG and BMWs mapped and have recommended them. 300 bhp and 325 lb/ft torque circa + 40% power for Stage 1. Celtic have quoted me £300. 

https://www.celtictuning.co.uk/component/ctvc/skoda/octavia-5e-2013/petrol/2-0-tsi-vrs-216-bhp-2013-ECU-remap-chiptuning/stage-1

 

 

[ahenners]

How are you guys finding insurance with remaps? I've paid about £400 for the year but as soon as I do an online quote and mention a remap the cheapest quote I had was about £950 with a black box.

[tonyblue]

Very happy with Shark, both engine and gearbox mapped to stage one with an offering to update the map with the extra mods I've made (next year maybe).

 

No insurance cost due to moving to a modified policy with a specialist, my insurer at the time refused to insure a mapped car.

 

And I'm old.

[Gizmo]

15 hours ago, john999boy said:

I've had three vehicles mapped by Shark and I can't praise them enough.

 

+1

 

Personally I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

 

15 hours ago, themanwithnoaim said:

If you're going for a remap you've gotta go for the MOST power

 

100% disagree,

for most people it’s how the power is delivered that is the most important, high figures are great for bragging to your mates... that is about it.

 

14 hours ago, vtec to vrs! said:

It’s not just about peak figures, it’s about the nature of the delivery and what the increase in power and torque is across the entire RPM band.

 

^^^ This.

 

I had a PD130 Superb that whilst it was very nippy the map ruined the car IMO, it was all or nothing and very spikey, took the map off and it drove much nicer as std... will less power but smooth power delivery again.

 

Then had it remapped which made it just as quick again but very smooth.

[Auric Goldfinger]

7 minutes ago, Gizmo said:

 

+1

 

Personally I wouldn’t go anywhere else.

 

 

100% disagree,

for most people it’s how the power is delivered that is the most important, high figures are great for bragging to your mates... that is about it.

 

 

^^^ This.

 

I had a PD130 Superb that whilst it was very nippy the map ruined the car IMO, it was all or nothing and very spikey, took the map off and it drove much nicer as std... will less power but smooth power delivery again.

 

Then had it remapped which made it just as quick again but very smooth.

 

...............So along the lines of "  My d1cks bigger than yours  "

[Redboy]

Gents, thanks to everybody for your feedback, this site is great for gathering opinions. Car's booked in with Shark for Stage 1 and with a useful 10% Brisky discount. I now intend to keep it for a year or so.  have looked at Golf R/ BMW 330i etc,  whilst dynamically they are better, they all have compromises and a not insignificant sum of 15-20k to pay.  

 

Glad it didn't descend into the usual diesel vs petrol discussion. Although I notice that Auric's hackles were raised  on the post above 

[waaar]

Revo recommendation, the car is completely transformed.

 

There is a chance your clutch may start slipping, and a stronger replacement will cost considerably more than the remap. i was unlucky, mine starting slipping immediately, car had done 30k.

[Redboy]

ahenners : Try Sky Or Chris Knott insurance, similar quotes of around £360-370 for Stage 1 upgrade ranging from 260-280 Bhp for fully comp NCB with legal, hire car etc. My insurance provider of the last 3 years quoted £240 for non-modified renewal, raising it from last years £190, even though my NCB is 'protected' I think I was punished slightly for a windscreen claim along with additional costs from govt, i.e. tax to pay Insurance Bureau costs for uninsured scrotes. A quick check on comparison sites showed that £240 was about right. All in all an extra £120 to map it seems reasonable. 

[Redboy]

7 minutes ago, waaar said:

Revo recommendation, the car is completely transformed.

 

There is a chance your clutch may start slipping, and a stronger replacement will cost considerably more than the remap. i was unlucky, mine starting slipping immediately, car had done 30k.

 

Thanks for the clutch tip that's similar mileage to mine. I am hoping that as I haven't done traffic light grand prix and as I live in a rural area, stuck to mostly A road, motorways, that the clutch at 26000 miles is healthy.  I generally try to drive in the correct gear rather than floor it in 5th or 6th at lower speeds.  If a new clutch becomes necessary, it will still be cheaper than the 1st years depreciation on a new car....I am trying to look on the bright side 

[Gizmo]

A smoother map (aka Shark) will prolong the life of the clutch.

 

(35K miles and counting @ 505Nm) 

[waaar]

8 minutes ago, Redboy said:

 

Thanks for the clutch tip that's similar mileage to mine. I am hoping that as I haven't done traffic light grand prix and as I live in a rural area, stuck to mostly A road, motorways, that the clutch at 26000 miles is healthy.  I generally try to drive in the correct gear rather than floor it in 5th or 6th at lower speeds.  If a new clutch becomes necessary, it will still be cheaper than the 1st years depreciation on a new car....I am trying to look on the bright side 

 

I live an a rural area and I've never done any traffic light grand prix's either, hopefully it was just a bad luck on my part! It was slipping under anything beyond feather light acceleration. post remap.

 

I was offered a tamer map but chose the uprated clutch path, no point remapping for anything other than maximum power 

[john999boy]

11 minutes ago, waaar said:

No point remapping for anything other than maximum power 

 

As has been said previously, you will actually benefit more from a smooth map - and ignore headline figures as only a rolling road will give you a true figure. 

[waaar]

Power and smoothness aren’t mutually exclusive. If you just want a smooth map, you could do so with adding zero power increase.

 

The lower power Revo (not sure of others) map limits boost which in turn reduces torque, to prelong the clutch. You could stick with the high boost map and not put your foot down!

 

So, depends why you want a remap in the first place.

Edited 11 November, 2017 by waaar