I have no reason to suspect my car has been remapped or chipped in the past, but how would you know when you bought a s/h car that the previous owner hadn't had something done? I'm more curious about the technicalities more than worried that mine has been. I also suspect that if it was tuned and it was ever involved in an accident, the insurance company would play the whole "ignorance is not an excuse" etc.

 

So can you tell by diagnostics? When I get my new OBDeleven, will that tell me stuff like that? Or would it have to be a dealer?

 

Just wondering....

 

Nick

Not possible with VCDS or OBDEleven as far as I know.

This is still a grey area afaik. My brother has a Fabia vRS and I drove it. By the end of the street I suspected it had been remapped, it flew!! I kid you not it feels quicker than my Octy with the DTUK box on it. Curiosity got the better of us and it’s since been on a dyno and made 171 bhp so it’s definitely been mapped. Insurance company have now been informed. Quite what would happen if we hadn’t informed them I’m not sure.

A dealer would be able to see the TD1 flag has been activated, if a proper remap has been done at any point in the past. A tuning box wouldn't trip this but if there was enough money involved in a potential warranty claim or insurance claim I don't think it would be difficult for a dealer to identify the engine has been running with some odd looking parameters. I think you'd need to be in the realms of having written off someone's new 911 for that level of investigation to be sanctioned. In short, probably not worth worrying about but possible to do if someone had a good reason to go digging. 

Hi.

If you did find it was re-mapped and you had any issues with insurance then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

2 hours ago, DAN@ADRIAN FLUX said:

Hi.

If you did find it was re-mapped and you had any issues with insurance then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

 

Thanks. I was just curious if there was a way of telling. Although, if you do MG insurance, I might try you for that. It only does 2k a year....

On 18/02/2019 at 10:50, NikTheGeek said:

I also suspect that if it was tuned and it was ever involved in an accident, the insurance company would play the whole "ignorance is not an excuse" etc.

 

I assume "ignorance is not an excuse" would also apply to whomever you purchased the car from?  I'd sue for however much their mis-selling cost me.

Simple way to check just book it in at a reputable dyno and get them to do a run, like Sasha said it should be obvious but anymore than 20bhp or 30NM above standard figures and the chances are it has been remapped. Stage 1 map saw my car gain 54bhp and 67NM for example.

Edited 21 February, 20197 yr by shyVRS245
missing word

You'd like to think that someone selling a mapped car would inform you as 'theoretically' it's a bonus which may command a marginally higher sales price..  And you'd like to think that a modding sort of person keeps receipts etc which would be presented at point of sale.  I suppose the issue is more buying a car from a forecourt when maybe the car has been brought from auction.

 

In the past when phoning for insurance they used to ask my car had been modified to which I always replied 'not that I'm aware of'.  It's a tough one to call.

 

I think it would only be an issue if your car had been involved in a serious RTA and was then found to be modified.

 

As above the only way to really check is to have the car dyno'd.

If you don't have something like VCDS or OBDeleven, I would get a cheap Bluetooth OBD transmitter (and possibly an extension cable as the hole the Octy OBD socket is down is deep and tight and the transmitters can be an [expletive] to get in and out. (Note: This is from my experience with the Mk II. May not be true on a III)

 

I would go for something like these:

• Bluetooth OBD dongle
• OBD extension cable

 

Install Torque on your phone (It's definitely available on Android, not sure about iOS). Link the bluetooth dongle to your phone and set Torque to display the turbo boost pressure. Warm the car up nicely then find a nice straight quiet road and come to a stop. Give the car all the beans and try to do 0-60 as quick as you can. After you have done this, check the maximum turbo boost pressure Torque recorded.

 

Not sure about the Mk III but the earlier cars the figures were:

• Less than 10 - Something is wrong. Expect a big repair bill soon.
• 11 - About right for a standard vRS.
• 14 or more - Strongly suspect a cheeky remap

 

My last car recorded 17.8. That is mapped way hard. The dealer that sold it to me told me it hadn't been messed with.

 

If you post your number here, I'm sure someone will be able to compare it with theirs.

 

All the best,

Paul.

Edited 21 February, 20197 yr by Papfox

Mine would probably record a very cheeky 20.0 then. 517NM.

Those figures are for the 197 PS engine. They could well be higher for an RS220 and almost certainly are for the RS245.

 

Does anyone know the figure for a stock RS220 please?

 

I'm just buying one so it would be handy to know for my own use.

1 minute ago, Papfox said:

Those figures are for the 197 PS engine. They could well be higher for an RS220 and almost certainly are for the RS245.

 

Does anyone know the figure for a stock RS220 please?

 

I'm just buying one so it would be handy to know for my own use.

My mapper said mine's running 2.1bar turbo boost. 42.0mpg on the 26 mile commute today not too shabby for February.

I've had 2 Fabia MK I Vas's. O4 plate and a 06 plate.  Both the same engine 1.9PD Diesel, same  power, 130 BHP but different engine codes. The 06 plate was much faster than the 04 plate yet neither of 2 had been re-mapped.  

 

That is all 

 

AG

Edited 21 February, 20197 yr by Auric Goldfinger

11 hours ago, Auric Goldfinger said:

I've had 2 Fabia MK I Vas's. O4 plate and a 06 plate.  Both the same engine 1.9PD Diesel, same  power, 130 BHP but different engine codes. The 06 plate was much faster than the 04 plate yet neither of 2 had been re-mapped.  

 

That is all 

 

AG

They did a few versions of the PD engine at the same time. 8v and 16v were available, yet both claimed identical figures. But they felt different. I had a 16v A4 and it revved and went really well. I also had a 8v Passat and it was gruff and less willing. 

 

Re tuning. Earlier ecu’s couldn’t easily identify it. I suspect all current ecu’s can. Numerous ways they could. Boost pressures, fuel pressures and download counts would cover most. During my warranty turbo claim they spent some time interogating mine. Took 2 days for Skoda to authorise the repair.