Unsure which direction to go as I've heard Pro's and Con's for both

Edited 31 August, 20196 yr by Zenbasses

I would say the most common option is the option you have missed off. Which is the 'generic' re-map.

The higher output 2ltr TDI maps really well and really improves the performance. 

 

I’ve had success with REVO in the past on that engine (and the 150 TDI). I’ve also used a tuning box and whilst they do work in giving the car more shove, they don’t have that OEM feel in power delivery/curve.  I would also be wary of customer service from the main UK seller; they make big claims and charge (higher end)  custom remap prices but soon go quiet when your car starts going into limp mode etc. (Source: the various VW forums I’m a member of). 

 

If you’re ok with warranty void then I would go remap every time. 

 

I had manuals and obviously that can’t be tuned but if I was to map my 280 then I’d defo have the DSG also tuned to work in harmony with the remap. 

 

 

Edited 1 September, 20196 yr by penguin17

Thanks @penguin17 and @SuperbTWM

 

Looks like the traditionally re-map is the way to go.

 

A few work colleagues have visited https://www.rstuning.co.uk/ in Leeds with a lot of success, I may give them a bell and see what is what.

 

I don't currently have warranty on my car I put some money aside each month into a savings account to hopefully helps with most situations  (he says). Saw a dent in it when I replaced both front tyres and had some work done on my suspension bushes but it's good to know it won't leave the family on baked beans on toast for the rest of the month.

A custom remap should be the best option, but like any re-map, its down to the competence of the tuner.

 

What puts me off having a modern diesel remapped is that the DPF can cover up the tuners sins. If the fuelling is a bit too much your just filling up your DPF more and causing more regens and ultimately wearing out the DPF faster.

 

I would check out Darkside in Barnsley, they live and breath VAG diesels so they should know what they are doing.

Remap every time. I’ve used a few tuners in the past but by far the best reliable results have been shark that used to be in Mansfield. However they are now part of the racingline group. Not the cheapest around but I think by far the best I have used. Am going there on the 11th to have my 190 4x4 tweaked and I’ll let you know results. They think around 230bhp/500nm. 

Would a pedal box void the warranty? If so could it be disconnected for every trip to the dealer with no trace? 

54 minutes ago, Tom34 said:

Would a pedal box void the warranty? If so could it be disconnected for every trip to the dealer with no trace? 

It could do if they wanted to find it and it was a warrantee claim directly affected by the box. Engine, box, drive train. Etc 

32 minutes ago, Tom34 said:

Would a pedal box void the warranty? If so could it be disconnected for every trip to the dealer with no trace? 

Less than 1 minute to fit/remove.  In theory it could void a warranty as it's a deviation from standard equipment on the car, however I would guess they are nigh on untraceable once removed but... when I've done scans on my previous Sportline, with a Race Chip module fitted, I did see faults regarding the throttle pedal angle/sensor; not seen that on my current Sportline though.  I dare say that could be viewed as 'suspect' but then again I'm not sure if the error would have been present regardless of using the pedal box, it could have been a legit fault with the car. 

There's the old argument that dealers should have to prove that any modification you have made is directly responsible for a fault but good luck with that.  I'm sure Skoda would use any excuse possible to decline a warranty claim. 

 

I suppose it depends on what warranty work the car was in for, how thorough the dealer is and if you leave the unit connected ( a lot of 'ifs' there)  e.g  car keeps losing power under acceleration, dealer investigates, finds box of tricks connected to the throttle body; that likely won't be favourable in getting a warranty claim approved.   

 

I know others do leave there's connected when their cars have been in for warranty work/servicing and the dealer has never mentioned it. 

 

Bottom line, it's so quick and easy to remove then it makes no sense to take the risk IMO. 

 

Slightly OT but perhaps relevant: 

 

A friend of mine had a TDI Tuning box fitted to his Audi A6 3.0 BiTDI which he removed for it's first service and the dealer (Bury Audi) told him not to bother in future, he wasn't sure how they knew about it but they did.  Fast forward a few months and my friend replaced the tuning box with a remap via a Superchips Bluefin.  He then relocated to Germany and had booked his car in to have a central locking fault investigated.  He said that if it was a drivetrain issue then he would have returned the car to standard and hoped for the best but as it was 'just' a central locking issue he thought he'd be ok.  Well he lost the remaining warranty on the car as the dealer scanned it and the remap was quickly detected.  He also got a rather stern and scary letter from Audi Financial Services asking him to explain himself, with some threats of legal action.  His only viable option was to pay off the finance ASAP and hope that didn't pursue it further.   

 

 

Had a box a few cars ago. Car started running worse and worse, removed it and all was well again.

Yea some of the new boxes do add performance but don’t forget the torque limits on the gearbox may restrict the full potential if you don’t have that reflashed too match the new performance. And yes if the car is on finance it does make sense for you to fit a box. The jb4 box I’ve heard gets good results, Also the dtuk seems to get good results. There is another brand I think it’s called ‘custom code’ and there is a VERY respectable guy within the tuning world that writes the maps/owns custom code. Or at least I know he used to and I think he most likely will do 

On 02/09/2019 at 13:03, penguin17 said:

Less than 1 minute to fit/remove.  In theory it could void a warranty as it's a deviation from standard equipment on the car, however I would guess they are nigh on untraceable once removed but... when I've done scans on my previous Sportline, with a Race Chip module fitted, I did see faults regarding the throttle pedal angle/sensor; not seen that on my current Sportline though.  I dare say that could be viewed as 'suspect' but then again I'm not sure if the error would have been present regardless of using the pedal box, it could have been a legit fault with the car. 

There's the old argument that dealers should have to prove that any modification you have made is directly responsible for a fault but good luck with that.  I'm sure Skoda would use any excuse possible to decline a warranty claim. 

 

I suppose it depends on what warranty work the car was in for, how thorough the dealer is and if you leave the unit connected ( a lot of 'ifs' there)  e.g  car keeps losing power under acceleration, dealer investigates, finds box of tricks connected to the throttle body; that likely won't be favourable in getting a warranty claim approved.   

 

I know others do leave there's connected when their cars have been in for warranty work/servicing and the dealer has never mentioned it. 

 

Bottom line, it's so quick and easy to remove then it makes no sense to take the risk IMO. 

 

Slightly OT but perhaps relevant: 

 

A friend of mine had a TDI Tuning box fitted to his Audi A6 3.0 BiTDI which he removed for it's first service and the dealer (Bury Audi) told him not to bother in future, he wasn't sure how they knew about it but they did.  Fast forward a few months and my friend replaced the tuning box with a remap via a Superchips Bluefin.  He then relocated to Germany and had booked his car in to have a central locking fault investigated.  He said that if it was a drivetrain issue then he would have returned the car to standard and hoped for the best but as it was 'just' a central locking issue he thought he'd be ok.  Well he lost the remaining warranty on the car as the dealer scanned it and the remap was quickly detected.  He also got a rather stern and scary letter from Audi Financial Services asking him to explain himself, with some threats of legal action.  His only viable option was to pay off the finance ASAP and hope that didn't pursue it further.   

 

 

 

Luckily I have no warranty to contend with 😀 I would never dream of even tinkering if a car is covered unless it's a manufacturers approved...Polestar and Monotone come to mind .....

 

Best to avoid the situation IMHO though swapping to a 280 would solve the issue hehehe

 

RStuning have quoted me £399+Vat for the Remap and £250+vat for the DSG Remap....all fine tuned on a rolling road ...

 

It's a lot of money .....best part of £800 for the job done properly .....

Edited 5 September, 20196 yr by Zenbasses

1 hour ago, Zenbasses said:

 

Luckily I have no warranty to contend with 😀 I would never dream of even tinkering if a car is covered unless it's a manufacturers approved...Polestar and Monotone come to mind .....

 

Best to avoid the situation IMHO though swapping to a 280 would solve the issue hehehe

 

RStuning have quoted me £399+Vat for the Remap and £250+vat for the DSG Remap....all fine tuned on a rolling road ...

 

It's a lot of money .....best part of £800 for the job done properly .....

Big Fish tuning in Stokesley may be worth a look too.  Probs a ~2hr round trip for you but they have a rolling road for full custom mapping, they can remap the DSG too and prices seem competitive.  The owner John knows his stuff and is well regarded in a lot of owner forums. 

I’m keen once the warranty is up. My biggest concern is clogging the DPF and I’m not keen on deleting it. A lot of the recommended companies on here are miles away for me (Kent) which is also a pain. Part of me feels I’m massively overthinking it - I suspect the majority of people just get a generic map and never look back, that’s what I did with my old mondeo ST TDCI. Mind you there was no DPF to worry about. 

2 hours ago, Kamikazekid said:

I’m keen once the warranty is up. My biggest concern is clogging the DPF and I’m not keen on deleting it. A lot of the recommended companies on here are miles away for me (Kent) which is also a pain. Part of me feels I’m massively overthinking it - I suspect the majority of people just get a generic map and never look back, that’s what I did with my old mondeo ST TDCI. Mind you there was no DPF to worry about. 

 you could go for a  superchips bluefin, you buy the handset, then it's an easy  diy job, you can easily change back to the original map if  your having any problems with the dpf.

have'nt had any problems with my caddy though, went from 102ps to 163ps,  regens are still every 200 miles like they where before [ all town driving ]

 twice a year they do 15% off, usually around july and late november   😀

Exactly what I have on the mondeo. Had it on for 90k miles. Never felt the need to take it off! They don’t offer a DSG map though so I’d have to look elsewhere for that. 

I went to Avon Tuning's site (Bristol). They offer a combined engine remap and DSG remap for my 220 tsi, but don't quote a price without ringing up, it seems. Does anyone know how much this sort of thing costs? I'd guess £400 just for the engine remap?

4 hours ago, Kamikazekid said:

I’m keen once the warranty is up. My biggest concern is clogging the DPF and I’m not keen on deleting it. A lot of the recommended companies on here are miles away for me (Kent) which is also a pain. Part of me feels I’m massively overthinking it - I suspect the majority of people just get a generic map and never look back, that’s what I did with my old mondeo ST TDCI. Mind you there was no DPF to worry about. 

I've had REVO remaps on DPF equipped 150 and 184PS TDI units.  No problems with the DPF, clutch etc.  Actually no problems with the cars at all.   The 184PS car did 60K miles before I p/x'd and it never missed a beat, 57K of those were remapped miles.  I think if you do the types of journeys which lend themselves to working in harmony with a DPF then you won't have issues.  

On 05/09/2019 at 20:30, Zenbasses said:

 

Luckily I have no warranty to contend with 😀 I would never dream of even tinkering if a car is covered unless it's a manufacturers approved...Polestar and Monotone come to mind .....

 

Best to avoid the situation IMHO though swapping to a 280 would solve the issue hehehe

 

RStuning have quoted me £399+Vat for the Remap and £250+vat for the DSG Remap....all fine tuned on a rolling road ...

 

It's a lot of money .....best part of £800 for the job done properly .....

£800 might seem like a lot but you have to compare what the manufacturers would charge for a 230 ish diesel.

vw caddy price difference between a 102 ps and a 150 ps diesel engine  = £2700

remap a 102 engine to 163 ps or higher  for £300- £400 [ the 102 is just a de-tuned 150 anyway ]

who in there right mind would buy the 150 engine  

only problem though, every year come insurance renewal  time,  most insurance companies will have your pants down   😭

8 minutes ago, 310golfr said:

£800 might seem like a lot but you have to compare what the manufacturers would charge for a 230 ish diesel.

vw caddy price difference between a 102 ps and a 150 ps diesel engine  = £2700

remap a 102 engine to 163 ps or higher  for £300- £400 [ the 102 is just a de-tuned 150 anyway ]

who in there right mind would buy the 150 engine  

only problem though, every year come insurance renewal  time,  most insurance companies will have your pants down   😭

Yea but manufacture will not only map engine for 2700... So that is not comparable. 

P.S.: In most cases u get better turbo, exhaust (possibly depends on engine) and brakes. Sometimes even upgraded high pressure pump for fuel. Truly depends on engine. Cupra offers ABT tuning map from factory for 500 quid. 

Edited 7 September, 20196 yr by JackySi

4 minutes ago, JackySi said:

Yea but manufacture will not only map engine for 2700... So that is not comparable. 

P.S.: In most cases u get better turbo, exhaust (possibly depends on engine) and brakes. Sometimes even upgraded high pressure pump for fuel. Truly depends on engine. Cupra offers ABT tuning map from factory for 500 quid. 

with the above vw  caddy example both engines etc  are the same, the only difference is that the lower power 102 engine is de-tuned.

 

Hi.

If anyone needs any help with insurance at all for a re-map, chip or tuning box then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.