can anyone tell me by remapping it can give you more Bhp and more miles to the Gallon.so why do the car makers not do this during the build period of the car? Ie could remapping damage the engine and gearbox or other components of the car.

The engineers build in safe limits into the engine specs for reliability, but some of it is to give difference between versions. It also allows them to cheaply bring out a new and improved bhp on the facelift with just a software update.

 

I don't fully get the claims of better mpg, with a remap as surely a higher std bhp version of the same engine would also get better mpg, and that rarely the case.

 

Depending on the engine, there may be many different power options used for the same capacity. Again, it helps save money to use one engine size for different power options rather than having a 1.0l, 1.5l, 1.8l, 2.0l, 2.3l, etc.

 

Take the vrs 2.0l tsi engine. Its has been avaliable in at least 210, 230, 245, 272, 280, 300, 310 and 320 bhp off the top of head.

 

With the higher outputs, there may be stronger internals and a better turbo, but the basics are mostly the same.

For some of them the difference is only software. The 280bhp version used in the superb is the same as the 310/320 bhp version used in the Golf R, so a remap will give you the same output on both engines (around 350bhp)

Edited 14 August, 20214 yr by roo

I was thinking on the same lines.yet there is some who gets it done.so when the car goes in with a engine or whatever problem or service.will the garage spot it has been remapped and would that invalidate the warranty?

1 hour ago, Joss1733 said:

will the garage spot it has been remapped and would that invalidate the warranty?

 

Yes, it will throw a code.  This is likely to invalidate the power train warranty.   https://forums.ross-tech.com/index.php?threads/18508/

Would remapping effect insurance cost too? Would it be classed as an after market modification? 

1 hour ago, FireMonkeyLord said:

Would remapping effect insurance cost too? Would it be classed as an after market modification? 

Yes.  

I’m rather sceptical about anyone that says it increases miles per gallon.

 

Remapping doesn’t change mass of vehicle or aerodynamics (drag coefficient) so basically being told can use less fuel energy to achieve same amount of momentum.   Rather defies basic laws of physics.

 

Maybe it can improve combustion within the cylinders, but if it was that easy to make an improvement in efficiency, why would the manufacturer not do it.

 

I thought it would make warranty invalid but is there anyone ever been effected by this?sombody has already stated if it that good then why have the car makers not done it before now.there will be some people on here who will know about these things.,so hope they come on here and tell us the good and bad points of remapping.i think the main thing about remapping would be making warranty invalid before extra power and mileage.

2 hours ago, SurreyJohn said:

I’m rather sceptical about anyone that says it increases miles per gallon.

 

Remapping doesn’t change mass of vehicle or aerodynamics (drag coefficient) so basically being told can use less fuel energy to achieve same amount of momentum.   Rather defies basic laws of physics.

 

Maybe it can improve combustion within the cylinders, but if it was that easy to make an improvement in efficiency, why would the manufacturer not do it.

 

The theory is that because more power is available, it requires less effort to keep the car moving.  It hardly ever works in practice as people just use the extra power available. Accelerating harder; driving quicker. A remap doesn’t magically make the car more fuel efficient, that comes from driver input. 

 

47 minutes ago, Joss1733 said:

I thought it would make warranty invalid but is there anyone ever been effected by this?sombody has already stated if it that good then why have the car makers not done it before now.there will be some people on here who will know about these things.,so hope they come on here and tell us the good and bad points of remapping.i think the main thing about remapping would be making warranty invalid before extra power and mileage.

The internet is awash with people who’ve had their fingers burnt by manufacturers turning down warranty claims due to detected remaps. Even after the remap has been removed, it can still be detected. If they choose to look hard enough. 

Can't remap the MK4 anyway?

Did not know that.thx

1 hour ago, ItalianJob said:

Can't remap the MK4 anyway?

 

If that's correct at the moment, I'm sure it won't be long before someone gets into the ECU.  

 

To date, I've had three cars remapped.  2000 Mk4 Golf GT TDI  - 115 to 150 bhp.   2008 Mk5 Golf GT Sport TDI  - 170 to 210 bhp.   2016 Yeti 150 TDI - 150 to 180 bhp.  

 

They've all performed significantly better after the remap. They've probably returned poorer fuel consumption because I didn't have them remapped not to use the extra power at almost every available opportunity.

I've not experienced any mechanical failures due to having the cars remapped.  

Edited 15 August, 20214 yr by Schtum

Hi.

If anyone needs any help with insurance for a re-map then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

29 minutes ago, DAN@ADRIAN FLUX said:

Hi.

If anyone needs any help with insurance for a re-map then please feel free to drop me a line.

Regards,

Dan.

 

Guess who my Yeti is now insured with...?  

On 15/08/2021 at 15:07, Schtum said:

 

If that's correct at the moment, I'm sure it won't be long before someone gets into the ECU.  

 

To date, I've had three cars remapped.  2000 Mk4 Golf GT TDI  - 115 to 150 bhp.   2008 Mk5 Golf GT Sport TDI  - 170 to 210 bhp.   2016 Yeti 150 TDI - 150 to 180 bhp.  

 

They've all performed significantly better after the remap. They've probably returned poorer fuel consumption because I didn't have them remapped not to use the extra power at almost every available opportunity.

I've not experienced any mechanical failures due to having the cars remapped.  

It's not a problem of getting in. The newest VAG ECU needs to connect with their servers to authenticate changes. Even if you found a way to fool that you would most likely lose every other feature that requires connection and also updates would likely revert your map or just break something. I wouldn't bet on remaps just not being available at all. Or if they are they will require some external hardware to fool the car ECU.

On this note, has anyone tried one of these plug in chip boxes with any success? https://chippower24.com/en/7475-skoda-octavia-mk3-iii-5e-2-0-tsi-rs-180-kw-245-hp 

For a moderate amount of money they promise reasonable gains in torque and horsepower, I note that they say that the boxes are undetectable once unplugged, call me sceptical..... 

Manufacturers nowadays have to build an internal combustion engine that complies with emission regulations and customer performance/price expectations and that means at some point there is usually a compromise.

A remap or plug-in box will usually release additional performance and my guess is that emissions are a much lower priority so it would not surprise me if there is a small potential improvement in consumption achievable if the extra power is not utilised. Plug-ins tend to corrupt the consumption displays so appear much more economical than they really are.

 

'Dieselgate' was a classic example of a manufacturer resorting to cheating to meet cost/emission/performance targets and when the subsequent software emission fixes were applied there were many stories of poorer consumption/performance/reliability from lots of unhappy people.

Also in 2014 the 1.4tsi 103kw in my Octavia was officially marginally more economical than the equivalent 90kw version of the engine. 

 

Do not expect the cost of a remap to be paid back with better consumption in the lifetime of the vehicle.