Hi all, recently moved workplace and due change of car. Looking at a 69 plate Octavia with the 2 litre diesel 148bhp unit partly as I'll be doing circa 17k mileage wise and it would give me the balance of space, reliability and cost on top of a decent drive and spec.

Few workmates have already had a stage one remap on their diesels (Jags mostly) and noticed a considerable difference in economy and performance without it causing any grief due to being a purely ecu upgrade I'm told.

 

Asking if I can expect the same if I go down this route and any advice or potential issues I should watch out for?

 

Many thanks in advance. Cav

Welcome.

Where are you in Scotland?

Be sure that you insure with a company fine with Remaps.

Just get the car, be sure all is well then head for a reputable tuner of which there are plenty in Scotland and you are sorted.

http://ecotune-scotland.co.uk

 

Edited 11 June, 20224 yr by roottoot

Maybe also mention to the tuner that you want it mapped more for economy. Doesn't have to mean no extra power. Just that it'll be optimised for smoothness etc instead of hunting for peak power figures which can be quite aggressive.

I had similar maps on both my last 2 cars and they drove lovely.

That is a lovely tale told to the Call Centre Handler with the Insurance Company.  Remapped for economy and efficiency and not more performance with more bhp / Nm torque.

 

Just tune the car if you really want it then just do not go any faster than when not remapped and it might use less fuel, or it might not. 

I recently took my Scout into dealer, first time ever! They had contacted me, there is a ecu update, FOC. On dropping the car off, first question was “have you had any chipping done?” , if so, then no update. After the emissions scandal, they are being very cautious. 

25 minutes ago, roottoot said:

Welcome.

Were are you in Scotland.

Be sure that you insure with a company fine with Remaps.

Just get the car, be sure all is well then head for a reputable tuner of which there are plenty in Scotland and you are sorted.

http://ecotune-scotland.co.uk

 

I'm in a rural area mate, I like to have a bit of power to overtake safely which isn't always easy on some of the back roads I have to use but the estimated fuel saving my colleagues are getting is obviously a bonus as well.

 

According to some online companies if I buy the sportline version I'm after I could potentially get up to 196bhp with a stage one, with economy anywhere between 5-10% improved as a rough estimate.

 

I used to work in car insurance many moons ago so I'm aware of getting my ducks in a row on that side of things first. I'm more wanting to know of potential issues and if the stage one is purely an ecu upgrade or whether I should be upgrading other parts of the car to be safe.

 

Really appreciate the replies btw.

@wallacebob

That was a free update to you, and an earner for them.  What was the ECU update for?

 

Always sensible to tell Dealership Staff / Technicians. 

Do not do any Software Update as my car is remapped.   Also to have them say what the TPI / Recall Action is for. 

 

After the Defeat Device Scandal and the VW Emissions Fix it is owners that need to be careful because even with a Peace of mind guaranteed they stuffed up many cars with Software / Engine Management updates.

Edited 11 June, 20224 yr by roottoot

10 minutes ago, wallacebob said:

I recently took my Scout into dealer, first time ever! They had contacted me, there is a ecu update, FOC. On dropping the car off, first question was “have you had any chipping done?” , if so, then no update. After the emissions scandal, they are being very cautious. 

That would certainly be an issue if I was taking an extended warranty, and definitely something to think about so thank you. I have a good mechanic but he doesn't have all of the diagnostic equipment required for everything as far as I'm aware so that's in my thinking.

@cav1904 

Just a clue on the general area and then me or someone else can point you towards a reliable remapper / tuner.

 

Re Warranty.

Not valid then with 'None factory approved softare / engine management or hardware'   So you are a bit stuffed there.

Edited 11 June, 20224 yr by roottoot

Just now, roottoot said:

@cav1904 

Just a clue on the general area and then me or someone else can point you towards a reliable remapper / tuner.

I'm an hour southwest of Edinburgh and southeast of Glasgow.

I know colleagues who have used guys in Larkhall and Carlisle without issues so far.both are between 45 minutes and 70 minutes drive from me.

Best see that all is well with the car then, servicing up to date and then have the Remap done and you know the warranty is void on engine and gearbox and the risk is yours. 

8 minutes ago, roottoot said:

Best see that all is well with the car then, servicing up to date and then have the Remap done and you know the warranty is void on engine and gearbox and the risk is yours. 

Sounds good mate, I've currently got a kia which although is great in a practical sense warranty wise it really drives poorly compared to the old 64 plate Octavia I used to have. Supposed to have 134bhp in a small car, but it doesn't use the power well at all imo.

I really don't drive that fast the majority of the time and I'm barely getting 52mpg also.

 

My old Octavia to be fair was built for economy and averaged 69mpg, but despite it being the underpowered 1.6 diesel I trusted it more in a strange way?

 

Much more roomy when I've got the family with me obviously as well.

2 hours ago, roottoot said:

That is a lovely tale told to the Call Centre Handler with the Insurance Company.  Remapped for economy and efficiency and not more performance with more bhp / Nm torque.

 

Just tune the car if you really want it then just do not go any faster than when not remapped and it might use less fuel, or it might not. 

 

You missed my meaning (unlike you). 

It was meant to read more about the warnings of some tuners who hunt for peak power which either burns through the turbo, drives too snatchy on power or both.

 

As it happens both my mapped diesels did return more mpg because I used the power more.

 

As for supporting mods for a "stage 1" map on a diesel? Don't worry about it. Diesels breath well as standard so no need for a performance intake or exhaust. If you were going further with the power output then it might help. But not with a simple map.

 

I'd be expecting something like 180-185hp up from 148.

11 minutes ago, MarkyG82 said:

 

You missed my meaning (unlike you). 

It was meant to read more about the warnings of some tuners who hunt for peak power which either burns through the turbo, drives too snatchy on power or both.

 

As it happens both my mapped diesels did return more mpg because I used the power more.

 

As for supporting mods for a "stage 1" map on a diesel? Don't worry about it. Diesels breath well as standard so no need for a performance intake or exhaust. If you were going further with the power output then it might help. But not with a simple map.

 

I'd be expecting something like 180-185hp up from 148.

Thanks mate, the requirement or not to have to support the stage one remap was what I was especially unsure of having never done this before.

 

I was thinking the remap would more or less take the engine to a similar output of the vrs diesel version which to be fair should be plenty for the likes of myself.

My mapped 150 dsg was slightly quicker than my mates manual vrs. The dsg contributed to that. 

1 hour ago, MarkyG82 said:

As it happens both my mapped diesels did return more mpg because I used the power more.

 

Can you explain that one to me please?

@J.R. sorry, typo. Should have been "didn't".

If you are after a map for better economy then I would not bother.  You will spend circa £350+ for a reputable map to gain a few extra mpgs. If you work out how many miles you would need to recouo the cost of the map before you start making savings it would be around 4 years or so worth of driving. I dud have a formula to work it out but cant place it.

However if you are just after better driveability then I would say do it. Mine is mapped by Superchips Bluefin and is very smooth when driven normally. I can easily get 55mpg+ when driven sensibly. Like any other car if you use the power the mpgs drop.

Personally I think it improves the car and makes it how Skoda should have released it.

VW had enough trouble getting the emissions low enough on a rolling road test with Euro 5 TDI,s and needed defeat devices. Then they had to get Euro 6 results on a rolling road. Then had the WLTP / RDE coming and needed to go SCR,/ AdBlue.    If a simple mapping change in 2016 was all that was needed to make a 2.0 TDI 150 ps perform better and get certificated they might have just asked APR / REVO / Superchips  / Quantum etc to help them out.  

14 hours ago, Ecomatt said:

Personally I think it improves the car and makes it how Skoda should have released it.

 

In the case of my vehicle it is how they released it, exact same engine with 2 levels of (programmed) tune for either 108hp or 140hp,  done almost certainly for taxation bands, in the case of my country all the tax loading is up front at the point of first registration.

 

My "Stage 2" remap has given supposedly 189hp on another vehicle featured on their promotional videos, the factory 170hp variant uses a different turbo, mine feels like 170, not sure about 189 but in any case its perfect for my needs and is so smooth I suspect it is the factory 170hp map perhaps with a little tweaking.

 

What has made a positive difference to the fuel economy and driveability was the recent removal of the emissions fix.

There were others including members here that preferred their 150 ps TDI over a 184 PS one. 

 

I went for the 150 ps when i could have chosen the 184 ps then had it remapped. 

The reason being i wanted the lighter more basic Alhambra that came with smaller wheels and bigger sidewalls. 

It might be an idea, when you get your car, to run it unmodified for a while just to ascertain true consumption and whether the available performance actually meets your needs anyway.

I know that 150bhp does not seem much but with a diesel it is all about the torque and the 2.0tdi will have a heap more than your previous Octavia or current Kia and probably  be a lot more tractable at lower revs than either. 

 

If you then choose to apply an ECU performance tune you have some basis for comparison 

On 11/06/2022 at 12:49, cav1904 said:

I'm an hour southwest of Edinburgh and southeast of Glasgow.

I know colleagues who have used guys in Larkhall and Carlisle without issues so far.both are between 45 minutes and 70 minutes drive from me.

 

I suspect you're reasonably close to Angel Tuning who are based in Symington.  However, they'd come to you and remap it on your drive or at your place of work.  

 

I had both my previous 170 TDI Golf and current 150 TDI Yeti mapped by them.  Paul Winston is a very helpful guy who offers excellent customer service, in my experience. 

2 hours ago, Gerrycan said:

It might be an idea, when you get your car, to run it unmodified for a while just to ascertain true consumption

 

If you then choose to apply an ECU performance tune you have some basis for comparison 

 

Its certainly true of tuning boxes (and I suspect remaps as well) that the "chip tuned"engine is now consuming more fuel than the ECU thinks has been delivered in order to produce the power and hence the maxidot MPG readings as optimistic as they already were become even more so.

 

Being on my second remap and doing regular brim to brim checks I can say that the remaps certainly do not reduce the consumption when you drive in a similar manner, in real terms during those journeys you may well be doing overtakes that you would not have considered before, having more power & of course using more fuel, that the economy does not seem to drop must mean its more efficient.

12 minutes ago, J.R. said:

 

Its certainly true of tuning boxes (and I suspect remaps as well) that the "chip tuned"engine is now consuming more fuel than the ECU thinks has been delivered in order to produce the power and hence the maxidot MPG readings as optimistic as they already were become even more so.

 

Being on my second remap and doing regular brim to brim checks I can say that the remaps certainly do not reduce the consumption when you drive in a similar manner, in real terms during those journeys you may well be doing overtakes that you would not have considered before, having more power & of course using more fuel, that the economy does not seem to drop must mean its more efficient.

 

Having fitted the same Viezu Tuning Box to two of my wife's previous VW Tiguans, I concur with your statement about the optimistic fuel consumption figures on the display.  

 

That has not been the case with my previous Golf and my current Yeti both of which were remapped by Angel Tuning.  Driven enthusiastically which is why I had the cars remapped anyway, I can easily get my Yeti to show consumption figures in the low 30's mpg.