...........or remap for that matter.

I would have to say ladies and gents i am a bit stuck on this one. I bought myself a 55 Plate VRS a few weeks ago and i am happy with it, very happy indeed. However my prev motor was a Focus ST170 and altho i dont think i am missing much in a comparison of power / performance etc i feel it is just a little slower so am tempted to uprate.

However i am unsure on the best way to go about it. Chip or Remap.

I am not too worried about a huge increase and would be happy with 160BHP ish, my main issue is that i dont want the increase to cause issues i.e needing new clutch. Also dont want to drop to much in the MPG stakes, i know i know i want to have my cake and eat it.

Also as the motor is still under Manufacturers Warranty i do not wish to viod this, or at least let them know i have done something that would.

Cost is not really an issue within reason.

Advice , help, support and suggestions please chaps!!!!

I'm thinking of a Superchip and have spoken with a nearby fitter who has a rolling road etc and gets various power and torque data before and after. He is very experienced and says he doesn't go beyond 170 bhp because of the clutch.

AutoExpress has a report at:

Fabia-vrs.com - Auto Express Issue 874 7-13 September 2005

It's my wife's car and the insuance quote is only going up £30 with the chip to £214. The person giving the quote had to go and check becasue he thought it was too low, but was correct.

EDIT: Also, he says every VW, AUdi, Skoda with that engive has always had more than 130 bhp to start with - sometimes up to 139 bhp. Apparently, BMW are always under their quoted figure due to their spec. being based on just the engine without anything sapping the energy.

I am in the same boat with a 55 plate vRS and have been thinking a lot about remapping.

I think I am going to take the plunge and get a dragon digital box which I hope is easy to fit and remove! Also a new 1 from www.mrhoot.com is less than 300 bucks. It says power is increased to 160ish so hopefully the clutch will be ok.

Have a look at the tuner's in their own particular section. See which one you'd prefer to travel too after using the search facility to see what other's have said about them.

Good to shop around, do a search on Brisk.

Personal experience, I would get a proper remap done by one of the 'known' top tuners - gets you the smoothest power for your particular setup on your car. Ask if they can do a switcheable map, or buy a used ECU and get your OEM ECU copied onto that, and then remapped....

It really is useful to have a spare ECU when modding...

Don't believe advertising numbers, try to get the most driveable map based on Brisk members' comments.

Better to get a FMIC first if you want power that is there all the time and avoid the "horrible heatsoak"

You can see if your clutch slips when you get remapped, and back off the torque, keep the bhp to spare it. I have an ECU remapped to 190bhp and the OEM clutch only slips when I boot it in too high a gear...

my 2p worth

HTH

Bas

A good map will also improve economy when driving normally.

I guess the good thing about Superchips is that they offer warranty for those parts that aren't covered by manufacturer when you modify.

Do the other tuning shops offer this?

of course in the unlikely event!

PS I had a Dragon box for a bit and it certainly breathed fire! If you can live with that, I couldn't.

I am in the same boat with a 55 plate vRS and have been thinking a lot about remapping.

I think I am going to take the plunge and get a dragon digital box which I hope is easy to fit and remove! Also a new 1 from www.mrhoot.com is less than 300 bucks. It says power is increased to 160ish so hopefully the clutch will be ok.

Good luck with that dude!

The trouble with the standard vRS is the lack of power at the top end.

Get it mapped to overcome this and all will be nice!

Gents, thank you all for your info and if you have any more advice please do say. From what i can tell there are still lots of pro's and con's for both arguments.

Could you guys tell me a couple of things, how would a chip / remap to say 160BHP change my economy and also insurance (if i where to declare) and if i didnt declare would it be easy for them to tell in the event of a claim.

PS I had a Dragon box for a bit and it certainly breathed fire! If you can live with that, I couldn't.

Care to elaborate???

Cheers

Dave.

I ran a dragon box for 20k on the top setting. I'd recommend one but even that can result in clutch slip in 6th...

I have pondered a chip for a while and I have never really had the courage! If the re-map/ re-chip is so easy, gives an easy increase in power with modest fuel increase and no adverse effects to the engine or other components, why does the manufacturer not do it? Why, instead of 130bhp or 100bhp why not supply the motor already chipped or already mapped to supply the increased power etc. After all. with their huge research budgets, why don't the manufacturers come up with the results that aftermarket tuners manage?

If Seat get 160bhp from the 1.9 on the Cupra with the exact same clutch as the Furby then surely a 160bhp remap will be pretty safe?

Opinions welcome.

If Seat get 160bhp from the 1.9 on the Cupra with the exact same clutch as the Furby then surely a 160bhp remap will be pretty safe?

Opinions welcome.

It's torque that'll do in your drivetrain, not BHP. Normally, torque will have decreased noticeably from its peak by the headline top BHP figure.

It's possible to limit the torque a bit and still have a healthy top end power.

J.

I'm aware of that but it feels anal to quote torque figures when everyone knows straight off what bhp the Seat puts out.

So, say you took a Seat Cupra TDi and then a mapped Furby vRS.....does the mapped Furby have more torque?

I know it's usually 6th gear foot stompage that normally causes the clutch wear/ slip....does it mean the Seat Cupra TDi is useless on m'ways with more torque?

Care to elaborate???

Cheers

Dave.

Yes certainly.

Booting it produced some serious results. Much more power and torque than standard and I really enjoyed the view of a modded BMW from my rear view mirror struggling to keep up!

After that I found it hard to live with day in day out, no middle ground if you like.

It seemed to make my stutter worse too.

So I returned it under their 30 day refund policy, 2 weeks ago and guess what? Still no refund! They are seriously laid back at that place!

I see you have 06 vrs too. You can peg the power down but whats point in that, you've still shelled out for their max power claims! HTH.:confused:

Oh, just seen email saying been refunded now, and there was easter bank holiday too,so not toooo bad?

Once again, the benefits of a nicely adjusted map show through. Having the power at the higher end of the rev range without a huuuuge dollop of torque all at once at 1800rpm.

Going on Friday to get a custom one done on my 07 vRS at a place over hear only quoting 250 happy days and good rep have check with other people who have had it carried out on other cars will let you know what she goes to bhp wise and how it holds out. Been told that he usually sets them about 170 with a generic remap which normally does the job and no problems with it

I'm looking to get mine done in a couple of weeks. What would be a safe level of bhp / torque to aim for to ensure no turbo-popping or clutch-slip occurs?

It will be a Revo remap and when I posed the same question to them, they only replied that 170bhp will be fine.

It would be nice to be armed when go turn up and have some real-world values from people like yourselves who have experienced it first hand.

Revo is a generic map I believe. So you take what you are given, although I believe they can adjust some values.

Where are you based Xleon?

Oxfordshire.

So it's between Owen Developments (who still have not replied) and a Company in Henley (forget the name) who recommended 170bhp.

My mate has had several VAGs and all have been Revo'd and he recommends them, so I thought I'd go with them.

I found the Revo on my old one was quite harsh on the clutch ...

Oxfordshire.

So it's between Owen Developments (who still have not replied) and a Company in Henley (forget the name) who recommended 170bhp.

My mate has had several VAGs and all have been Revo'd and he recommends them, so I thought I'd go with them.

How about a trip down to Impossible Performance? Fair enough, I had a few more than average modifications, but my car would crawl past a Jabbasport's Ibiza PD130 quite nicely. It wasn't harsh at all either, it is just the way the power was kept throughout the rev-range.

I ran a Dragon tuning box on power and econemy set by Dragon on a brand new motor. it gave me a lot more bang from my furby. Easy to fit just 5 minutes to fit and remove and no probs with the clutch at all 13k later ,remember to use the gears correctly not expecting the car to lift away in 6th at low speeds and you will be well pleased.