Remap poli 1.4tdi pros & cons?

rexmedorum

I am just wondering about those remaps, offering better mpg & more power. I have been sceptical any opinions?
And what are the cons?

https://www.custom-code.co.uk/index.php?option=com_content&task=view&id=28&Itemid=46

Strider590

Broken link.....


Remaps do work for economy (if remapped for economy), but what you loose is all round drive-ability. Where most cars accelerate smoothly through the RPM range, a remap might leave you with something that struggles at low RPM and then squashes you into your seat as soon as the needle passes a certain point (like old 1980's/1990's turbo's).

The manufacturers restrict their cars for a reason, they spend billions of £ doing it and it's not (contrary to popular belief) about long term reliability, because reliable cars don't make money.
Cars are made to behave in a very neutrally appealing way, so that it sells to as many people as possible.

skiddlydiddly

Had my car remapped for the 2nd time yesterday(various components changed warranted it) and its worth doing from an economy and driveability point of view.I am talking about a custom map though, not a generic black box you plug in yourself.Power rose to 394bhp/350-lbft but still managed to drive over 160 miles home in crappy motorway traffic on half a tank of fuel(45l tank).Might not seem good to you but I know people who wouldn't get half of that mileage.
You can ask the mapper to make you a nice economy part of the map at certain speeds ie motorway and then its easy to control the mpg with your right foot.

Edit-there are cons of course, most remaps on turboed cars increase boost pressure and fuelling, speeding up the turbo which will shorten its life as well as other engine components.

Gloomendoom

My car has been remapped. It is as smooth as it was before but has a lot more grunt (430 lb/ft). This is particularly noticeable when overtaking.

If you are looking for mpg gains I think you will be disappointed. The gains are small or non existent if you actually use the extra power... and you will. In addition, the increase in your insurance premiums will wipe out any financial saving in fuel.

skiddlydiddly

I got a quote from one of the companies on comparethemarket. com for a BMW 330d and it was only an extra £15 if it had ECU modifications.I was pretty surprised as I was expecting it to be a lot more than that.
I doubt very much thats the norm though.

Gloomendoom

skiddlydiddly wrote: »

I got a quote from one of the companies on comparethemarket. com for a BMW 330d and it was only an extra £15 if it had ECU modifications.I was pretty surprised as I was expecting it to be a lot more than that.
I doubt very much thats the norm though.

Some companies seem to have graduated scale depending on how much extra power the remap or tuning box generates. I have seen just £14 more but that was for a 0-10% power increase. Most turbo diesel remaps will boost the power by more than 10%, even the 'economy' ones.

attila_

the biggest drawback is clutch. Clutches are rated to work on the max torque (Nm). More power = more torque or torque spikes if its a cheap remap and clutch will slip. On a new deisel this is not cheap. VAG will prob have a dual mass flywheel (DMF) which may also need changing due to clutch wear and the costs can be around £5-800....

I have two VAGs and on enthusiast forums, members who have had remaps will end up with a new clutch very soon.

I'm really surprised the ones who have had remaps above have not commented on this. This is the only reason why I'm not doing it on either of my cars.

Scotty1.7

Remaps for TDi's can help but as stated above, the extra benefits of more power lead to further issues with other parts- like clutch and drive train.

You get round that by upgrading the clutch but then (again as above) you change the driving mannor of the car.

Gloomendoom

attila_ wrote: »

I'm really surprised the ones who have had remaps above have not commented on this. This is the only reason why I'm not doing it on either of my cars.

It is a very good point although driving style is a factor in clutch life. My car is an auto. If the gearbox gets overloaded it puts the engine into limp mode to prevent damage. It hasn't happened to me yet and I doubt it will.

It is also true that some manufacturers (Ford) market exactly the same car in different tunes. Knocking up the basic model to the same output as the top model is unlikely to create any reliability issues.

ses6jwg

I had a Fabia VRS 1.9 TDI and had it remapped from 140bhp and from memory 240lb ft to 178bhp and 310lb ft.

The clutch lasted about 10k before it started to slip (62k on the clock)

HOWEVER

I would recommend it and would remap a car again, it was the best thing I've ever done to a car.

ALSO

Because the 1.4 produces less torque than the 1.9 your clutch should be OK.

skiddlydiddly

attila_ wrote: »

the biggest drawback is clutch. Clutches are rated to work on the max torque (Nm). More power = more torque or torque spikes if its a cheap remap and clutch will slip. On a new deisel this is not cheap. VAG will prob have a dual mass flywheel (DMF) which may also need changing due to clutch wear and the costs can be around £5-800....

I have two VAGs and on enthusiast forums, members who have had remaps will end up with a new clutch very soon.

I'm really surprised the ones who have had remaps above have not commented on this. This is the only reason why I'm not doing it on either of my cars.

Good point, I just assumed this would have been taken into account.
I am no stranger to clutch changes having gone through a standard, so called performance organic, performance paddle(actually pertty good) and back to an uprated oirganic with heavy duty cover.
Like everything, increase power and it always finds the weakest link in the chain.