Remaps...

seanyc5 · 17 Jan 2015 at 17:57

Hi,

So im after a remap and thought id get an unbiased opinion on here.

I have a 2006 Alfa GT 1.9JTDm.

Most people on the alfa forums go with Alfatune (ive emailed for a quote)

Or Autolusso (alfa specialist) His generic map is £300 with EGR delete or a custom map for £400 with EGR delete.

Both places are 1.5 hours from me (not an issue)

Out of interest I rang a place that is round the corner and he said if can read the ecu then he can flash it. He said he reads the ecu then applies the tweak and reflashes the tweaked map. Said if he can delete EGR then no extra cost and quoted £200.

Obviously a custom map is better but its a big difference in price!!

What do you all think anyone had a generic map vs custom or either or?

Thanks,
Sean

lordrobs · 17 Jan 2015 at 18:02

I'd say that a generic map is fine if you don't have a big plan for other modifications. I would go to someone with a reputation rather than someone willing to give it a go for the sake of £100.

tl45 · 17 Jan 2015 at 18:16

seanyc5 said:
Out of interest I rang a place that is round the corner and he said IF can read the ecu then he can flash it. He said he reads the ecu then applies the tweak and reflashes the tweaked map. Said if he can delete EGR then no extra cost and quoted £200.

Obviously a custom map is better but its a big difference in price!!

What do you all think anyone had a generic map vs custom or either or?

Thanks,
Sean

That's a big 'if' from the place round the corner - if they don't even know they can flash it you can be pretty sure they haven't done many of your car before. And if he can, what exactly is he going to tweek? Much better imho to go to a proven specialist, who is likely to have developed their map over time with feedback from other owners, and obviously knows exactly what can and can't be done.

seanyc5 · 17 Jan 2015 at 21:31

tl45 said:
That's a big 'if' from the place round the corner - if they don't even know they can flash it you can be pretty sure they haven't done many of your car before. And if he can, what exactly is he going to tweek? Much better imho to go to a proven specialist, who is likely to have developed their map over time with feedback from other owners, and obviously knows exactly what can and can't be done.

Very good point. He thought I said audi 1.9 at first and said the same about that. Yeah im not going there haha. Its looking like AlfaTune in St. Helens to be fair just waiting for a price but they seem to be the one that knows best and he tunes/works with race cars too.

ste_bla · 17 Jan 2015 at 21:35

If that's the same place in dunstable / Houghton Regis (lu5) I would personally avoid

Third Opinion · 18 Jan 2015 at 12:23

Definitely a specialist Alfa job. AutoLusso have a very good reputation as does Alfatune so you can't really go wrong with either.

The 1.9JTDm does respond well to tuning. What kind of BHP/Torque are you hoping for?

xs2man · 18 Jan 2015 at 13:08

I would go with a trusted company personally. I have had remaps before, both good and bad, and whilst they are good, it's always nice to know that the person mucking about with your cars ECU actually knows what they are doing.

A generic remap would be fine though. Unless you are doing many supporting mods, at's rarely worth going for a custom map.

seanyc5 · 18 Jan 2015 at 14:07

Third Opinion said:
Definitely a specialist Alfa job. AutoLusso have a very good reputation as does Alfatune so you can't really go wrong with either.

The 1.9JTDm does respond well to tuning. What kind of BHP/Torque are you hoping for?

Alfatune emailed back. Ill be going there! A decent bit cheaper than autolusso so will pay for juice.

Not really bothered about max figures to be fair I believe most get around 180bhp and a sensible map. 300-310 ftlbs on the torque. Id rather it be tuned right than push it for 5-10bhp.

Stormster · 18 Jan 2015 at 17:48

Definitely aim for a custom map if poss.

I've got mine booked in to a place next weekend called CC Tuning in Burton on Trent, before and after RR runs, custom map written, tested, tweaked on dyno, health check before any work happens etc, haven't found a bad word said and that's £300 inc VAT, bargain. The guy told me answers to questions before I had chance to ask so quite confident there

Let us know how you get on with your map either way!

seanyc5 · 18 Jan 2015 at 18:14

Stormster said:
Definitely aim for a custom map if poss.

I've got mine booked in to a place next weekend called CC Tuning in Burton on Trent, before and after RR runs, custom map written, tested, tweaked on dyno, health check before any work happens etc, haven't found a bad word said and that's £300 inc VAT, bargain. The guy told me answers to questions before I had chance to ask so quite confident there

Let us know how you get on with your map either way!

Yeah sounds good! That's only about 30mins from me.

Yeah price wise that's not far off what ive been quoted. Not sure you get before ad after rr runs though. It is with an EGR delete that ive seen some places charging £50 on top of the remap to do!

Can only get it done a Saturday and am busy this Saturday. Hopefully get it booked in for the 31st.

Ill post on here how it goes. What engine do you have in fiesta? (assuming that's what you getting mapped)

Thanks,
Sean

ozaudio · 18 Jan 2015 at 18:57

alfatune is only 2 minutes from my house and didnt even know they existed

nip into bcs exhausts while your down here for a exhaust upgrade

tl45 · 18 Jan 2015 at 19:36

Hadn't heard of BCS myself either, usually had any exhaust work done down at Collins Performance.

They make Mongoose exhausts and I've got their stage 2 remap also and are an ideal example of why to go to a specialist tuner rather than a jack of all trades, as they'll have spent a lot of time and effort developing their map not just to give a bhp figure.

From the 2 cases of people going to non-specialist remaps, 1 was a good outcome with a Focus tdci once the guy's advice to clear out the dpf was followed but the other with an Astra VXR caused error codes to come up for spark plugs or fuel pump from memory and ended up with a refund.

seanyc5 · 18 Jan 2015 at 20:20

ozaudio said:
alfatune is only 2 minutes from my house and didnt even know they existed

nip into bcs exhausts while your down here for a exhaust upgrade

Haha nah not going to bother it sounds ok as it is for a diesel and the back box looks smart. I don't think its worth it past a remap for pretty minimal extra gains when you take into consideration the cost of an exhaust.

Debating whether or not to upgrade the suspension though, will have to see after the map.

Stormster · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:58

seanyc5 said:
Yeah sounds good! That's only about 30mins from me.

Yeah price wise that's not far off what ive been quoted. Not sure you get before ad after rr runs though. It is with an EGR delete that ive seen some places charging £50 on top of the remap to do!

Can only get it done a Saturday and am busy this Saturday. Hopefully get it booked in for the 31st.

Ill post on here how it goes. What engine do you have in fiesta? (assuming that's what you getting mapped)

Thanks,
Sean

I've got an Astra 2.0 turbo at the moment, Z20LER, need to update my sig lol. It's 200BHP/200LBFT standard and hoping to bump it to 240BHP and 270lbft of torque, the limiting factor being my intercooler. Bit like an Astra VXR engine but it'd need a bigger turbo, injectors, MAF, intercooler for more power. I'll be happy with those kind of figures and to get a flat spot in the middle mapped out so it's got a nice weighty shove between 3 and 5k

Not a bad deal for you then if EGR delete is free if others are charging £50!

I'll post back how I get on too

acemastr · 18 Jan 2015 at 22:59

Pay for a custom map, every time. Far far safer

shauncr91 · 18 Jan 2015 at 23:13

acemastr said:
Pay for a custom map, every time. Far far safer

It depends. If you're going down a set path of modifications such as Stage 1, 2, 3 etc then plug n play maps are entirely safe, if you're fitting different parts to what that map is designed for then you're more likely to run into problems.

Although I would agree that a custom map is always the better choice if possible to get 100% out of your engine.

tl45 · 18 Jan 2015 at 23:22

I questioned whether my car needed setting up on the dyno when I got the Collins map but they said nope - would have happily paid the cash if they'd said otherwise but took their word for it

Third Opinion · 19 Jan 2015 at 08:57

seanyc5 said:
Alfatune emailed back. Ill be going there! A decent bit cheaper than autolusso so will pay for juice.

Not really bothered about max figures to be fair I believe most get around 180bhp and a sensible map. 300-310 ftlbs on the torque. Id rather it be tuned right than push it for 5-10bhp.

180BHP with that kind of torque is certainly achievable reliably. I have heard of more but that requires exhaust, clutch and intercooler upgrades.

Let us know how it feels when done.

Liquidfox · 19 Jan 2015 at 12:42

BCS make some beautiful exhausts, their work is absolutely top notch!

seanyc5 · 19 Jan 2015 at 20:34

Well I booked it in for 31st today! They are not normally open on saturdays as they do a lot of race days and race prep cars, but he said if I can get there for 9am he'll come in just for me. Saves me having to use a days holiday. Said it takes about 2.5-3 hours (reckons 50mins to read the original map of the ecu!)

Yeah I know that astra looked at them myself a few years ago, same basic block as the vxr isnt it like you say they just tuned it up abit. Got the metal inlet( i assume thats what it is never looked at one) across the top of the engine?

Sean