BLUEFIN...hmmm

I have a Superchips remap on my S3 and it is quick, very very quick

If you are not satisfied, you can contact them and i am sure they can provide a new remap for you. Also fuel is very important, always use the best stuff.

anyone who thinks a remap on a S3 only gives a psychological performance gain needs to actually drive a remapped car.

a3norwich said:

Psychological or otherwise, not worth it in my opinion. Would rather have the car standard and stress it less...

Maybe I'm just lucky and have a good one out of the factory!!!

It was interesting to dabble in a remap though as this was my first.

Could understand why the ED30 Golf would behave so differently, as the power gain is substantial - 227 to 300 against the S3 at 261 to 303 - 73 HP is a big leap.

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Not driven a mapped S3 , but agree with everthing you say here.

I'm convinced that some ( if not all ) S3's put out more than claimed ( check out the RR thread ) then you need to ask yourself is it worth the outlay and the void in warrenty?

I agree that a remapped car will be faster than a std car whatever it's puting out and it's not a placedo, but the gains CAN be small.

p

Well, here's my take on things. Mines an S3 with GIAC hammer map running on Shell 99 Vpower. Including myself i think we all secom to the thought of peak power figures and expect a seek and destroy misile for a few hundred quid. Anyway, I switched maps back to stock today for first time since it was remapped so i'll try and give an honest appraisal as follows.

First thing i noticed was the lack of induction noise, the mapped version certainly had more of a growl from both turbo and exhaust. Intitially i took it easy to warm the engine up, i thought the car felt mildly less responsive but reserved judgement until i could have a full and longer run. I headed off to some fimiliar roads which i knew well and what to expect of the car. The first part was a long straight, I gave it some right foot and the first thing blatantly obvious to me was the lack of surge around 3000 rpm. The cars power was linear but it didn't have the familiar noise of the turbo spooling up around 2800 rpm with a defined power increase around 3000 rpm. The next section was fast sweeping country roads. The car again pulled well but i noticed around 4/5000 rpm in top the car did not have the urgency it did with the map. To try and put it in perspective the mapped car on the same roads seems about the same grunt in sixth gear as the the stock car in fith gear.

Low speed driving which i found interesting. When in built up areas and overall power is pointless i tend to change gear just over 2000 rpm, cruise around 1500/1800 rpm and drop as low as 1200/1300 rpm when say turning at a junction but leaving the car in third gear. These just happen to be approximate figures the mapped car will pull comfortably with progressive torque at hand. The stock car seemed a little flat in this range which i had to componsate for i.e. keeping the revs a little higher. At one point i let the revs die to near stall speed to see if the engine would still pull which it didn't and i had to drop down a gear where as with the mapped car would have coped. I realised that i had got used to driving with extra torque and now had to consciously drive the car accordingly.

In conclusion, the remap has certainly not made my car a Porsche 911 beater. It is however more tractable (torquey) in the lower power range and definately more responsive mid to top range. I don't want to big it up too much and mislead people but the fact is the car clearly is all round faster. By how much torque/bhp/0-60 on paper i don't know, by increased ease and driving enjoyment quite a lot!

Goes without saying i have put the hammer map back on :thumbsup:

Do any of the maps make a difference below the 'turbo' speed?
I thought most of the maps adjusted the power within the turbo band rather than anything below it - most powere charts seem to reflect that. So I was surprised to read your comments about the improved behaviour between 1000 and 2000rpm.
Without wanting to patronise are you sure it's not just a placebo effect?

I don't doubt your comments about the top end though. How many forum memeber have the 'hammer' map on now? Any other isseus identified yet?

JK

jamiekip said:

Do any of the maps make a difference below the 'turbo' speed?
I thought most of the maps adjusted the power within the turbo band rather than anything below it - most powere charts seem to reflect that. So I was surprised to read your comments about the improved behaviour between 1000 and 2000rpm.
Without wanting to patronise are you sure it's not just a placebo effect?

I don't doubt your comments about the top end though. How many forum memeber have the 'hammer' map on now? Any other isseus identified yet?

JK

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The remap brings the boost up to a higher level so you get more power at lower revs. And trust me it's not a placebo effect lol

S3-Nick said:

anyone who thinks a remap on a S3 only gives a psychological performance gain needs to actually drive a remapped car.

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I don't think anyone's suggesting remaps are psychological, because a dyno run will (should...) prove otherwise.

I just think (harking back to my higher economics lessons..) it's the old 'law of diminishing returns'.
The fact you already have plenty of power means you're less likely to notice more.

Disclaimer(I don't actually know if that's the correct application of the law of diminishing returns, it just reminds me of it)

phantom said:

Not driven a mapped S3 , but agree with everthing you say here.

I'm convinced that some ( if not all ) S3's put out more than claimed ( check out the RR thread ) then you need to ask yourself is it worth the outlay and the void in warrenty?

I agree that a remapped car will be faster than a std car whatever it's puting out and it's not a placedo, but the gains CAN be small.

p

Click to expand...

With regard to warranty issues - Despite quotes to the contrary, the Bluefin DOES leave a flash count on the ECU. However, whether an Audi MD would pick up on this is another matter.

GIAC software zero's any remnant flash counts and when switched to stock, is totally invisible to the equipment available to main dealers.

The only way it could be traced, is if the engine or ECU is sent back to the manufacturer.

Unless you blow 3 or 4 engines, I can't see this happening.

ROB

RC said:

With regard to warranty issues - Despite quotes to the contrary, the Bluefin DOES leave a flash count on the ECU. However, whether an Audi MD would pick up on this is another matter.

GIAC software zero's any remnant flash counts and when switched to stock, is totally invisible to the equipment available to main dealers.

The only way it could be traced, is if the engine or ECU is sent back to the manufacturer.

Unless you blow 3 or 4 engines, I can't see this happening.

ROB

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The new bluefin handset apparently resets the counter to zero by default.

Spin140 said:

The new bluefin handset apparently resets the counter to zero by default.

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Sure does re set it, one of the reasons I got one

staz1000 said:

The remap brings the boost up to a higher level so you get more power at lower revs. And trust me it's not a placebo effect lol

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Totally agree

I had a load of diagnostics, test drives, services AND a brand new Clutch and dual mass flywheel under warranty on my previous MK5 Golf, all at my local MD without any fuss at all, and all while the car had a REVO map in place.

MDs dont look, nor care. It costs them nothing, in fact it keeps their guys busy as they are re-imbursed for the work.

Its not in their interest to give you a hard time and alienate you as customer.
On the contrary, my MD dealt with my rather large clutch/DMF claim totally fuss free and because of that I recommended them to a colleague who purchased a car from them.

As I understand it, the MD will only detect a remap if they run logs while the car is out on the road and would see the increase boost.
Simple diagnostics wont see the map.

If the remap market grows and becomes more commonplace, manufactures may take steps to root us lot out, but until then its pretty safe IMO.

Cheers
Paul

Well i think car makers are missing out on a trick with not offering manufacture approved remaps/ECU upgrades! who would go to a tuner if you can get the same figures with a dealer warrenty?

Subaru are offering FREE ECU upgrades at first service on the STI taking it to 340bhp?

The STI is Subarus flag ship car , the S3 is small potatoes in Audis range!

p

Good point, SUBARU seem to embrace and support the whole tuning thing, guess thats confidence in your product.

SAAB also do something sililar with HIRSCH through their dealer network.

Its a potential massive market within the VAG group, although it would probably play havoc with their carefully controlled marketing strategies.

Subaru only offers warrenty (rather suprisingly) on the PPP package that they sell at over inflated prices. The PPP package is a very safe package (consisting of a remapped ECU, Center section & back box) and is generally considered to be OK but not very good gains for the money. A lot more BHP & torque & a subaru that is a lot more drivable than a PPP equiped Sccob can be generally achived for 1/2 what Subaru charges you for the PPP package, but of course has no official warrenty.
A fair few Subaru dealers will turn a blind eye to sensible mods and happily push warrenty claims through.
Yes Audi / VAG group are missing a trick in my eyes but they have a massive model range and I guess are more interested in shifting numbers and happy to simply sell your another (read more expensive) model

Richard

From my experience, chipping is about the drive of the car, not a transformation or kick in the back. When I had my 1.8T 190 chipped at Amd (oneclick) to start with I was dissapointed as you tend to expect some kind of miracle (I got 231 from it) but later on the drive home it became more obvious that in the gears and torque was much better actually transforming the car.
You do however end up chasing the figures for the rush (I went to a3 3.2, then S4 then RS4(b7)). The only real 'kick' was from the RS4 and at 420PS and 50K you would expect it!.
I must say though that a ED30 golf blasted up behind me and although I pulled away, the car is double the money!... how much is really needed?.
My S3 comes in about 1month and I will leave it stock and may try bluefin at some point but the Std map seemed quite good actually.

I think people expect a 'transformation' for 400 quid and I am not sure you would feel that ever..