Remap Write Up

MikeA3

MikeA3

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If anyone is considering having their TDI remapped and is a bit confused over the whole process I thought I’d do a quick write up of my remap “journey” over the past few months.

Choosing the remap company is arguably the toughest part of the whole process. My car is an A3 TDI 130(PD) and whilst I loved the car in standard form, after a couple of years I felt that it was just lacking that little something extra.

There are loads of different companies offering new maps for the 130pd engine and I looked at all of the major companies before making my decision, I also tried to find members reviews of the companies but found that the majority of reviews were for the petrol engine (normally the 1.8 turbo used in the A3, A4 S3 etc) and not the 130 diesel.
Most companies tended to focus on the increased BHP on offer from the remap with some offering up to 195bhp!! - But I wanted a mixture of improvements from the remap not all out speed, my main requirements were:

Smoother power delivery instead of the standard turbo “wallop” I was used to.

Better MPG whilst driving at normal speeds (motorway cruising etc)
Improved torque in higher gears / revs for overtaking.

So after many months of decisions over which company should remap my car I went in on a mini group buy at Superchips kindly organised by the Slug (thanks again Rich). The main advantage of this offer was that the map would be tailored to suit me, not a generic (standard) map; this would allow me to get the results I wanted.

The other benefit of the mini group buy is that we saved about £100 over the standard price of £511 + RR costs as we paid £465 for the tailored map and before and after rolling road runs. The remap was to take place at Superchips Buckinghamshire HQ.

Firstly, the car, mine is a standard TDI PD130 A3 with the only mods so far being the 17” S3 alloys I fitted to it & a stubby aerial so pretty much bog standard.

The REMAP process:
When I arrived (well after a cup of tea) the car was put on the rollers to find out what power is was putting out as standard, a fan / blower is positioned in front of the car to simulate the air entering the car normally and extractor fans are placed at the back to help remove any exhaust gasses so you don’t kill the technicians.

After the initial run it turns out my 130 was actually producing 137bhp and this is often the case with the 130’s according to the technicians.
The technicians then connected their laptop via the OBD (on board diagnostic) port to install the new map and put it back onto the rollers, initially they uploaded a generic map producing just over 175 BHP. The car was then tested once more on the rolling road.

The improvement in acceleration was mind blowing – the rolling road is connected to a computer which shows the torque delivery and a few other bits and pieces, the only problem with this was at just over 4000 revs when a huge amount of black smoke was produced from the exhaust (a combination of the generic map not being 100% suitable for the way my engine was running and the fact that I have been known to drive like miss daisy at times resulting in a large build up of soot etc left in the exhaust).

After clearing the room for a few moments (literally) we decided to try the car on the roads as it was possible it just needed a good run to clear any remaining soot from the exhaust.

The technician came with me with his laptop connected to the car to monitor how the engine was coping with the new settings, unfortunately the smoke was still an issue especially under hard acceleration (I’ll apologise now to the ford transit driver who we left in a big cloud of smoke on the dual carriageway :racer: ) I also found that with the engine producing175bhp it was causing the esp to kick in a bit when putting the power down in first and second gear, finally the power delivery wasn’t as smooth as I’d hoped and there still seemed to be quite a bit of turbo lag so the technician suggested that to solve the issues they would alter the engine settings & reduce the bhp to a more manageable level
When we got back to Superchips they then tailored the map with the readings taken by the technicians laptop on the run, this allowed them to alter the boost settings and a few other bits and pieces to smooth out the power delivery.

The final rolling road test was very good, the car produced minimal smoke under hard acceleration and the power delivery was a lot more continuous, I was then given the keys and told to go out for a spin and check I was happy with it all.

The end result is amazing, the engine is now producing 162bhp and the power is almost continuous in every gear, also there seems to be very little turbo lag as well, the car now pulls much harder right up to the limit. On the way home I was driving at a sensible pace on the motorways and it seems that the engine is also more economical that it previously was although it’ll take a few tanks of diesel to prove this as I don’t have DIS.

All in all, I’m really impressed with the remap – it’s totally transformed the car, it feels a lot more responsive and the power delivery is much smoother than the standard Audi map, also, the service we received at Superchips was excellent everyone we met was extremely helpful and professional, I’d highly recommend them to any other forum member here.
A few pics of the day:

The Rolling road bay
[URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075555.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075555.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075555.jpg"][/URL][/URL][/URL]
My TDI on the rolling road
[URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075332.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075332.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075332.jpg"][/URL][/URL][/URL]
Rich’s TDI Quattro on the rollers:
[URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075436.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075436.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075436.jpg"][/URL][/URL][/URL]
Rich’s other half’s TDI on the rollers:
[URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075395.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075395.jpg"][URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/26116075395.jpg"][/URL][/URL][/URL]


Rolling Road Printouts below
[URL="http://i37.photobucket.com/albums/e86/mikecrippin/20061012102353874.jpg"][/URL]
Mike
 
That's a great insight Mike. I am having the same initial problems as you about who to trust to do the remap and also to ensure I get a reslut that suits my needs and not just a standard extra power boost.

I'm miffed I missed out on the day now, I bet I'll have to pay loads more if I go there on my own.

I'm looking at getting my motor remap done with another forum member by a company called Celtic tuning who come to you and are able to tailor the remap to your own needs. Maybe I'll do a write up on them just as you have done here.

John
 
Glad it's of use John - you could always start a mini group buy of your own if your after a larger discount, theres bound to be people wanting remaps on these forums who will take part.

it would also be worth joining ukmkiv's as some of the sponsors for the site offer discounts on remaps - you have to join but it's free anyway :)

Mike
 
I'd be interested in a group buy and I havent even picked my motor up yet.
 
If this is going ahead, let me know i may be interested. Mike, keep this thread up to date if you can with useability results, its good information to have, also how does this power increase affect the charge air temperature and the life expectancy of the turbo?
 
Well it's been done for about 6 weeks now and i can't fault it (mind you i don't drive a huge amount as I live in london)

I think the main benefit is that they tailored the map to suit my needs, it's made the engine pretty much perfect for my driving style - still economical most of the time which suits me as i mainly use the car for long trips but theres also the extra oooomph (technical term) when i want to have fun (before the on board girlfriend system kicks in that is)

once i can figure out how to upload my rolling road printouts i'll post them up for you - i can't change the file from a .tif to a .jpg whatever the hell that means??
 
ROLLING ROAD PRINTOUTS NOW ADDED TO THE WRITE UP - THANKS MART
 
Very interesting, i need my 2.5 remapped, and again am confused by all the different offerings out there. I want a 'live' remap so maybe this is the way to go!
 
I had my last 1.9Tdi mapped by super chips and they didnt have 4x4 rollers so they just stuck the map on, it was a amazing transformation turbo was noisy, lag was reduced and power was increased dramatically!!

i will be doing the same with the new car but, i want it live mappped this time though and AMD
 
Ive been to AMD for a rolling road day and was impressed with the work shop and set up. Have you had experiences of AMDs remapping?
 
Drizz,

I've never used AMD for a remap but many people have and rate their work, I did visit them once for a minor service and found them to be very good. I think it all comes down to what you want the engine to do at the end of the day i.e economy, performance etc

If your after a remap, other companies that might be worth a look are:

QST
REVO
Jabba
Superchips (had to get that one in :))
Quattronics
DPM

and theres probably a few more as well
 
Just had another thought - you mentioned in one of your earlier posts that your after a "live" map

If your still looking for this, REVO & some of the superchips franchise outlets might not be any use for you as they upload a generic map onto your cars ECU without having it on the rollers. I think most of the other tuners have rolling roads but it might be worth asking when your phoning around.
 
Well, Pete, from Celtic Tuning has just left. Arrived at 7pm and 2.5 hours later we went on a nice 140mph test drive.....which more than pleased Pete.

Over about 20 minutes drive around A, B and M roads the power seems stronger from any point you floor it. I'll be out in the Cheshire plains tomorrow so will report back more then.

John
 
Well I'm now really miffed.

I spent all day yesterday driving around in my car and wasn't impressed at all with the new remap.

I either had way too much power with just a slight touch of the pedal or drop outs when accelerating.

The tiptronic gearbox also was now having a problem deciding when to change gear and sometimes changing down or up a gear ever other second. At one point the gearbox wouldn't select any gears at all and ofter waiting 40 mins the nice RAC man came and said the car was in limp home mode and after a quick play on his laptop, whilst connected to my car, he sorted that out and I was on my way again.

I called Celtic and mentioned the problems. I was told Pete would be back to look at my car. This was better than I was expecting and was then happy to wait for a couple of hours to get this fixed.

Pete turned up and checked the car over with VAG Com and find no real faults. He then had another version of the mapping and did remap V2. We went out for a good drive round and whilst the fierceness of the power had gone the gearbox problems had not.

He called back to his office and a chap called Dave who was in Ireland then said he would try again with remap v3. It transpires that Dave has extactly the same car as me and is clueless as to what is causing the problems with my car.

Some time later we had remap V3 loaded and went out for a drive. Yes, you guessed it, the gerabox problems were even worse. I also noticed the power gain had almost gone and it drove with the same power now as it did prior to any remap.

Pete then laoded my original mapping that he had taken off my car on Tuesday. We then went out for a drive and my car was now back to it's smooth gearbox self, with the same power as V2 and V3 of the remap.

So remap V1 was mad power and I really mean mad, as you pulled your foot off the power the car accelerated more until you pulled your foot righ off the pedal, very fierce gear changes, around 40% lower fuel consumption and just a really wild mad driving experience. It felt like I was driving a manual A3 3.2 quattro I was once given as a service car, just manic power that was either on or off.

So I am now back to the standard mapping on my motor and have been driving around today very content with my smooth power delivery and smooth gear changes. I almost feel the £350 remap isn't worth the gains, gearbox problems aside, as the extra power only fills small gaps in the acceleration of the normal mapping and top end speed is no change. you get far more to the gallon and unless you drive "on the limits" the extra power gains are just not worth the money.

I hope this has been a good insight into the, semmingly, mine field of problems you might have when having yoru car remapped.

On as secondary note nearly every chip or remap place I called all said that my car either did or didn't need a seperate gearbox mapping loaded so it seems no one really knows how to solve the gearbox problem. Another strange thing is when aksing for rolling road tests for my car no one would guarantee my car would work on the RR as the gearbox is neither full auto nor is it full manual and it cannot be set to hold in each gear for the power to be tested.

All I would say it if you have anything other than a manual car you might want to get someone to try the remap on yoru motor before you pay and if you are trying to RR your auto car then make sure you try a place who has already correctly tested your type of car on the RR.

John
 
John,

Sorry to hear about the problems you've had there - doesn't sound good

I think AMD (based near oxford) can offer a remap for the 2.5 autos but that might be too far for you to travel

Mike
 
You need the gearbox settings changed to suit the new power bands, no expert just read it on a different forum. Just had my 130 tdi passat re mapped by chippeduk.com what an experience, started out at 128 hp now 177 hp plus the real power 'Nm', no smoke and smooth power delivery, these guys really know about re maps and the cost £275 that includes the rolling road set up and a neat print out, oh and a grin from ear to ear for at least a week
 
thanks for the write up very imformative, what could i expect from my 100bhp tdi from a remap?
 
hardeep1 said:
thanks for the write up very imformative, what could i expect from my 100bhp tdi from a remap?
Click to expand...

If you check the companies websites they should be able to give you a rough estimate of the increase - what make / model audi do you have?
 
Drizz i went to AMD for a rolling road day also, mine got 161 bhp 230ib/ft
With a remap they said from experience between 180-190 bhp and 280ib/ft
I would definately consider getting it done there as i was very impressed with it all.
 
i'd be more worried about my clutch, has anyone else had problems with their clutch after a remap?
 
I've not had any problems on mine as yet although you have to expect that the clutch won't last as long after a remap due to the increased torque thats being put through it.

I think it'll come down to how you drive as well - lots of traffic light grand prix's and your going to get problems sooner rather than later

I've heard of guys replacing their audi clutchs with SACHS which can handle the higher torqe as well
 
Drizz- its like any car when going for more power things like the clutch, turbo etc all need replaced or uprated to cope. I am looking at going for more power and being the quattro i think the clutch will be first on mine to go. Also a good upgrade is to do the brakes as well.

Craig
 
audi upgrades
Drizz said:
hmm ive read about turbos going too though as a result of the remap.
Im scared lol
Click to expand...

I've not heard of anyone having to replace their turbo as a result of the remap - you could try something like revo which gives you a 5 hour free trial and then reverts to your standard map - might be worth a look to see if the "pro's" outweigh the "cons"?
 
Just a thought - you should be able to check it out on their website - it gives you 5 hours of "driving" so it should last you a few days depending on how often you use the car
 
Chipped-uk have sites all over the place.I got my A4 Tdi 130 done by jayson in bromsgrove.Im going back soon to get it tweaked to match my mods since having it done.Very impressed with them.
 
My ECU has packed up according to my mechanic. Car died while i was driving and RAC diagnosed fuel pump but on inspection my guy says ECU (he has been very reliable in the past so im gonna take his word for it) so do you think i could just have my car reflashed/remapped and thatll solve it? I wondered if the bit that had malfunctioned was to do with the key and immobilisor not communicating. Im gonna ring AMD, Revo and Chipped UK tomorrow to get their suggestions. If thats the case i get the best of both worlds, my car running again and quicker to boot LOL
 
From past experience if it's your key that's playing up with the immobilisor (not programed to car for example) car starts then immediately stops.

I'm afraid a knacked ECU means a new ECU but I certainly would'nt be changing one unless I had exhausted ever possible cause and was 150% sure that it was knacked-personaly very doubtful!!!
 
AMD dont think its that either, ive only had the car 2months and im effed off with it already
 
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