Remap didn't make expected BHP

[morgan306]

Good evening gents.

I had my car mapped at AmD a couple of weeks back but as the title says it didn't achieve the expected bhp.
Standard figures were 224.4bhp+215.9lb/ft,and after the map it made 244.3bhp+290.2lb/ft. AmD changed my maf as they said it was "counting backwards",I don't know what that means but I guess it wouldn't hurt to replace it,but even after that the bhp wasn't as good as the 260 I was hoping for. They said that it was knocking on cylinder 4,which was probably due to spark plugs or a coilpack on its way out,and that it was running on the wrong fuel(I've been using tesco 99 for ages,switched to Shell now).

Can anyone shed any light on this,does it sound right? I am going to give the car a birthday and have it serviced. Should I bite the bullet and get coils/sparks done,and when I do,would the bhp shoot up or would it require going on the rollers again and tweaking?

Any information greatly received,I also have the shareware version of Vagcom if it helps.


Morgan.

 

[DJ_Troopa]

Get it all done mate. That's what i would do anyway. I always want my car running as perfect as i can to avoid power loss and other problems. We have so many damn common problems you never know what else is around the corner!

 

[morgan306]

Wise words mate! Is there any recommendations on sparkplugs,I'm sure I read somewhere about 'one grade colder'? I know coilpacks should always be genuine items.

 

[<tuffty/>]

They very rarely make the '260' advertised... 250 to 255bhp on average... the lack of power top end in my experience is fuelling related and I would imagine to make that much torque its running quite a bit of boost and probably getting very hot.. EGT's will sky rocket and EGT protection would kick in making the AFR very rich... rich AFR will kill turbine energy and knock power off...

Without logging the car on a dyno or on the road to see what going on its difficult to say for sure but that would be my guess... maybe too much timing advance and/or boost and that would make the old girl really work...

<tuffty/>

 

[morgan306]

Thanks Tuffty, I have no idea what EGT's are,I guess AFR=air fuel ratio? They did also say they struggle to keep S3's cool with those dinky side intercoolers so it getting hot would make sense I guess. When you say quite a bit of boost,I guess it's within safe limits right? You've got me worried now...

 

[gez]

I made 260/310 on stage2 at AMD. Changing plugs and coils will only help. Ive heard alot of people have coil problems straight after a remap. If your fuel filter hasnt been changed in a while, that would contribute to crap power too

 

[S3 Nattie]

^^Good info that Paul. I dont see much point in stage 1 due to the amount of heat they create. After a few blasts and the EGT's get very hot, without a FMIC and bigger diameter exhaust to get the heat quicker out the power will drop off. Just putting more pressure, heat, boost and airflow through parts which are already restrictive.

 

[s3dave]

Egt = exhaust gas temps.

NGK IRIDIUM IX BKR7EIX is a cooler plug

 

[aragorn]

Theres nothing wrong with Tesco 99.

No need for fancy plugs, just stick some BKR7EK's in there.

 

[nick4501]

It could just be a crap map, mate.

Read my post here about my map vs Prawn's R-Tech map : http://www.audi-sport.net/vb/a3-s3-forum-8l-chassis/110666-remap-next-week.html#post1143695

 

[morgan306]

Thanks for all your replys guys. I'm guna get it booked in for a big service and see how it goes after that.
I hope that it isn't a crap map Nick,it feels linear and smooth,just the bhp let's it down. I did take it for a drive with vagcom hooked up and saw a misfire or two on cylinders 2,3 and 4 :s

 

[nick4501]

Thanks for all your replys guys. I'm guna get it booked in for a big service and see how it goes after that.
I hope that it isn't a crap map Nick,it feels linear and smooth,just the bhp let's it down. I did take it for a drive with vagcom hooked up and saw a misfire or two on cylinders 2,3 and 4 :s

How were you logging to see the misfires?

 

[morgan306]

I think it was block 14?

 

[woody.dub]

needs some proper logging doing to see what is going on, that is something that seems to be letting AmD down from the few cars I have had in
that have been to AmD for a map then had problems. I had a Golf 180 AUQ that when mapped was only making 200bhp with a turbo intake pipe and BMC panel filter. This was all down to 2 boost leaks it had was just not holding the boost in the high RPMs so was making good torque just down on BHP,
After fixing them it was making closer to 215bhp (est from torque sensor + airflow) but drove so much better.

 

[nick4501]

Hi woody.

Just out of interest, where were your leaks? I've got an AMD map and only just hitting 200bhp. This is after I took it back to get more boost added and installed a much bigger side mounted intercooler. Think it should be making much higher power.

After logging timing values, I noticed a few 6's and even a 7.5! Think this is getting dangerous. Wonder if it's contributing to lower power? I think I need to check for misfires too, as the engine still seems lumpy. Can anyone confirm the VAGCOM block required to do this?