Remap help!!

[s123]

Hi Guys,

Just need some advice on my Audi S3 08 plate with 43k miles. I have been contemplating a remap for a while but have a few questions. I am looking to go for a map (REVO/Evolve) just the stage 1.

My questions are:

1) Does it affect reliability as I use it as a daily driver?
2) Will it cause increased and faster degradation of certain parts?
3) Is there anyone one with went with a Stage 1 (Evolve or not) and kept the rest of the car standard and what is their experience?

Your comments would be much appreciated.

 

[1974nc]

Hi Guys,

Just need some advice on my Audi S3 08 plate with 43k miles. I have been contemplating a remap for a while but have a few questions. I am looking to go for a map (REVO/Evolve) just the stage 1.

My questions are:

1) Does it affect reliability as I use it as a daily driver?
2) Will it cause increased and faster degradation of certain parts?
3) Is there anyone one with went with a Stage 1 (Evolve or not) and kept the rest of the car standard and what is their experience?

Your comments would be much appreciated.

It will kill your clutch quicksharp, especially in high gears.

 

[S3Alex]

Hi Guys,

Just need some advice on my Audi S3 08 plate with 43k miles. I have been contemplating a remap for a while but have a few questions. I am looking to go for a map (REVO/Evolve) just the stage 1.

My questions are:

1) Does it affect reliability as I use it as a daily driver?
2) Will it cause increased and faster degradation of certain parts?
3) Is there anyone one with went with a Stage 1 (Evolve or not) and kept the rest of the car standard and what is their experience?

Your comments would be much appreciated.

Hi....

1. It really doesn't affect reliability at Stg1 or even Stg2,but you should decrease the service intervals to maybe 10 000 miles,and remember to change plugs as soon as any misfires develop.
Mine did a good 10 000 miles before Stg2,and then 5 000 before Stg2+,and so on after that,with no reliability issues at all.

2. You should as above,come off the long service schedule if you have it,and change oil and plugs at least at 10 000 mile intervals and don't forget the cam follower.
You could expect that brakes etc may wear faster if you use the power more,but generally the car is robust.

If it's a manual,your clutch might be Ok at Stg1,but it will chuck in the towel at Stg2 or above.....always budget on a new clutch such as the Sachs or Loba.

3. I kept my car pretty much standard at Stg1 with the exception of a Milltek exhaust,and it was fine.

We tried the same at Stg2+ and got a serious high rpm misfire as the stock inlet was strangling airflow,so you do need a decent CAI for anything around Stg2 or above.

 

[s123]

Hi....

1. It really doesn't affect reliability at Stg1 or even Stg2,but you should decrease the service intervals to maybe 10 000 miles,and remember to change plugs as soon as any misfires develop.
Mine did a good 10 000 miles before Stg2,and then 5 000 before Stg2+,and so on after that,with no reliability issues at all.

2. You should as above,come off the long service schedule if you have it,and change oil and plugs at least at 10 000 mile intervals and don't forget the cam follower.
You could expect that brakes etc may wear faster if you use the power more,but generally the car is robust.

If it's a manual,your clutch might be Ok at Stg1,but it will chuck in the towel at Stg2 or above.....always budget on a new clutch such as the Sachs or Loba.

3. I kept my car pretty much standard at Stg1 with the exception of a Milltek exhaust,and it was fine.

We tried the same at Stg2+ and got a serious high rpm misfire as the stock inlet was strangling airflow,so you do need a decent CAI for anything around Stg2 or above.

Thanks for the information mate.

I will have to do the cambelt soon was going to do that in the next couple of months probably Julyish. Im sorry if this is a stupid question but will the remap have an impact on that?

I am not planning on going stage 2 anytime soon, so hopefully the clutch wont give up straight away.

Another point is if you decide to shorten service intervals does that impact on having your car serviced by Audi?

Thanks

 

[AudiMafia]

I have remapped it, it's a big difference nice feelings and the Clutch seems Okay so far so is the turbo. So for you stage 1 should be all right. Remapping uses more torques and more torques stresses the clutch but... as long as you don't do it constant or same with the turbo.

 

[S3Alex]

Thanks for the information mate.

I will have to do the cambelt soon was going to do that in the next couple of months probably Julyish. Im sorry if this is a stupid question but will the remap have an impact on that?

I am not planning on going stage 2 anytime soon, so hopefully the clutch wont give up straight away.

Another point is if you decide to shorten service intervals does that impact on having your car serviced by Audi?

Thanks

What you don't tell them,they don't know at Stg1,and mostly aren't interested anyway.

The only time my dealer got interested was when it rolled up with around 440bhp and all the mods on display....the mechanics were over it like flies,but nothing worse than that.

 

[s123]

Thanks guys, does anyone know who does a map that I can load myself? (And is this advisable), I work during the week so difficult to get time off to actually get it done.

 

[Aidy06]

Thanks guys, does anyone know who does a map that I can load myself? (And is this advisable), I work during the week so difficult to get time off to actually get it done.

Try Bluefin by Superchips

 

[s123]

Thanks mate.

Does anyone jave any experience of Bluefin, is it as well regarded as REVO/Evolve and the likes? What kind of gains have people seen? and anyone have any bad experiences? I have'nt heard much about them so not sure whether thats my lack of knowledge or they arent as good as the others.

 

[Ads]

Thanks mate.

Does anyone jave any experience of Bluefin, is it as well regarded as REVO/Evolve and the likes? What kind of gains have people seen? and anyone have any bad experiences? I have'nt heard much about them so not sure whether thats my lack of knowledge or they arent as good as the others.

Superchips (Bluefin is the handheld unit you use to load the remap) have been around for yonks and know their stuff, especially for VAG cars. They are very well known.

Their remaps are generally seen to be less aggressive than other tuners.. i.e. REVO, Shark, etc... although I'm not sure how true this is. My superchips/bluefin remap made a big difference to my old car (non S3 2.0 TFSI).

Since moving to VW I'm finding that Superchips seem to be the preferred tuner among VW owners (especially the R models, which use the same engine as the S3), whereas REVO is generally the Audi owner's choice, even though most of the engines are shared between the two brands.

I opted for Superchips for my A3 due to the ability to load the map myself and switch between stock and remap anytime I wanted, all for a price that was about £200 cheaper than other tuners. This time around, on my Scirocco, I'll be trying something else... probably REVO.

 

[s123]

Superchips (Bluefin is the handheld unit you use to load the remap) have been around for yonks and know their stuff, especially for VAG cars. They are very well known.

Their remaps are generally seen to be less aggressive than other tuners.. i.e. REVO, Shark, etc... although I'm not sure how true this is. My superchips/bluefin remap made a big difference to my old car (non S3 2.0 TFSI).

Since moving to VW I'm finding that Superchips seem to be the preferred tuner among VW owners (especially the R models, which use the same engine as the S3), whereas REVO is generally the Audi owner's choice, even though most of the engines are shared between the two brands.

I opted for Superchips for my A3 due to the ability to load the map myself and switch between stock and remap anytime I wanted, all for a price that was about £200 cheaper than other tuners. This time around, on my Scirocco, I'll be trying something else... probably REVO.

Okay sounds good, the reason I have opted to look at superchips is due to the convenience of being to DIY. When you say handheld unit I am assuming once you buy that the map is just loaded using that. The unit seems to be about £360 odd which seems round about the same price everyone else seems to be charging.

Id there a difference between me getting the DIY superchips map and having someone like REVO do it at an actual garage? (Do REVO even do the DIY style maps?

Thanks again,

 

[Ads]

Okay sounds good, the reason I have opted to look at superchips is due to the convenience of being to DIY. When you say handheld unit I am assuming once you buy that the map is just loaded using that.

Yep, when purchased through Superchips' website you'll receive the unit a day or two later, you plug it into your car so it can read and save your stock map, then you download the bluefin desktop software to your laptop/PC and connect the unit. You fill out a few bits of info about your car and then the unit will upload your stock map to superchips' servers. You then wait for anything between two minutes (in my case, even though I was doing it at 11pm) or the following morning if out of hours (some people have had to wait this long), then you'll receive a text/email letting you know your remap is ready. You plug the unit back into you PC and it will download your remap. Once done plug the unit into your car again and 15 minutes you'll be good to go.

The unit seems to be about £360 odd which seems round about the same price everyone else seems to be charging.

Are you sure other tuners are offering remaps at £360ish?? If so, this probably doesn't include their version of a handheld unit.

Id there a difference between me getting the DIY superchips map and having someone like REVO do it at an actual garage? (Do REVO even do the DIY style maps?

Thanks again,

Basically, even REVO and shark are generic remaps too. But if you have someone install a REVO etc remap for you they should tweak things for you at the same time and allow you to test drive and give your feedback. Some installers will also stick your car on a rolling road too if they have one.

There's no doubt you're better off having a remap installed by someone who knows what they are doing. But if it's not convenient then bluefin is a perfectly good option too.

 

[SPARTAN91]

Thanks mate.

Does anyone jave any experience of Bluefin, is it as well regarded as REVO/Evolve and the likes? What kind of gains have people seen? and anyone have any bad experiences? I have'nt heard much about them so not sure whether thats my lack of knowledge or they arent as good as the others.

I agree with all that Ads has said about the bluefin as I bought one 6 weeks ago and it,s made my 2.0tdi a much better car to drive and as well as being able to switch back and forth between maps you can also immobilize you car using the bluefin so it will not start without it.

 

[PaulAr]

Stage 1 makes a huge difference, recommended.

How long your clutch lasts is a bit of a lottery however.
Some OEMs will stand up to Stage 2, some, like mine, slip after a couple of thousand miles.

You wont be dis appointed with REVO, it works very well and I found after sales good too.
Bluefin seems to get mixed reviews on the S3, I don't have personal experience though.

I went SHARK this time around, the gains are on par with REVO except it was (much) cheaper and included the STS box which enables DIY map installation and easy map switching for dealer visits.

Like Alex said, I also added in a TBE Milltek (resonated) and that made a real difference too. Revved up better, improved grunt everywhere and generally made the car feel sweeter and more responsive.
Nice noise too.

Do it.

Paul

 

[s123]

Thanks guys, thats given me a lot to think about! Especially as now you have added in SHark which do the DIY kit as well.One additional question what are blufin gains like realistically? are they similar to REVO who seem to get 310 - 320bhp?

 

[S3Alex]

Thanks guys, thats given me a lot to think about! Especially as now you have added in SHark which do the DIY kit as well.One additional question what are blufin gains like realistically? are they similar to REVO who seem to get 310 - 320bhp?

Generally the quoted and reported gains with Bluefin are a bit lower than companies like Revo,Shark and so on.

This is probably down to them actually setting the software up for an individual buyer and the benefits of RR and road setup can't be overlooked.

 

[s123]

Generally the quoted and reported gains with Bluefin are a bit lower than companies like Revo,Shark and so on.

This is probably down to them actually setting the software up for an individual buyer and the benefits of RR and road setup can't be overlooked.

Thanks, okay so I bought the map from bluefin but am now having second thoughts based on the fact most people with my sort of mileage (43k) have seen their clutch go bang! this is turning into one big dilemma!!

 

[S3Alex]

Thanks, okay so I bought the map from bluefin but am now having second thoughts based on the fact most people with my sort of mileage (43k) have seen their clutch go bang! this is turning into one big dilemma!!

My advice on the clutch is that when you remap this car,budget for a replacement.

It may work,and it may hold,but it may not,and you should have the money available for a Sachs or Loba to replace it.

 

[s123]

Yeah I know what you mean, I can afford a new clutch but would rather not if I dont have to. But because its my daily driver id rather not have it go bang straight away and I am left carless for as long as it takes to replace it! If I did replace with an OEM LUK one would that really be such a bad thing as surely its still a brand new clutch so should last at least 20k odd shouldn't it?

 

[S3Alex]

Yeah I know what you mean, I can afford a new clutch but would rather not if I dont have to. But because its my daily driver id rather not have it go bang straight away and I am left carless for as long as it takes to replace it! If I did replace with an OEM LUK one would that really be such a bad thing as surely its still a brand new clutch so should last at least 20k odd shouldn't it?

The point there is that if you simply replace like with like,then you'll get the same result.

The torque limit of the LUK clutch is around 310-330lbs as seen by the results that most of us have had on it.

Once you exceed that,it begins to slip,and when it slips,it will wear rapidly.
If you simply replace that with another of the same,it may be OK for a bit,but will eventually fail,whereas the Sachs or Loba clutches will see you through Stg2+ without problems.

 

[s123]

Again you are right. I'm hoping to replace the car next year and was hoping to make the next 12 months more exciting by remapping hence ideally not wanting to go for a clutch as well as I want to get the cambelt done quite soon. I wont go past stage 1 if im honest I just think the car has a bit more to offer and because everyone raves about the tune ability I feel it would be a shame to have never tuned it. Oh well Ill go for it, you will probably see another thread asking clutch questions if things go wrong.....

 

[S3Alex]

Again you are right. I'm hoping to replace the car next year and was hoping to make the next 12 months more exciting by remapping hence ideally not wanting to go for a clutch as well as I want to get the cambelt done quite soon. I wont go past stage 1 if im honest I just think the car has a bit more to offer and because everyone raves about the tune ability I feel it would be a shame to have never tuned it. Oh well Ill go for it, you will probably see another thread asking clutch questions if things go wrong.....

You may be fine at Stg1.....but the clutch is not the car's best point unfortunately,and it's not predictable exactly when it will pack in.

 

[s123]

Thanks S3Alex,

Is there anything to look out for once its been mapped? is the difference in performance instantly noticeable?

 

[S3Alex]

Thanks S3Alex,

Is there anything to look out for once its been mapped? is the difference in performance instantly noticeable?

Definitely.

I found it made the car easier to drive,quicker,and you can use the torque to save thrashing around changing gear all the time.