Argh! Help me choose a car!

[No Longer Registered]

Nice purchase.. You will not regret. Very tunable though the on board diagnostics although ignore the REVO power increase gains as they are a little optomistic.
I was fiddling with the brains of a 150bhp 20V a few weeks back.

Now holds a lot more boost :roll:

 

[Tallpaul]

My 150bhp 1.8T made 192bhp/218lb_ft on AMD's Rolling Road (before they went bust). I fully appreciate that any Rolling Road is only a rough approximation of true fly wheel power but AMD weren't REVO dealers (hence not biased) and were very experienced in applying the correct load for me7 ECU's. Also on the same day a standard A3 1.8TQ made 180bhp, not a bad reference standard. That compared with many other testimonies makes me confident that REVO are well able to deliver power close to their quoted figured.

Also, my butt dyno testifies that my car easily pulls 30% more power than pre-remap... It is worth every penny

*There are also loads of other quality remaps available from places like Jabba, Custom Code etc etc. As long as you get the work done by a reputable company, you'll be very happy.

I'd be more than happy to post meaningless graphical representations of boost pressure, mass air flow, N75 duty cycle or any other tripe to verify my claims

 

[No Longer Registered]

True, AmD provided a top notch service. The power results are only as good as the operators ability to upload a map that is suitable for your car. There are many REVO dealers and the results you see from your car very much depend upon who uploads what map and how. Quite a few cars are loaded with maps that run way too much ignition advance, boost and the gains are lost as soon as the intercooler gets hot and the ECU retards everything leaving you with a 10% gain in power after a few minuites. Your right, the graphical representation means nowt, just me late on a saturday night, pissed and very board in the house. I have equipment to remap 20V's, but do not use it commercailly on 20v's, I only deal with earlier cars. There are a few REVO outlets that will just simply drive the car in, upload a random map and drive the car out five minuites later, blat it up the road and tell you you have gained 30bhp, all you have really gained is a very confused ME7 ECU.
In retropect.. i.e. not pissed, be wary of who uploads a map to your car be it custom code, revo etc as the map is only as good as the folk who are uploading it and know how much they can safely push your car. It is like bike parts really, you may have 100 shops that have the tools to service Rock Shox forks, but out of the 100 only 10 of them actually have the skill and ability to use those tools to build a fork that works how you want it to and reliably. There are many REVO/Custom Code dealers, but only a very few who deliver the goods correctly.

 

[Tallpaul]

I'm fairly active over a number of VAG forums and TBH the number of instances if issues with remaps from any tuner is fairly minimal and even those i can recall were sorted when the customer returned to the vendor.

To say that it is common for a REVO dealer to load the incorrect code for the specific ECU in the customers car is frankly utter tripe. If you know of any dealers that have done this perhaps you could let me know and i'll pass them on to Kev at REVO? REVO holds a database which the dealer searches for the correct code from the customers ECU part number. There's no lottery as to the code you will be given.

With regards the boost and timing settings for the code; once the correct code is on the ECU the boost and timing can be altered either via the dealers laptop or with an SPS3. I can see it is possible to set up a car incorrectly here, particularly if the customer uses crap 95ron fuel. But, the dealer will run the car up the road on full-load and should monitor the CF's and Boost Requested v's Actual via VAG-COM. The customers butt dyno will tell them if the car has been set up right and if they have any problems it would only take the dealer a few minutes to correct them.

Heatsoak is a problem on most single intercooler 1.8T's, just because the intercooler is so damn small. I get IAT's of 60degC+ in summer but using 99ron V-Power it still produced the power figures i quoted above on the stock intercooler. Oh, and it pulls all the way to 6000rpm with no significant timing pull.

More often than not, for any type of remap (not just REVO), if the customer is unhappy it is likely to be a fault with the car not a software problem. The increased boost pressure has a habit of highlighting weaknesses in the design of the 1.8T such the Diverter Valve or the boost hoses that become soft at the higher temps then brittle and split causing boost leaks that throw a fault code in the ECU. Annoying problems sure, but easily and cheaply rectified. Chances are the problem was there before the remap, simply that the extra power amplifies it.

Remapping from reputable code suppliers is, on the whole, a painless experience but also something that has a lot of myths and superstition surrounding it. Any customer considering it should go in to it with their eyes wide open.

Huge resources of info are available on many VAG forums such as:

seatcupra.net
audi-sport.net
uk-mkivs.net

REVO do a 5-hour free trial of their software, i'd thoroughly recommend it

 

[JS1500]

Whoa, you guys seem to know what you're talking about.

I've never had a car with an ECU before, let alone a re-mapped one :!:

I might have to save some pennies. I'd like a re-mapped ECU, 18" RS4 alloys and professionally tinted windows but that lot is going to cost ££££. Maybe when my pay raise comes through in July...

Here's the car anyhow:

I picked the car up on Friday evening and have only done about 30 miles since but i'm loving it so far. It's a total contrast to my MGs!
Now I can just chuck the bikes in the back and off I go...

I just need to get the security code or the stereo now. :roll:

 

[knobby]

They may have an image problem, but you simply cannot go wrong with a Honda Civic. 100% reliable, good on fuel (if you stay below the V-tec threshold, ie 80 mph in top) and will swallow two bikes.

 

[Tallpaul]

They may have an image problem, but you simply cannot go wrong with a Honda Civic. 100% reliable, good on fuel (if you stay below the V-tec threshold, ie 80 mph in top) and will swallow two bikes.

Yup my 1.8VTi was an absolute stormer of a car. Just damn ugly.