Diesel engine tuners

dejongj said:
You see I'd be concerned about what you actually get for £200. I mean how long are you there for a bespoke map to your vehicle, then there is all the materials they need to invest in like the electronics, diagnostics, dyno, premises, business rates, electricity, gas, water, security, oh and wages.

Can't be any profit in it, unless it is just a generic map downloaded from the Internet and in 20 minutes with padding the time you are done.

I'd be highly suspicious at those prices of what you actually are going to get. Now don't get me wrong it could be just fine, but let's not kid ourselves and let's get real about the costs involved.
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look up Celtic they are not cowboys by any means and all maps are written in house.. I stated earlier that as a club member I didn't pay full price which would have been £295. It is a generic map but there are many many many Civics running around with their stage 1,2 and some with stage 3 which requires a hybrid turbo and there has been no issues what so ever reported back. So lets get real and not kid ourselves and not dismiss a company with a very good reputation because of your personal opinion based on a couple of posts on here.
 
Celtic aren't cowboys, most definitely not. That is not what I tried to imply. And sure the maps are written in house, just like APR and many others. But as you say, for such a price it is a generic map, lets not fool ourselves that for that kind of money you have a truly bespoke map which is cited as the advantage of a remap. It is not. Hey they have many dealers, but as we all know uploading a new map is not that difficult ;)

Personally I would class such remaps at the same level of boxes, or when they bundle it up with known specification hardware addons for stage 2 or 3 then that is fine as well. No different than what certain box providers do. DTUK Did that with Shark Performance to make a bundle and a different 'map' on the box to deal with it.

So what I was saying is the same as you, for your £200 you get a generic map. It wouldn't go anywhere near to provide the full tailored service, so lets not kid yourself. That doesn't mean that company cannot do that, but it will cost you a lot more. I didn't even name the company by name so I don't know why you get so defensive about them?
 
BillN_33 said:
DTUK looks interesting

so they would be OK for my 2.0 litre Diesel 140bhp 4 x 4 Skoda Yeti?
now 4 years old - 60,000 miles
I'd be more concerned about economy and smother running

just buy a box, easy to fit ...... a 10 to 20 minute job
Is it as simple as that?
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Pretty much. My saab is a 1.9TDi 150BHP. 80k on the clock. Took 2 minutes to fit the box. They have several settings, so start low and work your way up.

Im now getting around 200BHP judging by the live data downloaded through the diagnostic port. Im sure this isn't 100% accurate, but the power difference is like chalk and cheese.
 
mbphoto said:
I had my 320d re mapped huge difference and was better on fuel
Thinking of getting my Honda Civic 2.2 icdti done next
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where did you have your BMW done and how old was the car?I have a BMW x1 and has stil one year warranty left ,hence the question.
 
A tale of two cars

I had a Seat Ibiza 2.0 TDI FR as a company car and a very understanding boss. He let me have it remapped which took it to around the 175bhp mark. The map was custom made (by Oscarli) for my car and ran flawlessly for the 2.5 years I had it.

My boss had an Audi A4 Black Edition and decided he would get it mapped by Revo, who are a reputable mapping company for VAG cars. After around 6 months, the spark plug in cylinder 4 decided to break off. The end of the plug caused some internal damage (but was never found) and obviously the car ran badly. He got it back to the dealer who, after investigating the problem, found the map and refused to pay for repairs. This cost him a lot more than the remap and any fuel saving made :rolleyes:

You pays your money you takes your chance at the end of the day ;)

If you do go down the remap road, try Chris at CCtuning he has some good feedback on the car forums I visit.

*Edit* Motech are also pretty good and use Oscarli maps :)
 
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I doubt a custom map would offer much more over a generic map for the time and costs involved and without comparing a custom map to my map it's all just guess work . They dynod mine standard, then with stage 1 finishing with stage 2 and the results are very very impressive with the only other tweak available would have been egr off. I only use 1 car forum and nobody has ever recommended a tuning box over a dedicated map, and the only custom maps that are used seem to be for charged Type R's. I chose Celtic after many recommendations from forum members and would only suggest using a company that has experience in your particular car.
 
CaveDweller said:
If you're wanting more power and better fuel consumption then just go with a normal remap. Anything thing to do with BMW give E-maps a call. They have gotten all sort of praise on the BMW forums. I have a 330D but I went down the route of a live map on the dyno at the same time because I had many other custom parts to take into account. I've fitted a hybrid ball bearing turbo, injectors, upgraded front mounted intercooler, straight through exhaust from turbo back and uprated sachs clutch and flywheel. It's running 353bhp and 565ft lbs of torque at the wheels. Even with all that I still get 40-50mpg
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That has to be some car...
 
Over the years (quite a lot of them) I've had lots of motorbikes and cars, tuned and modified some of them and spent a fortune doing it too. However, I've gradually come to the conclusion that if you want a fast car or bike then buy something with a bloody big engine as standard. It saves all the insurance hassles of them not accepting modified engines, the rest of the vehicle, brakes, suspension and everything else will be made to suit too.
It may cost more to run but probably not to buy (at least used) . I know it's interesting to have a tuned motor that pulls way above it's weight but there's no substitute for having something designed that way in the first place.

Only my opinion of course... you may well disagree :p
 
bindex said:
Over the years (quite a lot of them) I've had lots of motorbikes and cars, tuned and modified some of them and spent a fortune doing it too. However, I've gradually come to the conclusion that if you want a fast car or bike then buy something with a bloody big engine as standard. It saves all the insurance hassles of them not accepting modified engines, the rest of the vehicle, brakes, suspension and everything else will be made to suit too.
It may cost more to run but probably not to buy (at least used) . I know it's interesting to have a tuned motor that pulls way above it's weight but there's no substitute for having something designed that way in the first place.

Only my opinion of course... you may well disagree :p
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Or have both :)
 
BillN_33 said:
DTUK looks interesting

so they would be OK for my 2.0 litre Diesel 140bhp 4 x 4 Skoda Yeti?
now 4 years old - 60,000 miles
I'd be more concerned about economy and smother running

just buy a box, easy to fit ...... a 10 to 20 minute job
Is it as simple as that?
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I used these guys for some work on my Octavia (they only deal with VAG TDi's) and they were quick, efficient and very reasonably priced.

http://www.darksidedevelopments.co.uk/
 
Think very carefully about what you want it to do - Tuning boxes in general tend to overfill the car and are normally generic in terms of what they do. A good remap on the other hand can address all the issues you have with your cars performance and you can have it personally tweaked for you. Ive had a TT and Saab done with great results. However the best car i have had was a BMW330d which was so good it just didn't need anything doing to it . In most cases these days the car can outdrive the driver
 
Another thing to remember, a good box will have resale value when it is time to get rid. :thumbs:

Or in the case of DTUK you can often return it and have the maps changed to match your new vehicle and get a new wiring loom. If I recall correctly the charge is about £60.
 
I've considered getting my 2.0TDCi Focus remapped but given it's on 105K miles and there's a good chance the clutch & DMF need replacing I've decided against it :lol:

With regards to informing insurers..... I agree any mods need to be declared but if you haven't owned the car from new, how would you ever know if a previous owner hasn't remapped it?

For example, my old 1.8 petrol focus was dyno'd (Power Engineering dyno which was known as the "ego killer") at 134BHP, 17BHP over what the manufacturer said it should be. It was completely unmodded and I'd had it from new.

I know forensic examination would probably show any interference with the ECU but I think it's just another way for insurance companies to relieve us of a few extra pennies!
 
Renu, why not just call your warranty company about the remap? It's very likely they'll it invalidates your warranty, but they might not and at least you'd know when to go ahead with the mods you want.
Also, join the owners club forum for your car - many, many folk will have beaten the path there before you and have great advice!
 
I plan to do that.I have just got a quote from Celtic for a remap.It is good that I posted as I am a bit more informed about the subject than a week ago.

thanks everyone for their contribution
 
I had a remap on a BMW 320D by Simon at E-Maps. Great product and service and when I decided to sell the car he removed it and returned the car to standard free of charge.
 
Iiyama said:
I had a remap on a BMW 320D by Simon at E-Maps. Great product and service and when I decided to sell the car he removed it and returned the car to standard free of charge.
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How long did you have the car after remap?Was there any problems at all? Did it make a big difference to the drive?
 
Iiyama said:
I had a remap on a BMW 320D by Simon at E-Maps. Great product and service and when I decided to sell the car he removed it and returned the car to standard free of charge.
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Did you get any money back when the map was removed? It is what I like from a box of you stay at stage 1, that there is residual and resale value.
 
dejongj said:
Did you get any money back when the map was removed? It is what I like from a box of you stay at stage 1, that there is residual and resale value.
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No as it was my choice. Car was awesome and Simon renowned for great service. I had it on for a few months.
 
Check with bmw what they offer. I know they offer a power upgrade for my car 120d(think it was only around a 25bhp and 50nm torque upgrade at around £700/800. Yes it is going to be more expensive and offer less power than an external company. But you get to keep your warranty.
 
I would avoid the chips as mentioned above, I have thought about a remap for a while but think its false economy to be honest. Happy to run the car as standard and will just upgrade to a 3.0l when the time is right.
 
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