Is Chipping worth while

Terra

Hi

I recently purchased a 07 skoda octavia, and I've heard that you can chip them.


Just wondering is this worth while and what is the best way to learn about this.

Would something like this be any good?

http://www.solware.co.uk/car-performance-chips/skoda-performance-module.shtml

Tony Broke

Worth it alrite, but it will void warranty.

Neilw

A remap will be better then a generic plug in box, the remap can be adapted to the individual car to get the best from it.

Remap is done through the diagnostic port on the car. Chipping was the older way, removing the ecu and replacing or re-flashing the chip in the ecu.

Henry Ford III

Only worth looking at if it's a turbocharged engine imho.

EPM

Terra wrote: »

Hi

I recently purchased a 07 skoda octavia, and I've heard that you can chip them.


Just wondering is this worth while and what is the best way to learn about this.

Would something like this be any good?

http://www.solware.co.uk/car-performance-chips/skoda-performance-module.shtml

Is it a petrol or diesel you bought? The remap would be my choice but would give its best results if the engine has a turbo...

djhaxman

Terra wrote: »

Hi

I recently purchased a 07 skoda octavia, and I've heard that you can chip them.


Just wondering is this worth while and what is the best way to learn about this.

Would something like this be any good?

http://www.solware.co.uk/car-performance-chips/skoda-performance-module.shtml

If it's a petrol car get yourself down to Enfield, where Revo have one of their centres, they'll give you a free 5 hour driving time demo of the difference that getting your car chipped can make.

www.revotechnik.com.

My mate got his '03 Octavia RS chipped from 180bhp - 210ish - the difference was unreal cause the torque is increased too. They don't do the 5 hour thing on diesels unfortunately. And as others have said it's only worth getting it done if your car has a turbo.

T-Maxx

If these chips are so great ie more torque, more hp, improved fuel economy, all for a mere £250 or so, then why do the car manufacturer's not install them as standard?

Remapping is even better since it costs nothing and can be done with a few key strokes! Free torque, free hp, free lower fuel consumption...

Terra

The car is a skoda octavia 1.9tdi 77kw

eden_my_ass

T-Maxx wrote: »

If these chips are so great ie more torque, more hp, improved fuel economy, all for a mere £250 or so, then why do the car manufacturer's not install them as standard?

Remapping is even better since it costs nothing and can be done with a few key strokes! Free torque, free hp, free lower fuel consumption...

Who does your remappings, I'd love to get that price Remapping costs 300 plus for a diesel around the country...you're right its just a few keystrokes but the boys charge well for it!

Tony Broke

T-Maxx wrote: »

If these chips are so great ie more torque, more hp, improved fuel economy, all for a mere £250 or so, then why do the car manufacturer's not install them as standard?

Good question, why dont they?

conneem-TT

Tony Broke wrote: »

Good question, why dont they?

Tax brackets, emissions, tax on bhp(eg. in Norway), to fit into a model range and make pricing justified, and many other reasons

Bearcat

I have a lot of experience re cars/ jeeps chipped etc. My experience re plug and plays are they have got very good, gone are the days of jerky acceration but smooth progressive power. The pro of the plug and play is you can remove it. The ecu flash yes is better but in one key stroke can be reoved by a dealer. I was accused of being a liar by a board member when a pal of mine sent in his audi flashed diesel for a service with a main dealer. They advised him post the service that they upgraded his ecu as per updates available from audi. He was sick to the stomach as he didnt want the dealer to know his ecu had been flashed previously. Anyway pro's and con's.

I used dastek for a LR 90 and it was crap so I flashed it to great success. I used a tunit module in a E220 Cdi and a CLS320Cdi with amazing results, just transromed the cars with a 10min install. I use now tunit in a Land Cruiser 100, required a bit of wiring due the basic denso injection system but it too has trasformed the jeep.

In summary there are pro's and cons. The ecu flash is with out doubt the best but some plug n plays are very very good.

Chipping the bigger cc diesel engines I think makes a lot of sense. I also chipped a VW golf 150 and it was like a bucking bronco.....felt very nervy.

tdc

There is a chipping company based in the uk, cant think of the name but have read great things about them on pistonheads. They advertise in Evo magazine, i will try to find the name of them later. basically they chip your car, extra 25% power etc but when the time comes to sell, service, etc you can just remove the chip and the car will return to standard manufacturer spec.

Bearcat

www.tunit.co.uk

Fizman

These guys might be worth a look too. You can enter the make/model of the car and it will give you the remapped difference beside it. E.g. An Audi A3 2.0 TDi (140hp standard) can be remapped to 190hp. That is some difference. Whether this is totally achievable mind is another thing. I have no experience with this crowd, but I remember reading a few positives about them on here before.

http://www.chippedire.com/

EDIT: Just put in your Skoda and its a 30% increase in power and 25% in torque.

Henry Ford III

Some answers from their website.....hmmmmm.......

1/. Your cars warranty.

"The modification to the map is undetectable by main dealer diagnostic equipment and therefore unless you tell them that it has been done, they will be none the wiser so your warranty will be unaffected."

2/. What about my Insurance?

"This is up to you. We have to advise that you inform your insurance companies that the remap has been carried out but as there is no way for them to read this map, it is up to you what you do. It is your responsibility."

Seems to suggest to me that they are claiming that a manufacrurer or insurer could not detect the tuning (which I doubt) and that if you say nothing you'll get away with it. Not good.

.Longshanks.

Another one to have a look at is superchips ireland

List of the Ireland Superchips fitters in the Republic:

Ireland Superchips
City Motor Trading Ltd.
20 B/C Nottingham Street
Dublin 3
Tel : +353 (01) 855 3555
Fax : +353 (01) 855 3558
Email : sales@superchips.ie

Commercial Vehicles
Diesel Engineering Services Ltd
Bailieboro Road
Shercock
Co. Cavan
Tel : +353-42-9669 256
Fax : +353-42-9669 135
Email : diesel@des.ie

jamesO

Yea its deffo worth it cost me an extra €100 on my insurance so way cheaper than buying a red DI, got my Octavia 105 done with thease guys went out to around 135 very impressed have to say, can't find my phone to get the number but here's their web addy. Very reasonable on price to.............

www.i-remap.com

jO-)

mik_da_man

You can get a map for the Focus ST

It boosts the power from 225 to 270 BHP with torque from 220 to 320
Cost about €450 and it gives you 5 different maps to choose from
AFAIK the dealer cannot detect it, and it's a plug and play unit, takes about 3mins to load a remap or return to standard.

Well worth it IMO

BlackWizard

Fizman wrote: »

These guys might be worth a look too. You can enter the make/model of the car and it will give you the remapped difference beside it. E.g. An Audi A3 2.0 TDi (140hp standard) can be remapped to 190hp. That is some difference. Whether this is totally achievable mind is another thing. I have no experience with this crowd, but I remember reading a few positives about them on here before.

http://www.chippedire.com/

EDIT: Just put in your Skoda and its a 30% increase in power and 25% in torque.

I used them recently and I really liked what it done to my Passat TDi. The VAGdrivers community seems to really like them, so that's why I went with them. And Joe who does it, is a really sound guy.

My TDi 130bhp engine is now running near 180bhp. But really the torque increase made a huge difference. Plus my fuel economy on my daily trip to work has gone from 45 to 51mpg.

Bearcat

i told my insurance company i chipped the amazon with a letter detailing correct installation. they wanted to charge me 300 euro extra so i said i'd leave them, they then left me alone.

jamesk_irl

I have a Audi A3 1.9 TDI 2005 at 85000 miles and was thinking of using Upsolute in Rathcoole. Has anyone used them?

http://www.logicautomotive.ie/index.php

Should I expect any clutch wear?

jamesO

BlackWizard wrote: »

I used them recently and I really liked what it done to my Passat TDi. The VAGdrivers community seems to really like them, so that's why I went with them. And Joe who does it, is a really sound guy.

My TDi 130bhp engine is now running near 180bhp. But really the torque increase made a huge difference. Plus my fuel economy on my daily trip to work has gone from 45 to 51mpg.

Just wondering did ya get a dyno run on the 180bhp coz remapping is done as a standard thease days and I know Joe is pritty good as he did one of my vags a couple of years ago? More like 165 ish mine was 168 on da rollers. Anything over fuel consumption will be hit?

jO-)

BlackWizard

Yeah maybe he did say just over 165 and not 175. 130-175 is about 45.. doesn't seem right. My bad sorry!!

But it still feels great!

DUBLINHITMAN

personaly i wouldn,t bother
skoda have a rs model just get one of them .
cars are designed specifically from the shape to the tyres and suspension
when you start changing things on a factory spec car things go wrong like bigger wheels put strain on drive shaft if for instance you get 16,s as standard , then put bigger heavier wheels on it puts strain on your engine and drive shaft,s
the same when it comes to a ecu all it does is give more fuel when your going fast ,but factory fitted ecu,s wont push the car hard because the faster you go the more fuel you use so it save,s juice by only letting you go a certain speed..

thats just my understanding of it . PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I,M WRONG FELLA,S.
i,ve modified cars before and learn,t the hard way if its not broke dont fix it .
SKODA and all other car manufacture,s dont spend thousands on design and engineering so people can change or modify a car thats why they all have faster models available.

maybe i,m just gettin old
sorry for the rant

voxpop

I always wondered with these remaps if the guy is just not changing the accelerator map - ie when you push the peddal in a little it give alot, rather than a little - if you know what I mean.

The only part of the car a remap will give you trouble with is the clutch (generally)

HashSlinging

My car was remapped by the prev owner, I couldnt imagine driving it without. I always wondered how I was able to out gun Gti's etc... anyway not trying to start a discussion on whats faster but if you've got a 2.0Tdi thats the type of performance increase you get from a remap.

Only downside to this was a pipe blow off, but I think this pipe was loose anyway as once I got the pipe replaced it was/is like a new car.

jamesO

DUBLINHITMAN wrote: »

personaly i wouldn,t bother
skoda have a rs model just get one of them .
cars are designed specifically from the shape to the tyres and suspension
when you start changing things on a factory spec car things go wrong like bigger wheels put strain on drive shaft if for instance you get 16,s as standard , then put bigger heavier wheels on it puts strain on your engine and drive shaft,s
the same when it comes to a ecu all it does is give more fuel when your going fast ,but factory fitted ecu,s wont push the car hard because the faster you go the more fuel you use so it save,s juice by only letting you go a certain speed..

thats just my understanding of it . PLEASE CORRECT ME IF I,M WRONG FELLA,S.
i,ve modified cars before and learn,t the hard way if its not broke dont fix it .
SKODA and all other car manufacture,s dont spend thousands on design and engineering so people can change or modify a car thats why they all have faster models available.

maybe i,m just gettin old
sorry for the rant

Yea hear what your saying but it's just understanding what remapping is?

A few years ago I was at a family wedding and got talking to a very sensible cousin who mentioned remapping to me, so I took him at his word and got my car done with the same chap.

I do around 1000 miles a week so I had ample time to test it, was very impressed so I did some digging.

Car manufacturers build an engine lets say its a 150bhp but they must give their customer a choice as well as export their product accross the globe. Each country has their own rules on bhp, insurance, immissions etc. so their is a reason why you have a car range.

I think the simplest way to answer this question is to use my own example. I like skodas they can take high milage a lot of abuse and they are cheaper than passat's. I change mine every two years so I always look for value for money so what I do is look for the higest spec comford model normally engine wise 115bhp. Then I go and get it remapped for 300 quid so to me even after I insure it for the extra 100 quid or so it saves me thousands if I were to buy a 130bhp red DI model. And their is no flat spots and I save around 15% or so on fuel if and when I drive easy.

Now the question is why don't the manufacturers do it? Easy to answer that, MONEY!!! they need to sell a full range. Now times have changed a bit me is thinking of buying a passat bluemotion for my next car they as standard do over 60 to the gallon. What they have done is copy the remappers but instead of doing it through the ecu they have done it mechanically longer gear ratios etc. so that means it can be remapped as well so that should doing the maths and driving properly you should be looking well over 70 to the gallon.

Ok rant over hope that makes sense....................jO-)