Do Any Of You Remap Your Vans To Get Better Mpg?

[Dan]

Wondering how many of you remap your vans to get better MPG or torque or whatever...?

 

[telectrix]

what's remap? i use an old AA one, went out of date 1999, but most roads still exist.

 

[Dan]

You change or replace the map in the engine management system that manages fuel/air mix.

You tend to find most engines have a stock and safe map as they stick it on thousands of engines.

But each engine will be very slightly different so you can customise your map to your own engine and get rid of flat spots in acceleration or save mpg or whatever you want.

 

[telectrix]

ah, all this modern technology guff. my engine management system is my right foot.

 

[Dan]

Do you have a van with a turbo?

 

[telectrix]

pass. not looked to see.

 

[Dan]

Fair enough.

I'm sure a few people on here map theirs so I'll wait for them to reply.

 

[David M]

I don't bother with my van since its an old Merc. But funnily enough my Golf TDI is going in this coming Tuesday to be re-mapped. The cost will be around £250 - £300
My mate had his done recently and reckoned the bhp was improved from 110 to just under 140 and it also has improved the mpg. I'm a bit skeptical on the mpg bit as by my old school logical thinking is - more horse power means more fuel consumption. But according to him the standard mappings are set to meet EU emissions legislation. As its been in the press recently about VW fudging their emission results, it would not surprise me if my mate is indeed correct. So he's convinced me to take the plunge and foot the cost as he reckons it will be worth it in the long run.

 

[David M]

I'll let you know my honest opinion when after its been sorted on Tuesday. Obviously it will take a few weeks to determine if the fuel consumption has changed in anyway.
I'll also try and get some info from the fella who is doing it for me.

 

[Dan]

Your mate is right.

The 110's do go to about 140. And you will get either the same mpg or slightly better. Sounds like a bhp-orientated map that though you can get one to take it to about 120 and a lot more mpg than stock.

www.bvrautomotive.co.uk is our local VAG mappers and I think they have a calculator on their website if you want to take a look.

 

[Dan]

I'll let you know my honest opinion when after its been sorted on Tuesday. Obviously it will take a few weeks to determine if the fuel consumption has changed in anyway.
I'll also try and get some info from the fella who is doing it for me.

It'll take 100 miles or so to bed in. So keep that in mind. As your management system will need to relearn your driving style and adjust a bit. So make sure you don't just give it beans but also don't just tootle around like a granny.

 

[David M]

Your mate is right.

The 110's do go to about 140. And you will get either the same mpg or slightly better. Sounds like a bhp-orientated map that though you can get one to take it to about 120 and a lot more mpg than stock.

www.bvrautomotive.co.uk is our local VAG mappers and I think they have a calculator on their website if you want to take a look.

Thanks I'll check that out

 

[David M]

It'll take 100 miles or so to bed in. So keep that in mind. As your management system will need to relearn your driving style and adjust a bit. So make sure you don't just give it beans but also don't just tootle around like a granny.

Cheers I wasn't aware of that

 

[ruston]

Just as an aside to that . The old 1600 ford Cortina did less MPG than the two litre. It is a case of more right foot to keep them pulling.
It is a power to weight ratio that is the ideal balance.
Then as Tel has said, when you have that it is down to the right foot.

 

[amlu]

never bothered. not sure if the savings on fuel will be better than costs of replacing the ecu unit/injectors/pump if you mess up things too much?

 

[ruston]

never bothered. not sure if the savings on fuel will be better than costs of replacing the ecu unit/injectors/pump if you mess up things too much?

Well you have a point .
ECUs can be very temperamental. Best left to the experts. So many things can affect their parameters.

 

[Dan]

Well you have a point .
ECUs can be very temperamental. Best left to the experts. So many things can affect their parameters.

It's not quite that technical. I've had a few fast scoobies and evos and I'd get them remapped whilst driving around to give a real custom map. Every time I changed a part. It'd never be the ECU that would blow, itd be a turbo or bottom end lol

But you're safe with these fairly stock maps.

On vag 1.9 and 2.0TDI engines there's a limit people go before they say it's a race map and will make you sign somebody to say it's on your head.

Otherwise if you're not happy with it; most keep your actual map before they wipe it and can put it back on. Usually FOC too.

 

[UNG]

Well you have a point .
ECUs can be very temperamental. Best left to the experts. So many things can affect their parameters.

The trouble is there are not many experts out there when it comes to the electronic boxes vehicles seem to be filled with
Too many times vehicle techs have a replace everything attitude rather than an ability to interpret the fault codes and analyse the source of the fault

 

[Lou]

If it's vag, your local recommended place will be spot on. They've sold the most 1.9 and 2.0tdi's out of all engines made. The maps are established.

 

[ruston]

I will have have to take your word for it .
I know a few wizards that have come unstuck playing about with there ECU.s
I suppose professionally done they will be ok.
I honestly though though you just meant upgrading in bog standard models , not souping them up to race standards.