# engine re-mapping, was it worth it?



## timofleeds

Looking for anybodys experience of re-mapping Fiat 2.3 multijet x2/50. Any experience good or bad would be useful.

Thanks Tim


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## wilse

My friend had his truck remapped with a WOW power chip.

It was redone 2 or 3 times, as it smoked quite heavily... 08 plate with under 6k miles on.

In the end my friend still wasn't happy and got said chip removed.
When he recently brought up the subject with another tuner, the tuner claimed there are quite a few problems with the Fiat software, and results are sometime unpredictable.

My friend did say his MH is noticeably slower up hills though now.

Thought I'd kick your thread off, although I'm sure you'll find happy customers as well.


I would just add, I also had a WOW power chip on my Renault Master with quickshift6 gearbox, and I too had similar problems with smoke and hefty fuel consumption, I too had this chip removed.


hth

w

PS the re-maps were £325


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## tramp

Hi all, the reason they smoke is too much fuel going in a nd not enough Air  

we had our Renault 2.5 120 remapped to 150 and it flew up hills at 60mph with 3800kg weight in , and got 32mpg still so worth going to the Professionals.

Herd lots of people with x250 been WOW chipped and all good reports as the programe is changable depends on how much umf you want.

The engine remapp is best but more expensive and is NOT detectable by Main dealers.


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## AutoMax

tramp said:


> The engine remapp is best but more expensive and is NOT detectable by Main dealers.


True, but it can be overwritten if they do a software update, so its wise to ask the dealer if they have done that at service. Wow will re install at no charge.

Bob


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## wilse

tramp said:


> we had our Renault 2.5 120 remapped to 150 and it flew up hills at 60mph with 3800kg weight in , and got 32mpg still so worth going to the Professionals.


Who are these professionals then?

w


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## RichardnGill

wilse said:


> My friend had his truck remapped with a WOW power chip.
> 
> It was redone 2 or 3 times, as it smoked quite heavily... 08 plate with under 6k miles on.
> 
> In the end my friend still wasn't happy and got said chip removed.
> When he recently brought up the subject with another tuner, the tuner claimed there are quite a few problems with the Fiat software, and results are sometime unpredictable.
> 
> My friend did say his MH is noticeably slower up hills though now.
> 
> Thought I'd kick your thread off, although I'm sure you'll find happy customers as well.
> 
> I would just add, I also had a WOW power chip on my Renault Master with quickshift6 gearbox, and I too had similar problems with smoke and hefty fuel consumption, I too had this chip removed.
> 
> hth
> 
> w
> 
> PS the re-maps were £325


Hi was this with a 2.3 or a 3.0 Multi Jet?

I have heard the 3.0 use to give problems with some remaps, but were ok with others

I am interested as now our van is a 12 months old I think I will get ours done.

Richard...


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## stewartwebr

I had my X250 130BHP remapped by WOW when it was new. I tow a Smart Car and the difference was very noticable. I would highly recommend WOW. You can find them online and they are at most of the shows.

Stewart


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## Rapide561

*Chip*

Richard

Do you think the 3.0 is worthy of chipping? Mine is loaded to the onions and still goes like the clappers, even up the four lane stretch of the M62 near Huddersfield.

Any thoughts?

You are more technical than me! Come to think of it, Jenny is more technical than me!

Russell


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## RichardnGill

The biggest difference between our vans Russell is the wind resistance, as our's is the highline.

I find that if we have a head wind it can sometimes struggle to hold 6th gear on long motorway climbs.

Having said that the faster you go the better it pulls which is another good reason to remap as hopefully it will produce a bit more pulling power form lower revs meaning a steady cruising speed of 55/60MPH will be ok with plenty of 6th gear hill climbing left in reserve

Also most remaps claim better MPG, if you half the claims a remap should pay for its self in about 15,000 miles?

Just my thoughts Richard...


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## b16duv

My 2.8jtd was remapped by Alex at Boosters.

I found him to be a sound bloke with an excellent product. Maybe not the cheapest, but it doesn't smoke and provides oodles of torque and power - Edinburgh to Dover in 5th gear all the way!

David


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## averhamdave

Chelston Motorhomes re-mapped my 2.3 X250, 2 years ago at the Peterborough show. They use the WOW Power system.

Allegedly taking the power up to 160 ish hp. (I see WOW power now claim +35hp for the X250, so I assume that means 165hp)

The difference was unbelievable in my case. I had been getting about about 21mpg average (4000kg van, tall, long, much wind resistance). Afterwards I genuinely averaged 25+. The increase in power was seriously noticeable - previously I was stirring up and down on the gearbox to keep speeds up - I drive quite quickly. Now it'll sit a long time in 6th before needing to change. I remember spinning the wheels as I pulled out of the showground on the Sunday afternoon!

I chose Chelston because they are a reputable dealer and also a Fiat approved service agent. They told me that the Fiat software readers can't see the WOW Power re-programme.

Talking to them last year they said they had stopped doing the 3 litre, X250 because of emissions problems - too much black smoke! That said I saw at Newark that Wow Power were still offering to do the 3 litre - taking it to over 200hp!


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## 96706

Had our Symbol remapped by Cartech.

http://www.ecu-chipping.com/index.htm

Best £ 299 I've spent 

Harold will come to your home to carry out the work & not leave until you are happy with the job done. 
Didn't realise until afterwards, that he is an MHF member as well. 8)

It has made the driving so much more enjoyable as we can now climb hills more effortlessly and overtake when required, in 5th gear! 2 things which the original 2.0 HDI Boxer engine set up really struggled with.

Plus we also get an improved fuel economy as well, not dramatic but every each mpg helps.

We have had our van serviced a couple of times since having the 'upgrade' and it hasn't effected the remap at all,

Well worth getting done IMHO.


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## SueandRoger

I have a 2.8 JTD Auto and like b16duv (Dave), I had mine done by Alex at Boosters and was/am very impressed with the service and the extra power, with or without the Polo on tow; also no smoke!

I haven't really noticed any increase in the MPG but that is probably down to the Auto box and the fact that I usually make the most of the available power.


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## 96706

Ours went up by 30 BHP, although it could have gone maybe to 34. Harold reckoned 30 was enough of an increase & I have to say that we are very pleased with that


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## camoyboy

We had our 3.0 litre Multijet remapped by Boosters last week at the Newark Show. I have only the 120 mile journey home to comment on, but certainly a much improved torque curve. Fuel wise, the average going to the show was 23. 2 mpg, when we got home it was up to 25.4 mpg, so quite an improvement, considering I was "trying it out". I have never seen over 24 mpg since new. Smoke is still visible, no better or worse than before. The main reason for the remap was to help when we tow the Panda, but it does improve the overall driving experience.
£249 installed, took about half an hour. To me this is better than an addon box for the same money.
Colin


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## CliveMott

Been there done that with a Land Rover Discovery a little while back. 
I was lucky, the engine never went BANG
But
I needed also to have :-
Military clutch as the brand new standard clutch would slip at max torque
New pipework for the turbo system as the increased boost would blow off standard hoses.
Stiffer anti-roll bars so it went round corners.
Full synthetic oil in the motor to handle the harder duties.
Different brake linings to make the bugger stop!
A de-tune before each MOT to stop it smoking.
Worry about its ultimate reliability.

But it went like a train!
Do I want this with our motorhome? Well, one well publicised perveyor of tuning systems offered to do it for free. I had a thunk and after that said "No Thanks"

Am I chicken, old or just more relaxed?

C.


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## rayhook

*Boosters re-chip*

Timofleeds,

Have a look at my experience:

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-60179-.html

Done by Alex at Boosters.

Ray


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## cabby

It obviously is needed by some vans to help their performance, but I saw no need to have our 3.0 ltr done as it pulls like a train.

cabby


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## 96706

Quite agree cabby. our symbol was only 85 BHP on a 2.0 HDI, so pull around a 3 ton unit, is always going to be a challenge. 

It took me a while to decide to get our Hilda remapped, but in the end it is exactly the right way to go, to make the journey that bit more enjoyable & definately much less frustrating :lol: 

Coming from a 2.5ltr 130BHP Mazda Bongo, nothing compares to that performance but life is now pretty good


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## RichardnGill

The 3.0 Multi Jet on a tall Tag axel van is to me a van that does need a remap, even more so if you are towing with it.

The problem I find with the 6sp 3.0 is the very tall 6th gear. It is at about 1,800 RPM at 60 MPH, which means if you slow down even a little bit on a hill it starts to bog down needing a change of gear.

This can be solved by driving at 70MPH when it is fine as it is at about 2,200 RPM and pulls very well. But with the price of Derv this is expensive

I am hoping that a Remap would give the 3.0 a bit more pull lower down the rev range.

I have had remapped cars in the past and I am confident that a small fuel saving can be made as well as a bonus



Richard...


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## charleyfen

My 2.8jtd was remapped by Alex at Boosters.

I found him to be a sound bloke with an excellent product. Maybe not the cheapest, but it doesn't smoke and provides oodles of torque and power and more mpg


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## williedeliver

where and what is Boosters ?


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## strod

Recently had my 2003 2.3 JTD remapped using a "Tunit" chip by Essenjay in Poole. Approx 30bhp increase, definitely holds momentum up hills much much better, no clue about MPG yet - only driven it approx 70 miles since fitting....


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## timofleeds

Hi thanks for all the replies. I eventually went ahead and had my 2.3 x250 remapped. I had it done by a company called VTUNE - LEEDS a guy called Paul came to my work place on a Sunday and did all the job in about 1hour. Seemed very pleasant, knowledgable and profesional. I had what Paul calls a Tow Pack upgrade which is said to give better fuel economy up to half throttle and more power over half throttle. We went on a test drive after the work was completed. I chose to go up the M621 out of Leeds as this is quite a long drag and usually requires a drop from sixth to fifth, I did not have to drop into fifth and the van was quite happy in sixth with plenty in reserve I could not check the fuel consumption on such a short journey. I have since been to Italy and back with the van and have been very pleased with the performance over approx 2000 miles with very little dropping down into fifth even on most of the steeper climbs and the fuel consumption averaged at 25.7 on the onboard computer which is better than the previous average of 23.8 on a very similar trip. Paul charged me £175 + vat as I am a motor trade business but I am sure a call to him would get you a decent deal. I am very pleased with the overall change and would reccomend it to anybody.

Regards Tim


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## timofleeds

Hi thanks for all the replies. I eventually went ahead and had my 2.3 x250 remapped. I had it done by a company called VTUNE - LEEDS a guy called Paul came to my work place on a Sunday and did all the job in about 1hour. Seemed very pleasant, knowledgable and profesional. I had what Paul calls a Tow Pack upgrade which is said to give better fuel economy up to half throttle and more power over half throttle. We went on a test drive after the work was completed. I chose to go up the M621 out of Leeds as this is quite a long drag and usually requires a drop from sixth to fifth, I did not have to drop into fifth and the van was quite happy in sixth with plenty in reserve I could not check the fuel consumption on such a short journey. I have since been to Italy and back with the van and have been very pleased with the performance over approx 2000 miles with very little dropping down into fifth even on most of the steeper climbs and the fuel consumption averaged at 25.7 on the onboard computer which is better than the previous average of 23.8 on a very similar trip. Paul charged me £175 + vat as I am a motor trade business but I am sure a call to him would get you a decent deal. I am very pleased with the overall change and would reccomend it to anybody.

Regards Tim


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## williedeliver

*re-mapping*

I got my Hymer Ford 2.2 engine wow tuned at the Birmingham show last year> On the way down before I got it done, sitting at 70mph I got 30mpg.
on the way back sitting again at 70mph I got 35 mph it is a much better drive now with the extra power.
i can Highly recommend it
GD


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## Philippft

I had my Fiat 2.0 JTD re-mapped and whilst it improved torque there was no difference in fuel consumption. On reflection, the rewards were not worth the money I paid for a re-map IMHO.

Also, If one re-maps an engine does this invalidate the manufacturers warranty, and could it impact on insurance claims, even in a no fault accident?

Whenever I read the term 'up to' in claims for improved MPH and Torque my alarm bells start ringing! This concern is well demonstrated with the current conflict between Virgin Media and Sky with respect to broadband speeds. Whilst Sky state speeds of up to 20MB Virgin claim the average speed from Sky is less than half of that and go on to say there claim is misleading. I believe a judgement is to be made soon on whether Sky can continue to make this statement in their sales pitch.

In my judgement, if the engine does what it is designed to do and is well maintained there is little benefit from paying hundreds of pounds for a re-map when all that you need to do is change down a gear, or two when going up steep hills. I would consider re-mapping if i was guaranteed a further saving of 10% fuel economy but I do not believe re-mapping will achieve this.

I guess someone will now prove me wrong!

(That would be cool!)


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## cabby

further to my earlier post, I would point out that mine is a low profile model and does return approx 24/25mpg at the moment.15000k miles done so far.

cabby


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