 | Home > Maintenance & Modifications > Remap V Value for money |
 
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| mermoto Member Since: 21 Sep 2011 Location: Essex Posts: 326  |
I really would like to remap my Puma, I have read the various reviews regarding the Vendors on the Forum but I am little confused as to which remap is best value for money. The forum sponsors maps are £500-£600 for a programer and two maps. Alternatively one could have a 'one off' remap from companies such as AMD Essex, for £400 which include Dyno before and after.
There are companies that sell presumably identical but rebadged programers for £275, such as the Powergate eg http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/251034827601?ssP...1423.l2649 So where does this leave us? Whilst the map file that is written to the ECU had to be developed in the first instance surely this file, once refined, is pretty generic for a specific model of vehicle? Yes the parameters can be tweeked but the remapped files used by different companies for a specific model of vehicle would need to be pretty similar to achieve best all round torque/power/economy? While one Puma Defender built on a Monday may have very slight tollerance differences to one built on Friday the vehicle is intrinsically identical. So why does the price for a remap vary so much? Any thoughts? anyone got a lower priced remap and pleased with it? Or does paying more money give you the perception that its better? If only one could try different remaps back to back 
Mermoto |
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11th Oct 2012 11:11pm |
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| bell-auto-services Member Since: 08 Jul 2007 Location: North Yorkshire Posts: 2232  
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Hi
If you are after a remap and dont need control to turn it on and off then since AMD Essex are in your area a cost effective option would be to use them as they are local and as you say give the dyno before and after. Not sure what they could offer you in respect of power and extra functions added like speed limiter removed and EGR deleted etc that you would have to ask them. The main reason the price varys so much between companys generally relates to what extra features you are getting and what type of map. and of course the remap price as any business will agree reflects on the developement cost and time spent creating it in the first place. Personally I would not buy the one from Ebay, I say this because I know how much the hard ware costs to supply. calculating this it does not leave much left for the map its self which would worry me. Here is a thread on the forum of our at BAS original develpement in 2007 that gives you an idea of what goes into it which is still an ongoing project today. http://www.defender2.net/forum/topic5632.html Pete |
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11th Oct 2012 11:25pm |
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| Naks Member Since: 27 Jan 2009 Location: Stellenbosch, ZA Posts: 2597  
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+1. On top of this, they will go above and beyond other vendors to satisfy your requirements  --
2010 Defender Puma 90 + BAS remap + Alive IC + Slickshift + Ashcroft ATB rear 2015 Range Rover Sport V8 Supercharged 
Defender Puma Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zZ1en9 Discovery 4 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zXrtKO Range Rover/Sport L320/L322/L494 Workshop Manual: https://bit.ly/2zc58JQ |
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12th Oct 2012 11:39am |
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| Glynparry25 Member Since: 16 Feb 2009 Location: Miserable Midlands Posts: 3015  
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I got my tune mainly for towing and off-road- two conditions where power is the way forward.
I went to Gary @ Alive, mainly due to owning a Disco before the Defender and in the TD5 world there wasn't a bad word against him..... and I have realised why. On the other side, I am averaging 28mpg with the tune- last year I had to take it off for a month for warranty work and was averaging 25mpg..... So working off the national average of 12,000miles a year, average fuel price of £1.45 With tune: 428 gallons a year costing approx £2800 Without tune: 480 gallons a year costing approx £3200 SO With an alive tune you should make your money back just over a year (depending on how much you drive). This has just made me feel so much better about my truck 
Glyn   |
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12th Oct 2012 5:58pm |
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| Norm4n Member Since: 31 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Posts: 329
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If your after a generic job I would use a well known and proven brand such as Superchips Bluefin, they are about £300.
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12th Oct 2012 8:48pm |
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| ClaireWright Member Since: 12 Oct 2012 Location: Warwickshire Posts: 609 
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We used Monster tuning...no problem ,nice set up and no big egos
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12th Oct 2012 8:57pm |
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| Norm4n Member Since: 31 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Posts: 329
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Anyone else used Monster?
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12th Oct 2012 9:29pm |
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| boode Member Since: 11 Apr 2012 Location: Devon Posts: 421  
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No experience on cheaper remaps but a big vote in favour for Alive tuning
I thought that I achieved about 27mpg, but because the speedo reads about 10% under actual speed the mpg will be about 10% higher - so good economy for a defender Its also fast - Martin at D44 says its the fastest 90 he has ever driven - which explains why I burn out chutches and brakes. |
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12th Oct 2012 9:30pm |
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| Japseroony Member Since: 02 Jan 2008 Location: North East England Posts: 751 
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I think you need to remember its not just about price, its about what you get and the after-support.
Many a so called tuning company out there have simply taken a vehicle with a tune and cloned it - they then use that tune to put onto other vehicles and charge for the re-map at a very much discounted price which de-values the original product. What they can't do is offer any backup if there is a problem as they did not effectivly tune the vehicle just cloned someone elses product. This in turn causes problems as they dont know what re-map they are fitting or if the ECU they have copied has been updated to a newer software etc etc. Indeed I know one tuner that was putting pre-facelift TD5 tunes on post face-lifted vehicles when the ECU's were different and vica-versa!! Also, how many tuners put a flag in their tune to identify it, and then find their map on a vehicle they did not tune and have had no association with? I think you get what you pay for in this world of vehicle tuning and I for one would not put a "cheap tune" on my £30k Defender or £70k RR etc. Gas, Grass Or Ass - Nobody Rides For Free "UNDERSTEER" ----is when you hit the fence with the front of the car. "OVERSTEER" ------is when you hit the fence with the rear of the car. "HORSEPOWER" ----is how fast you hit the fence. "TORQUE" -----------is how far you take the fence with you. |
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13th Oct 2012 10:54am |
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| Glynparry25 Member Since: 16 Feb 2009 Location: Miserable Midlands Posts: 3015
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^^Fully agree with that.
I got my first tune (ATRIC) 2 years ago..... that was fine for what I wanted (for about 6 months)- when I decided to add a little more power Gary squared me away in an instant. When the EGR closed trick came out he sent me a new map with that included. About 6 months ago the truck went into LR for some warranty work so I removed the tuned map- With LR here not knowing anything about Defenders they went around the block which included fully re-writing the ECU (even though I told them exactly what it was). When I got back home and tried to put the map back on it didn't work as they had changed something in the ECU software/ identifying code. I then emailed Gary which resulted in me reading the standard map again and emailing it to him..... 24hrs later and I was back on tune roaring down the road. I don't know about BAS/ Monster etc, but with Alive it is like a club- once you are in you get looked after for life
I am sure ebay dealers, superchips etc would just have more of an attitude of 'bye bye, you are dead to me' Glyn |
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13th Oct 2012 11:03am |
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| Glynparry25 Member Since: 16 Feb 2009 Location: Miserable Midlands Posts: 3015
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Also, had the map for 2 years, 26,000 miles and the engine hasn't missed a beat
Glyn |
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13th Oct 2012 11:05am |
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| rossy Member Since: 29 Nov 2010 Location: Co. Roscommon Posts: 1296  
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reading all the enthusiastic posts for Alive and BAS always tempts me but I'm fairly happy with the standard setup.
Apart from one thing - the throttle response is very very lazy especially when you change gear nice and slowly/smoothly. Once you take your foot off the clutch and then press the gas pedal it seems to take ages for the revs to kick in. Now if only there was a quick fix for that ! |
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13th Oct 2012 12:21pm |
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| Norm4n Member Since: 31 Aug 2012 Location: Surrey Posts: 329
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Yes, press it earlier and quicker
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13th Oct 2012 1:00pm |
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| Glynparry25 Member Since: 16 Feb 2009 Location: Miserable Midlands Posts: 3015
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I was the same for 12 months when mine was new. Several people were mentioning BAS etc and I refused to believe the hype. When I had some spare cash I decided to take the plunge. Once the map was on I first thought this is quite nice..... Then a few months later took the map off for servicing and realised how lacking the original map really is. If doing it all again, a remap would be at the top of the list of things to do.....especially after working out mpgs I think it is one of those things you don't miss until you experience it for a while. Glyn |
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13th Oct 2012 1:44pm |
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