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Stage 1 and Performance Remapping in Warwick
Almost all the driving you actually do in Warwick happens either below three thousand revs with something in front of you, or at a settled cruise on the M40. A peak power number describes neither. What you notice day to day is how quickly the car answers when you ask it for something.
What is actually available, and where you would feel it
Manufacturers calibrate for every market they sell into, for fuel quality they cannot control and for owners who will ignore a service schedule. The result is a deliberately cautious file with real headroom left in it, particularly on a turbocharged engine. Releasing some of that headroom is the whole premise, and on most modern cars it is the single largest change available before anybody spends money on parts.
Where it lands matters more than how much of it there is. The useful gain sits in the middle of the rev range, which happens to be the only part of the rev range a Warwick driver visits regularly. Pulling away up a rise without dropping a gear. Getting onto the M40 at junction 15 without wringing the engine out to do it.
The part of the curve that looks best on a printout is the part you almost never see on a road with a queue on it.
Low down response is the thing people actually buy
Ask somebody what they disliked about a car after a week of driving it round a town like this and the answer is rarely a lack of power. It is the pause. The half second between asking and receiving, when a turbo is still spooling and the engine is sitting at fifteen hundred revs in third because that is the only gear the street allows.
Tightening that up is a driveability change rather than a headline one, and it is usually the change people notice first. It makes a car feel smaller and more obedient in traffic, which in the older parts of Warwick is worth considerably more than a number.
The same calibration then has to behave itself for forty minutes of steady motorway running without the fuelling or the timing being written for a state the engine only reaches on a test bench. A map that is only good at one of those two things is only half written.
Want to know what your car has left in it?Tell us the vehicle and how you actually drive it round Warwick. We will give you a realistic expectation rather than an average.
Call 07773 694570Stage 1, Stage 2 and being told no
Stage 1 means no hardware changes. The standard turbo, the standard intake and the standard exhaust, with the software adjusted inside the tolerances the drivetrain was built around. For the overwhelming majority of road cars in this area that is the correct answer and the end of the conversation.
Stage 2 assumes supporting hardware is already fitted. Writing a Stage 2 file for an otherwise standard car is not ambition, it is just a worse map with a bigger name, and we will tell you so rather than take the booking. If you have fitted parts already, tell us what and we will write around them. If you are planning to, ring first, because the order you do things in changes what is worth paying for.
There is also the answer nobody advertises, which is that on some engines there is very little worth having. We would rather say that than invent a reason to charge you.
How the job is done, and how it is undone
We read the original calibration off the ECU and save it before anything else happens. Then the engine is logged on the road, the map is written for that specific vehicle and its state of tune, it is loaded, and it is logged again afterwards to confirm the result is what was intended and nothing is running anywhere it should not be. On a car that lives in Warwick, that testing genuinely wants both halves of the local diet.
Because the original file is kept, the car can go back to exactly how it left the factory at any point. People usually want that when they sell, when a lease goes back, or when a dealer wants a standard file for a warranty conversation. Speaking of which, if the car is under warranty, leased or on finance, say so at the enquiry stage and we will give you a straight answer about whether it is sensible at all.
A remap is a modification and your insurer should be told. Most handle it without any drama. You can see the general approach on the ECU remapping page, and if you drive an automatic it is worth reading about gearbox tuning too, because the two are more connected than most people expect.
Performance Remapping in Warwick: your questions answered
Will I feel it on the sort of roads round here?
More than you would feel a peak figure, yes. The change that registers on a narrow street or a short slip road is how quickly the engine responds and how much is there low down, because that is the only part of the rev range those roads let you use. If somebody sells you a map on a top end number, ask them where on your commute you are supposed to experience it.
What is Stage 1 in plain terms?
A map written for a car with no hardware changes. The turbo, intake and exhaust stay as they are and the software is adjusted within the tolerances the engine and drivetrain were built to cope with. It is the biggest single change available before you start buying parts, and for almost every road car it is where the conversation should both start and finish.
How much power will I actually gain?
It depends entirely on the engine. A modern turbocharged unit usually has real headroom in the software. A naturally aspirated one often has very little, whatever anyone claims. We will give you a realistic expectation for your specific car before you commit rather than quoting an average that was never about your vehicle in the first place.
Is it safe for the engine and the gearbox?
Done properly, yes, because the map is written for the vehicle in front of us and kept well inside what the drivetrain was designed to handle. The risk lives in generic files loaded without anybody looking at the individual car, or in mapping a vehicle that is already unwell. A remap does not cause weaknesses, it finds the ones that were already there.
My car is not in perfect health. Should I wait?
Yes, and we will usually say so before you ask. If something is worn, leaking, sticking or logging codes, adding torque asks more of it and brings the failure forward, usually at the least convenient possible moment. Get it right first and the map is a better map. That is not us being awkward, it is us not wanting you back in a fortnight.
Will it wreck my fuel economy?
Driven the same way, often not, because the engine is doing the same work with less effort and fewer gear changes. Driven enthusiastically because it is now more fun, obviously yes. That is a decision made with your right foot rather than something the map does to you. If saving fuel is the actual goal, say so and we will bias it that way instead.
Can it be put back to standard?
Yes. The original calibration is read and saved before a single change is written, so the car can be returned to exactly how it was. That matters for private sales, for handing back a lease and for any conversation with a dealer who wants to see a factory file. Ask for it whenever you want it.
Do I have to tell my insurer?
Yes. A remap is a modification and it should be declared, in the same way any other change to the car should be. Most insurers deal with it without much fuss once they are told. An undeclared modification is the version that causes problems, and it tends to cause them at exactly the moment you need the policy to work.
How long does it take and do you come to Warwick?
Typically one to three hours depending on the car and how the ECU is accessed, and yes, we come to you. Warwick is roughly twenty two miles from the Lutterworth workshop so it is a planned visit rather than a drop in. There is also a workshop option if you would rather bring it over, which some people prefer for a longer job.
Does the ECU have to come out of the car?
On a lot of vehicles no, the work is done through the diagnostic port with everything left where it is. Some ECUs do need reading on the bench, which changes the job and sometimes changes where it is best done. We will tell you which category yours falls into when you ring, not when we are stood on your drive.
Someone else has already mapped it. Does that matter?
Tell us and it stops being a problem. We can read what is currently loaded and see what we are dealing with. Depending on what turns up, we may suggest putting it back to standard first so that anything written afterwards is built from a known starting point rather than layered on top of somebody else's guesswork.
My car is an automatic. Does that change anything?
It changes what is worth doing. On an automatic the gearbox software decides how much of the engine you ever get to use, so adding torque and leaving the transmission alone leaves the job half finished. It is worth looking at both together, particularly if your week involves crawling round town as well as sitting on the motorway.
A map written for Warwick roads, not for a graph
Mobile across Warwick, or bring it to the Lutterworth workshop. Ring 07773 694570 and describe the car.
Call 07773 694570