Home / Services / Van and Commercial Remapping / Hinckley
Van and Commercial Vehicle Remapping in Hinckley
A Hinckley trade van does not work one town. It is on a job in Leicester on the Monday and somewhere the far side of Coventry by the Wednesday, loaded both times. We write maps around that kind of week, and we do the work where the van is parked.
A van here works two labour markets, not one
Plenty of towns have a single direction of travel. Hinckley does not. A builder, a sparky or a plumber based here can quote work in Leicestershire and in Warwickshire without either being a trek, which is a real commercial advantage and also the reason the van racks up mileage in a way a purely local trade vehicle never would.
That shows up as a mixed diet. Motorway legs on the M69 with the van loaded and the speed more or less holding. Long slogs down the A5 behind an artic at 50 with a roundabout every few miles. Then narrow town streets and a reversing job at the end of it. One vehicle, three completely different demands, frequently in the same day.
So when we ask what the van does, it is not small talk. A van that lives on motorway legs and a van that does a dozen short drops around Hinckley itself want different emphasis out of the same engine, and knowing which one you are is most of the useful information in the conversation.
What actually changes on a loaded van
Almost nobody rings about a van wanting a bigger number. They want two things: for it to pull properly from low revs with weight in the back, and for the fuel bill to come down. On most commercial diesels those pull in the same direction, which makes it a simpler conversation than the equivalent one about a car.
The useful change sits low down, roughly between 1,500 and 2,500rpm, because that is the band a loaded van actually lives in. Fill that in and the van stops needing to be revved to get moving, holds a gear up a rise instead of dropping one, and gets to motorway speed off a short slip road without being thrashed. An engine not being worked hard for every pull generally drinks less as a consequence.
If you tow, say so. Towing shifts the emphasis again, and a map for a van that regularly has a plant trailer behind it is not the file you would write for one that is empty by three o'clock. Same goes for a tail lift or a heavy permanent rack. It costs nothing to mention and it changes what gets written.
Van working both sides of Hinckley?Tell us the vehicle, the weekly mileage and what it carries, and you will get a straight answer about what changes.
Call 07773 694570Doing it without losing a day's work
That is usually the part that decides it. A van off the road is a van not earning, and a garage visit costs a day whichever way you arrange it. We come to the yard, the drive or the site, and most jobs run about an hour to ninety minutes from arriving to handing the keys back.
Hinckley is about ten miles from Lutterworth, so this is one of the easier places for us to reach and fitting round a job is normally workable. If you run more than one vehicle it is generally better to do them on a single visit rather than book them one at a time. More detail on how the visit itself runs is on the mobile remapping page.
On price, the only fixed figure there is to give you is car remaps from £129. Anything commercial gets quoted per vehicle once we know what it actually is, because the work involved varies a good deal from one van to the next and pretending otherwise would only lead to an awkward conversation later. Tell us the vehicle and the engine and you will have a number in front of you before agreeing to anything at all.
When the answer is no
A map will not repair a van. If it is flat because a turbo is on the way out, an injector is not sealing, the EGR is stuck or the filter is part loaded, mapping it adds demand to something already struggling and you will meet that problem again sooner rather than later. We ask about fault lights and how it has been running before agreeing to anything.
Low mileage is the other honest no. If the van does a few hundred miles a month, an economy focused map has very little to repay itself with, and we would rather say that than take the booking and have you feel short changed a few months on. High and consistent mileage is the opposite case, and it is where this work genuinely earns its keep.
Where a fault light is already on, the sensible first step is diagnostics rather than a map. That is a separate job and it is covered on the DPF and diagnostics page for Hinckley. Tell us the code or describe the symptom when you ring and you will get an honest view on what order to do things in.
Van and Commercial Remapping in Hinckley: your questions answered
I work both sides of Hinckley. Does the mix of roads change what I need?
It changes the emphasis rather than the approach. A van doing regular M69 legs is a good case for leaning the map towards steady running and lower consumption. A van that spends its week on the A5 and around town, constantly pulling away from roundabouts, gains more from filling in the low down torque. Most working vans need some of both, and where the balance sits is what the phone call is for.
Will it pull better when it is loaded?
That is the change drivers comment on most often. More torque arriving low down means the van moves the weight without being revved, which is noticeable the first time you pull out of a junction fully loaded and it simply goes instead of hesitating and making you work for it.
Will it save me fuel?
It can, and on a van doing steady consistent mileage it usually does, because the engine does the same job with less effort. What decides it is whether you drive the same way afterwards. If the extra pull just gets used, the fuel goes with it. That is not a criticism, it is simply how it works, and better said now than later.
Which vans do you work on?
The usual working vehicles: Transit and Transit Custom, Transporter and Crafter, Sprinter and Vito, Vivaro and Movano, Trafic and Master, Dispatch, Expert, Relay, Boxer and Ducato, plus pickups and car derived vans. If yours is not in that list, ring and ask, because the list is a sample rather than a limit.
Is it safe on a van with high miles on it?
A high mileage engine that has been looked after is usually fine. A neglected one is not, and the map will find the weak point for you at an inconvenient moment. Mileage on its own tells us less than service history and how it has been running lately, so those are the things we will ask about first.
Do I have to declare it on my commercial insurance?
Yes. A remap is a modification on a van in exactly the same way it is on a car, and it should be declared. Most insurers take it in their stride. The problem only ever appears when there has been a claim and nobody ever mentioned it.
The van is on lease. Can I still have it done?
Tell us at the enquiry stage and you will get a straight answer. A lease or finance agreement usually has something to say about modifications, and the original file being saved means it can go back to standard before the vehicle does, but it is your agreement and you should read it. We would rather raise it than have you discover it later.
Can you come to the yard and do more than one?
Yes, and it is usually the sensible way. One visit, several vehicles, no repeat travelling and no repeated disruption to your week. Tell us how many and what they are when you ring so enough time gets put aside properly rather than squeezed.
How long is the van off the road?
Roughly an hour to ninety minutes on site, road test included. For most people that is a lunch break or the beginning of a shift rather than a day, which is most of the reason the mobile option exists at all.
Will it hurt the DPF?
A properly written map should not. A van doing regular motorway work generally has an easier time of it than one doing short local drops, because the exhaust actually reaches temperature and holds it. If the filter is already part blocked, that is diagnostics and cleaning, a separate job, and never removal.
Can it go back to standard?
Yes. The original calibration is read and saved first, so the van can be returned exactly as it was. That comes up most often at the end of a lease, at sale time, or when a dealer wants the vehicle standard for a warranty discussion.
What if I am not sure it is worth it?
Then say exactly that on the phone. Tell us the van, roughly the weekly mileage, what it carries and which roads it lives on. That is enough for an honest view, including the times when the honest view is that you would not notice enough to justify the spend.
Mapped at your yard, back on the job the same morning
Hinckley, Burbage and Barwell, about an hour to ninety minutes, road tested before we leave.
Call 07773 694570