Superchips now have a remap for the BiTdi, but insurance uplift is crazy!

[razor77]

I was personally considering a remap, and the Superchips one appeals on price, and because it's modest with a +41BHP increase when compared to say JD Engineering who have a +80BHP increase.

I would only ever remap a car with insurance, so I ask my current insurer, they just said no. Presently I pay just under £300 annually, I am 36 have no accidents in the last 5 years, 10+ years no claims, no points, good postcode, hold advanced driving from the IAM and previously owned a vehicle of similar performance. So I called a 'specialist' Adrian Flux, and the best price they could offer was over £1000, a vast increase from my assumed 10-20% uplift.

So a Superchips remap at just short of £400, plus 5 years (the period I intend to keep the car) insurance increase would cost £3900. Bizarrely from a quick check, to insure a stock GT3 or RS6, my premiums would not raise beyond £600 per year.

Conclusion, why bother with the remap. It's a shame especially as the purpose at +41BHP/13% was not about speed but hopeful for MPG increase and improvement on agility (to reduce the hesitation) when moving from 1st to 2nd and 2nd to 3rd, with the 8 speed tiptronic.

Does anyone have alternative insurance companies to try?

Remaps, quoted price, +BHP and curves (linked)
ABT (http://www.abt-sportsline.de/typo3temp/mp_soap_client_files/ProduktDokument/2/4G0_130_360_CGQB_AS_E.pdf) €4,049 +47BHP
JDEngineering (http://www.jdengineering.nl/3-0-tdi-313-bit/) €899/€1250 +47BHP/+77BHP
Bluefin (http://www.mybluefin.co.uk/search?make=2&fueltype=2&model=23&variant=2800) £399 for Bluefin + £345 for ECU enablement +41BHP
MTM @ €1,799/€1,800 +52BHP (http://www.mtm-online.de/en/Audi/A6-C7/3-0-BiTDI-230kW-313hp-quattro?FZID=a6c7tdi230q&KIT=m-2a6313365qm)/+68BHP (http://www.mtm-online.de/en/Audi/A6-C7/3-0-BiTDI-230kW-313hp-quattro?FZID=a6c7tdi230q&KIT=m-2a6313381qc)
Dave down the road £350 +50BHP

[ukgroucho]

Can't help you with the insurance but a couple of observations about the info on the Superchips web site.

First the cost info... the bluefin is £399... seems like a good price BUT do you also have to shell out £365 to get the BiTDi engine "bluefin enabled"?

Second the power and torque curves. http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/3.0BiTdi.pdf

The BHP curve before tweaking seems about right - albeit the car is delivering an extra 3 BHP.. could just be down to ambient conditions and maybe using premium diesel. The after tweaking curve looks great, same shape, just 'more'.
The torque curve and max figures before tweaking bother me...
- Audi quote max torque as 650 Nm from 1450 RPM to 2800 RPM...
- The torque curve on the website shows a max of 610 Nm and only peaks at 2929 RPM continuing to about 3500 RPM.

I struggle to believe that the car can be so far off factory quoted torque delivery - both in terms of the peak value but also ( in fact more so) the actual curve...

[Guest 2]

Chris Knott and Prestige are sponsors of the forum, maybe give them a try?

Contact details for Chris Knott Insurance (http://www.chrisknott.co.uk/contact.html)

PRESTIGE KEEP MOVING CAR CLUB INSURANCE SCHEME (http://www.carclubsinsurance.co.uk/)

[fest0r]

I think the problem might be down to risk assessment and profiling an owner who wants more performance out of their car. It’s also an area where they might not have experience and don’t want to take a chance on an aftermarket upgrade. Even with a specialist, I’m sure (in their eyes) adding engine power outside manufacturer specification will greatly increase risk.

On a separate note, get your car on a rolling road (if you haven’t already) and you will be shocked at what it’s putting out. You can easily get 10-20% over quoted figures due to the Lemon Law. Superchips supply the original output from an actual test car, but loads of other companies quote original manufacturer’s figures to make it look like a much bigger gain.

I have had a few cars remapped in the past and when you boil it down, it’s great at first, but you get used to it quite quickly. I had to replace a DMF and clutch prematurely too. I would also only consider it outside of warranty. Even if you plan to revert to the original map before a service, you might need a new map created after an Audi update or you miss out on the benefits. You also might be really unlucky and a fault stops you removing the map before it goes back to Audi. If they discover it, they will probably invalidate your warranty.

[retired99]

Audi's quoted figures are, as far as I'm aware, at the flywheel. Transmission losses must be considerable, 15%, 20%? So is the rolling road applying some correction to derive a flywheel figure and if so how does it figure out what the transmission loss is?

Could all this have something to do with strange looking torque graph?

Be interested if someone knows how this works and hoe accurate the figures are.

I would assume before and after comparisons are valid to show changes if not absolute values.

[fest0r]

I’m not even close to an expert, but it’s supposedly worked out on the rundown which allows the system to work out the losses. Dastek seems to be the best reviewed kit at the moment and is quite accurate coupled with a good operator. The ramp rate (resistance applied) can also greatly alter a graph too.

As I said, Superchips give test car figures, but the likes of Celtic Tuning and other established tuners quote base manufacturer figures… very disingenuous imho.

[ukgroucho]

Not sure what Audi are doing right now... my brother (who owns an S4) read on forums that both Audi and BMW - when they released the S4 and 335i a few years ago - quietly shifted to quoting power at the wheels so they would not cannibalise the RS4 / M3 markets - which were not due for an update for some time and having 'more ordinary' models that produced more power (at the flywheel) would not be a good thing.

Irrespective of that ... the overall profile for the torque curve on the superchips web site is just not what I would expect - and also does not really match the curve posted by one of our fellow forum members who had his car chipped and posted the comparison power and torque graphs. There is just too little torque in the bottom half of the rev range, and then it peaks and runs out in 600 or a 1000 RPM, that's not what the BiTDi does (or is supposed to do).

[Wuffles]

one of our fellow forum members who had his car chipped and posted the comparison power and torque graphs...

Also wasn't paying a great deal more in insurance I believe if it was JBanfie you were referring to? With his infamous trip down the A303Strasse (from memory).

[beavim]

I'd shop around a bit for the insurance. When I had my A4 remapped I tried Adrian Flux and they were silly money. I went with sky insurance in the end for about £100 on top of the unmapped price. That was also for a superchips bluefin map with 23% power uplift (there is a bigger hike in money for over 25 % I believe)

Sent from my Nexus 4 using Tapatalk 4

[jbanfie]

Just did a quote for my wife on my BiTDi Audi A7 on Admiral.com (I'm already the customer so they won't quote me), but for 6000 miles a year 42 year old female married with kids (which makes things worse), the quote went from £382 to £446 for a 11% to 25% power increase. When you say the car has been modified a big list of mods appears when you hit next. I think if you go for power increase over 25% they refuse to quote, but that might depend on who you are etc. The fact you are under 40, lucky man, might go against you, but as I'm not, and never want to be, an insurance underwriter I just don't know.

If I remember when I did this last, the band was 11% to 20%, so this is obviously an area they are looking at?

Given the price of the remap and the increase in torque I'd say it was worth a look, but even with a remap, you still have to drive the car, Sports Mode on the gear box to keep the engine revs up and never go anywhere near the limiter on the revs because it really starts to pant, but you probably know all this if you are considering POWER!

[jbanfie]

Adding me to the same policy so now there are two drivers (and I've got a speeding conviction - no surprise, but only 1) gives £360 and £405 with the 11% to 25% uplift - it's almost unbelievable.

I have to say, admiral are the boys, or at least for me, especially with 3 cars in the fold, BUT you have to be a 'new customer only' every year to get the 'new business' discount. If you are an existing customer they won't quote you on the site as they will issue you a renewal, so I just go on as the wife, get the much reduced quote, phone them and they match the numbers on the renewal - simples.

[ukgroucho]

Nice jbanfie. I'll definitely take a look at admiral in future.

I guess you have no claims (and I don't mean NCB, I mean no claims on your policies).
Wife and I both have 10 year plus NCB but we also have 3 'not our fault' claims between us which they seem to penalize you for
- a windscreen in my C6 (which completely ticks me off as it's out of your control),
- a replacement front 'bumper' on my C6 - one day I spotted a towball size dent in it, don't even know when or where it happened, probably someone reversed into it in a car park
- and a new fuel tank in my wifes old A2 because a mouse ate a hole in the top of it (I kid you not).

Trouble is even though they are all 'no fault / malicious damage' they whack you when you try to get a new policy or renewal. Even with my current insurer (I use M&S as a broker) I had to go down the 'new customer' route to get a better price than my renewal quote...

I may have to look at this in a few years. My biggest concern right now would be with screwing up the warranty.
Plus, right now, I'm enjoying and getting used to the amount of grunt that the BiTDi has compared to my old C6 3.0 TDi.

[jbanfie]

One further piece of information then, Admiral only ask about claims in the past 3 years, for convictions its 5. I think this is quite generous compared with other insurers.

[Wuffles]

Wife and I both have 10 year plus NCB but we also have 3 'not our fault' claims between us which they seem to penalize you for
- a windscreen in my C6 (which completely ticks me off as it's out of your control),
- a replacement front 'bumper' on my C6 - one day I spotted a towball size dent in it, don't even know when or where it happened, probably someone reversed into it in a car park
- and a new fuel tank in my wifes old A2 because a mouse ate a hole in the top of it (I kid you not).

Sorry to drag this up but I wanted to check a few things.

Firstly, windscreen replacement never used to affect your NCB or would be even mentioned as a claim in the past, has that changed? It's been a while since I made a claim for one but it's bound to happen sooner or later.

Secondly, I'd always thought that any claim you make, whether it's your fault or not would penalise you. If your insurance company has to make any kind of payment to anyone, in their opinion it's your fault. Or am I wrong?

And finally, sorry to keep going on, but am confused. If you have "made claims", how is your NCB not being affected? You've managed to keep 10 years but you've made claims. Am I missing something? Is it because there was no third party involved or was it that these were made within the past 5 years and since then the NCB has built back up?

[razor77]

how is your NCB not being affected??
I suspect by paying NCB protection, which allows so many accidents without detracting from the accumulated years, which is a really strange 'protection' when accidents regardless of fault are still held against a 'protected' policyholder.

There are crazy stats within the insurance industry, like someone who has a claim regardless of fault is x-times more likely to have another within 2 years. Most policies also request all accidents are reported, regardless of claim, so would that include a bumper dented by a tow ball, a door ding... apparently everything. Three years ago I was run over by a car, my car was not involved. I had a call from my car insurer asking if I was in a car accident on the date the incident happened, I explained and it was ok. But I did question the agent if an incident took place, and my car was not damaged but was suggested to be involved in causing the accident (but not proven or a claim brought against me) would that count against me, she told me it would be recorded and it could potentially affect future premiums. Which leave me thinking would I then have to declare that I did not have an accident on this date at this location when looking for new insurance!

[Wuffles]

Face palm. Of course. I always say no to it as it seems to make little difference in the longer term due to the loading a claim gives. But thanks.

[Kar Krazy]

I Bluefinned my last car, a Mondeo 2.2 TDCi. It added about 30 bhp

I had already switched my insurance to Chris Knott in preparation for this, and the insurance went up from £230 to £290 when I told them I was adding Bluefin and a decat. But then I'm now 55 and I live in a B90 postcode.

[ukgroucho]

Firstly, windscreen replacement never used to affect your NCB or would be even mentioned as a claim in the past, has that changed? It's been a while since I made a claim for one but it's bound to happen sooner or later.

I don't think it affects your NCB but, nevertheless, if you go to any (I think 'any') online insurance quoting web site and fill in details then they want to know about windscreen claims. I guess they want to know if you are having 2 a year cos you drive up and down farm tracks behind other vehicles or whatever.... So whilst it is non-transparent I am pretty sure that any quote you get will be loaded if you have made a windscreen claim.


Secondly, I'd always thought that any claim you make, whether it's your fault or not would penalise you. If your insurance company has to make any kind of payment to anyone, in their opinion it's your fault. Or am I wrong?

So it would seem.. and more to the point it brings into question the whole value of protected NCB (to SOME extent).
Here is my logic... so you make a claim but have protected NCB. Next year your policy renewal mysteriously goes up 25% or whatever - so you go searching for a different insurance company, but have to enter the claim details to get a quote. And guess what, their prices are also loaded because you made a claim (no matter whose 'fault' it was). Incidentally you can verify this by running a dummy quote without declaring the claim that you made on a different broker. So protected NCB may give you SOME discount and the ability to say that you still have 10 years NCB - but it does not give you price protection 'cos one way or another they will gouge you.
I guess the overall value is that 60% discount for 10 years NCB, but then padded by 25% still amounts to a better price than NO NCB and 'full' price.


And finally, sorry to keep going on, but am confused. If you have "made claims", how is your NCB not being affected? You've managed to keep 10 years but you've made claims. Am I missing something? Is it because there was no third party involved or was it that these were made within the past 5 years and since then the NCB has built back up?
Yes protected NCB.. windscreen did not count or was a separate year to tow ball and mouse incident was on my wifes policy but has to be declared on my policy also. So no more than one claim per policy (or per policy per year).

[Wuffles]

I don't think it affects your NCB but, nevertheless, if you go to any (I think 'any') online insurance quoting web site and fill in details then they want to know about windscreen claims. I guess they want to know if you are having 2 a year cos you drive up and down farm tracks behind other vehicles or whatever.... So whilst it is non-transparent I am pretty sure that any quote you get will be loaded if you have made a windscreen claim.

I've never been asked about a windscreen claim. As far as I am aware they are completely detached from your vehicle policy, underwritten in a different way. Does anyone know if that's still the case? I guess if you've been asked about it then there's an insurer to avoid for the rest of us.


So it would seem.. and more to the point it brings into question the whole value of protected NCB (to SOME extent).
Here is my logic... so you make a claim but have protected NCB. Next year your policy renewal mysteriously goes up 25% or whatever - so you go searching for a different insurance company, but have to enter the claim details to get a quote. And guess what, their prices are also loaded because you made a claim (no matter whose 'fault' it was). Incidentally you can verify this by running a dummy quote without declaring the claim that you made on a different broker. So protected NCB may give you SOME discount and the ability to say that you still have 10 years NCB - but it does not give you price protection 'cos one way or another they will gouge you.
I guess the overall value is that 60% discount for 10 years NCB, but then padded by 25% still amounts to a better price than NO NCB and 'full' price.

But you don't lose your entire NCB when you make a claim do you? Or at least in the olden days you didn't. Does anyone know if that's still the case?


Yes protected NCB.. windscreen did not count or was a separate year to tow ball and mouse incident was on my wifes policy but has to be declared on my policy also. So no more than one claim per policy (or per policy per year).

What really gets on my nerves is when you are supposed to declare motorcycle claims on a car policy, and vice versa. All very geared towards them making money - but when wasn't it.

[ScottyA6]

I was at a Planning meeting and my old A8 was scraped all down the drivers side while parked up. When I renewed they had it down as rear impact- fault. Got to love insurers!

[razor77]

But then I'm now 55. I asked about including my 60 yr old Dad to my policy, it had a high loading, where a friend of same age (36) made no difference :-).

This is all really quite encouraging, and the insurance increases everyone is talking about are affordable rather than out of the question. I'll have to try Chris Knott and Admiral.

[ukgroucho]

I was at a Planning meeting and my old A8 was scraped all down the drivers side while parked up. When I renewed they had it down as rear impact- fault. Got to love insurers!

The GREAT thing about being an insurance broker is that "one size does not fit all"... basically there seems to be no specific retail price, they can adjust premiums and ask what they like.

It is a business that is RIFE with the ability to rip off as many people as they like. They hide behind the "our risk assessment says that..". I really do think that this is one of the most dishonest markets that exists.. take what you can when you can and there is no real regulation. The government seems unable or unwilling to step in and control this.. it CANNOT be that hard to remove the guys that are milking this from the fold and drive some true competitiveness.
One of the few gangster money making industries that is 'legal'

[daycartes]

hold advanced driving from the IAM .

Does anyone have alternative insurance companies to try?

If you are a member of the IAM, have you tried Surety Insurance? They guarantee to beat any quote you have. It's a bit of a faff in that I gave them a quote from LV and they checked it out then rang me back. Coupled with that, at the renewal point, I had to make several phone calls to them to get best price.
The third year I couldn't be bothered with the hassle and ended up with AVIVA with whom I have stayed since, for the following reasons:
Interaction with them is excellent. You ring them for whatever reason and once you have spoken your policy number into the mechanical phone thingy you are put through almost immediately to a speaking person. The website experience is also excellent. I have two no fault claims and one windscreen claim which have not affected the price. My premium is £435 for C7 2.0 TDI and 1.8 Convertible A3 on a multi car policy for both myself and my wife. ( I had thought that insuring a convertible would be much more expensive. When the conversation for renewal was drawing to a close the agent said 'Is there anything else I can do for you' and I replied 'Well you can give me some more discount if you want' and he replied 'Well I can't do that but I can send you some vouchers for Amazon. Those vouchers (£20) went towards my in car camera.

In a nutshell you could use Surety for the cheapest quote, AVIVA for the best service.

Oh and thanks Razor77 for putting me off a remap- that's saved me quite a bit.. I had also considered it on grounds of economy rather than extra power but I think that it's probably money up the exhaust pipe.

BTW Surety insurance is underwritten by Adelaide insurance and run from Northern Ireland!

[razor77]

Out of curiosity I checked out admiral online, it was £290 with no power increase and £390 for up to 25% BHP increase. Chris Knott matched this quote, (using Highways who are owned by LV) but also took into consideration previous ownership of a performance car.

That curiosity to find affordable insurance has now led me to look for a remap... I've not found many reviews from people mapping the BiTdi, I suspect because they are all still in warranty period.

What's the the difference between ABT, Bluefin, the local chap who probably uses kit of eBay (ie Alientech Kess v2)? I like to presume R&D, but is ecu remapping that complex? For example Superchips have only done one BiTdi so far, is that enough to know its a good remap? Does the local chap who tweaks his template program to get a good curve better value? or is ABT best because they will buy a BiTdi and extensively test?

Are you confident to remap your ECU and who would you choose?

[ukgroucho]

My only experience is in trying a bluefin on my old C6 3.0 Tdi. The cool thing about it is that you have the bluefin unit and can swap back to your old profile for servicing if desired (or restore the mapped profile if it gets over-written). With any of these 'packaged' profiles you are trusting that the generic tweaking that they do will fit your engine well... and (of course) they do have to find a middle line with regards to how they configure the profile because one size has to fit all (but MAY not - see later comments). If you go to a full rolling road tuner then they can tweak parameters to match the way your car behaves, arguably getting a better result - but it does cost quite a bit more.

Now my bluefinned C6 and "one size does not fit all".
Loved what it did for the engine - smoother, more grunt, noticed that it would hold lower gears for longer etc. The problem was that it did not agree with the 6 speed tiptronic gearbox. I had(over 2 weeks) a couple of horrendous downshifts - put your foot down, gearbox decides to downshift, current gear disengages, revs climb dramatically and it crashes into the next lower gear with a bang. If it were a manual car it would be like hitting the clutch and changing down without lifting off the throttle. After the second instance I decided I could not afford to live with it (or the possible consequences).
I spoke with superchips and they said that they'd done a bunch of the C6 3.0 Tdis and not had any issues... We were unable to resolve the issue and they were very friendly about giving me a refund and taking the unit back.

[razor77]

Given the price of the remap and the increase in torque I'd say it was worth a look, but even with a remap, you still have to drive the car, Sports Mode on the gear box to keep the engine revs up and never go anywhere near the limiter on the revs because it really starts to pant, but you probably know all this if you are considering POWER!

Quite, the BiTdi is not at it's best when redlining. It still surprises me, the few times I overtake and especially when on the motorway I realise just how much power this car has. When not around other vehicles, the relative speed is just hidden, now this is fantastic in respect to passenger comfort and general progression, but poor from a drivers feedback perspective. Maybe I should have just taken one of the 2.0 A6's, and used the difference to buy a Caterham!

[ukgroucho]

Quite, the BiTdi is not at it's best when redlining. It still surprises me, the few times I overtake and especially when on the motorway I realise just how much power this car has. When not around other vehicles, the relative speed is just hidden, now this is fantastic in respect to passenger comfort and general progression, but poor from a drivers feedback perspective. Maybe I should have just taken one of the 2.0 A6's, and used the difference to buy a Caterham!


One of the "criticisms" on some of the road tests / reviews is that the BiTdi gathers speed in a rather unremarkable way... i.e. it does not give the impression of speed - probably because it all happens with so little drama. As you say there are times when you really boot it and get those "holy cow" moments but in general you're using relatively few revs but making quite rapid progress.

Not sure that the change from a 2.0 Tdi would fund a Caterham (my neighbour has one) ... at least not a very new one, and by definition they tend to get 'used' quite hard (track days and so on) so when you look at older ones they can be money pits.

[razor77]

If you go to a full rolling road tuner then they can tweak parameters to match the way your car behaves, arguably getting a better result - but it does cost quite a bit more.


So how do the chip tuners that claim to build a perfect remap, without using a rolling road/dyno achieve it, do they just guess and hope for the best?

Bluefin has the brand and experience but the maps not personal, while Dave down the road can do an individual map although has questionable experience and the result could be good or bad?

From memory ABT always used to be the leader for Audi, but I read much less about them now. The price for their upgrade is €4000!!! Link to ABT maps (http://www.abt-sportsline.de/typo3temp/mp_soap_client_files/ProduktDokument/2/4G0_130_360_CGQB_AS_E.pdf)

[razor77]

Not sure that the change from a 2.0 Tdi would fund a Caterham (my neighbour has one) ... at least not a very new one, and by definition they tend to get 'used' quite hard (track days and so on) so when you look at older ones they can be money pits.

OW quotes an SE avant for £26,332 - I about £46k, so that leaves 20k.
& on the Caterham price list new factory built starts at £22k... but then I note everythings an option and ownership of two cars let alone track day costs would add up, and it certainly would be no use for those spirited drives to the airport over the M62 in winter, even if I could squeeze my cabin case in!

[ukgroucho]

on the Caterham price list new factory built starts at £22k... but then I note everythings an option and ownership of two cars let alone track day costs would add up, and it certainly would be no use for those spirited drives to the airport over the M62 in winter, even if I could squeeze my cabin case in!

And everyone blings them... so I think they run £30 - £35k

[AGW82]

Just a point of note guys.. Apparently Admiral and their associated companies will not cover a remap, they will however cover a tuning box. It is all about the wording, but I called and spoke to a supervisor for confirmation as I am looking into the options as well.

[retired99]

They also claim that their remap only writes to existing parts of the ECU so when it's plugged into a dealers computer the software structure of the ECU remains the same so is virtually undetectable


This is the type of statement which really puts me off these companies.


It only writes to existing parts of the ECU. What on earth does that mean? It could hardly write to parts that don’t exist; unless they mean they don’t add any new code modules.
I would suspect that none of the re-maps affect the code. The name itself is the clue, they change the tables (the map that controls fuel injected, fuel pressure, boost etc. in response to throttle position, engine revs etc.)
It could well be that the dealer cannot detect a remap, but if Audi are looking at a multi thousand bill for a new engine or gearbox they certainly can if they’re suspicious. They will be able to see number of updates, update dates, checksums etc. and last but not least they know exactly what a standard map looks like and it would be pretty simple to compare the actual map with the standard map.


This ability to check for a remap also applies to insurance companies.


Exclusion 5 from the superchips warranty:
Loss of use of the Motor Vehicle, or any other consequential or economic loss, penalties
for delay or detention, or in connection with guarantees of performance or efficiency
other than the Mechanical or Electrical Breakdown of the Motor Vehicle directly
attributable to the installation of the Superchips product and where the cost of repair has
been declined for a legally valid reason by the Manufacturer.

The killer phrase is

and where the cost of repair has been declined for a legally valid reason by the Manufacturer.

Audi are going to say they are aware that the car has been remapped and that they are therefore not going to replace the gearbox, and that this position is legal. Superchips are going to say that the Audi position is not legal. This is basically the end of the discussion about your claim.

I’m not against remaps, I’ve had one on a previous car and had no problems. But go into it with your eyes open.

[AGW82]

They also claim that their remap only writes to existing parts of the ECU so when it's plugged into a dealers computer the software structure of the ECU remains the same so is virtually undetectable

Is that my statement from the other remap post..? If it is, to put the claim in context: I asked Superchips why I should choose them over Revo, and amongst the usual sales dross, they told me that the Revo map (as you suggested) writes new modules and areas to supplement the existing ECU code, whereas the Superchips map only changes existing values and parameters. They we're also very clear that the remap would be detectable if the ECU were scrutinized, but on a normal visit to the dealer for a service, for example, the computer would not flag up any issues. But as you rightly say if it were a big warranty claim or very bad accident from an insurance perspective, the remap would very quickly be found.

The Superchips warranty was always going to have loopholes and I'm sure is more a marketing ploy. It was very interesting when I was told they had never had to pay out, quickly followed by "because in all the cases where there has been an issue, we've always helped the customer successfully argue the work should be done under the terms of the manufacturers warranty"

[retired99]

Is that my statement from the other remap post..?

Ah, yes it is. Bit of a eye, hand, brain co-ordination failure there.

There must be competent and professional companies out there but the industry seems to have more than its fair share of bs merchants.

I'd be much happier dealing with a company that didn't only tell me about the advantages of their product but also came completely clean about the -ve side effects relating to warranty and insurance.

Various people on here are worried about remapping because the higher torque figures might exceed the gearbox rating. They might have a point. Wouldn't you rather buy from a company that not only gave you the new torque figure but also told you the torque rating of the gearbox?

If you buy from a franchise operator the chances are that the installer has no real clue about the product, they have been shown how to install it and that's it.

Do your own research, understand the risks and buy from one of the larger companies and you'll probably be OK. But if something expensive goes wrong (which it probably won't if you do your homework)remember, you'll be footing the bill yourself.

I remapped a Disco 3 and ran it for a few years without any problems, but it was from a company well known in LR circles and I knew the transmission was well within limits.

[AGW82]

Various people on here are worried about remapping because the higher torque figures might exceed the gearbox rating. They might have a point. Wouldn't you rather buy from a company that not only gave you the new torque figure but also told you the torque rating of the gearbox?

But would you trust them if they told you ;)

Joking aside I don't believe any of the ECU Re-mappers would really know about the longer term effects of the re-mapping process. All the major companies claim the extra power and torque is within the tolerances of all the components, but I can't honestly see them getting into that level of detail, or that Audi would even make all the information available for the claim to be 100% accurate. As far as I know, most of them either get a hire car or use an employees car to test and develop their maps, so there is never any long term testing carried out, that comes when people actually start using it in real life. With that in mind it's probably worth saying that the Revo map for the 2.0TDI 177 engine has only just been released, and the Superchips map has been available since the back end of 2012. Not a long time in either case. So you'd have to question how early you'd want to adopt the new Superchips map for the BiTDI as well...

As is always the way with this topic, you pays your money and takes your chances. Doing anything outside the manufacturers standards is always inviting the potential for trouble..

[MarkTM]

I went for a soft remap and because increase was less than 10% (23BHP) in my A6 C6 there was no increase to my premium, neither did 6 points increase it (LV)! Did mine for economy and I'd say having achieved 920 miles on one tank that it was successful. I think If I had a C7 BiT I'd be happy with the 2 sec 0-62 improvement on my current ride for a couple of years! :)

[razor77]

I went for a soft remap and because increase was less than 10% (23BHP) in my A6 C6 there was no increase to my premium, neither did 6 points increase it (LV)! Did mine for economy and I'd say having achieved 920 miles on one tank that it was successful. I think If I had a C7 BiT I'd be happy with the 2 sec 0-62 improvement on my current ride for a couple of years! :)

Although 27MPG might disappoint if you can get 920m out of one tank!