rover220 wrote:Why do you think remaps are so popular with proven gains without engine damage.
That's not actually true in all cases.............during my research, i've come across many posts where remaps have caused engine warning lights to activate, dpf problems, excess smoke, etc, resulting in having the remap removed and reverting back to the vehicles standard map.
The point being, that there are good and bad in both remaps and tuning boxes.
My research, so far, tells me that the newer generation 'digital' boxes are a far cry and relatively sophisticated when compared to cheap and nasty 'resistor' boxes ...........
Mercedes approve 'Brabus' tuning boxes on their diesels, these boxes cost over £1500 and is an 'add-on' box, NOT a remap....... i doubt that mercedes would approve a tuning box on their vehicles if it wasnt a proved and tested product.
Description of difference between digital vs analogue boxes below.....
Q . Whats the difference between analogue and digital tuning units ?
A . Quite simply the analogue unit has no electronics inside and no processor, its generally made of resistors inside a plastic box with a screw to increase or decrease fuelling , these are very cheap to make and are usually found on auction sites, the risk with these units is that they have no set program to deliver the increased fuel at specific points , instead they just increase fuelling continuously even at idle which can cause the engine to run erratically and over time will likely cause damage and usually create a lot of smoke from the exhaust.
This is a real danger on the newest vehicles fitted with diesel particulate filters on the exhaust because if the filter becomes blocked and cannot be regenerated you will have to replace it at great cost .
The analogue units generally will not work on quite a large number of modern cars due to the latest intelligent computers running the engine which can detect them and will cause the engine warning lamp to come on and the engine to go into safe mode (greatly reduced power and limited revs).
A digital tuning unit has a microprocessor controlled computer board inside which is programmed with specific parameters for each individual vehicle to obtain the maximum performance without reaching the safety cut off limits set by the manufacturer, each unit is set up on a dynamometer so the results can be accurately measured , the digital unit will also not function until the accelerator pedal is pressed beyond a certain point at which you are demanding extra power , this means that no extra fuel is being added at idle and the extra fuel being injected is reduced again when the engine approaches maximum revs to avoid damage , put simply the digital unit is carefully designed using the latest technology to achieve the maximum performance safely from each individual make and model of vehicle, also the parameters in the digital tuning kit are hard programmed into the control chip so they can never alter over time or temperature.