Remap or Not?

Since buying my 156 last August I have been considering having the car remapped on a number of occassions and have read a lot of posts on here regarding this subject. Given the rising cost of fuel I'd pretty much dismissed having it done in case economy took a dive as a result, but I'd be interested to hear what the rest of you think. Especially if you have a 156 Sportwagon 1.9 JTD 16V!!!

I don't thrash my car by any means, Alfa ownership for me was more about the look and feel of the car and the desire to own something a little different to the rest of the pack. That said, when the opportunity arises I do like to put my foot down a bit, and the combination of great performance (for me) and economy is exactly what I was looking for from the car. I get a consistent 40-41 mpg, and although this is a little less than I was hoping for, it's acceptable, but I wouldn't want it to reduce.

Would it be £300 or so well spent in my case, or am I better off just leaving things as they are?

Moved to Tuning Lounge

Well for a start it would only cost you £200 if you fancied a trip to watford. In addition your fuel economy should remain the same... What engine is it? the 150? or 175?

It's the 140 (04 plate), Watford is no problem from where I am!!

I have never remapped an Alfa, but I have had my Volvo S60 D5 done.

My car had 100k on it when it was remapped, and was running a bit lumpy before the remap if I'm being honest. The remap made it even worse, loadsa black smoke out the back, drops in power etc. The clutch was also slipping now and then, mostly in 4th gear probably at the maximum torque spot.

I took the car to a garage, and had a new turbo and intercooler fitted recently and the car is absolutely transformed. The engine is now running sweet as a nut, and pulls like a train in 5th gear from 60mph all the way into silly speed (private track). However, the clutch does slip now and again.

Figures-wise I've gone from 163bhp/340nm to 193bhp/410nm for £275. Oh, and my MPG has shot up, but that might be more down to the new turbo/intercooler.

I don't regret having the remap done, but it has had a knock-on effect of highlighting week components in my car, which I've then had to replace. Which means I'll have to keep the car for longer than I wanted really or I'm throwing money away.

I'd say, if you're confident your car is in good mechanical condition then go for it. The people that remapped mine (Upsolute) said if I wasn't happy with it they'd give me my money back, so I'm sure they'd extend the same offer to you.

Maybe you can have a go in a remapped 156 belonging to someone on here?

Got the same engine in a 147, the 140 JTD 16v m-jet with a remap and you won't regret it. Go for it!!

It's money well spent, bags more power, loads more torque ... so much so it's finishing off my already worn clutch at a fair old rate. Plus I'm getting another 1-2mpg, most of my miles are at motorway cruising speed and economy does pick up when you keep the revs down.

I'm pretty confident of it's condition, but with a service due within 2,000 miles (first at an indy after buying from an Alfa dealership) I'll reserve judgement until this has been done. I did have a new clutch and slave/master cylinders replaced a couple of weeks ago by Meridien Milano, which was 50% funded by AR UK.

If it's going to eat my clutch then maybe it's not for me as it will only cost me more in the long run. I'm reallistically going to keep the car for another 2-3 years before I change it.

Originally Posted by Trevor1969

I'm pretty confident of it's condition, but with a service due within 2,000 miles (first at an indy after buying from an Alfa dealership) I'll reserve judgement until this has been done. I did have a new clutch and slave/master cylinders replaced a couple of weeks ago by Meridien Milano, which was 50% funded by AR UK.

Well take your time. Well worth talking to Augusto at red dot.

www.reddotracing.com

If your clutch has been replaced it should be fine, a remap gives you bags of extra torque and will finish off an old or worn clutch on its way out anyway, shouldn't eat a new one unless you go for something crazy. If a clutch lasts, say 60,000 miles on average, it'll probably shorten the life by 10% with the extra torque.

Good call on hanging on until the service is done, they could give it a quick run through the diagnostics to pull up if anything obvious is wrong. If it gets a clean bill of health I wouldn't see any reason not to go for it, there are people on the board here with over 60,000 miles on remapped engines without a hiccup.

I had mine mapped by Angel in November and had it adjusted in January, the guys came back and sorted it, no questions asked and I can't fault them in their aftersales service.

Thanks Dibby, I think if all is ok with the service I'll make an appointment with Red Dot - at least that way I can make sure it hasn't been remapped already. And I can use my club discount

Actually, might talk to them about my fiancee's diesel Clio as well - it's amazingly economical, but with only 65bhp it could do with a bit more urge!!