View Full Version : Just got my Revo Demo
Just went to Amber Performance in Luton to have them install the demo program. My initial impressions were not good, but I soon realised that it was due to the traffic, and the fact that I couldn't really open it up. The torque is now vastly improved, but I have noticed a big boost drop after about 5000 rpm, even more than standard.
I'm not sure I would be prepared to fork out the asking price for the software. The difference is noticeable, but not interesting enough to warrant the cost involved.
I do get the impression that some of the cars smoothness has been compromised, the power is now very on or off, which makes for jerky progress when having to lift off the throttle in traffic.
Revo's suitability for the individual depends very much on where the majority of your driving is done. If you use your car occasionaly for fun, it's a must, but I could see this system irritating you if you do a lot of mundane business miles for example.
Chris
I dont have a cupra r yet getting mine in April but I noticed from the charts that there is a big drop after 5000rpm. I have an Accord Type R that actually doesnt drop off much until it reaches limiter at 8500rpm.
A friend looked at the power chart and said you could probably take the power upto around 7000 revs with no drop if you made it more free flowing, he tends to know what he is talking about as he has a 320bhp mazda rx7 and runs advanced driving with hpc.
Basically he said you have a lot to play with and it would probably be better to have a much smoother curve rather than a great lump then nothing!
He also said increasing the bar to more than 1.2 will damage the turbo in the long run.
I still dont know if this will stop me getting the ECU change but if I do I will uprate most of the other bits to try and get the smoother boost that I want........
just a thought! :)
I thought we are still waiting for REVO to release the dynoplots for the Leon R, I think JABBAs doesn't drop off 'til after 6500 rpm.:cheers:
LEO LION R
22-03-2003, 18:20
YIP the plots are iminent :( heard it all before now, and still waiting. The closest that we've been able to see are those on the Forge site for a TT so not really the same as it's 4WD.
Come on Revo it's getting beyond a joke, you must have graphs to be able to tune it and also show customers.
:cheers:
ibizacupra
23-03-2003, 19:48
Originally posted by softlad
I dont have a cupra r yet getting mine in April but I noticed from the charts that there is a big drop after 5000rpm. I have an Accord Type R that actually doesnt drop off much until it reaches limiter at 8500rpm.
A friend looked at the power chart and said you could probably take the power upto around 7000 revs with no drop if you made it more free flowing, he tends to know what he is talking about as he has a 320bhp mazda rx7 and runs advanced driving with hpc.
Basically he said you have a lot to play with and it would probably be better to have a much smoother curve rather than a great lump then nothing!
He also said increasing the bar to more than 1.2 will damage the turbo in the long run.
I still dont know if this will stop me getting the ECU change but if I do I will uprate most of the other bits to try and get the smoother boost that I want........
just a thought! :)
You can't really compare a V-Tech engine with a 20VT one.. The "relative" drop off in power at high rpms is turbo related as it becomes its own restriction. The 20VT has a lot of torque mid range.
A downpipe and cat upgrade is reported to release some more top end power on MK IV Golf 1.8T's. Miltek for example.
regards
Bill
smellster
23-03-2003, 20:29
My REVO trial has just run out, strangely enough I had that done at Amber Performance as well, and I would have to agree with Biff about the jerkiness (is that a word?) in stop/start traffic, could get annoying. However the mid range torque though is much better, great fun if you can find an open road in the south-east.
Even though the trial software doesn't give you the full upgrade (the guy quoted 212bhp/227lb/ft for the trial as opposed to around 225bhp/245lb/ft for the full software), I really don't think it's worth the £750 for the REVO + SPS1. But that's my opinion.
More than likely I'll be looking at the Jabbasport route in the next few weeks. Seems to be much better value for money, and a more personal service, around £600 for the tuning and variable boost unit.
Pagnobito
23-03-2003, 20:41
I have a plot for my R, but it's from Jabba not Revo.
http://www.seatcupra.net/forums/attachment.php?s=&postid=157467
I have had the remap in place nearly a week now. The power over 3500, all the way up to redline is incredible, but put your foot down below 3000 and the response is a bit hit and miss, the management seems to stumble a bit and feel lumpy, until over 3k, then woosh. Before the remap, the power delivery was smoother, but of course not so aggressive either.
The car does feel much much faster, but I still can't shake my mates integra R. Mind you its been fettled with and doesnt redline till 9500 revs!
:(
I do plan to give Jabba a call about the smoothness.
Pagnobito
23-03-2003, 20:44
Originally posted by smellster
More than likely I'll be looking at the Jabbasport route in the next few weeks. Seems to be much better value for money, and a more personal service, around £600 for the tuning and variable boost unit.
Boost control and remap is £115 + £425 in respectively, £540
I'm leaning towards Jabba. I'd be interested to hear how you get on with asking about the smoothness Mike.
:cheers:
Scott
Mike,
Tell us what JABBA say re. smoothness as I'm booking mine in for end of April (all things going to plan).
Hopefully mine will be bang on first time as I can't be bothered with the 10 hour round trip everytime something needs adjusting.
Many thanks:cheers:
I've been out on the :drink: all weekend so haven't driven the car much. So my revo demo is still active. I haven't changed my mind though, I still feel that you can get the equivalent from elsewhere, the only advantage of REVO is the stealth thing.
My car is definately faster, more torquey, and more fun, but at a cost. The driveabilty of the car has been affected, it's now not an easy drive, I dread to think how it will cope with the wet, this is not REVO'S fault though, I'd feel the same about most chips. (i think). All I can say is that it is an aquired taste, and won't suit all. I personally prefer the map of the standard car, it feels more diveable, more controllable, and generally less OTT. I would certainly reccomend a suspension change at least, before going the REVO route.
Certainly not the product everbody is making out. Cost Vs Performance is an issue, and it definitely won't suit everbody.
Chris.
Certainly not the product everbody is making out. Cost Vs Performance is an issue, and it definitely won't suit everbody.
The product does what it says on the box...improve the performance of your engine. As the original setup is engineered for a much lower output (as Bill (ibizacupra) put it quite adequate), you can't expect a very smooth behaviour as the restrictions will become very noticable with the increased power. Also the amount of power handled through your right foot will dictate the smoothness curve. Say you push it 50% down then it will deliver 90 bhp (assuming linearity on a 180 bhp car) versus 110 bhp (same assumption with 220 bhp chipped). You could make it much smoother by either removing the flow restrictions so you loose the big dip after 5 k or you could allow the ECU for a slower increase of the gas (if it is a DBW) when you increase the throttle but this would have a counter effect on the responsiveness of the accelerator pedal.
ibizacupra
24-03-2003, 08:11
I am wondering whether there are some other subtle differences in the demo code vs pukka code... as owners I have spoken to with the full code say it felt smoother..
Weird.
Bill
Doesn't it take a while for the ECU to adapt? Maybe 5 hours worth is not enough time for the car to get used to the new settings and over time things become smoother?
Scott
Pagnobito
24-03-2003, 10:14
I made a quick call to Mike at Jabba this morning and asked about the power delivery below 3k revs. I did not mention before that when driving the car quite normally, ie around town and stuff the car behaves exactly like it did before. I think you would be hard pressed to tell the difference. It is only when you want to press on that the extra power is noticed.
Mike said the turbo is starting to spin up at about 2100 (.3bar), and will be at full overboost (1.3bar) at 3k ish, and he can bring the turbo in faster and earlier but that would make it jerky in traffic (sound familiar?). To be honest I only really notice the slightly lumpy delivery in 6th on the motorway, if I have slowed behind a lorry and then floor it. If I am in 5th instead from 55ish mph it is a completely different story.
I have only had the remap for a few days and I don't really get much opportunity to rag it, during my commuting, so give me a couple more weeks maybe and I can give you a better idea. Mike can tailor the map to your requirements 0-60 dash? no problem, midrange, yes sir, etc and I have the option to take it back for adjustments if I wish. I think I have got a car that driven sanely will behave just as before, with the option of all that extra power in shedloads if I need it. As the unwary WRX owner found out Saturday!
Just a thought, but if every car is supposedly different, then a generic chip will give a different result between car A and car B also?
I also have my original chip in a little antistatic box so that I can put my car back to normal when I sell it. Then I will have a Jabba chip left over, I wonder what I will do with that?
I tried to rag it a bit on the weekend but I got a new strange nagging noise from the passenger seat, that I never heard before. Might have to take it to the dealer ;)
Syphon, I thought the ECU took only a few minutes to adapt to the throttle settings.
Cheers for that. I think I will give Mike a ring today. :D
Originally posted by Pagnobito
Syphon, I thought the ECU took only a few minutes to adapt to the throttle settings.
Maybe Bill can confirm this. The Revo demo took a while to take full effect a couple of weeks ago for me. The difference from when it was first put on to an hour or so later was quite noticable.
Probably different from Jabba though.
:cheers:
Scott
Syphon, I thought the ECU took only a few minutes to adapt to the throttle settings.
There are 2 things when preparing your car for a new ECU/chip/
One is the TBA (throttlebody adaptation) which will tell the ECU
what 0% and what 100% gas is. Normally it is best when you perform a TBA when you have it chipped and leave the car running for about 5 to 10 minutes without touching the accelerator pedal. This is so the car will achieve a good baseline.
Second is the dynamic adjustment a car will do over a period of time. Every engine is slightly different than the other so all ECU programs will adjust (or fine tune) to the behaviour of a specific engine.
Not sure how long this normally will take but a couple of days would seem very likely.
Cheers,
GJ.