bluefin or revo

Funbobby

Active Member
Mar 7, 2017
44
1
due to pick my new leon this week a 1.8 tsi and wondered what peoples opinions were between these 2 companies? bluefin looks a bit cheaper but dont mind paying the extra for revo if they seem better? just want a stage 1.
 

Dan FR

Meth addict. Stage 2+ Yo!
Nov 14, 2013
1,795
8
Caerdydd
If those are your only choices, then Revo everytime. I wouldn't have Superchips/Bluefin on my car if it were free.

Stick with a vag specialist tuner. Revo, APR, Stealth racing and so on. Plenty out there
 

Deleted member 103408

Guest
Agreed for me its revo or apr they know the cars. Provide good support and dont overtune leaving you with issues down the line.
 

Kraken

Active Member
May 31, 2016
125
3
UK
Nothing wrong with superchips, they have 100's of cars and 100's of dyno benchmarks to go against and look at and from everyone I've heard that uses one have gotten close if not more than the specified performance boosts. They have been around forever and know what they are doing. Nothing against APR or REVO they are excellent, but with the bluefin you can revert back to stock ECU file in a matter of minutes should you need to take it in to service.

HOWEVER: PSA

Please be aware, I have been in touch with one of the engineers over the past week and currently there is slight (well, annoying) issue currently. You say you are getting a NEW TSI soon yes? Currently, the bluefins do NOT work on the newer, post April 2015 ECUs as VAG have apparently changed the security and checksums on them for every car built after this period roughly, and currently, they have no working bluefins for the 1.8/2.0 TFSI/TSI engines as the ECU is inherently different. I got a call the other day after purchasing one and uploading my file to them saying about this. Real shame. Worse still, no release date or timeframe until they get them updated, could be weeks, could be months :blink:.

I'm still on contract so Bluefin was my only real "safe" option as it's easily reversable with the reader upload, so i'd go REVO/APR if they offered the same sort of kit, but if the car is all yours either wait for the updates, or go REVO/APR.

I just thought I'd PSA about this as others with "newer" models are having the same issue, the guys at superchips are trying there best with it currently but no firm release date yet.
 

RobM

Back from the dead...
Sep 27, 2006
4,982
3
Southampton
Nothing wrong with Superchips at all, it would be wrong to dismiss them entirely. As Kraken says, they've a vast amount of resource and experience out there and a long track-record.

However... I went Revo because I trust their VAG-specific expertise, but also because they sell through a network of dealers and those local to me tend to be VAG experts, so if anything away from the map itself is a concern (injectors, clutch, gearbox, error codes, etc) I have more faith that it will be picked up and handled well.

I would be willing to bet that most problems that occur after a remap aren't to do with the map itself, but other components or existing problems that get highlighted by it. Therefore, the DIY approach like Bluefin concerns me.
 

Shaady

Active Member
Jan 25, 2017
167
25
Had various levels of Revo software on my old Focus and never had any problems with it, went from Stage 1 to Stage 4 and it was faultless.

Have been thinking about mapping the Leon when the time comes and I will most definitely be considering them.

Havent heard anything bad about Bluefin though, and as said they do have a lot of experience, when I was looking into them in the past though they do claim to get better gains than the competition using the same hardware (though granted that may not be the case with VAG engines) which does make you wonder if they are pushing the boundaries just a little too much
 

Funbobby

Active Member
Mar 7, 2017
44
1
ok great thanks for input, when i say new i mean new to me its a 14 plate, think i will stick with revo as i have a dealer very near me.thanks again
 

Deleted member 103408

Guest
One last point if you are not in a hurry (for the remap that is) keep your eyes open for special offers (on the price) from revo. They do offer big discounts sometimes.
 

Funbobby

Active Member
Mar 7, 2017
44
1
oh really? thats worth knowing. when i spoke to dealer he seemed a bit vague on it affecting the years warranty they are supplying as seat warranty has run out. so might give it a few months before i go ahead and do it just to be sure car is running fine.
 

Kraken

Active Member
May 31, 2016
125
3
UK
Nothing wrong with Superchips at all, it would be wrong to dismiss them entirely. As Kraken says, they've a vast amount of resource and experience out there and a long track-record.

However... I went Revo because I trust their VAG-specific expertise, but also because they sell through a network of dealers and those local to me tend to be VAG experts, so if anything away from the map itself is a concern (injectors, clutch, gearbox, error codes, etc) I have more faith that it will be picked up and handled well.

I would be willing to bet that most problems that occur after a remap aren't to do with the map itself, but other components or existing problems that get highlighted by it. Therefore, the DIY approach like Bluefin concerns me.

The DIY approach has nothing to do with any potential shortfalls with components though, most issues expressed like what you listed would have and could have come from a bespoke remap too. I know of plenty personal examples where APR tuned TDI cars have been put under undue stress and resulted in issues but it turned out this was more of the fault of the cars "weak" components that a remap just exagerrated.

I've spoken to Michael quite a bit over the past few days so im more clued up on it as it's fresh in my mind. Whether you go into a shop to get the ECU map done by superchips or get the "file" downloaded from them to your bluefin it's the same tune, same results. The DIY method they have developed is purely convenience based (and it's super friggin easy to do, my mates sister without any prior car knowledge was able to do it on her Polo by just following the instructions and waiting for the file). It's literally stick in car, copy tune to bluefin, plug in PC, upload it, wait a bit, get a file back, put the file on the bluefin then reconnect the bluefin to the car start her up and on you go with a tune, it's brilliant from what i've experienced.

Just a shame newer 1.8/2.0L engines have different ECU security so they having trouble getting them working for the bluefin currently but the shop map is still available. Being able to reset to stock with the device is another major plus.

At the end of the day, the figures they quote are "Best possible". For example with m car, the car they had the dyno was already putting out 195BHP STOCK if you look at the file they have uploaded: http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/18tsi180CJSA.pdf so that's a "best case" scenario as also Michael explained.

Do what you prefer, but from "passenger" experience for many 1000's of miles in people i know who have them, they are bloody brilliant, work very well as advertised and come with a plethora of research behind them.

EDIT

Oh OP you have a 14 plate? That's not "new" then is it :p. Haha in any case ignore my PSA about it not working on your ECU, the bluefin will work for your car perfectly fine, just not for me on my post April 2015 car currently.
 
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Lentäjä

Full Member
Jan 19, 2006
503
2
Helsinki, Finland
The DIY approach has nothing to do with any potential shortfalls with components though, most issues expressed like what you listed would have and could have come from a bespoke remap too. I know of plenty personal examples where APR tuned TDI cars have been put under undue stress and resulted in issues but it turned out this was more of the fault of the cars "weak" components that a remap just exagerrated.

I've spoken to Michael quite a bit over the past few days so im more clued up on it as it's fresh in my mind. Whether you go into a shop to get the ECU map done by superchips or get the "file" downloaded from them to your bluefin it's the same tune, same results. The DIY method they have developed is purely convenience based (and it's super friggin easy to do, my mates sister without any prior car knowledge was able to do it on her Polo by just following the instructions and waiting for the file). It's literally stick in car, copy tune to bluefin, plug in PC, upload it, wait a bit, get a file back, put the file on the bluefin then reconnect the bluefin to the car start her up and on you go with a tune, it's brilliant from what i've experienced.

Just a shame newer 1.8/2.0L engines have different ECU security so they having trouble getting them working for the bluefin currently but the shop map is still available. Being able to reset to stock with the device is another major plus.

At the end of the day, the figures they quote are "Best possible". For example with m car, the car they had the dyno was already putting out 195BHP STOCK if you look at the file they have uploaded: http://www.superchips.co.uk/curves/18tsi180CJSA.pdf so that's a "best case" scenario as also Michael explained.

Do what you prefer, but from "passenger" experience for many 1000's of miles in people i know who have them, they are bloody brilliant, work very well as advertised and come with a plethora of research behind them.

EDIT

Oh OP you have a 14 plate? That's not "new" then is it :p. Haha in any case ignore my PSA about it not working on your ECU, the bluefin will work for your car perfectly fine, just not for me on my post April 2015 car currently.

APR tuned TDi?
I have not seen APR doing diesel engines...:wtf:
 

Kraken

Active Member
May 31, 2016
125
3
UK
APR tuned TDi?
I have not seen APR doing diesel engines...:wtf:

Heh, yeah it's a thing! Albeit, not APRs fault there was issues with Leon 184 diesels having apparent underlying issues after a map anyway so, who knows? Nothing but respect for APR and REVO though.

Any way, unless someone can give me a solid justifyable reason to NOT go Bluefin, i'll be doing it as soon as they get the latest ECU securities sorted out. I've heard nothing but good things but Dan FR has a horror story to share I'd be interested to hear it, he seems quite passionately against sueprchips and the Bluefin so i'd be interested as to why :).
 
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kiddo

ST Cupra
May 30, 2015
1,151
99
Lancashire
Is your car out of warranty? I'd be careful remapping if still under warranty as the ecu will add td1 flag which could prove difficult if engine warranty work is required further down the line. Once my warranty runs out I'm very tempted by Apr ecu and dsg remaps. Currently running a dtuk box which I remove at service time.
 

Funbobby

Active Member
Mar 7, 2017
44
1
It's out of manufacture warranty but I'm buying from a seat dealer so they are putting another year on so don't know where that would leave me? Might have to wait a bit before doing the remap
 

Deleted member 103408

Guest
Warranty will almost certainly be voided if you remap. As said earlier apr and revo both do discounts so its worth waiting for the right deal and still being covered by warranty till that time (last revo discount i saw was black friday).
 

mardon

Feel the DIFFerence
Sep 22, 2008
2,599
2
A bean bag
I'd like to throw Burger Tuning into the mix (yes crap name) their JB1 and JB4 products get fantastic reviews and gains.
The large threads over at VWVortex are a testament to the quality.
Also Warranty safe if removed before going in.
 
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Kraken

Active Member
May 31, 2016
125
3
UK
While we are on the subject of alternatives...

Is there any other company out there, that offers, like bluefin, a DIY and fully reversable plug n play map? Superchips can't be the only company to provide a handset DIY device, is there another company who offers the same sort of service with hardware supplied?

Can't seem to find anything out there but not sure exactly what to look for in terms of names, bluefin seems to be the only one like it which seems crazy to me.
 

Chrisc1995

Active Member
Jan 19, 2017
37
0
Norfolk
I'd always go for a custom map! These are usually done on the actual road and not in fake set up conditions like on a rolling road. Every car is unique so a custom map will be specific to that car. Iv never heard a bad thing about custom maps! They can also sometimes gain more than any manufactured map.