Stage 1 remap

paddy6789

Moderator
Staff member
Moderator
Aug 31, 2016
1,627
1,079
Preston, Lancs
I’m definitely a +1 for RacingLine OEM+.
I’ve had it on my previous Leon and my current one. Personally I can’t fault RacingLine with regards to their products and after sales customer service and support network.
Yeah, they are more expensive than a local garage with their own ‘custom’ file, but that’s because of all the work that has gone into producing software and hardware that just works and works well.
I blame @AndrewJB entirely for starting my addiction to RacingLine but in all honesty, I can’t be happier with what they’ve done with both my cars.
As Andrew says, you could go to Bob round the corner and get a map put on your car for £150, and when you drive away you feel the car is different and so it’s faster and better. You could get lucky and actually get a good map which does what it says. But from all the reviews and experiences people have logged on here and various other social media platforms, the saying ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ couldn’t be more fitting and true. My advice is to take on board what everyone says but don’t make your decision from that alone. Speak to the tuners themselves, speak to people who have used them, and then base your decision on that. Ultimately the cost shouldn’t be the deciding factor as you’re looking to have coding changes to your car which affects how it runs. Bad coding could end up with ££££ bills due to something going catastrophically wrong.
 

Charliessmith

Active Member
Jun 16, 2017
494
51
Chris.

I apologise for sounding condescending,
But the Facebook group is filled with a bunch of 20something year old children who know a lot about nothing!! Get a custom map, get a dyno, get this map... all of there ‘research’ is all ‘hearsay’. They have no evidential research behind their hypothesis. Some of these groups spend up to £2.5k+ on insurance - so other compromises have to made, and hence cheaper mapping.

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty where I am going to sound a little shitty, and again I apologise if I offend.

Some of those ‘boys’ are number chasers. They want to see top number BHP without really taking into account of the drivability, hell we may as well say “hey, how bigs your **** cos mine is bigger!!” Not one of these boys will go on track and legally use the power, they will use the roads like a racetrack, crash, send insurance premiums high, or worst case hurt/kill someone.

Whether it’s this forum, or any other car, I’ve seen the same thing over and over again, and it’s always the 20something year olds. It’s only about the numbers. F**k me, most can only drive fast in a straight line! impressive! Like a **** on my shoe.

As you may have guessed, I’m not in my 20s or 30s. And yes I’m having a bad day!!

It’s ultimately your choice in the direction you want to go, I’m with Andrew on the r&d element of mapping. In this case you get what you pay for.

I’d suggest Racingline OEM+ as they used to do stuff for VWRacing.

Revo have a good map too. I’ve heard good things.

Reach out to us if you have questions. There are some very knowledgable, clever, highly educated and ‘lived a little’ people on this forum with real life experiences.

Rant OVER and OUT
HEY. There is nothing wrong with being in your 20s im 28 and not a douche bag lol. Its not got anything to do with age, only mentality.
I dont chase numbers or drive like a douche on the roads hence why I have booked a track day. Which I cant wait for. Some of us younglings are sensible lol. I'm 28 with 2 children and been married for 7 years, and with my partner for ten years and yes i got married first then had my children, they are 4 and 1. lol

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AndrewJB

Friend to SEAT UK & Cupra Racing
Aug 16, 2007
11,211
484
Maranello
I’m definitely a +1 for RacingLine OEM+.
I’ve had it on my previous Leon and my current one. Personally I can’t fault RacingLine with regards to their products and after sales customer service and support network.
Yeah, they are more expensive than a local garage with their own ‘custom’ file, but that’s because of all the work that has gone into producing software and hardware that just works and works well.
I blame @AndrewJB entirely for starting my addiction to RacingLine but in all honesty, I can’t be happier with what they’ve done with both my cars.
As Andrew says, you could go to Bob round the corner and get a map put on your car for £150, and when you drive away you feel the car is different and so it’s faster and better. You could get lucky and actually get a good map which does what it says. But from all the reviews and experiences people have logged on here and various other social media platforms, the saying ‘buy cheap, buy twice’ couldn’t be more fitting and true. My advice is to take on board what everyone says but don’t make your decision from that alone. Speak to the tuners themselves, speak to people who have used them, and then base your decision on that. Ultimately the cost shouldn’t be the deciding factor as you’re looking to have coding changes to your car which affects how it runs. Bad coding could end up with ££££ bills due to something going catastrophically wrong.

Haha I remember our initial conversations.. next minute you had spent ££££
 

Mtailor

Active Member
Aug 9, 2018
245
136
London
HEY. There is nothing wrong with being in your 20s im 28 and not a douche bag lol. Its not got anything to do with age, only mentality.
I dont chase numbers or drive like a douche on the roads hence why I have booked a track day. Which I cant wait for. Some of us younglings are sensible lol. I'm 28 with 2 children and been married for 7 years, and with my partner for ten years and yes i got married first then had my children, they are 4 and 1. lol
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You are probably a rarity! I’ve met a few like you. But not many.
 

chris_brown

Active Member
Sep 3, 2020
28
4
Chris.

I apologise for sounding condescending,
But the Facebook group is filled with a bunch of 20something year old children who know a lot about nothing!! Get a custom map, get a dyno, get this map... all of there ‘research’ is all ‘hearsay’. They have no evidential research behind their hypothesis. Some of these groups spend up to £2.5k+ on insurance - so other compromises have to made, and hence cheaper mapping.

Now let’s get to the nitty gritty where I am going to sound a little shitty, and again I apologise if I offend.

Some of those ‘boys’ are number chasers. They want to see top number BHP without really taking into account of the drivability, hell we may as well say “hey, how bigs your **** cos mine is bigger!!” Not one of these boys will go on track and legally use the power, they will use the roads like a racetrack, crash, send insurance premiums high, or worst case hurt/kill someone.

Whether it’s this forum, or any other car, I’ve seen the same thing over and over again, and it’s always the 20something year olds. It’s only about the numbers. F**k me, most can only drive fast in a straight line!
emoji2956.png
impressive! Like a **** on my shoe.

As you may have guessed, I’m not in my 20s or 30s. And yes I’m having a bad day!!

It’s ultimately your choice in the direction you want to go, I’m with Andrew on the r&d element of mapping. In this case you get what you pay for.

I’d suggest Racingline OEM+ as they used to do stuff for VWRacing.

Revo have a good map too. I’ve heard good things.

Reach out to us if you have questions. There are some very knowledgable, clever, highly educated and ‘lived a little’ people on this forum with real life experiences.

Rant OVER and OUT
emoji33.png
emoji119.png

Thank God someone else has the same opinion as me! The guys on fb are doing my head in!

I've been tuning cars for the last 18yrs and the only car I've ever dyno'd was my drift race car.

Been trawling the internet for the OEM+ map for the 150bhp 1.4 and it isn't on their website making me think they may not do one for this engine, unless anyone knows different.

Will do a pre and post vid of the exhaust on Monday.
I've been getting advice from people about putting the box in the middle rather at the back for some reason, but I've never heard of this before?
 

AndrewJB

Friend to SEAT UK & Cupra Racing
Aug 16, 2007
11,211
484
Maranello
Chris I'm sure they will do a file for that engine. I'll check with the guys tomorrow.

It's good to get the car on a dyno before and after tuning, not to look at the headline numbers but to see the change. So if your car went on and is stock 150, but makes 140, then makes after software you can see the change while ignoring the headline numbers.
 

mdaw1985

Active Member
Aug 3, 2008
227
27
St.Leonards, East Sussex
You appear to be correct Chris, racingline only have a map for the old 120 bhp 1.4tsi. Whether this is just poor advertising as I would have thought they would have maps for both the 120/130 and 140/150 versions.
Back to the OP, I have had a generic map on a 03 Ibiza 1.9 tdi sport from custom code (JBS automotive) who are respected custom tuners up North. I chose them at the time as generally speaking back when I had it done the recommendations on here were for that or Revo if you were not going for a custom map. At the time custom code was considered the more drivable map and Revo gave a big kick up the ar*e. Revo seem to be the main go to for many brands and I think their maps are much more drivable these days.
I have been looking at maps for this engine for a while and had quotes but have not bitten the bullet.
For me if I do take the plunge I will probably go with my local custom tuner EST performance who are actually a parts dealer for racingline according to the racingline website but mainly because I believe custom is best if you are going to a trusted tuner. If not then go with a tried and tested generic map from a trusted tuner like I did with the custom code/JBS map or as I suggested before p torque via unit 18 which would probably be my choice for a generic map as p torque has a very good reputation for drivable maps. Unfortunately unit 18 would take a long time for me to drive to. Failing that there is the revo or racingline option which I'm sure are both good options due to the R&D as stated above.
Just ring or email some of these places and get some quotes for the various options and see what feels right for you.
 

AndrewJB

Friend to SEAT UK & Cupra Racing
Aug 16, 2007
11,211
484
Maranello
If you want custom tuning for the 1.9 PD lump, PDtuning.net ;)

Spent about 5 hours doing tuning on my daily 1.9 PD150, its a hell of a lot better than the previous "custom" tune from a man with a van that the previous owner had done.
 

mdaw1985

Active Member
Aug 3, 2008
227
27
St.Leonards, East Sussex
If you understand what you are doing then you probably would produce a better map. It's probably been 12-13 years since I had that tuned. When I say custom I mean custom on a rolling road.
 

chris_brown

Active Member
Sep 3, 2020
28
4
Thanks for all the help guys, much appreciated.

Any ideas on the new exhaust though (having a small box in the middle vs a small box at the back)?
Apparently having the box in the middle reduces the noise in the cabin?
 

AndrewJB

Friend to SEAT UK & Cupra Racing
Aug 16, 2007
11,211
484
Maranello
Just spoke to Racingline, for anybody that is interested in Racingline software that doesn't appear in their application list you need to speak to Racingline directly. Which will probably mean a trip down to not so sunny Milton Keynes.
 

mdaw1985

Active Member
Aug 3, 2008
227
27
St.Leonards, East Sussex
Just spoke to Racingline, for anybody that is interested in Racingline software that doesn't appear in their application list you need to speak to Racingline directly. Which will probably mean a trip down to not so sunny Milton Keynes.
Fair enough, just odd that they don't have a widely available map for that engine. I'd have thought it was fairly popular on the FR.
 

AndrewJB

Friend to SEAT UK & Cupra Racing
Aug 16, 2007
11,211
484
Maranello
Most people who want to tune cars will buy the Cupra these days, the FR is just a trim level.

Years ago MK1 and even MK2 Leon days FR was a decent engine as well.
 

mdaw1985

Active Member
Aug 3, 2008
227
27
St.Leonards, East Sussex
It is a trim level but also does have a slightly sportier edge to it than my xcellence tech. Slightly stiffer (possibly better suspension) and can be bought with the 2.0 tsi 190 which can't be to bad to tune.
 

chris_brown

Active Member
Sep 3, 2020
28
4
Most people who want to tune cars will buy the Cupra these days, the FR is just a trim level.

Years ago MK1 and even MK2 Leon days FR was a decent engine as well.

I agree in the fact that from the outside there is no difference between any of the basic levels to the FR, which actually really annoys me!
But, I do believe the engines are tuned slightly differently (e.g. l don't believe there's a 1.4 150bhp in any trim level below the FR).

I was looking at the Cupra, but price and economy were big factors as I live an hour away from where I work.
With the FR I haven't had less than 50mpg from the 28 mile trip (mixture of stop start country lanes, A roads, and motorway)
 

chris_brown

Active Member
Sep 3, 2020
28
4
I have now had the exhaust done by Naz at Powerflow in Slough, who's service and welding was great I'd like to add - see photos for difference
Screenshot_20200907-145710_WhatsApp.jpg
Screenshot_20200907-145646_WhatsApp.jpg
 

Sparkie

Angling Adict.
Sep 25, 2009
2,541
779
Middlesex
Do not use “the man in a van.” Waste of time, money and possibly car parts.
They talk the talk,
“You don’t need it on the rollers”.
Or,
“I use a pals rollers for some of my work etc etc”.
But be warned.
Without live data it’s just a file with preset figures.
On rollers with live data small adjustments can be made to air, fuel, timing etc.
Use a proper tuning firm with a reputation.
Best for your car by someone that has an interest that goes deeper than just their pockets.

Good work is rarely cheap and Cheap work is rarely good.

My 2 cents worth.


Badger5 Custom Map + TIP,
3”Custom exhaust, FMIC, Bosh 550’s, BC Coilovers, ARB’s +loads more.
 
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