Remapped Fuel Economy

[LexSport]

Hi all.

I'm hoping that the answer to my first post isn't going to be buried in a FAQ that I've missed somewhere!

I've done a search through the forums, but can't find any objective facts to answer the question. Which is...

What is the effect of a re-mapped ECU on fuel economy?

I'm thinking about getting a vRS and like the idea of 210ish for a bit of fun, but as I'm going to be doing somewhere near 30,000 miles a year in it, I have to think sensibly about these things. Unfortunately.

Related to this, I'd be interested to know about the relative effects on fuel consumption of the individually remapped cars (ala Jabba, etc) or just a generic map downloaded to the chip.

One thing I do like the sound of is a switchable system, so that I can leave the car in standard 180bhp, 35mpg mode for the motorway trips and then switch to 210 ish and potentially lower (I guess) mpg for the twisty bits.

Either way, the increase from my 153bhp Lexus IS200 will be very pleasant I'm sure. Just a shame that I'll be losing the rwd setup.

Darran.

[Huck]

darran,

remember you only use more fuel if you actually use the power available. i found little difference, if at all, on my motorway journeys ( once i had become used to the extra power and stopped using it at every available opportunity! ).

i had the APR switchable chip and only ever put it back to standard for dealer visits.

honestly, unless you drive like a nutter everywhere, you will hardly notice the difference, IMO.

others may disagree though, i'm not sure.

[LexSport]

Cheers Huck,

My thinking was that as the torque curve is up all the way through the rev range, that at any given speed, and hence rpm, the fuel used would be higher.

The only way I can see it not having too much of an effect is if the new map is more efficient than the factory map, hence combining extra power with more efficiency could end up at about the same fuel consumption.

It'd be interesting if someone were to do a comparison of the different methods. Say, take one car, do a bit of mileage in it to test the economy, get it on the rolling road to measure torque and power, then get it chipped by each of the companies and retest.

I wonder if I could convince one of the magazines to pay for me to do the testing.

Darran.

[Quinten]

Speak to Jon (TaviaRS) Darran, he does about 90K a year in his remapped 1.6...

Q.

[SkodiRS]

My general understanding is that because after a remap the RS is much more driveable you don't need to stand on the gas as much to achieve the same outcome.

So, generally speaking, there shouldn't be an increase in consumption and probably a reduction.

Obvioulsy though the more you use the right pedal the more petrol you use.

Quite a few Briskodian have already had a remap and are reporting mpg improvements. Getting mine remapped in a couple fo weeks so I'll let you know.

Cheers.
Adrian.

[Fabpreza]

LexSport

I've driven 5000m since a Jabba 220 remap and always log / work out the MPG for myself.
The effects (once the novelty value wore off) have been very minor on mpg. Insignificant unless you drive it harder all the time as there's more torque in the mid-range.

Another example was my Impreza Turbo where it used less fuel (2.5mpg less) than before it had an ECUtek Tek2 because it didn't need to be revved as hard, and better on a run.

Don't worry about it.

[DGW]

LexSport

I would think the increased insurance premium will be of far more significance than any difference in fuel consumption.

[LexSport]

Could possibly be Denis.

But as it's going to be a cumulative effect, I'd still like to keep at least one of them manageable!

By my rough and ready reckoning, if my insurance premium goes up by about £300 on 30,000 miles pa, then that's about 1p per mile more to run.

If the fuel consumption were to increase by approx 5mpg then the cost per mile of fuel would increase by about 2p at today's fuel prices.

Darran

[DGW]

Darran

Slightly different for me doing 5000 miles a year! Your figures look OK for insurance when converted to pence/mile. Mine would be horrendous.

[redbaron]

i would be supprised if a chip made that much diff to your insurance... unless you pay 2-3k already...

[ncarring]

Darran,

No noticeable difference on mine - in fact I'm getting higher economy at the moment - something which happened after the 40k service. Only thing I can put it down to is new plugs. Between the remap and then - no difference. Obviously for the first few days I was haring around like a man possessed enjoying the fun, but since I settled down I can honestly say there's no difference in economy.

[Dutch4x4]

Standard replacement programme here - and only minor effects on fuel consumption, with 29 mpg.

I know, doesn't look spectacular but then the Oettinger chip was in from the start and it's only just run in, with just 5000kms on the clock now. I expect it to rise over 30 mpg after 10,000kms.