just read a thread and clicked onto a link which showed a buisness offering flash maps at a far reduced price than a bespoke map.i watched videos of cars after mapping and includung launch control.looked good and affordable.anybody have thoughts on wether these flash maps are pukka.comments appreciated.

 

Search the board for the term "Open Source" and you'll find out a lot more.

Suffice to say that the companies offering "generic" maps done with non-EcuTeK tool can afford to do it at a much reduced price firstly because the licensing fee that would otherwise go to EcuTeK isn't paid. Secondly a "generic" map is exactly that - not specific to your car.

This obviously saves the installer a hell of a lot of time (down from a number of hours to a couple of minutes). While some of these generic maps will no doubt be tidy, by nature they're a one size fits all option and thus must either be inherently conservative or there's a risk of them grenading engines.

There are also folk on the open source forums swapping different sets and chunks of ECU code around without having much of a clue what they're doing, and more than a few people charging to flash code of unknown provenance onto other people's ECUs.

Also, you don't learn a lot watching videos of cars that have been mapped. You can't tell how much power they're producing, what the throttle response is like, and you don't know whether they're detting themselves to pieces. You also obviously can't compare the results with what the same car might be capable of with a bespoke map. Similarly, the feature that many of these are selling as "launch control" isn't. It's just a selective rev limit, you don't get any positive boost pressure, which is what proper LC does.

There are some good mappers out there, and a bespoke map done by someone who knows what they're doing with open source tools should theoretically give exactly the same results as a TeK one done by the same person. However, the availability of open source tools has introduced a lot more variability into the market, and given a lot of not very clued up people the excuse to refer to themselves as "mappers". Proceed with caution.

 

The XPT maps have a very good reputation, don't know if they are the maps you've seen. As has been said they are very conservative, tend to run rich, so you won't get the full benefit of a custom map. Good option on a budget though.

On the Launch Control, yes it does use the factory fuel cut limiter code, but it has been seen to create positive boost at stand still, not as effective as ignition cut, but still a nice 'feature'. I'd be very surprised if the promised ECUTek improvements don't include the same code for the LC.

 

thanks guys.im thinking of getting an up and downpipe next year after the wedding!!and so would like to re-map at the same time.im not that clued up on motor electronics but what youve said does make sense.what exactly is ecutek?and do i simply drive to an reputable mapper and get them to plug in to my existing ecu.do i need any extra hardware?i have viewed jolly greens site and he seems the man!thankx for the replies.