Will a remap shorten the life of my car?
 

Being a driver and not a mechanic I confess my ignorance here :-)

I have a downpipe decat and I'm thinking about the centre section decat plus maybe a remap. Because I drive so much I need to be sure that I don't shorten the life of my car and worry that getting a stack more power out of the engine will reduce its life as nothing is for free?

Anyone got any real practical experience on this? BTW, it's a MY02 WRX.

Thanks!

:-)

Mike

A remap at this stage will probably be better than leaving it OE. As long as you don''t go mad then I'd say it would be for the better depending on which mapper you choose.

If reliability is your priority then why not go PPP for peace of mind and warranty (take the decat off first though ;) )

F

Down to you & the mapper; if you are after serious BHP & want power figures then potentially yes iit will shorten considerably.

IF you want more power (than standard) & safely then this can easily be achieved; though many people have a "figure" in mind & often don't take heed of the advice given....

Wow! Thanks for such a fast response!

The warranty isn't an issue, at 18 months old it's 500 miles short of 60,000 :-) I'm looking for a bit more power, nothing too massive. As a rule of thumb where is safe to go power wise?

Any suggestions for the best places to go? I'd rather pay a few quid more for an experienced expert! What kind of money should I expect to pay?

Many thanks for the help!

:-)

Mike

Go for 265 BHP, just like the PPP if you want sensible, reliable power. Put a wanted ad for a mapper and see what happens.

F

....mate, I was in a similar situation to you, have an MY02 WRX which I wanted to up the power on, but was concerned about unduly threatening the lifespan of the engine. In the end I went for this performance setup, which I think it a nice safe balance between extra power and extra worry:

- Knocklink (important!)
- TSL Sportscat downpipe (Thundercat I think they call it)
- TSL decat centre and GrpN backbox
- Scoobysport decat Uppipe
- Green Cotton Panel filter
- STI8 Intercooler/STI7 larger intake scoop
- TEK3 remap, done at Scoobysport, by Pat I believe

This gives me a reliable 1.25 bar, a very noticeable driveability increase in all gears, and (I think!), about 270 bhp, but I've not had it dyno'd yet.

Clearly if you are looking for a mapper there are now a number to choose from, however from what I've read on here the names which seem to crop up most often are Pat (think he works for Xtreme now but not sure), Bob Rawle, John Banks, and Richard Bulmer who's now at TSL.

Maybe some of the other guys on here can suggest more names too.

hope this helps ;)

Dave

PS don't forget to consider your brakes if you're upping the power significantly

Hey Dave

How much was that setup, and did you upgrade your WRX brakes ?

A bit more info regarding mappers above. AFAIK Pat is freelance and maps for a number of companies and I believe can be contacted direct (details anyone?). John Banks has retired from the mapping business.

Some great info here, thanks! I was thinking about the brakes too.

I'm visiting Powerstation very soon and may pop in to Scoobysport soon for a chat too.

:-)

Mike

Streetbeats,

yes I did upgrade the brakes, although nothing silly - you really don't need 6-pots, for instance, unless you're a trackday demon.

I went for GrpN grooved front discs, front Ferodo DS2500 pads (excellent!), plus Goodridge braided hoses all round. Kept the standard calipers, which seem more than up to the job. Hope this helps. I'm guessing all in just over £300 ....