New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Hi all,

I would appreciate some feedback from any of you who have had your cars remapped with EcuTek. How reliable have your car been post remap, how has it improved the driving experience? Would you reccomend it?

I'm very tempted to get mine done, as I've been told by numerous sources that the an MY99 can safely deliver more power than in std spec, especially if you perform a remap after modifying the very restrictive cat'd exhaust. I'd also very much like to map out that really irritating boost cut in second gear. Drive by noise regulations, Pah!!!

Heres my plan:

1) Get knocklink and a boost, oil temp and pressure guage. (any recommendations for the supply and fit of the latter (I prefer the ones mounted on the A pilar) Better safe than sorry
2) Go for a H&S Decat downpip to bring the turbo in earlier and liberate the 10 or so extra ponies and -at the same time- get the car remapped at Xtreme. Thinking of keeping the std centre pipe for emissions reasons.

I'm not looking for huge power gains. Just a useable increase in power and torque across the rev range to "put the icing on the cake", so to speak.

Can I do this without adversly affecting the cars reliability and longevity? Any advice/experiences/suggestions would be gratefully received.

Best wishes.

Trem

iTrader: (3)

Booked mine in at TSL today. Taking it on the 18th. So will let you know after that. What nice guys there as well, when the geezer answered(Graham) I thought I was speaking to Prince Charles. Didn't know such posh people worked at car places

Matt Classic

Had my 00MY done just over 12 months ago. I also put a de cat centre section but left the cat in the downpipe.
The improvement was far more torque (up from 220llb to somewhere nearer 260lbft off the top of my head and BHP went from 216 to 254)
Driveablitily vastly improved, never go near the redline now, always changing up around 6000rpm.
A bonus was the increase in noise from the exhaust but I also wanted to pass MOT easily, thus why I kept the downpipe.
I may be wrong. but you might well struggle to get it thru an MOT with just the centre section.

The best £650 I've spent on the car.

Brian the Sn@il

Where did you have the work Carried out Matt Classic ?

EddScott

Had mine done in February as part of a group buy.

Driveability was much improved and as mentioned the most noticeable increase was the torque. I too have a full de-cat and I have a K&N Panel.

What I would suggest is that you make sure its TEK3 not TEK2. Mine is TEK2 and as far as I'm aware once more mods are added like bigger turbo, STI I/C I've got to shell out more money on TEK3 as the TEK2 can't be remapped to take the mods.

I'm not 100% sure on the above statement but I'm pretty sure TEK3 is the one to have if you want future mods. Don't do what I did and assume they are all the same.

Soapy Sam

Hi

I had my MY99 Ecutek'd about 18 months ago and have done nearly 30k since with no reliability issues at all.

I went for the full decat and it certainly makes a lovely noise, although I do tire of it at 3500 on the motorway, so I might get a resonated centre...

It's a superb mod and doesn't make your engine melt, despite what main dealers may tell you. That's another thing, you don't have to deal with main dealers any more. Knowlesy at Xtreme is a pleasure to do business with, and if you go for Ecutek, it will be mapped by Pat Herborn, one of the best. You get a chunk more power and torque, and far from being dangerous for the engine, Pat will tweak it to improve any anomalies in the standard map. Unfortunately, I don't think you can map out the 2nd gear half boost emissions crap, Ecutek hadn't got round to cracking that part of the map when I had it done. Maybe they have now.

Go 4 it.........

Matt Classic

Done at your old pals Brian.......Clive Attowes, top job.

i8gtmf

Had my MY00 done last year along with a full decat and induction kit gave me 285 bhp and 276 lbs/ft. The first map developed some sort of flaw which meant it went back to be mapped again been ok ever since.
The only downside is the fuel consumption but i don't watch the fuel gauge anyway, so in my opinion get it done

Brun

My fuel consumption went up

Mark_S

Bob Rawle ECUTEK'd my MY00 last year, totally transformed the car. Dont forget to tell your insurance company about all your modifications though.

DEEDEE

I think I am right in saying that if you have it Ecutek'd they only alter a small percentage, and this does not show up if put on Subarus equipment. Performance Car Magazine

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

DeeDee: That very much depends upon what company you're with. Apparently the EcuTek does not show up on diagnostic equipment, but I'd still tell the insurance company!

Best.

Mark_S

DeeDee,

The re-map cost me nothing extra on my LV insurance.

You dont know what the insurers engineers will look for following a major incident, just disclose everthing, why risk being un-insured?

Dark Blue Mark

Its one mod I wouldn't bother telling them about it if you suspect they would sting you for it. Once you mention it, they will add it to your notes regardless and may look into it in the event of a crash type claim.

Note - chipping is very different from remapping, in which case I would tell them as its a physical change.

I cant imagine them taking your engine out after a write off claim, and sticking it on a bench dyno to prove it had been remapped If they also know its possible on these cars, which I doubt.

MB

Mark_S

Car doesnt have to be dyno'd to tell that the maps have been altered. Scoobys are well known for being modified so I would expect an insurance assessor to get an engineers report on a major claim. Has anyone reading this thread been charged more for disclosing a re-map?, just interested.

Dark Blue Mark

You would have to be one of the few people in the country with the ECUtek software to tell if the ECU had been fiddled. Select monitor won't show it.

Doubt you'd get many tuning companies accepting mr insurer asking if they could "have a look at this ECU for me?"

Im sure the loss investigator would physically look at the ecu for anything obvious and that would be that.

MB

Merv

iTrader: (12)

I had a Tek2 remapped by Power Engineering after replacing turbo,intercooler and fuel pump.They had my car for a day and a half,gave me a free car to go home with and charged me two hours labour for the remap (£180 + VAT). 299bhp well pleased.

Mark_S

Mark, I'm sure you're right in 99% of cases, but I think they might *look* further if their liability in a claim was substantial. Personally I wouldnt risk it.

Anybody?

Jake

I thought PE didnt do custom mapping of Subarus?

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Hiya, with the greatest of respect to contributors , I think we may be getting a little off topic! Insurance issues aside, I'd be interested in hearing peoples experience of a EcuTek remap in terms of the drivability and reliability of the car. Many thanks to those of you that have given me the benefit of your wisdom already

The insurance issue can be 'nipped in the bud simply': you are obliged to tell your insurers about ANY modification you make to your car. If you don't and get caught out, they are perfectly within their rights to cancel your policy and refuse to pay out. Up to you whether you risk it or not based on your assessment of how likely an assesor would be to spot the mod. Don't know about you, but I wouldn't risk it!

Anyway, who else has had a EcuTek remap that would be willing to share their experiences with me?

Best wishes,

Ederboy

They have done mine as well

Danny B

Got my remap done on the Wednesday afternoon, by Thursday morning the turbo blew, friday afternoon the engine went bang, and Saturday night the wheels fell off.

Get it done

New_scooby_04

iTrader: (4)

Danny, but your radio was still working, right?

If so, I'm sold

Best

RB5_IOM

Well worth doing. Make sure it is the TEK 3 as the TEK 2 is an of the shelf map. I created a group buy earlier this year with Bob Rawle. Well worth the pennies!

trails

iTrader: (41)

I've a MY00 will full decat and Green filter, I'm waiting for the results of an insurance claim before getting the re-map (which will be at xs), so am also interested in peps results...I was always under the impression that a re-map slightly increased fuel economy?

Soapy Sam

Last 2p worth on the insurance issue - Yes you should tell your insurer, but the best solution is Liverpool Victoria, they are only interested in larger engines and ANY other mods don't concern them. My insurance went down from over 800 to 540 when I had the Ecutek done and switched to them.

As regards reliabilty, absolutely no problems in nearly 30k miles - do it....

cw42

iTrader: (1)

Had my MY99 UK TURBO done by BRD DEVELOPEMENTS in Swindon on the 10th july '04. Cost was £550 with a group buy. Once bob plugged the laptop into my ecu, set his afr and boost gauge on the dash, plugged in his "heath robinson" det listening kit, we were ready to go
A quick blast up the local race track saw bob stopping me almost immediatly, not enough throttle. Quick stop to check, and my mat was stopping the throttle hitting its stop!
Off again, after fixing that, and now not getting full boost, only up to 0.9 bar
Back to bobs for a look, and turns out I had a drilled out turbo restrictor pipe, over 2mm wide. Meant bugger all to me, but bob assured me it was too wide. Popped in an old sti 0.9mm restrictor, and off again.
Back on the private test track, bob says "floor it in 4th"


Woooooooooooooooooooaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaaa aaaaaaaaaaah!


Thats better! Full 1.3 bar boost, first time ever since I'd had the car
Finally, bob starts actually mapping the car. 4th run, more power, 5th run, more power, 6th run, about the same, but smoother.
Left bobs well chuffed. Drove back home on the Sunday morning, straight up the m6, into Prosport in stockport, on the rollers without stopping
Before: 255bhp/259lbft torque
after: 275bhp/330lbft torque
Best £550 I will ever spend on the car.
Best thing of all though, is how low the torque kicks in. 330lbft, which is more than all standard porches (bar the turbo), kicks in at only 3500 rpm, then tapers down at around 6500rpm. bhp kicks in at 4500rpm, and tapers down the same. bobs made it so full power is right smack bang in the middle of the rev range, and safely coming down before the rev limit.
Rather than list my fairly limited mods, have a look here as she's for sale.

chris.

chrome

aye cw42's car is rapid and then some.. that torque is worth the remap alone

virgin

i need to call up TSL friday afternoon to cancel my re-mapp with them for the 12th , so if you want a earlier slot you can jump in, r u interested ?

Dark Blue Mark

Mark S, agree on your point.

MB