Should I chip my BUL?

[Smidger]

I've got the special ed 2.0T and I'm wondering weather to remap. It's got the stock 220bhp and there's a good garage by me with a guy who will stick a REVO chip on it for £400. The car is in excellent condition with it just touching 50k miles and I don't want to hurt it by tunning everything up for the sake of 40(ish)bhp. Don't get me wrong I'm a petrol head and I want my car to be 4millionbhp but being realistic I'm not a rich man at all and don't like the idea of a remap putting any strain on my parts and ultimately costing me a fortune on a thrashed motor that is already quite quick without being tampered with. Worth it?

 

[Charlie Farley]

you have the same 220 BUL power house as myself chap , and like yourself I was toying with the same idea and have been for a while , well since the audi warranty expired last june.
My avant has done 48k miles and to be honest has had a fair few issues including engine based ones , but touch wood has been behaving itself for sometime now....
It goes like a bat out of hell all the time and has become a very intoxicating car to drive , and I cant help thinking why bother with mapping it as it goes really well as it is, audi still maintain its never been mapped or messed about with but the previous owner (only 1 that's is) had left receipts in the service book that would suggest otherwise, so I don't know if it has or not, but I love it as it is now and have adapted my driving style to suit the power and power delivery characteristics so I get the most enjoyment from it.

I tend to believe that if you learn how your engine and car perform and adapt to that then you can get the best return from it....

I cant help thinking that sometimes sqeezing a more power from an engine can put just that little extra strain on a component or components and it turns pete tong from there, a few bhp fine but 30-40 upwards is still a fair few ponnies to add, sometimes I do think that modded engines can or tend to suffer from failures more than others and at higher milages, who knows to honest but i'm happy with mine as it is , i'm not 100% convinced it has been mapped really either unless I was to get conclusive info to say otherwise , so i'll er on the side of caution and say its just a good factory standard 220BUL and leave it alone.

this may not really answer your question but may help you make an informed discision .
if it anit broke and runs well, why change anything.

 

[Gazwould]

Lol , chipping and remapping is a refinement because manufacturers only go so far with their mapping even the idle will be smoother .

Like oem suspension , Eibach and Bilstein will perfect it by developing and testing more .

 

[Charlie Farley]

ah yes that maybe so , but is it really worth the cost for just a small gain that may not really be the significant unless you are wishing to go fo a larger increase in performance in which case you would then need to make other mods to handle the increased output.
the cost of remaps is quite costly if you are only going to gain small improvements, if they were stepped fees for levels of tune then maybe that would be a better plan for us mere mortals.
I have nothing against it , just not convinced it offers a really good value for money based on the lower end of the performance scale.

 

[Gazwould]

Love these misconceptions .

The torque from remapping makes the car easier to drive as does lowered springs and better brakes , less input to pedals and steering wheel .

 

[sline29]

Mines revo stage1
Well worth it in my opinion
Totally transforms the car,loads more torque,better drivability
Just make sure your car is in tip top condition ie parts that would be affected,sparks,coils,diverter valve etc

 

[Charlie Farley]

Love these misconceptions .

The torque from remapping makes the car easier to drive as does lowered springs and better brakes , less input to pedals and steering wheel .

I woud'nt say that misconceptions gaz, I know all about remapps as I am allways fuffing around with my race bike ecu chips using different maps to get the best possible power and torque from it , and yes I agree with your comments on a remaps effect on a car but i'm not really convinced on the gains one will get per specific model in a , lets say , standard road trim .

for example the standard 2.0tfsi Quattro uses a different map to the 220 BUL engine to start with so by remapping the the 200bhp engine in standard form it will be a more noticible improvement than by mapping the 220 where there will still be a gain aswell but not as noticeable, also the 200bhp flavour has been said to be a much better car after a remap anyway, more like the bul afterwards but with a bet extra added on.

I'm not suggesting remaps are not worth doing chap, but different cars with different engine respond to different maps, i'm just discussing the 220 BUL engine in std unmodified form.
I have driven both te 200 and the 220 in both guises mapped and standard (but not tuned otherwise) and yes the 200 is a much better car but the 220 which i have the gains did not really meet the expectations whereas the 200 was worth doing.

if I change just the ecu chip in my race bike the difference and is there and dependant on where I am riding, if I change the chip the cams and the mid section of the exhaust the change is massive but not really as usable as the lower tune.

probably just me then being old and used to driving in an old school way, buy the seat of my pants...

 

[Tooty_Fruity]

Simple stage 1 will transform the car and not stress it. The BUL engine has strengthened internal components.
Many 2.0TFSI's have a stage 1 remap and is a popular mod.
But.. make sure that car is well maintained and good condition before the remap.

 

[Marc B7]

Had my car (BUL) mapped with 37k on the clock. I went with APR with EMCS so I have can switch maps for different fuels, valet mode, ecu immobiliser, and can go back to stock map.

Great mod, really perked the engine up.

 

[Charlie Farley]

To be honest if I was going to get a remap this would be the way forward, sounds like a very versatile ecu mapping solution, can you expand more on it Marc ,i'm interested.

 

[Smidger]

Very interesting lads thanks for the feed back. I had the same thoughts as our mate 'Quattro GmbH' to be honest, £400+ for 30-40 bhp? Hmmmmm. Maybe? Thanks for the feed back also on making sure the car is sweet before any thoughts of a cheeky re-map. I've read loads of cases of a dodgey diverter and am not sure if I'd notice it playing up, this is my 1st turbo engine so it's all kinda new. My car is in great condition,I've had the cam belt and tensioner, pump etc etc. Now every time I come of the throttle I can hear a faint 'pffffff' coming from the engine ( internally, can't hear anything with the window down) is this a worry or just the norm?

 

[Marc B7]

To be honest if I was going to get a remap this would be the way forward, sounds like a very versatile ecu mapping solution, can you expand more on it Marc ,i'm interested.

http://www.goapr.co.uk/support/dpp_emcs_instructions.pdf

 

[BennyG_UK]

Im currently running stage 2 map on my BUL and it goes like stink.

I ran standard map for a short while and then stage 1 and you can 100% feel the difference. Even between stock and stage 1.

 

[sline29]

Hi mate
What's needed for stage 2?is it downpipe?

 

[BennyG_UK]

full exhaust inc downpipe, air filter and intercooler. Ive not done intercooler just yet but it doesn't make that much of a difference. Its cold enough over here at the moment. main difference will be when I change hpfp.

 

[sline29]

Which air filter you gone for?

 

[BennyG_UK]

Just a panel filter for now. Looking to make my own cone filter at some point

 

[sline29]

Been looking into panel filters myself and I fancy a AFE drop in filter