What components to check before getting car remapped?

qwerty321

Distinguished Member
Joined
Mar 20, 2009
Messages
8,046
Reaction score
1,496
Points
1,410
I'm considering getting my car remapped when I have saved up enough for it in a few months. However, I want to make sure that everything else is upto scratch before getting it done.

What bits of the car would I need to make sure sure they are in good condition before going ahead with it? Also are there any major risks of things failing?

Car is a 2003 Laguna 2.2 dCi, 150 BHP and a remap should take it to around 180-185. Has a full service history, had a major service done on it in March when it was on 68k, is on 74k now. Has had no major issues with it apart from a cracked inlet manifold which I had replaced last year.

Company at the top of my list at the moment is one called Chipped UK in Bromsgrove. Somewhat local and come recommended by a friend who has used them twice in the past. Open to other recommendations for companies in the West Midlands.

Thanks
 
Make sure your insurance company know. :thumbsup:
 
Ayub said:
Make sure your insurance company know. :thumbsup:

Yep, that will be done in due course.
 
A remap will put extra strain on you clutch,gearbox and flywheel (if it's a Duel mass thing), so make sure they are OK.

The other tip is when you are accelerating, make sure you are not in too higher a gear. If you do it puts extra strain on things. However I've read that ChippedUK have very smooth maps which shoud be clutch friendly. I am very tempted to get a map from their sister firm Viezu. I would probably buy the swichable map box.

The other thing is with this extra power is Brakes - make sure they are good working order. Remember 'Speed is desirable, Stopping is essential'. :lesson:
 
DVD-Man said:
Qwerty, are you getting standard or close to standard mpg now?

Liam

Managed 44MPG from my last tankful which is about normal considering I was pretty heavy footed and spent quite a bit of time in M6 traffic.

The official Renault figure is around 53MPG. Going to a bit more sensible for this next tankful and see how close to that fabled figure I can get.

Jay J said:
The other thing is with this extra power is Brakes - make sure they are good working order. Remember 'Speed is desirable, Stopping is essential'. :lesson:

Indeed, had some pretty hair raising moments in my last car with it's brakes made from cheese!
 
A remap will put extra strain on you clutch,gearbox and flywheel (if it's a Duel mass thing), so make sure they are OK.

How does one do that then?
Not being cheeky, serious question.
Surely you just have to 'assume' they're ok, if they're already working ok?:confused:
Who's going to spend money getting their clutch/gearbox stripped and examined before going for a remap?

Same with brakes.
If they already work fine, no worries.
Just because you're increasing engine power, doesn't mean the brakes are under any more load.
Alpina don't upgrade standard 320D brakes when making the D3.
They argue the weight of the car is the same, so no need.
 
Last edited:
How does one do that then?
Not being cheeky, serious question.
Surely you just have to 'assume' they're ok, if they're already working ok?:confused:
Who's going to spend money getting their clutch/gearbox stripped and examined before going for a remap?
I think the most pragmatic thing to do would be to do some research on car forums and see if there are any common problems or known limits. Certainly not foolproof, but should give you a reasonable idea if you are pushing it too far.
 
The most important ones have already been mentioned such as clutch and brakes.

The other important one is regular prior maintenance,and then more of the same after,as what you're doing with a remap is utilising the safety margins most manufacturers build into the car.
 
Alpina don't upgrade standard 320D brakes when making the D3.
They argue the weight of the car is the same, so no need.

But presumably BMW do - I mean, does an M3 have the same brakes as a basic 3-series?

Although surely the quality of brakes you need is a function how fast you are travelling when you need to stop, rather than how quickly you accelerated to that speed...
 
Although surely the quality of brakes you need is a function how fast you are travelling when you need to stop, rather than how quickly you accelerated to that speed...

Precisely.
Remapping your car won't make it any heavier.
It won't make it any faster (top speed).
It'll just make it accelerate to a given speed quicker.
But once you reach that speed, it'll stop the same as it did before.

BMW change the brakes for the M3 because it does 155mph+, which is substantially more than your average 3-series.
 
Have to agree with FZR for the 30bhp increase you won't need to change anything
 
Precisely.
Remapping your car won't make it any heavier.
It won't make it any faster (top speed).
It'll just make it accelerate to a given speed quicker.
But once you reach that speed, it'll stop the same as it did before.

exactly.

Although I always upgrade brakes on cars, as it's beneficial.

You always tend to get people wanting to increase performance either top end or acceleration. They tend to forget about brakes, or it just isn't something they even think about.

Obviously the brakes will be fine, but I'd always want to stop as quickly as possible anyway.

And when it comes to hadnling you get some people again that just want it as low as possible, often they forget that slammed to the floor doesn't equal better handling, and can often ruin the handling etc.

For me personally I'd always get the best brakes I can afford on the car whether increasing performance or not, then upgrading suspension, getting some decent tryes etc.

To the op are you stopping at just a remap or are you looking at investing more money into your car.

A remap will increase wear on your components, and I think you might as go all the way and treat your car to a few more goodies, although I warn you once you get started it's very hard to stop.

I can always think of something to spend money on, and if it's not a major new part, it's a service (I tend to get cars serviced every 4000 miles - not always a full service obviously :laugh:)
 
Just going for the remap for now. It's only a Laguna so don't want to spend too much on it!

The standard brakes are pretty decent on it although I am considering getting some better than standard ones when they need changing.
 
The standard brakes are pretty decent on it although I am considering getting some better than standard ones when they need changing.

I wouldn't bother, if you feel the standard ones are fine.
At most, maybe different pads.
But pads can be a compromise too.
A compound that resists fade from high speed can feel awful at low speed etc.
Original equipment pads are usually the best all-round compromise.
Maybe just give them a good service, make sure all the pistons are working freely etc.
 
I'm the other way around, sensible brake and suspension upgrade means brake later and corner faster, faster travelling without the BHP increase but a remap is easier to 'fit' and can be considered 'invisible'.

Liam
 
Better brakes won't make you stop any shorter on the road (certainly the case in a Laguna), as that's ultimately down to your tyres. They will enable you to reduce or remove brake fade, which is hardly going to be the case in a 180bhp Laguna diesel.

The more powerful stock models have the same brakes as the 2.2 DCi (2.0 Turbo and 3.0 V6) so there's no need whatsoever to make any changes in this case.

Changing the suspension seems a bit daft as well, as this is a family car/repmobile we're talking about.
 
I'm the other way around, sensible brake and suspension upgrade means brake later and corner faster, faster travelling without the BHP increase but a remap is easier to 'fit' and can be considered 'invisible'.Liam

Those changes are only going to be noticed by a very hard driver.
And even then, you're talking miniscule differences.
Being able to brake 10 yards later and corner 0.25 seconds quicker isn't going to matter to your average Joe.
Whereas a remap gives instant results for little outlay.
They probably won't end up cornering/braking any harder because of the remap anyway.
 
I'd love to see the real-world differences this remap makes to performance.

Perhaps the OP can do some stopwatch runs of various accelerations. 30-50 or 50-70 in a high gear, a 10 - 60 through the gears. I bet the differences in time will be pretty small, and in terms of distances, very small.

The best benefit will probably be fuel consumption.
 
If you want "better" brakes, check Renault forums to see what other brake brands are like in comparison to the OEM parts.

For example, Ford OEM parts are very good, but I think their discs and pads are over-priced. Instead, I use genuine Mintex brake box kits, for about a third of the price. Okay, the Ford might last a few miles longer, but not long enough to warrant 3x the cost.

Less so again, when the Mintex kits feel a bit sharper than new Ford parts.

Worth considering different brands, but don't be fooled as many are, into buying drilled/grooved discs, unless you intend to keep them VERY hot (else they won't perform any better than standard vented discs).

If you want a suspension upgrade, Renault may well be able to offer you stiffer springs themselves. Ford offer an Eibach upgrade kit for the Focus as another example. All four springs are 'only' £120 direct from Ford, which I believe is meant to be quite competitive.
 
I'd love to see the real-world differences this remap makes to performance.
Perhaps the OP can do some stopwatch runs of various accelerations. 30-50 or 50-70 in a high gear, a 10 - 60 through the gears. I bet the differences in time will be pretty small, and in terms of distances, very small.

There will be a torque increase as well, remember.
Should make a noticeable difference.
 
There will be a torque increase as well, remember.
Should make a noticeable difference.

Er, that's why I included the "high gear" times. I expect the difference will be pretty small either way. (Even though it's all down to power throughout the rpm range as I've tried to explain many times before, but let's not go there again ;) ).

Messing about with pads and springs on a 2003 Laguna diesel is madness, unless money is being saved by buying non-Renault pads.
 
Last edited:
Er, that's why I included the "high gear" times. I expect the difference will be pretty small either way. (Even though it's all down to power throughout the rpm range as I've tried to explain many times before, but let's not go there again ;) ).

Whether it's a meaningful gain is down the individual.
You might not count 2 seconds off you're 5th gear 50-70mph as worth bothering with, the next man will.
My mate chipped his normally aspirated 1.8 Alfa Romeo.
There must have been only a couple of bhp increase, max.
The improvement in throttle response made it a much more enjoyable drive though.
So he classed it as money well spent.:thumbsup:

Just saying, it's not all about the numbers.
 
Messing about with pads and springs on a 2003 Laguna diesel is madness, unless money is being saved by buying non-Renault pads.

I'll bite :)

Why is it madness?

You wouldn't replace just the pads, of course. You'd replace discs and pads together. Same sizes, not larger, but improved quality. Cheap. And quite possibly needed regardless, if the owner has been fortunate enough to not need to replace the parts yet.

OEM Renault parts are probably like Ford's - great quality for what they are, but over-priced. Mintex/Ferodo etc are usually a fair old bit cheaper and better performing, without the need to "upgrade" calipers and the like.

As for springs, well, I can't see installation of manufacturer approved springs as madness really, no matter what age the car. Sure, it might not be to everyone's taste in firmness or ride quality, but surely there cannot be any detriment to replacing springs on a car? Less so when approved and supplied by the manufacturer.

Otherwise, couldn't you argue that attempting to re-map the Renault Laguna diesel 2003 is also madness? After all - it's only seeking to improve slightly on what's already there.
 
Whether it's a meaningful gain is down the individual.
You might not count 2 seconds off you're 5th gear 50-70mph as worth bothering with, the next man will.
My mate chipped his normally aspirated 1.8 Alfa Romeo.
There must have been only a couple of bhp increase, max.
The improvement in throttle response made it a much more enjoyable drive though.
So he classed it as money well spent.:thumbsup:

Just saying, it's not all about the numbers.

I just don't think it'll be as much as 2 seconds off a 50-70mph time. My (in)famous BMW comparison table of 50-75mph in 4th times reveals a lot on this. 320d is 6.6secs and a 330d is 4.9 secs - that's a 1.7second difference for a power increase of 31%, and a torque increase of 42%. The 20% increase being mooted will produce far less than that. i.e not very much.

I agree that a remap on the Laguna may make it a more enjoyable drive, but a significant difference in performance, not likely, although it's down to what one defines as significant of course.
 

The latest video from AVForums

TV Buying Guide - Which TV Is Best For You?
Subscribe to our YouTube channel
Back
Top Bottom