Advice on remap

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Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
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Hoping to gain some advice. I have a megane r26 and I want to have it stage 1 remapped.

I have just been given a quote from Ray West tuning for £540 all in. I don't want to travel to rs tuning as I cannot see it is going to be worth the extra time effort and money. Does this sound reasonable to you and if anyone has remapped there r26 do you think it is worth the money and risk.

thebigmacmoomin

2,798 posts

169 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
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Have you tried the owners club, assuming there is one?

Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Tuesday 6th February 2018
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thebigmacmoomin said:
Have you tried the owners club, assuming there is one?
I have looked on most forums renault related and a lot seem to rate a stage 1 remap. I just wanted to find out the general consensus on here.

Alex_6n2

328 posts

199 months

Wednesday 7th February 2018
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RSTuning is £345 + VAT for a remap (if you don't have bigger injectors) and Paul was running an offer recently to discount the VAT portion. That's A LOT cheaper than what you've been offered and doesn't involve any more effort. Will you spend £200 on fuel getting to Leeds?

There's a reason almost everyone in the ownership community goes to Paul, he is the most knowledgeable guy in the business.

Also, can we do away with all this "Stage 1" and "Stage 2" rubbish? A re-map is a re-map.

If you take your car to RSTuning, they will map your car to get the best out of it with it's current modifications. Paul won't magically leave horse power on the table for a more expensive "stage 2" map. The only reason he would compromise is to allow for better driveability.

Edited by Alex_6n2 on Wednesday 7th February 10:25

Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Wednesday 7th February 2018
quotequote all
Alex_6n2 said:
RSTuning is £345 + VAT for a remap (if you don't have bigger injectors) and Paul was running an offer recently to discount the VAT portion. That's A LOT cheaper than what you've been offered and doesn't involve any more effort. Will you spend £200 on fuel getting to Leeds?

There's a reason almost everyone in the ownership community goes to Paul, he is the most knowledgeable guy in the business.

Also, can we do away with all this "Stage 1" and "Stage 2" rubbish? A re-map is a re-map.

If you take your car to RSTuning, they will map your car to get the best out of it with it's current modifications. Paul won't magically leave horse power on the table for a more expensive "stage 2" map. The only reason he would compromise is to allow for better driveability.

Edited by Alex_6n2 on Wednesday 7th February 10:25
I used the term stage 1 as that generally means you havent got all of the supporting mods for more power. Also yes it probably would cost me 200 quid to go to leeds as it is 3.5 hrs from me (210 miles) and he will need the car for a while so that will likely mean staying overnight. What are rs tuning going to do that ray west is not is what I'm trying to find out.

Alex_6n2

328 posts

199 months

Wednesday 7th February 2018
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Paul is using his 20+ years of knowledge to give you the best map that balances power with driveability and reliability.

When toying with things that could result in melted pistons, I'd take someone with his experience and track record over anyone else.

£200 on petrol to drive that far is a bit of a joke though isn't it?

He can load a new map in about 20 seconds so you'd be there for about an hour...

Alternatively, Engine Dynamics in Essex is the next most well reviewed tuner in the RS Megane community if you're adamant that Leeds is too far.

They're £300 including VAT!


Edited by Alex_6n2 on Wednesday 7th February 17:20

Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Wednesday 7th February 2018
quotequote all
Alex_6n2 said:
Paul is using his 20+ years of knowledge to give you the best map that balances power with driveability and reliability.

When toying with things that could result in melted pistons, I'd take someone with his experience and track record over anyone else.

£200 on petrol to drive that far is a bit of a joke though isn't it?

He can load a new map in about 20 seconds so you'd be there for about an hour...

Alternatively, Engine Dynamics in Essex is the next most well reviewed tuner in the RS Megane community if you're adamant that Leeds is too far.

They're £300 including VAT!


Edited by Alex_6n2 on Wednesday 7th February 17:20
I didn't say 200 on petrol probably 70 - 80 on petrol 20 for some nosh and 100 for a decent room. Ray has been tuning professionally for 35+ years so should be good. I am trying to talk to people who have had a r26 remapped or people who have dealt with Ray west. He is 15 miles from me so paying a bit more may well be worth it for convenience and incase I am not happy with something. So far you haven't given me any reoson not to use him besides cost which is a minimal difference taking everything into account.

clarki

1,313 posts

219 months

Wednesday 7th February 2018
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When I had my R26 I took it the RSTuning. Lived in London at the time so wasn't exactly round the corner. Made a weekend away of it tbh.

Car was miles better afterwards and performed perfectly for the following 2 years I had it. No issues, no need to revisit RST, just standard servicing after that. Was my daily at the time + probably did 5 or 6 track days a year in it. Great car the R26.

Alex_6n2

328 posts

199 months

Thursday 8th February 2018
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Berkshire bred said:
I didn't say 200 on petrol probably 70 - 80 on petrol 20 for some nosh and 100 for a decent room. Ray has been tuning professionally for 35+ years so should be good. I am trying to talk to people who have had a r26 remapped or people who have dealt with Ray west. He is 15 miles from me so paying a bit more may well be worth it for convenience and incase I am not happy with something. So far you haven't given me any reoson not to use him besides cost which is a minimal difference taking everything into account.
The engine dynamics cost difference is nearly half though isn't it? And it's only 2 hours away

I'm giving you the same advice owners of R26's and 250/265/275's have given me on the same topic.

If you don't think spending £240 less to take it to a company with a lot of R.S. Megane specific experience is a good enough reason, I'm not really sure you're interested in taking any advice.

Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Thursday 8th February 2018
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Are you deliberately not reading my posts. By the time I've gone to leeds and back it will have cost me more or less the same, been a lot less convenient and to what benefit.

Yet again you still have not given me one reoson not to use ray west. It would seem that you have been brainwashed that paul is the one and only and anyone else is useless. What am I getting from him that I am not from the other? Also since when am I going to cover 210 miles in 2 hours on public roads. If you don't have anything useful to add to this thread kindly ps off.

Alex_6n2

328 posts

199 months

Thursday 8th February 2018
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Are you deliberately not reading my post? biglaugh

I've told you to visit Engine Dynamics in Essex instead, not RSTuning in Leeds. I even put it in bold!

Engine Dynamics is closer than RSTuning and £240 cheaper than Ray West, with extensive R26/RenaultSport remapping experience. Not sure I can make it any clearer?

If you go to them you're getting a tuner with more experience of your specific car that has been vouched for extensively by the R.S Megane ownership community.

I think you're internet rage is preventing you from seeing what I've written.


Edited by Alex_6n2 on Thursday 8th February 16:22

Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Thursday 8th February 2018
quotequote all
Thanks muchly for the suggestion however Essex is still at least 2.5 hours from me and I don't really want to travel that far.
Seeing as you are clearly extremely knowledgeable on the subject is there anyone within say 50 miles of newbury that you would recommend?

KPB1973

918 posts

99 months

Friday 9th February 2018
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I had my 250 done by an RSTuning partner company called Pug1Off in Towcester. They're 37 miles from you according to Google.

They're experienced tuners but don't have a dyno. They downloaded the software direct from Leeds and applied it to the car. I wasnt around to see if it was customised/optimised for my Meg in any way but the results were eye-opening to say the least.

Service was good and you can wander up to the town high street whilst they do it.

This was 3 years ago now so I don't know if they're still linked with Paul. Might be worth giving them a call.

Alex_6n2

328 posts

199 months

Friday 9th February 2018
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Berkshire bred said:
Thanks muchly for the suggestion however Essex is still at least 2.5 hours from me and I don't really want to travel that far.
Seeing as you are clearly extremely knowledgeable on the subject is there anyone within say 50 miles of newbury that you would recommend?
As KPB says in the post above, another option is to go somewhere that a RenaultSport tuning specialist like RSTuning or Engine Dynamics partners with in your local area and have them apply the map. This is usually more expensive than going direct, but the Ray West price is pretty high so you might still get it cheaper.

An even more local option is to buy an "RS Tuner" box (not an ECU piggy back so you can get them second hand on eBay) and get a custom ECU map created for you by the bloke in Holland. His website is https://www.fastchip.nl/projects/rstuner

You tell him what modifications your car is running and send him some data, he will then make you a custom calibration file to download and apply to the car yourself on your driveway. There are some cheaper calibration files available if you have a standard car. If the map provided doesn't work perfectly, he will tweak it and send you an updated calibration file for free.

No driving required for the second option wink


Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Friday 9th February 2018
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I will have a look at some of the garages mentioned however I am not keen on having a map just put on the car with out it being checked. I am sure they are probably great but I like the idea of it going on a rolling road so they can see it in action and I actually get to see the improvevent.

KPB1973

918 posts

99 months

Monday 12th February 2018
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Did Ray West say where they'd get the R26 map from? Have they done many before? They don't list any Renaults on their site.

I assume you know when faced with a car from outside their core manufacturer list, most tuners will buy a generic map license from a third party?

As a reputable tuner, I'm sure they'll dyno/data log the car etc to ensure it's within safe limits (or tweak it accordingly) but what happens if your car starts throwing error codes? Will they have the Renault CLIP diagnostic system etc?

Not trying to scaremonger - just things I asked myself when I looked for a tuner for my 250.

Berkshire bred

Original Poster:

985 posts

75 months

Monday 12th February 2018
quotequote all
I am no no means knowledgeable on this subject so bow to those in the know. When I spoke to ray on the phone he said it is a bespoke map done on his dyno. From this I assume he Wrights the map there and then for that particular car. He said he will want the car for 4 or 5 hours. I am trusting some other people who have had there car worked on by him and that he has been going 35 ish years so he should be genuine if a little pricey.

loose cannon

6,030 posts

241 months

Wednesday 14th February 2018
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Surely ktec in bourmouth is the nearest ?

Claude455

169 posts

146 months

Friday 16th February 2018
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Have you considered Horsham Developments? They're just a few minutes from Newbury.

Personally I'd be making the trip to Leeds. If this Paul chap has mapped hundreds of F4RTs then his experience is going to be unparalleled and if there's anything amiss with your R26 that only a specialist with that knowledge might spot then that for me would be worth the cost, time and effort.

I know nothing about Ray West, maybe he's done a few thousand RenaultSport maps in his 35 year history. Maybe he hasn't.

Wherever you go I've no doubt the results will be well worth the outlay. Good luck and enjoy!

exgtt

2,067 posts

212 months

Wednesday 21st February 2018
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Berkshire bred said:
I am no no means knowledgeable on this subject so bow to those in the know. When I spoke to ray on the phone he said it is a bespoke map done on his dyno. From this I assume he Wrights the map there and then for that particular car. He said he will want the car for 4 or 5 hours. I am trusting some other people who have had there car worked on by him and that he has been going 35 ish years so he should be genuine if a little pricey.
If he's gonna have the car 4-5 hours and live map, the price you quoted ain't that expensive. I have no experience with that garage though, sorry.