Will I notice a +29 bhp remap and is it worth it on old car?

[HumanDoing]

Hi everybody,

I have an 11 year old Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi that's done about 115,000 miles. Looking online at remapping, it would appear I could get it relatively cheaply via a remap from 113 bhp to 142 bhp and from 184 lb/ft torque to 240 lb.

As I'm not at all experienced in this, can anyone answer:

1. Would these increases in bhp and torque be 'felt' while driving to the point that it's worth the £200 - 400 it'd cost to do this?

2. Is it likely to cause problems with my ageing (but in my opinion still in very good condition) car that has always been well looked after and never had any major complications? I.e. is a remap likely to push a car that hopefully still has at least a couple of years left in it over the edge? I'm not expecting this car to go on another 10 years but a couple more years would be great and if the remap is highly likely to diddle all over this plan then I'd probably not do it.

3. Is it worth going personally to one of the more expensive places that have a rolling road or is it enough to get someone to my own house to do it all here?

Thanks!

[Eski1991]

You would notice it, I guess. I doubt it's really worth doing though. Maybe it would be more worthwhile to get a slightly fresher ST170 if you are after power?

[curlie467]

You will notice it but then again, so will your clutch!

[StottyZr]

My dad had the same car, he kept telling me it was fast and I kept telling him he was delusional until we found a tuning box in the engine bay. It made a very noticeable difference to the power although the engine did detonate, valve seals or something went and it was scrapped.

I'd get a tuning box, only £30 or so. But I often make bad decisions.

[sparkyhx]

yes you will notice it - it will obviously be more powerful and probably more economical as well. Don't know about the engine itself, but there should be plenty of life left in it even at the higher power.

The only thing I would seriously investigate is the impact of the extra torque on the clutch, that might take it over the edge.

ask around some of the more specific forums as to how the engine and gearbox 'responds' to tuning.

[Eski1991]

sparkyhx said:

yes you will notice it - it will obviously be more powerful and probably more economical as well. Don't know about the engine itself, but there should be plenty of life left in it even at the higher power.

The only thing I would seriously investigate is the impact of the extra torque on the clutch, that might take it over the edge.

ask around some of the more specific forums as to how the engine and gearbox 'responds' to tuning.

My friend has the same 1.8TDCI focus, although he has the sport model (no idea if they are different power outputs) and he managed to blow the turbo up and write off the engine with a home remap and some fiddling with the boost output. Not massively tuneable, either that or he's a massive knob.

[sparkyhx]

Eski1991 said:

sparkyhx said:

yes you will notice it - it will obviously be more powerful and probably more economical as well. Don't know about the engine itself, but there should be plenty of life left in it even at the higher power.

The only thing I would seriously investigate is the impact of the extra torque on the clutch, that might take it over the edge.

ask around some of the more specific forums as to how the engine and gearbox 'responds' to tuning.

My friend has the same 1.8TDCI focus, although he has the sport model (no idea if they are different power outputs) and he managed to blow the turbo up and write off the engine with a home remap and some fiddling with the boost output. Not massively tuneable, either that or he's a massive knob.

I suspect the latter

ok its not a diesel but my Nissan 200 was upped to 270ish hp from 200 just with colder plugs a fuel pump upgrade and an up in boost.... and was run for 7 years - clutch used to slip on full boost, but did for about 3 years until I replaced it with an organic one.

[Jamesemt]

I feel the only real problem would be turbo longevity if it's still the original.
Would you notice it? Hell yeah. Don't forget it's the torque curve which will be different making it feel far more than the paper figures suggest.
Personally I'd avoid a tuning box, but if you do decide to go that way then only consider a digital jobbie and not one of the early versions. Far more control.

[Bill]

AFAIK those have a chocolate gearbox that can barely cope with the torque as standard.

[Eski1991]

sparkyhx said:

I suspect the latter

ok its not a diesel but my Nissan 200 was upped to 270ish hp from 200 just with colder plugs a fuel pump upgrade and an up in boost.... and was run for 7 years - clutch used to slip on full boost, but did for about 3 years until I replaced it with an organic one.

Oh I more than suspect it.

[shoehorn]

Bill said:

AFAIK those have a chocolate gearbox that can barely cope with the torque as standard.

Those boxes will cope with far more than that could ever chuck at it.
Noble uses the MTX75 behind a twin turbo V6,some pushing 500+bhp.

[R6VED]

I had a MK4 Golf GTI Turbo that was remapped by AMD (when at Bicester) from 163bhp (forget torque figure) to 202 bhp and 221lbft = a massive difference and over 7 years later it is still going strong on the original turbo and clutch (wifey now drives it - for now)

I then had a 225bhp 221lbft TT Roadster which was remapped to 267bhp and 306lbft and again it made a massive difference.

Well worth doing in my opinion, but there are a lot of monkeys out there, so choose carefully.

Cheers

Charlie

[TobyLaRohne]

I had a 1.8 petrol focus and had it blue-finned. It was well worth it and never gave me any problems. I have yet to own a car that I have not remapped (current car included).

[Bill]

shoehorn said:

Bill said:

AFAIK those have a chocolate gearbox that can barely cope with the torque as standard.

Those boxes will cope with far more than that could ever chuck at it.
Noble uses the MTX75 behind a twin turbo V6,some pushing 500+bhp.

I'll bow to your greater geekiness but a friend of mine had his go at a similar age (although it was a couple of years older) and I was told the same thing by a couple of garages.

[Bohally]

I chipped my mondeo 2.0 TDCI 130.

I'm not saying it was the chip but between 114k and 118k I replaced two injectors within 10 weeks..

[shoehorn]

Bohally said:

I chipped my mondeo 2.0 TDCI 130.

I'm not saying it was the chip but between 114k and 118k I replaced two injectors within 10 weeks..

That`s just Mondeo injectors,they need no help in failing.

[Rubin215]

If you want a faster car, buy a faster car...

[V8A*ndy]

Yeah you will notice a difference especially if your car has been well maintained and there isn't other areas you need to address.

However you will notice an increase in fuel consumption as you be booting the thing on a fair bit more.

Personally I wouldn't. Better to save towards a better car.

[shoehorn]

Bill said:

I'll bow to your greater geekiness but a friend of mine had his go at a similar age (although it was a couple of years older) and I was told the same thing by a couple of garages.

Most probably a 1.6 TDCI some had the puny IB5 box,a totally different and thoroughly inferior unit.

You can buy NTX boxes for £40,such is their availability,I have at least 7 or 8 of differing ratios/final drives.
one I removed from a write off 1995 Mondeo diesel in 1996,thinking I would use it.
I still have it.
I`m not saying they are invincible but failures are uncommon.

[Bohally]

shoehorn said:

That`s just Mondeo injectors,they need no help in failing.

I figured. It was noticeably quicker with the chip on. Pulled pretty well 40 to 90 in 4th.

Px'd it on Tuesday though... Somebody else can have injector problems!