ECU remap, tuning box etc for Alfas

[ACAPULCO AL 2]

about time we had one of these threads going i reckon, seems to be plenty of people using one or the other to turn the volume up to 11 on their diesels

 

in the interests of people who've never done anything like this before...

 

Remap: the software on your ECU is overwritten with new code by one of the many remap companies out there. generally this will increase boost pressure, fuelling, and sometimes alter the ignition, giving more power & torque. can be done on petrols as well but nowhere near the same gains as a diesel unless it's a turbocharged petrol. most remaps are generic and are simply a case of plugging in a laptop and uploading the files. the best maps are specific to your model of car, or even to your car itself

 

 

Tuning box: a small box of electronics that 'piggybacks' your ECU. essentially these send an altered signal to the ECU, fooling it into increasing fuelling, boost pressure etc. they'll give more power & torque but are generally accepted to be a poor relation of remapping, but will be a lot cheaper

 

 

either of these methods should be declared to your insurance company as they modify your car's peformance, but remaps are pretty much undetectable... so i've heard

 

 

 

 

i've used both methods on my 159 - started out with the mangoletsi 'mod 3' which was their tuning box, and their 'turbo boost modification' which turned out to be a 5p resistor piggybacking the fuel rail which did the square root of nothing. there was more power & torque, but the ECU kept cutting the boost pressure so it was up & down like a yo-yo at full throttle. had it on for a year and got fed up so i went for a proper remap instead. what a difference - a bit more grunt than with the box, but over a much wider rev range and with none of the yoyo-ing.

 

there are dozens of places that do remaps, some good some bad, plenty in between. the places that get the best reputation are all using the same map - developed by gus at alfatune and adie at AHM specifically for alfa diesels. they license it out to a few places around the country, and it also includes DPF removal and fixing the EGR valve shut which removes the cause/source of many a headache for alfa drivers

 

anyway, that's a starter.... bags of info out there, lets share our experiences with a view to collating a definitive guide here

[Smaky 73]

OK,

 

remapping... IMO, a waste of tme and money, it will cost you more in parts over a shorter time as they wear quicker, also you have to inform your insurance and ths too will increase and remaps ARE detectable quite easily.

 

8V 1.9 JTD, this is possibly the only one which is worth mapping, though there are so few of them around and those who own them aren't interested in remapping anyway.

 

16V 1.9 JTDm, Driveshafts, clutch, flywheel, piston rings and turbo will all feel the pain within a short period.

 

2.4 10V JTD, the one which certainly doesn't need any mapping at all, the best power to economy engine of the diesel range and is only ever ruined by those who try to improve things. Then if it is mapped the gearbox will soon let you know of your mistake.

 

2.4 20V JTDm, OMG where do we begin, like the 1.9 16V... Driveshafts, clutch, flywheel, piston rings and turbo will all feel the pain within a short period, then there is the GM gearbox, this was matched to the engine because the box has a slightly higher power handling rating than the old Alfa 5/6 speed one, but the power limit for the box is around 5Bhp and 10Nm more than the car in standard setup, as most want more power and more torque then this is soonsurpassed and the box starts to rumble and rattle, before it takes out the driveshafts, clutch and flywheel, in one case I've dealt with it even made the crank start to oscilate and completely shredded the engine too.

 

Then on all engins there's the cooling to think of, unless you keep on top of the radiator, thermostat, resistors and fan then you may not even notice the temp has increased and this will soon end in tears as diesels don't enjoy having the headgasket replaced and they never run as well afterwards.

 

Next is the self learning feature of all the ECUs for the engines, why bother paying to remap the engine when after 50 miles the ECU is going to say "feck off to the map, the engine runs better like this". That 50 mile placebo may impress you, but come warranty time you'll be in tears again.

 

Now TS/JTS engines, don't bother, you'll never get the 3 phases right, if you want power then either get the CF2 2.0 twinny (10BhP less than the JTS but it wont cook coil packs every week) or just go and get a V6.