The cars that make a remap difficult are usually the ones that needed a repair first. An hour of checking before you book saves a wasted day in the workshop.
Start with the obvious. The car should have been serviced, the correct oil should be in it, and there should be no warning lights you have been ignoring. A remap does not clear a fault that is still there. If the engine management light is on, send a picture of it and any code printout you already have.
The parts a file will ask more of
On a turbocharged car, listen for a boost leak and look at the hoses. A split hose will not show on a driveway at idle and will show immediately once the calibration asks for boost. The clutch should take the torque the car already has. If it slips now, it will slip more afterwards. The cooling system should hold temperature on a normal drive. A car that already runs hot does not need a file that asks the engine to make more heat.
On a diesel, a particulate filter that is constantly regenerating, or an AdBlue warning with a restart countdown, is a fault to diagnose. Do not book a performance calibration to cover it. On a petrol direct-injection car, a misfire, a coil that has been failing, or injectors that are already noisy are the same kind of problem. We can look at those faults. They are not a Stage 1.
What to send
Send the registration, the engine, the mileage, and a plain list of anything already fitted or already written to the ECU. Include previous remaps, even if you were told the car is standard again. Tell us what you use the car for: commuting, towing, track, or a van that works for a living. That changes what we will offer.
Stage 1 and Stage 1+ are for a healthy standard car. If the car is not healthy, we will say so. Check the car for a vehicle-specific price, or call 01446 355001.
