Well the weather seems determined to keep on raining so I'll just get on with this.
First things first so you don't have to read the whole thread I was the lucky recipient of an offer by Celtic Tuning to have one of their remaps.
I had very prompt contact from Tony at Celtic. We had a quick chat about what happens and he offered me a more powerful map than the advertised 165bhp map. He claimed it would produce 178bhp. We arranged a date and time for his chap to come to do the mapping.
On the allotted day Paul (the mapping guy) managed to turn up well before I did so there was no danger of being late!
We had a quick chat and he set to the job with laptop in hand.
An hour or so later he came over to tell me that the work was done and would I like a test drive.
As soon as the engine was warmed up it became apparent that the remap has made the engine much smoother. Transitions between throttle on/off are less pronounced and the power delivery is VERY linear. With the stock mapping you can feel the turbo coming in at 1600/1700rpm and it quickly ramps up to peak torque. That feeling is gone. The car smoothly builds power as revs increase.
The car felt quicker but not that much and I was seriously doubting the claims of 178bhp. However I was enjoying the Stilo Spring Syndrome (TM) so didn't push hard.
A few days passed and my lovely (none snapped) Eibachs went on.
I should also add that Paul mentioned that the map would take a couple of days/miles to bed in and learn my driving style.
More recent driving has revealed that my first impressions aren't quite right. The smoothness comments I'll stand by. In fact I go so far as you say that it doesn't feel like a diesel any more. It feels like a naturally aspirated petrol engine (with very good bottom end response).
Rev range is now far larger than before. Power starts to build at 1500rpm and doesn't stop until past the redline! The way it ramps up is very impressive, though perhaps a little a subtle until you realise how quickly you are accelerating. As you approach the top end of the rev range and the increase, well, increases, you can find yourself travelling very quickly. This makes the scope of the gears far greater than before. In third or fourth you can just plant your right foot and wind things up to silly speeds without changing gear. I'd like to try maxing it out as I'm certain it'd max out top gear. Just need to find a runway/autobahn to try it out on.
I've not done any sustained quick driving to see how it works for sustained work but it's very impressive in blasting up dual carriageways.
Apparently the fuel economy will improve. Can't say I've had a chance to notice any difference yet but a few tanks will soon tell.
Conclusions so far:
1) Delivery is much improved, engine feels much more civilised all round
2) Usable rev range is much larger
3) Engine is much more powerful
4) Car feels proper hot hatch quick
5) Can still be used everyday and doesn't feel like a track day special (see 1)
6) Might be too subtle for some - beyond cost this is the only down point I can think of!
Not sure that there's much point in buying the MJet150 if you're going for a remap. I'd like to try one to find out but on this basis...........
I'll try for another update when a few weeks have passed and I can comment on economy etc
