DueUno
New member
Firstly, hello to all.
Bought a 2007 GP Sporting in red a couple of weeks ago. So far, so good, apart from the glove box handle snapping off. Managed to fix that, although couldn't work out how to get the spring back in. Oh, and the passenger seat belt bangs like mad on the B pillar, but fixed that by putting it round the seat bolster every time anyone gets out. Had a couple of Fiat's previously, hence the username, so if I'd have bought a Toyota if I didn't like oddities.
Anyway, the good stuff, by way of a very quick review. Came to the Sporting whilst getting rid of my Alfa GT V6. I actually fancied a 500, but my Alfa specialist suggested the Sporting as a compromise between the speed and economy. As soon as it needs a service, I must remember to thank him, as the Sporting has been great.
Did a 240 mile mainly motorway trip last week and achieved over 50mpg, which was great, but according to the Eco Drive thing, I only scored 60 on that trip and I am still getting used to driving my first diesel, so imagine I could beat that.
Pace wise, I'm not noticing much difference to the Alfa. Obviously, 0-60 is a lot slower, but who ever gets to do that? I might have to change gear a bit more to get to 30, but it's not a problem. On the motorway however! Before giving up the Alfa, I did a couple of real world tests. It was only me counting in my head, but accurate enough for my impressions. 50-70 in 5th was 7 seconds and 70-80 in 6th was 5 seconds. I've done the same in the GP and have the same times - starts a bit slower, but once the turbo kicks in, the last few mph come up much quicker.
On top of that, I'm getting around 40mpg with a lot of town driving and a bit of motorway, compared to 21mpg from the Alfa, so I'm a happy bunny. Just wish I still had the V6 noise (which may have been the cause of the 21mpg).
Anyway, main point of the post - I'm missing a bit of engine flexibility compared to the V6 and I reckon I could risk a couple of mpg, so remap/tuning box etc. Clearly Red Dot are the recommendation of choice, but I live in the north west so don't fancy driving to Enfield, plus the wife would think I'm mad. So, is there a good remap alternative, preferably in the north west? Yes, I've done a search, but mentions of other tuners seem to be a few years old and since then, everyone has gone the Red Dot route.
Celtic/Angel will come to me, but stories on here seem to be mixed and old. There's DieselBob in the north west, but the map appears to be the same as Celtic and there's no other mention of them on here.
TMC's boxes sounded good, but for £100 not £250 and I'm not sure I want to go down the cheap box route just dumping more fuel in, regardless of the impact.
So, any thoughts on a reasonably priced way of upping the power, without having to travel to London (Red Dot day in North/midlands would be nice...)
Bought a 2007 GP Sporting in red a couple of weeks ago. So far, so good, apart from the glove box handle snapping off. Managed to fix that, although couldn't work out how to get the spring back in. Oh, and the passenger seat belt bangs like mad on the B pillar, but fixed that by putting it round the seat bolster every time anyone gets out. Had a couple of Fiat's previously, hence the username, so if I'd have bought a Toyota if I didn't like oddities.
Anyway, the good stuff, by way of a very quick review. Came to the Sporting whilst getting rid of my Alfa GT V6. I actually fancied a 500, but my Alfa specialist suggested the Sporting as a compromise between the speed and economy. As soon as it needs a service, I must remember to thank him, as the Sporting has been great.
Did a 240 mile mainly motorway trip last week and achieved over 50mpg, which was great, but according to the Eco Drive thing, I only scored 60 on that trip and I am still getting used to driving my first diesel, so imagine I could beat that.
Pace wise, I'm not noticing much difference to the Alfa. Obviously, 0-60 is a lot slower, but who ever gets to do that? I might have to change gear a bit more to get to 30, but it's not a problem. On the motorway however! Before giving up the Alfa, I did a couple of real world tests. It was only me counting in my head, but accurate enough for my impressions. 50-70 in 5th was 7 seconds and 70-80 in 6th was 5 seconds. I've done the same in the GP and have the same times - starts a bit slower, but once the turbo kicks in, the last few mph come up much quicker.
On top of that, I'm getting around 40mpg with a lot of town driving and a bit of motorway, compared to 21mpg from the Alfa, so I'm a happy bunny. Just wish I still had the V6 noise (which may have been the cause of the 21mpg).
Anyway, main point of the post - I'm missing a bit of engine flexibility compared to the V6 and I reckon I could risk a couple of mpg, so remap/tuning box etc. Clearly Red Dot are the recommendation of choice, but I live in the north west so don't fancy driving to Enfield, plus the wife would think I'm mad. So, is there a good remap alternative, preferably in the north west? Yes, I've done a search, but mentions of other tuners seem to be a few years old and since then, everyone has gone the Red Dot route.
Celtic/Angel will come to me, but stories on here seem to be mixed and old. There's DieselBob in the north west, but the map appears to be the same as Celtic and there's no other mention of them on here.
TMC's boxes sounded good, but for £100 not £250 and I'm not sure I want to go down the cheap box route just dumping more fuel in, regardless of the impact.
So, any thoughts on a reasonably priced way of upping the power, without having to travel to London (Red Dot day in North/midlands would be nice...)
