Whilst a remap will add a small amount of extra strain to the vehicle, all of our files are well within the safe parameters of the vehicle’s components (such as the engine & transmission/drivetrain) capabilities. We would only increase engine output to what we deem to be safe as it wouldn’t be beneficial to us or you to push your vehicle to anything beyond that.

It is not in our interest to push your vehicle past its limits. We simply wouldn’t have a business if we damaged vehicles on a daily basis.

There are a couple of ways for a remap to be detected. The most cost effective and most commonly used method by manufacturers is to check the CVN with diagnostics tools. If an ECU has a different CVN than it should, a manufacturer’s diagnostic tools will be able to detect this.

A remap can also be detected with manipulation DTC’s that appear within various modules in the car. 

Some dealer tools can even detect that changes have been made to the original software but don’t show exactly what has been done.

With most modern vehicles, our industry-leading remapping software and tools can successfully flash an ECU whilst keeping the original CVN and not throwing any manipulation DTC’s. This means most dealer diagnostic tools would not be able to detect the remap.

That said, a remap is NEVER undetectable. If someone wants to dig deep enough, they will eventually find it.

A good workaround for this which covers most instances is to have the vehicle returned to stock which we are able to do for £60. Depending on the method of tuning for your particular car, we can mitigate the chances of it being detected.

A very common question with very common misconceptions. Ultimately, there is no such thing as a generic map. ‘Generic’ implies that we could use any tune file on any vehicle. Every tune we apply has been custom calibrated for your vehicle make, model, drivetrain, ECU and software version.

For stage 1 and most stage 2 files, we can use dyno tested, safe and proven solutions without having to make any tweaks. Why? Because we know it’s a safe calibration that we’ve used before on an identical drivetrain that’s been developed on the dyno and on the road. 

There is a common misconception that a tune made ‘on the fly’ is both much safer and will produce better results. This isn’t necessarily the case, the quality of the tune is down to the tuners ability to tune on a particular platform of drivetrain and ECU combination.

There is no tuner in the world that writes completely custom software from scratch every time. In most instances, they’ll either use a tried and tested solution OR use that solution as a base to work from and apply very minor tweaks. 

The only time this differs slightly is for heavily modified vehicles, i.e. uprated fueling, uprated turbos etc. In this instance, a heavily modified car will likely have a unique combination of modifications. What usually happens is the tuner will, again, apply a base map from a tried and tested solution and then modify that calibration with a few revisions to suit the modifications.

What you need to be looking out for is not the ‘custom vs. generic’ argument at all. You should be looking out for companies that offer remapping but use clone tools (which have a high likelihood of killing the ECU) and apply untested £1.00 calibrations from a CD they bought on eBay.

A good way to be sure you’re talking to a good tuner is to look at their reviews, digital presence and importantly, how much they’re charging. If they’re only charging £100 for a remap in your local carpark, the chances are they don’t have the funds to afford insurance or to pay to fix the car if it goes wrong.

This is always a tough question. The reality is, modifying your vehicle will always affect a manufacturers’ warranty.

In general, at Smart Maps NI, we mainly cover stage 1 and stage 2 ECU remapping.

When it comes to relatively basic requirements such as stage 1 and stage 2 remapping, a dyno is not always needed. The reason for this is our remapped files have already been tested on a dyno where a slave or donor vehicle was remapped.

This means that we’ve already stress tested and proven the figures that our remaps can provide on a well-maintained vehicle.

For stage 1, the donor vehicle is identical to yours, so there is no need to dyno test the file again. For stage 2, the need for a dyno depends on whether or not there are any discrepancies in modifications.

Ultimately, a remap will optimise the engine. Therefore, it is common to expect improved fuel economy under normal driving conditions.

If you’re expecting to be able to drive spiritedly and still gain another 20% fuel economy, your expectations are unrealistic.

Under normal driving conditions, most of our customers see slight improvements in fuel economy, anywhere from 5% to 15%.

Manufacturers restrict the performance of a vehicle for multiple reasons. An example would be warranty lifespan. It’s in a manufacturer’s interest to ensure their vehicles underperform to reduce the number of warranty claims during the warranty period. It also enables them to extend the time and mileage in which a warranty can be offered. Increasingly now, manufacturers are saving costs by limiting the number of engine sizes they offer and instead using different versions of the same engine. This enables them to not only save money on research and development but also to charge more money for a vehicle with a higher power output.

For example, the Ford Transit Custom is available in: 100BHP, 125BHP and 150BHP. However, each of them uses the same engine, transmission and drivetrain. The interesting thing is that each of the versions are capable of 180BHP. They simply charge more for the higher-powered versions.

Manufacturers also need to bear in mind that their vehicles are being sold across the globe with various tax brackets, insurance groups and environmental conditions. As a result, they need one universal map to suit all scenarios whilst ensuring maximum sales of the vehicle in question.

Nothing. Typically, all that the different driving modes tend to do is change your throttle mapping. Some vehicles also add weight to your steering and tighten the suspension.

With a tune, the power is changed across all modes. your existing modes will still behave the same and each mode will have its own custom throttle calibration.

If your vehicle goes in for service work at a main dealer and it’s in warranty, we would advise you to bring the vehicle to us first to remove the map and then come back to reapply the tune.

If your vehicle isn’t in warranty or you’re not visiting a main dealer, you don’t have to worry about taking the map off and reapplying.

However, if you do have your car serviced at a main dealer, whether it is in warranty or not, they may need to apply a software update to your vehicle. In this event, there is a chance you may lose your map. If you do, we can reflash the modified file on to your car for a small fee of £60.

We do. Stage 2 requirements are: upgraded intake & decatted or sports catted downpipes, upgraded intercooler.

An average car will gain an extra 20-50bhp for stage 2, depending on the vehicle. 

The calibrations for stage 1 and 2 are quite similar, however, most of the additional gains will come from the physical modifications rather than the tune itself. For example, if you’re already running a stage 1 tune and have already applied stage 2 modifications, it’s unlikely that you’ll feel too much difference in changing the map to a stage 2. 

In short, no. A Remap wouldn’t disappear anyway; the whole flash data would disappear, but again, this is impossible on its own accord. If it were to happen, your car wouldn’t start! The only way you can lose your tune is if the vehicle is flashed to stock by another tuner or main dealer via software update.

There exists a rumour that disconnecting your battery will wipe your remap. This is just a rumour, your tune would still remain. If you were to take your battery out of your laptop and replace it, it wouldn’t automatically restore factory software. The same applies to your ECU. There is no way to hit the ‘reset button’ on an ECU without third party tools.

Unfortunately, perishable components fail on stock and tuned vehicles. Whether it be a broken coil pack, blown turbo or cracked block. These things can happen and parts don’t last forever. Ultimately, we won’t tune a handful of vehicles because they are prone to specific failures post-tune. However, if your vehicle has an issue post tune, it’s likely that said issue was already present or on its way to being an issue before it was remapped. Our advice is to take it to a trusted mechanic to carry out diagnostics and to help you rectify the issue. In a worst case scenario, we are able to flash the vehicle back to stock for £60 to help diagnose the fault.

Whether your car is tuned or stock, the only way to determine these figures is to run the car on a dynamometer (AKA Dyno or Rolling Road). We will not be able to tell you the exact figures for your vehicle. We can only tell you what an identical drivetrain, running stock power produced with the same remap. 

If you’re after more power once you’ve had a stage 1 tune or ECU Remap, you’ll need to start making physical modifications to the drivetrain. Breathing mods such as intake and exhaust can add anywhere from 20-50bhp, after that, you’ll need to start considering turbo upgrades and more. Your best bet is to do some research in your vehicle’s community to figure out how much you’re willing to spend to make certain power figures. Once these modifications are installed, we can write custom calibrated tunes to suit your vehicle’s needs.

Whilst we love to see people carrying out more frequent servicing, for mild tuning, there’s no need to service any more than the manufacturer’s recommended schedule. Doing so will only help increase your engine’s longevity but it is not mandatory. 

If your vehicle fails an MOT after being tuned, the remap is not the issue, you have a mechanical fault somewhere.

You must always inform your insurer of any vehicle modifications, including an ECU remap.

Unfortunately, we see a large number of mechanics run into issues with cars that they simply do not have the knowledge or tools to diagnose. It’s easy for a mechanic, with limited knowledge of how tuning works, to charge customers a few hundred quid for diagnostic services, not be able to determine the issue and blame a remap. Effectively, it’s their way of using a ‘get out of jail free’ card when they’re out of their depth. Put simply, if there is an issue with the remap, the issue will be immediately present. It won’t develop days, weeks or months later.