So today was mapping day. First time I have ever taken one of my cars to be mapped on a rolling road and I can't lie, I was quite excited! Before setting off I had checked the car over and filled with a full tank of Shell V-power, as that is what I normally run. A couple of the rocker cover bolts were weeping oil, which is fairly common on the Megane. Easy fix though as you remove the bolt, clean and degrease then reseal. Engine Dynamics are really busy so had to wait a couple of months for this slot and didn't want anything putting a halt to it! I was up nice and early for the drive to Colchester, Essex as was a little worried about the morning traffic.
Got to Engine Dynamics an hour early. Quite an impressive looking unit with various Renaultsport cars parked outside. Spoke to Andy on arrival who was friendly and welcoming. He was all ready to go so no waiting around. Had a chat about mods and my expectations.
In terms of modifications this car is almost identical to my grey RS 250, apart from decat which is a route I don't want to go down with this car. My old car was 321bhp/360lbft. In my head I thought a realistic figure for this car was 310 - 320bhp/330lbft. The main thing I wanted was safe fueling and reliability. One of the reasons for having the car mapped was to make sure everything is working as it should.
The dyno they have is a Pro Hub one that bolts directly to the car, so slightly different to a conventional dyno. First run done to check all was running correctly and see where the car was at. The previous owner said there was a generic 300bhp map on the car, which there was! I had said previously I thought it went well. Car was 288bhp and 280ftlb. Not bad really and all appeared well. More to be had though. Further discussion was had around figures and expectations, then Andy set to work his magic.
Further runs and tweaking to the map car made 313.8bhp and 337ftlb. Pretty chuffed with those figures, but main thing would be how that translated to the road. I knew the difference would not be as big as if the car had been standard to start with, but the torque figure was pretty impressive. Car was all finished by midday and then time for the drive home 😁
It did not disappoint!! Car feels so quick and pulls hard all the way to rev limiter. It's almost too quick for the road if that makes sense. I understand it will only go as quick as your right foot allows. It makes you want to push on and this will be perfect on track and early morning blasts, which is what the car is for. It is such a capable car. I do enjoy using it as a daily too though and today it has managed all mixture of driving. It does behave low down and easy to drive in traffic. So chuffed I have had it done. Need to get a track day booked at Brands Hatch just to give it a first run out and then further afield.
A really good day and very impressed with Andy at Engine Dynamics and the overall setup he has. Found him very knowledgeable and open to suggestions. I would certainly have no hesitation in recommending him after my experience today.