RS Tuner - Pros & Cons ?

[Siddle]

And to quickly summarise the thread so far - there are no main disadvantages (if not any disadvantages at all) to mapping your car and remapping on a regular basis?

Jeez. Why have i not done this already? and why has everyone not done this!?

 

[Martin_172]

only "disadvantage" if you consider it one is having to run 98ron fuel, but ive always done that, mapped or not anyway

and yep you can change maps 10x a day if you want!

im using the same system on my twingo to switch between standard and stage 1 maps

 

[peanuthead]

I think the RS tuner was a brilliant investment for the price. As for the fuel, Renault recommend using 98 ron which is on the filler cover, maybe some people think this is a bit OTT from Renault. but then to buy a map designed to run specifically on 98 ron fuel and then still use 95 ron baffles me??

Surely if the map is made for 98 ron fuel the air mixture is match to this fuel. As chip states lesser fuel will mess up the Air-Fuel mixture with the risk of detonation!

 

[Chip-mk1]

I think the RS tuner was a brilliant investment for the price. As for the fuel, Renault recommend using 98 ron which is on the filler cover, maybe some people think this is a bit OTT from Renault. but then to buy a map designed to run specifically on 98 ron fuel and then still use 95 ron baffles me??

Surely if the map is made for 98 ron fuel the air mixture is match to this fuel. As chip states lesser fuel will mess up the Air-Fuel mixture with the risk of detonation!

The AFR doesnt change between 95 and 98 (well not to any extent I can personally measure) its the ignition timing requirements that alter (unsurprising as the RON number is basically a measure of detonation resistance!)

 

[M@tt_182]

then use a cold start fix map designed for 95ron fuel, as chip said, running 95 ron fuel on your car and using part throttle etc will be fine, thats what you have to do in the case you cant get 98ron, but driving it quick with 95 ron fuel in it when running a 98 ron fuel map isnt good at all, the reason the rs tuner gets gains it does is partly down to the fact the standard renault map is designed to be run on all fuel qualities, some much worse than we can buy in the UK, but this has now been removed and optimized for our high quality 98 ron fuel, but your not putting that in

Do they have a specific map for that? If I had known I'd have gone for the cold start map only. I'm sticking with my 95 RON anyway, my cars a daily hack at the moment and if it was ever turned into a 'track car' I'd run 98.

 

[Chip-mk1]

And to quickly summarise the thread so far - there are no main disadvantages (if not any disadvantages at all) to mapping your car and remapping on a regular basis?

Jeez. Why have i not done this already? and why has everyone not done this!?

I cant see why everyone would want to keep mapping their car again and again, personally I just put a decent map on and leave it.

 

[Chip-mk1]

I use tesco momentum 99

If you search on the net I think you'll find it's been tested against vpower and is slightly better

Better at what?

IIRC the momentum 99 has a slightly lower calorific value as the extra octane comes from more ethanol in the fuel? But check that as its only hearsay that I am repeating, not something that I have tested myself. IIRC its just 95 RON fuel with 5% ethanol in fact.
Problem with that is that it can actually slightly alter your AFR, essentially leaning things out a tiny bit, so its application specific if that is useful to you or not. Because ethanol has a different stoich value to normal petrol.

E85 used to do that massively, you had to run about 30% more of it so the economy was poor but OMG was it epic for power, such a shame that morissons stopped doing it, would have been amazing for a high boost conversion on standard internals! That fuel just LOVED timing!

RON number alone doesnt tell you a huge amount about a fuel, only its det resistance, its not a measure of overall fuel quality.

 

[Siddle]

I cant see why everyone would want to keep mapping their car again and again, personally I just put a decent map on and leave it.

i don't mean on a regular basis like every other day, i mean running the 98Ron map for the majority of the time then every 2/3/4 weeks change it to pops and bangs for the weekend. for funsies!

 

[Chip-mk1]

i don't mean on a regular basis like every other day, i mean running the 98Ron map for the majority of the time then every 2/3/4 weeks change it to pops and bangs for the weekend. for funsies!

I dont find blowing my exhaust baffles to bits and then having to replace it before my next trackday fun TBH, so I have no reason to ever want to put something that makes my car damage itself just to make noises I find annoying.

If you do want the pops and bangs though, why ever take it on and off? It is ONLY active at zero throttle over 4Krpm, so in "normal" driving you wont ever activate it anyway, it wont be popping away as you drive normally to the shops and back in traffic etc.

 

[Siddle]

good point! i'll probably leave it on then.

i didn't realise the 'popping and banging' damaged your car though! - (naive) - to what extent does it ruin it?

is it going to be a replacement every couple of months jobby or more like every year or two?

sounds like the 98Ron map is the one to stick with then.

 

[Chip-mk1]

I put an RS Tuner pops and bangs map onto mosely's car a couple of months ago. After a few days his exhaust baffles were damaged badly and it was making more noise than to begin with, and he got me to swap it back to the normal 98 RON map instead.

Depends on the condition and construction of your baffles how long they will last, and how often you rev your car upto 7K just to let it come popping and banging down again.

If you have a cat still, its a particularly bad idea.

 

[Elliot182]

How much are we talking for a rs tuner new? do you pick and choose which maps you wont emailed to yourself? im not techincal at all

By the reviews im thinking of going for a rs tuner with 98 ron maps

is it mappable by a person like me or would it be best for me to take it to a knowledgable guy to do it for me?

Cheers

 

[Siddle]

noooo don't have a cat.

if i'm only going to be running the 98ron map, it's probably a better shout to just get one second hand, unlock it, map the car and sell it on isn't it?

suppose it'd save me quite a lot of pennies!

£200 total cost new compared to £50 overall cost second hand (after selling on).

 

[Lal B3N]

I put an RS Tuner pops and bangs map onto mosely's car a couple of months ago. After a few days his exhaust baffles were damaged badly and it was making more noise than to begin with, and he got me to swap it back to the normal 98 RON map instead.

Depends on the condition and construction of your baffles how long they will last, and how often you rev your car upto 7K just to let it come popping and banging down again.

If you have a cat still, its a particularly bad idea.

Chip whats the difference between that and the crackle map ktec are now offering? As they claim it will not damage your exhaust/cat.

 

[bozothenutter]

What makes a car crackle anyway?
Mine does it every so often, nothing spectacular and cerainly no popping.
Just a cool WRC effect.
Makes me smile when it does it.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Chip whats the difference between that and the crackle map ktec are now offering? As they claim it will not damage your exhaust/cat.

No idea mate, I have never seen or hear of the ktec map, ask them, but if it:
increases airflow and then retards the ignition in order to make noises in the exhaust, or runs the car deliberately rich to achieve the same.

Then it IS going to reduce the life of your cat/exhaust so IF it does do either of those things they are misleading people if they say it wont IMHO


But like I said, ask them.

 

[Lal B3N]

No idea mate, I have never seen or hear of the ktec map, ask them, but if it:
increases airflow and then retards the ignition in order to make noises in the exhaust, or runs the car deliberately rich to achieve the same.

Then it IS going to reduce the life of your cat/exhaust so IF it does do either of those things they are misleading people if they say it wont IMHO


But like I said, ask them.

No worries, just wondered thats all.

I have no interest in running it myself, think it sounds awful and too "forced" if you get what I mean.

 

[Chip-mk1]

No worries, just wondered thats all.

I have no interest in running it myself, think it sounds awful and too "forced" if you get what I mean.

Any road car that is banging out the exhaust basically has a problem with the map, there are certain times when that might be deliberate and you WANT to force your car to waste fuel and air, like on a turbo car to keep the turbo spooled between gear changes, but fundamentally its just not something a well tuned N/A road car should ever really be doing, as at zero throttle there should be fuel cut anyway in the interests of economy.

 

[MartinR]

Is there a way of finding out if my car has been mapped, it's just so much more responsive than my old 182 used to be??

Can also plug any RSTuner in and you can see the software and Cal versions without it being unlocked.

Not all remaps update those numbers though.

My bad it will only show if its been done with the RSTuner.

So as Chip said pay a tuner to find out

 

[Gee Man]

2 ways:

1) Rev it and see if the limiter has increased (not definitive)
2) Pay a tuner to read the file and examine it and decide if its been mapped or not

My rev limit is still stock, but I definately don't get the 5k kick like I did on the 182. Ill have to come to a rolling road day & see what it's kicking out. Definately feels like its been mapped

 

[danward]

Sorry to steal the thread but it seems a great place to quickly get some good opinions:

I think my car might have been remapped but I'm not sure. I bought it a few weeks ago and it was not advertised as such.

My 182 idles at 1k consistently and has not droopped lower than this. I quickly tested earlier and the rev limit seems to be a little over 7k.

Do you guys think mine has been previously remapped?

 

[Chip-mk1]

1K idle sounds like it has been mapped yes.

 

[imprezaworks]

Apart from first thing, mine idles at 1k too.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Yes its a little higher when cold, but he did say it does it consistently and has never dropped lower, so I am assuming he doesnt mean just when cold.

 

[imprezaworks]

Yeah sorry, was just saying mine idles higher/better when cold, once settled it sits at 1k happily.

 

[danward]

Thanks for your answer, I started to suspect it had over the last couple days. I guess that saves me doing it!!

One thing that I'm unsure of though is that people say it removes the 5k kick - but when driving mine I do seem to have a tiny kick at 5k still. Having never driven another 182 I'm not sure whether mine is a lot smoother than standard or not though.

 

[Chip-mk1]

Its a hard thing to gauge and an even harder one to try and descrive on the internet, as they can vary a lot anyway, especially if the cam timing is slightly different.

Even after a map though they still pull best at 5K, thats down to the VE of the engine, but it just feels less pronounced as the map makes it a little less pathetic before it.

 

[danward]

Yea I can imagine actually. Mine does feel really strong all the way through the revs and really gets going at 5k.

I'm just happy that I can spend the money I had planned for the rstuner on something else!

 

[Chip-mk1]

Hookers FTW

 

[urquattrogus]

Will the 98 ron map be ok for a PH1 with cable throttle?

 

[imprezaworks]

Yeah, what makes you think otherwise?

 

[urquattrogus]

Yeah, what makes you think otherwise?

I'm new to clio's, and I know the ph1 has a cable throttle and the later cars have drive by wire, so thought it might be a problem

 

[imprezaworks]

Ah ok mate. No issues as far as I know

 

[Chip-mk1]

Different map mate. There is a version for each.

 

[imprezaworks]

Just been out for a blast and its one hundred percent quicker, the pick up is great and so much better than before.