Remapping Audi a1 1.2

[klaudmjj]

My girlfriend got a new car and she’s thinking of getting a remap on it.
It’s a 2011 Audi a1 1.2 tfsi, 82k miles.
I’ve done some research and you can get about 130hp out of a remap. It’s 85 stock.
Question is, can it handle the extra horsepower without blowing anything up?

[Gilhooligan]

It’s a decent jump in power but there’s probably other cars with the same engine making more power than yours straight from the factory.

[klaudmjj]

Gilhooligan said:

It’s a decent jump in power but there’s probably other cars with the same engine making more power than yours straight from the factory.

Yes that’s true, she got it as a gift from her parents but she’d just like a bit more power that’s all, I’m sure it can handle the extra 45hp but just want to ask more experience peoples opinion on this.

[Meridius]

I wouldnt bother wasting the money and insurance declaration for modifications etc. If she likes the A1 but wants a bit more power, the easiest thing to do might be just selling it and swapping for a 1.4TFSI 140hp model instead.

[trevalvole]

Gilhooligan said:

It’s a decent jump in power but there’s probably other cars with the same engine making more power than yours straight from the factory.

Yes, in 2011 you could get a Skoda Fabia with a 105hp version of the 1.2TFSI. I don't know what, if any, the physical differences between the 85hp and 105hp versions were.

ETA: I recall that these engines were known for timing chain problems, due to VAG's supplier using a worn-out machine to make the chains.

Edited by trevalvole on Monday 28th March 16:08

[Dr Interceptor]

Hmm... a 50% increase in power over what the manufacturer decided it was sensible to offer.

Bet you'd be back on here in a few weeks time starting a thread about a melted piston on an Audi A1

[klaudmjj]

Dr Interceptor said:

Hmm... a 50% increase in power over what the manufacturer decided it was sensible to offer.

Bet you'd be back on here in a few weeks time starting a thread about a melted piston on an Audi A1

Well we’ll see, I’ll make sure to ask the guy when he’s doing it. There is a 105hp version of the engine so I don’t see why it can’t handle 130.

[Pica-Pica]

klaudmjj said:

Dr Interceptor said:

Hmm... a 50% increase in power over what the manufacturer decided it was sensible to offer.

Bet you'd be back on here in a few weeks time starting a thread about a melted piston on an Audi A1

Well we’ll see, I’ll make sure to ask the guy when he’s doing it. There is a 105hp version of the engine so I don’t see why it can’t handle 130.

I’d trade it in for something else, maybe even a 105ps 1.2TSi, you get an extra gear then as well.

[Belle427]

If it’s a reputable proven map then you should be ok.

[Welshbeef]

klaudmjj said:

Well we’ll see, I’ll make sure to ask the guy when he’s doing it. There is a 105hp version of the engine so I don’t see why it can’t handle 130.

You are making the big assumption that internal components are capable of handling the extra stress.

Also how would she feel explaining to her parents that the car they have only gifted to her she’s ruined the engine.

Have you obtained insurance quotes yet? Normally +20% is doable with a reasonable premium increase but not far off 100% increase might be materially too high.

Has her parents bought the car with a warranty if so you cannot do a remap.

[wyson]

Is it her only car? Does she need it to be reliable? Can she pay for repairs? Is she planning to keep it for a long time? Usually these things make cars less reliable, if not now, later down the road.

I would never map a car that was my daily. If it’s a toy she wants to tinker with however, that’s a different story.

[Welshbeef]

What is her car ownership history?

What makes her thinks she needs 130bhp
How do you think her parents would feel after gifting her this car for her to then remap it to not far off double the power and no doubt destroying the clutch in the process and drastically reducing the engines life.

In a time of a living cost squeeze a nice car economical like this is great. Destroying it and not having the $ to repair the engine and clutch/drivetrain is highly risky.

[aka_kerrly]

klaudmjj said:

It’s a 2011 Audi a1 1.2 tfsi, 82k miles.
I’ve done some research and you can get about 130hp out of a remap. It’s 85 stock.
Question is, can it handle the extra horsepower without blowing anything up?

I believe it is a TSI unit, not TFSI.

Remapping is quite a wide reaching term and there are different types available which can have a huge impact on how reliable they are likely to be.

There are people who "install" generic maps developed by others which they buy a licence for. I'd be wary of how much they actually know about what the mapping is actually doing or worse what to do if something goes wrong. Others get the car and do a thorough examination of the factory map and look for areas to modify before doing road testing/dyno runs. They then use this to sell to other mappers or use it as a base map to then make further changes specific to your car. Finally the most premium of mappers, someone who takes YOUR car on their dyno and does extensive road testing to develop a map that works best for your engine and any other modifications which may impact the performance.

In terms of reliability its a tough call, what tends to happen is people have their cars mapped an then drive them much harder which increases the chances of finding a weak link/component that may need replacing sooner than it would have done if the car was being driven gently with 40% less power.

Depending on where you are in the country I'd consider companies like AMD or APR as VAG specialists with good reputations

[klaudmjj]

aka_kerrly said:

klaudmjj said:

It’s a 2011 Audi a1 1.2 tfsi, 82k miles.
I’ve done some research and you can get about 130hp out of a remap. It’s 85 stock.
Question is, can it handle the extra horsepower without blowing anything up?

I believe it is a TSI unit, not TFSI.

Remapping is quite a wide reaching term and there are different types available which can have a huge impact on how reliable they are likely to be.

There are people who "install" generic maps developed by others which they buy a licence for. I'd be wary of how much they actually know about what the mapping is actually doing or worse what to do if something goes wrong. Others get the car and do a thorough examination of the factory map and look for areas to modify before doing road testing/dyno runs. They then use this to sell to other mappers or use it as a base map to then make further changes specific to your car. Finally the most premium of mappers, someone who takes YOUR car on their dyno and does extensive road testing to develop a map that works best for your engine and any other modifications which may impact the performance.

In terms of reliability its a tough call, what tends to happen is people have their cars mapped an then drive them much harder which increases the chances of finding a weak link/component that may need replacing sooner than it would have done if the car was being driven gently with 40% less power.

Depending on where you are in the country I'd consider companies like AMD or APR as VAG specialists with good reputations

It is a TFSI engine, says on the actual engine itself. Anyways the place I originally looked at is Midland Tuning, they have done a 300bhp tune for a scirocco on YouTube and they fully tested it etc, they even said to me that they will do a full test of the car to make sure what’s the best tune for it.
There is an APR approved remap dealer about 2 miles away so I will check them out too. My girlfriend isn’t a harsh driver so it should be fine.

[Dr Interceptor]

I'd imagine the OP is looking at firms like this...

https://www.celtictuning.co.uk/services/performanc...

[Welshbeef]

Dr Interceptor said:

I'd imagine the OP is looking at firms like this...

https://www.celtictuning.co.uk/services/performanc...

So a 1.2 Petrol gets +49bhp from 83bhp yet checking my S205 C63 I only get +106bhp from 470bhp (given my engine is in the E63 S with 615bhp there is likely more to go )


Wouldn’t remap my car though price of new C63 engine is eye watering

[klaudmjj]

Dr Interceptor said:

I'd imagine the OP is looking at firms like this...

https://www.celtictuning.co.uk/services/performanc...

I have used sites like this to see the potential gain, not actually going with them as I want to make sure I go with the right people.

[Gilhooligan]

Welshbeef said:

So a 1.2 Petrol gets +49bhp from 83bhp yet checking my S205 C63 I only get +106bhp from 470bhp (given my engine is in the E63 S with 615bhp there is likely more to go )


Wouldn’t remap my car though price of new C63 engine is eye watering

Because that engine is probably pegged right back compared to the max power it can make in other models with the same engine. The hardware is capable of more power as standard.

[aka_kerrly]

klaudmjj said:

Anyways the place I originally looked at is Midland Tuning, they have done a 300bhp tune for a scirocco on YouTube and they fully tested it etc, they even said to me that they will do a full test of the car to make sure what’s the best tune for it.

There is an APR approved remap dealer about 2 miles away so I will check them out too. My girlfriend isn’t a harsh driver so it should be fine.

Terrible video, gosh that guy is annoying. It seems to me he took a Scirocco fitted with a Golf k04 turbo setup which is larger than the standard k03 plus his car has an exhaust & intake upgrade combined with a factory spec ECU. Hence it only made 170hp (which is likely at the wheels figure) so around 200flywheel which is it's standard power only with a rough looking power curve. The far more impressive sounding 270hp is really not that big a jump, if the car was a factory spec car with 230hp>270hp is easily achievable with no other modifications. If anything the guy is still not making the power that the engine/turbo combination has the potential to.

The real difference is the likes of APR do extensive testing for the cars that they develop maps for and rather significantly are approved in the USA by VW and will not impact the warranty. Their Scirocco map takes the standard 210hp car to 290hp/320lb-ft torque. I'd rather go with the multinational company who have been tuning/racing VW group cars for years than what some barely old enough to drive kiddy on YouTube thinks.

[CG2020UK]

I’ve had all my cars remapped without any issues and plenty of friends likewise.

Celtic tuning are good and you shouldn’t have issues. For VW a lot of people will pay extra for APR or Revo. Superchips are good as well.

VW group cars have always remapped well and get big gains compared to other manufacturers.

Things to look out for is the clutch won’t last long if your are hammering it in 1st and 2nd though that is the same for a non remapped car. Brakes haven’t been upgraded.