Litchfield tuning Alpine A110

[Ssharland]

Hi Everyone,

I currently own a Abyss Blue alpine Base A110 from 2022, which I absolutely adore. It's just a great car to drive and even the boot space hasn't been as much of an issue as I originally anticipated. However, one of the things I wouldn't mind is just a tad more power and I read that the Litchfield tune is a great way to squeeze a nice amount of power out of the car.

My question was if anyone else had done this, what your thoughts are and if this had caused any issues with the reliability?

Thanks in advance.

[A110Wienerwald]

Or Wortec essential pack?

[Richard Piggott]

Yes another vote for Wortec, visited their workshop and tried the owners essentials pack set up on his base 110, makes more power & torque etc but its best point is the added driveability, ironing out the turbo like power delivery to give more of a continuous surge across the rev range. V impressive and something of a bargain (c.£900) with the ability to turn on and off thru' the dongle/app.

[worldwidewebs]

I've had the following maps (in this order) on my A110 over the last 3 years or so and 15k miles: Life110 TRS; Life110 Active Motion (the current one); Wortec Essential Pac. I'm now back on the latest Life110 map and this would be my recommendation

[neil-g8km6]

I have a 2018 Premiere Edition with the Lichfield engine and gearbox map. The car has been transformed and now had the performance it should have had when released. The car has performed flawlessly on and off track so I have no regrets.
I am unsure whether Lichfield is the preferred tune for later cars.

[PHusername]

worldwidewebs said:

I've had the following maps (in this order) on my A110 over the last 3 years or so and 15k miles: Life110 TRS; Life110 Active Motion (the current one); Wortec Essential Pac. I'm now back on the latest Life110 map and this would be my recommendation

Thanks for the sharing Mr WWW. Would you mind talking us through the differences and/or what exactly made you switch back to the Life110 map after trying Wortec? I fully understand if you don't want to, & recognise what's important to you in the tune for your A110 may not be the same for me or others.

I've put my hand up to get the Wortec tune because (so far) they are the only mob that can do it remotely. However... it turns out the early ECU's aren't playing nice with the HP Tuners hardware they send out. They may get it sorted later, but I'd rather not go through the time & expense to be disappointed. I'm currently using a ReB Motorsport (piggy back) which is the worst type of "tune", but it absolutely rips when getting on it, even if it may not be the most linear power delivery.

[kilarney]

PHusername said:

Thanks for the sharing Mr WWW. Would you mind talking us through the differences and/or what exactly made you switch back to the Life110 map after trying Wortec? I fully understand if you don't want to, & recognise what's important to you in the tune for your A110 may not be the same for me or others.

I've put my hand up to get the Wortec tune because (so far) they are the only mob that can do it remotely. However... it turns out the early ECU's aren't playing nice with the HP Tuners hardware they send out. They may get it sorted later, but I'd rather not go through the time & expense to be disappointed. I'm currently using a ReB Motorsport (piggy back) which is the worst type of "tune", but it absolutely rips when getting on it, even if it may not be the most linear power delivery.

I have also given up my wortec tune but in my case back to stock. The map works but the revised delivery characteristics were not my cup of tea. Your choice of course.

[PHusername]

kilarney said:

I have also given up my wortec tune but in my case back to stock. The map works but the revised delivery characteristics were not my cup of tea. Your choice of course.

Thanks mate. What delivery characteristics didn't you like? I've read it's very linear, was that it or something else?

[Kev_Mk3]

I would use Life110 100%.

Moderator edit: no naming & shaming

[worldwidewebs]

PHusername said:

Thanks for the sharing Mr WWW. Would you mind talking us through the differences and/or what exactly made you switch back to the Life110 map after trying Wortec? I fully understand if you don't want to, & recognise what's important to you in the tune for your A110 may not be the same for me or others.

I've put my hand up to get the Wortec tune because (so far) they are the only mob that can do it remotely. However... it turns out the early ECU's aren't playing nice with the HP Tuners hardware they send out. They may get it sorted later, but I'd rather not go through the time & expense to be disappointed. I'm currently using a ReB Motorsport (piggy back) which is the worst type of "tune", but it absolutely rips when getting on it, even if it may not be the most linear power delivery.

My car is a base 2022 'Carplay' car and the first map I had was the TRS map from Life110 which increased the power to something like 'S' levels, maybe a touch higher. Quite happy with it and felt reasonably 'factory'.

Then I had the Active Motion map from Life110. Much, much quicker. Lots more torque, but nicely ramps up rather than just being a big dump. I really liked the map but I did have a couple of issues which, it was assumed, were down to higher temps in the engine bay. As a consequence I fitted the Wortec exhaust in an attempt to bring those temps down but the main niggle I had remained - I think the exhaust did what it as supposed to do but in my case the issue wasn't heat related.

When Wortec released their map I decided to take a punt. I like the remote delivery method and the ability to capture and upload diagnostic information. Paul at Wortec is also very responsive and helpful. However, the map is way down on power/torque compared to the Life map and it's really noticeable on track - you probably wouldn't notice on the road though. The other thing I really don't like with the Wortec map is the throttle response. Some say it's linear but I have to disagree. Nothing happens for a good chunk of pedal travel then it picks up and goes. If you like that characteristic then no problems but for me (and others I've spoken with) it's awful. So, given the decrease in performance and the throttle behaviour I've gone back to the Life110 map.

What I would say is that given the way Wortec deliver their product, it could well be that in time their map could be tweaked and improved, and I would have no issues going back to it if that were the case. But for me at this moment in time, the Life110 map is best for me, my car and my requirements/expectations.

[PHusername]

Thank you so much. That info is incredibly helpful.

[Andy642]

Interesting comment about Litchfield.
I bought my car with their map already installed and felt it works really well. After 2 fuel pump failures and replacement's and then the maps reinstalled I haven’t had any problem.
In the interim, when it had its standard map there was a significant difference in performance.
I found the service good as well.
The map is lost when the pumps are replaced for info.
No allegiance to the company by the way.

[heisenberger]

PHusername said:

I've put my hand up to get the Wortec tune because (so far) they are the only mob that can do it remotely. However... it turns out the early ECU's aren't playing nice with the HP Tuners hardware they send out. They may get it sorted later, but I'd rather not go through the time & expense to be disappointed. I'm currently using a ReB Motorsport (piggy back) which is the worst type of "tune", but it absolutely rips when getting on it, even if it may not be the most linear power delivery.

I'm also on Ress Motorsport for couple of years, 100% reliable and has very good punch, however it tails a bit in the higher range (S performs better) and throttle is quite twitchy... on certain roads it is quite hard to drive smoothly. So I was thinking of trying wortec because of all the hype, but reading these comments gives me doubts... and they not responding to email doesn't help either

[PHusername]

heisenberger said:

I'm also on Ress Motorsport for couple of years, 100% reliable and has very good punch, however it tails a bit in the higher range (S performs better) and throttle is quite twitchy... on certain roads it is quite hard to drive smoothly. So I was thinking of trying wortec because of all the hype, but reading these comments gives me doubts... and they not responding to email doesn't help either

Is your car pre GPF (silver catalytic converter)? If so, the only way Wortec can tune it (for now) is if you take your car to them. And the only way I've managed to get updates is via FB messages. This (the lack of email updates) only happened after they found out remote tuning the pre-GPF cars was problematic, but I don't know what happened when their customer/s tried. I hope no one "bricked" their ECU. Given the few reviews above, I'm going to pass for now, even if they fix the remote tuning issue.

[heisenberger]

worldwidewebs said:

The other thing I really don't like with the Wortec map is the throttle response. Some say it's linear but I have to disagree. Nothing happens for a good chunk of pedal travel then it picks up and goes. If you like that characteristic then no problems but for me (and others I've spoken with) it's awful.

Thanks for sharing this first hand experience. It is really hard nowadays to believe any marketing hype in anything, not just car related.

From what I've read about wortec tune it makes a lot of sense to me. I've always felt that a110 base map felt a bit lethargic compared to other small turbo cars (e.g. subaru or yaris gr), and wortec says it is because oem map is tuned for lower emmissions. Also it is true that once you lift the throttle a bit, it goes quickly into deceleration/engine-braking, from which the pickup is slower. It can be hard to drive smoothly on technical roads, where you need more gradual inputs and there's a lot of short switching on/off throttle. And wortec says they improve this by reducing deceleration through different off-throttle behaviour (ignition timing). This all checks all the right boxes "in theory". But if practice doesn't confirm it, then it's not worth the hassle imho.

[heisenberger]

PHusername said:

Is your car pre GPF (silver catalytic converter)?

Nope, unfortunatelly (or luckily) I already have the GPF...

[worldwidewebs]

heisenberger said:

wortec says they improve this by reducing deceleration through different off-throttle behaviour (ignition timing). This all checks all the right boxes "in theory". But if practice doesn't confirm it, then it's not worth the hassle imho.

Personally, I can't say I ever felt the issue you describe, but as someone else who had the Wortec map then went back to the LIfe110/AM map said to me, "it's like it's running on all the time when I lift off".

I'd never say "X is better than Y" as we all like different things and have different levels of perception, but I can say I know 3 people that had the Life110/AM map, went to the Wortec map then went back or were planning to, but I don't know of anyone that made the change and was happier - although I'm sure there are some.

It's a shame that these companies don't offer a try before you buy service, or at least a refund period. I think that would benefit all parties in reality.

[Richard Piggott]

Paul at Wortec was v happy for me to try his own car with absolutely no obligation, just a few miles but enough to get the feel. I haven't yet gone for it though

[matt5964]

For balance, we have the wortec map and don’t feel an unresponsive throttle inputs in the first 2/3’s I’d say completely the opposite, the throttle is much more consistent and more progressive and precise than the oem map

It much quicker now and our car is a 73 plate S , not as boosted but we gather pace quicker, feels much nicer to drive
With the forced shunt gear changes in track vastly reduced and the fake pops n bangs all but gone

We nave no connection to wortec apart from buying map and now exhaust which is at Zircotec being coated. Always had great communication.

As said in thread already we’re all different looking for different things. Some like the boosted feel, some like refinement, there is something for everyone

[PHusername]

matt5964 said:

For balance, we have the wortec map and don t feel an unresponsive throttle inputs in the first 2/3 s I d say completely the opposite, the throttle is much more consistent and more progressive and precise than the oem map

It much quicker now and our car is a 73 plate S , not as boosted but we gather pace quicker, feels much nicer to drive
With the forced shunt gear changes in track vastly reduced and the fake pops n bangs all but gone

We nave no connection to wortec apart from buying map and now exhaust which is at Zircotec being coated. Always had great communication.

As said in thread already we re all different looking for different things. Some like the boosted feel, some like refinement, there is something for everyone

Thanks Matt, I appreciate your feedback too. Reduced pops & bangs is enticing & I'm interested to hear more about the differences in gear changes. These 2 things alone were what had me prepared to try it but, even if it was available to me, I would still hold off on a decision until more people try it out & offer feedback.

I'm yet to go on a trackday, so absolute power & speed isn't a deal breaker, but I actually like the slowing off throttle when flowing through corners at 6-7 tenths. Having to brake gently instead of a simple lift off isn't as appealing, although I could probably get used to it. Us humans are a complicated breed & "one size fits all" doesn't come close wrt tuning our cars.