163 bhp and 185 bhp D5 engines

[imac]

>Hi, there is another consideration, somebody on our forum
>recently chipped their car and faced a hefty increase in their
>insurance even though the difference in power between the two
>standard V70s is achieved purely by software, he ended up
>paying more for his insurance than he would have had to pay
>insuring a V70 that had the power he wanted as standard! If
>you buy a car with the bhp you want you will not have to worry
>about your insurers classifying your car as modified! It all
>depends what you want, and of course your insurers approach to
>insuring modified cars!


Good point, Iain!

Originally Posted by IC

Hi, there is another consideration, somebody on our forum recently chipped their car and faced a hefty increase in their insurance even though the difference in power between the two standard V70s is achieved purely by software, he ended up paying more for his insurance than he would have had to pay insuring a V70 that had the power he wanted as standard! If you buy a car with the bhp you want you will not have to worry about your insurers classifying your car as modified! It all depends what you want, and of course your insurers approach to insuring modified cars!

Hi, I thought engine remaps were supposed to be virtually undetectable? You should declare it but you need very specialist equipment to find out about a remap? Chipping it a different thing altogether though?

[IC]

Hi, the chipping most people refer to is an ECU remap. The ground of whether a remap can be detected has been covered many times on this forum, so has notifying an insurer of modifications. Basically if you modify a car from standard you should notify your insurers otherwise you may find that you may not be covered in the case of an accident. Paying hundreds of pounds for a valueless piece of paper is pointless, never mind the horrendous implications of liability in the case of an accident if your car insurance is not valid. The typical increase in the case of a remap should be about 10% of the car's insurance, so it's not too much, it's allways prudent to ask an insurers of what the likely cost of a modification will be.

There are different ways of remapping an ECU: invasive procedure where the ECU is physically opened and modified, there may be evidence of tampering such as soldering and non-invasive where the ECU is modified using software without opening the ECU or even a combination of the above methods.

[STE-MAL]

I changed the wheels on my 1993 855 2.0 20v auto (so not a powerfull car or a performance upgrade), I phoned my insurer and they gave me five days to find a new insurer. What I'm saying is if you don't tell them and you have a crash you're in it deep!!!! Even if someone hits you, they will find out, that's what they are good at.

ok, but what about if you buy a s60 second hand and you don't know about certain mods. What's the situation then? I mean, what about the optional extras?

For instance an S60 may come with certain 16" alloys, but the previous owner changes them for 17" or a different 16" design. You may not know the difference and insure the car as a standard S60 SE for example. What's the legal situation there?

[STE-MAL]

Thats a good question. Thats something you would have to ask the insurer.