Remap

[Calc]

Other than Polestar, has anyone had a remap done by another tuner? If so, who did it and are you pleased with the results?

[nu11eaf]

Originally Posted by Calc

Other than Polestar, has anyone had a remap done by another tuner? If so, who did it and are you pleased with the results?

I dont think many people would risk it until out of warranty. As it may void it.

[apnicolle]

Have a look in the Sales section here and then ask S90

http://www.volvoforums.org.uk/showthread.php?t=268885

[Calc]

Originally Posted by nu11eaf

I dont think many people would risk it until out of warranty. As it may void it.

It's quite interesting. I've just bought an XC90 - my first Volvo, having driven Land Rover Discos for the last 17 years.

I'm only 3 days in, but so far, so good! However the various Land Rover forums seem quite a lot more active and, in many ways, more adventurous than the Volvo ones - or at least from what I've found so far!

As soon as a new Disco comes out, there are various people / businesses crawling all over them to see what can be upgraded / tweaked / added / activated etc....! I'm not sure about the latest Disco 5, but it didn't take too long with the older models before people found ways to 'activate' all sorts of 'extras' which were actually no more than turning on a software switch.

There is also a very active market for remaps and many people install them on new cars pretty much as soon as they buy them. Although some are, inevitably, more cautious.

Perhaps the Land Rover heritage in the UK attracts 'hands on' people, who have grown up tinkering with LR products and don't really see any reason to stop now! There always seem to be some technically competent person keen to have a go at most things and take photos as they do it!

Typical things which I'd like potentially to do to my XC90 include:

• Fit a front camera
• Fit front parking sensors (can't believe they weren't standard!)
• Install a subwoofer
• Install more USB points

but I'll start a separate post for those, although not holding my breath!

[neon]

The perception of Volvo drivers has not really been what you would call adventurous. With the new face, models and culture of Volvo the image may well change in the future I would predict.
Personally I do not like moving away from the standard car too much and if I do do anything I tend to try to take advantage of any improvements that are provided by the manufacturer, especially during the warranty period. I always tend to get a factory build though with all the things I want optioned.

[Konst]

I'm glad to know people can't put their hands on Volvo software (remapping or other sort of tuning) . I guess those buying a second hand XC90 will be happy to get an unmodified car.

[pagan8c]

I certainly wouldn't want a car someone else has been messing about with the software. I personally don't see the need for any added stuff as my car works fine and is plenty fast enough for me. If I did want a bit more I would have the Volvo P* but other than that don't see the point.

[Calc]

Originally Posted by Konst

I'm glad to know people can't put their hands on Volvo software (remapping or other sort of tuning)

Originally Posted by pagan8c

I certainly wouldn't want a car someone else has been messing about with the software.

Putting aside the remap side of things for the moment, I think from the other things I've listed, it's fairly obvious that nothing I'm proposing involves 'messing about' with software. There's no coding or editing involved - effectively it's putting ticks in boxes which could have been ticked before.

Adding a front camera, the twin USB ports or front parking sensors are hardly things which are going to endanger the car or devalue it for future users!!

Remapping, I accept, is a slightly different issue - but again, this is just a question of tweaking settings, not re-writing code. It's something which has been happening for a long time and something which Polestar were originally doing unofficially, but which Volvo have recognised provides a potential profit stream and so legitimised by buying Polestar and bringing them 'in house'.

Yet what Polestar is doing is no different to what most of the remapping companies do - enhancing the performance by tweaking settings.

It is well known that manufacturers frequently don't get the best out of their engines and effectively de-tune them. VW in particular have often sold exactly the same engine, at different power ratings and significantly different prices, where only the software settings have been changed.

There are apparently other reasons the manufacturers de-tune most engines they sell, a significant one being to enable them to provide the same spec engine across a wide range of markets without having to adjust for local conditions, fuel qualities, servicing etc etc.

That more and more of them are now offering 'officially' tuned or tweaked versions of often exactly the same vehicle, shows that the engines are very capable of having their performance improved, without any adverse consequences.

Also, remaps can be done for pure increased power, but they can often improve the fuel economy and, if the tuners and anecdotal evidence are to be believed, limited power increases and improved economy are not necessarily mutually exclusive!

So, personally, I see little difference between a reputable third party tuner applying those tweaks or a (now) in house one - aka Polestar in Volvo's case. Oh - except that a third part solution will generally cost in the order of £250 - £500, whereas Volvo want to charge circa £850(?).

[steadvex]

Something to consider, official polestar update lives through software updates, third party remap will only map to the software version at the time the map was applied, reloading the map will take it back to that prior version which in turn will get over written again by any ecm updates.

Personally to me, if you've spent 50k on a car an £800 upgrade over a third party one to save £300 is nuts, and this is from someone who works in a garage that offers rica tuning, for older cars its great, but i would stick to polestar for cars within a few years old, especially new models.

Also polestar is much easier,just a software package on VIDA, no messing with ecu's


I also have a rica sport map on my own car as i thought the polestar was a bit wimpy, but then my car is 10 years old and well beyond official updates

[glyn696486]

Going to reboot this thread and see if anything has changed in the year plus since this was started. I am keen to hear views on a remap as it seems there is now one on the market for the V90, which increases power to 290hp. Any thoughts VF?