MTE v RICA remapping.

[Chris2134]

Hello all,

I bet this will open a can of worms...... anyway here goes. I currently have an S60 T5 2001 SE. I am currently having braided brake pipes and Black Diamond discs with Ferodo DS 2500's fitted. I want to get the ECU remapped. I live in the Notts area and there is a very local RICA authorised garage. I understand that with MTE I would have to use a softloader.

Before I go on I quickly spoke with Don from Kalmar Union who does MTE. He did not go for quoting big increases in BHP which seems the RICA selling point? In a nutshell do I go for the RICA which is local and probably the easier route or is it a day down south to the Smoke to see Don?

The car is not used on a track. I will also be looking at a better exhaust system when I have saved up!

Thanks

Chris

[John_C]

OK first off don't believe RICA's quoted power figures, I have never yet seen a RICA'd car make the claimed figures. That's not to say it's a bad remap, just that IMO their publicity is overstated.

Everything I've heard suggests the RICA comes in with more of a big torque hit low down the range whereas the MTE is a little more progressive and doesn't tail off quite as low up the rev range as the RICA.

Some people prefer the RICA, some the MTE. I had a RICA on my 850 and loved it but I'm sure the MTE would have been at least every bit as good.

At the end of the day you pays your money you takes your choice but I'd suggest if there's a meet which is reasonably local to you then going there and seeing if you can get passenger rides in some tuned cars would be a good idea.

If you were thinking of a custom remap (i.e. one specifically tuned to your car) rather than an off-the-shell remap I'd definitely go to Don.

Cheers,
John

[Chris2134]

Thanks for the above. I have decided to go the MTE route.

Chris

[hobbyhorse]

Important to point out that Rica guarantee their power figures to be within 5% & if you use a PPC to load the map yourself, future upgrades to the map are free (& easily reloadable/reversible)

[John_C]

Never heard of that guarentee before, have you got a link to it or if not where did you hear it?

Frankly it sounds impossible, there can be more than a 5% variation in engines fresh from the factory never mind post-remap ones at all sorts of milages, service histories, etc.

How would you go about proving your engine was outside the 5% range, would you have to take it to RICA and run it on their RR?

Always willing to be proved wrong, but I just had a look and couldn't find a mention of any specific power guarentee on the RICA website.

John

[Nuisance]

Originally Posted by hobbyhorse

Important to point out that Rica guarantee their power figures to be within 5% & if you use a PPC to load the map yourself, future upgrades to the map are free (& easily reloadable/reversible)

That's just plain daft.

I've had the car dyno'd on 2 seperate dynos and it was well over 15% diferent.

Dyno plots can be easily be fiddled to "make the right power".

Sounds like sales BS to me. A RICA speciality.

To be honest their maps are OK, but their sales pitch is mainly BS.

I've had both RICA and MTE, and I'm sticking with the MTE.

Also the RICA map runs the engine much hotter, with leaner AFR's.

[hobbyhorse]

Originally Posted by Nuisance

That's just plain daft.

I've had the car dyno'd on 2 seperate dynos and it was well over 15% diferent.

Dyno plots can be easily be fiddled to "make the right power".

Sounds like sales BS to me. A RICA speciality.

To be honest their maps are OK, but their sales pitch is mainly BS.

I've had both RICA and MTE, and I'm sticking with the MTE.

Also the RICA map runs the engine much hotter, with leaner AFR's.

Only prob I can find with Rica 210 is that the (good,new) standard clutch can only just hold the torque. The quoted 5% is in the paperwork supplied with the ppc,tbh, took that with a pinch of salt & waited for the road test, which speaks for itself

[Marko]

Iv just been quietly reading away about these remaps...what sort of price are they and are they actually live mapped or just pre-determined maps? im getting the impression that they are pre-determined maps.

if the later is true then i personally wouldnt go for either, ok iv not had any experience with volvos but i have with turbocharged cars and its generally ends in a) engine running dangerously lean at some points b) less power than expected. Getting a piggyback ecu live mapped would be a far better option as you know that your engine will be running well within its safe limits and you're guaranteed to get more power than a guessed map.

[Nuisance]

Originally Posted by hobbyhorse

Only prob I can find with Rica 210 is that the (good,new) standard clutch can only just hold the torque. The quoted 5% is in the paperwork supplied with the ppc,tbh, took that with a pinch of salt & waited for the road test, which speaks for itself

The clutch should handle far more than a RICA 310.

I'm pushing 500 Nm through mine and it's fine!

[hobbyhorse]

Originally Posted by Nuisance

The clutch should handle far more than a RICA 310.

I'm pushing 500 Nm through mine and it's fine!

Are we talking about a D5 here ? others have the same clutch issue & are looking for an uprated clutch ~ Rica 310 a typo ? I'm running 210 sportune