Performance
Stage 1 Remapping
From £300
Performance
Economy tuning
Economy tuning is an ECU calibration written for efficiency rather than power, so it asks less of the engine rather than more. Nothing is removed and nothing is switched off. The emissions equipment stays where it is and keeps working.
Price From £200
What economy tuning is
It is the same kind of work as a remap, aimed at a different target. Instead of chasing the top of the rev range, the calibration builds torque lower down, so the vehicle pulls properly in a higher gear at lower revs.
In practice that means fewer gear changes, less effort to keep up with traffic, and a smoother pull when the vehicle is loaded or towing. Most drivers notice how the vehicle feels before they notice anything on the fuel gauge.
We will not put a percentage on the saving. It depends on the vehicle, the load and how it is actually driven, and anyone quoting you a flat figure for every van on the road is guessing. What we can tell you is what changed on your vehicle.
Who it's for
Delivery drivers and couriers, taxi and private hire drivers, and anyone running a van as the business rather than as a way of getting to it. When fuel is a weekly cost rather than a monthly one, a small change compounds.
It also suits towing and campervans, where the problem is not speed but having to work the engine hard to hold a gear on a hill with weight behind you.
If what you actually want is a car that feels quicker, this is the wrong page. A Stage 1 remap is the one for that. The two are different calibrations aimed at different things, and doing both at once is not what this is.
How we do it
We start with how the vehicle is genuinely used: motorway miles or town miles, loaded or empty, towing or not. A calibration for a courier sitting in city traffic is not the one for a van doing long motorway runs.
We run a diagnostics check before anything is written. If the car has a fault, tuning on top of it hides the fault rather than fixing it, so we deal with that first or we don't proceed.
Every job runs on a 100-amp battery support unit. Voltage dropping mid-write is how ECUs get bricked, and it is the single most common way a cheap remap goes wrong.
The calibration is then written for your engine and ECU, aimed at low-end torque rather than peak power, and left inside the limits the engine was designed around. Nothing in the emissions system is touched.
You can have a USB backup of your original file, so the car can be put back to how it left the factory whenever you want.
What's included
- A conversation about how the vehicle is actually used
- Full diagnostics check before anything is written
- Economy calibration written for your engine and ECU
- Emissions equipment left in place and working
- Every write done on a 100-amp battery support unit
- Optional USB backup of your original file
- Before-and-after figures, measured on your vehicle
Why us for this
This is the cheapest tuning work we do and it gets the same process as the expensive kind: diagnostics before anything is written, and a battery support unit on every job.
The work is done by an IMI-approved technician trained by The OBD Company, on dealer-level tools rather than a generic cable.
Work is done at our unit at 85 Bogmoor Road in Glasgow, across from the Shieldhall test centre, which is easy enough to get to if the vehicle is out working during the week.
An economy tune is not a delete and we do not present it as one. Your DPF, EGR and AdBlue system stay fitted and functional, which matters if the vehicle is going for an MOT or is on a lease.
What you pay
From £200.
What moves it is the vehicle. Some ECUs are written through the diagnostic port and some have to come out and go on the bench, which is more work. Send the registration and we will tell you which yours is.
If you run several vehicles, send the list rather than one registration and we will price the lot as one job.
Common questions
How much fuel will I actually save?
We will not give you a number before we have seen the vehicle, because the honest answer depends on the engine, the weight it carries and how it gets driven. A driver who uses the extra low-end torque to stay in a higher gear sees the benefit; one who does not, will not.
Will it make the vehicle slower?
No. It changes where the effort sits rather than removing it: more pull low down, which is the part you use in traffic and when loaded. It is simply not aimed at the top of the rev range.
Does anything get deleted or switched off?
No. This is a calibration, not a delete. The DPF, EGR and AdBlue system all stay fitted and working, and if any of them has a fault we will find it in the diagnostics check and deal with that first.
Do I have to tell my insurer?
Yes. It is still a remap, and insurers treat any change to the ECU as a modification whether or not it adds power. Declaring it is straightforward; not declaring it can cost you a claim.
Does it work on petrol as well as diesel?
There is usually more to gain on a turbo diesel, which is what most of this work goes on. Tell us the vehicle and we will be straight with you about whether it is worth doing on yours.
Can it be put back to standard?
Yes, with the USB backup of your original file. That matters if the vehicle is leased or is going back to a dealer, so take the backup.
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Let's get you a price
Tell us what you drive and what you want done to it. We will come back with a price for your car, not a range off a chart.