Performance
Performance
Stage 1 remap
A Stage 1 remap is a software-only change to your car's ECU, with no parts fitted and nothing cut. Whether it is safe for your engine comes down entirely to how it is done — so here is exactly how we do it.
Price From £300
What a Stage 1 remap is
Your ECU holds the calibration the engine runs on: fuelling, boost, ignition timing, torque limits. The manufacturer sets that calibration to cover every market it sells into, every grade of fuel and every owner who skips a service. A Stage 1 map adjusts those tables for the car actually in front of us.
It is software and nothing else. No parts are bolted on, nothing is removed, and the car looks exactly as it did when it arrived. That is all Stage 1 means, and it is why it suits a standard car.
You get before-and-after figures taken on your own car, measured rather than estimated. What a Stage 1 map is worth depends on your engine, your fuel and the state the car is in — which is exactly why we would rather show you your own numbers than print somebody else's.
When a Stage 1 makes sense
Standard cars, turbo petrol or turbo diesel, where the complaint is usually the same: the car feels flat in the middle of the rev range, or lazy when you ask it for something on a slip road or with the family in the back.
It is the wrong page if you already have a downpipe, an intake or an intercooler fitted. Hardware changes what the engine can take, and that is a Stage 2 map written around your setup. If the goal is fuel rather than pace, economy tuning is the one you want.
If the car has a live fault, is due a service, or is running on a clutch that is already slipping, deal with that first. We will say so rather than tune on top of it.
How we do it
We start with the car and what you want out of it. Which map goes on a daily-driven diesel that tows is not the map for a car that gets used at weekends, and that conversation happens before anything is booked.
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 map is matched to your exact engine and ECU. Some ECUs can be written through the car's diagnostic port; others have to come out and be written on the bench, which is more careful work and is the main reason one car costs more than another.
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.
Afterwards the car is tested, fault codes are read back, and you get the before-and-after figures for your own car.
What's included
- A conversation about the car and how you drive it
- Full diagnostics check before anything is written
- Stage 1 map matched to your exact engine and ECU
- Every write done on a 100-amp battery support unit
- Optional USB backup of your original file
- Before-and-after figures, measured on your car
- Testing and a fault-code recheck afterwards
Why us for this
The work is done by an IMI-approved technician trained by The OBD Company, on dealer-level tools rather than a generic cable.
Remapping is an unregulated trade, so the qualifications behind it are worth asking any tuner about, not just us. We are also a MASSA member.
The work happens at our own unit at 85 Bogmoor Road in Glasgow, across from the Shieldhall test centre. Writing to an ECU is not roadside work, and a car with its ECU open is not a car you want sitting on a driveway.
The figures we give you are yours — read off your own car, before and after. You will never get a number off a chart from us, and if your engine is better suited to a smaller change than you had in mind, you will hear it from us before you spend anything.
What you pay
From £300.
What moves it is the car. An ECU that can be written through the diagnostic port is straightforward; one that has to come out and go on the bench takes more work and more care, and it costs more. Send us the registration and we will tell you which yours is before you commit to anything.
A gearbox (TCU) tune can be added for £150. It is an add-on to our own remap rather than something we sell on its own.
Common questions
Will a remap damage my engine?
It is capable of it, which is why the checks matter more than the map. We run diagnostics first and will not tune on top of a fault, every write runs on a battery support unit so voltage cannot drop mid-write, and the calibration stays inside limits the engine was built to handle. If your car is not a sensible candidate we will tell you.
Do I need to tell my insurer?
Yes. A remap is a modification and insurers treat it as one. Declaring it may change what you pay; not declaring it can leave you without cover at the point you need it. The article below goes into this properly.
Can the car be put back to standard?
Yes, if you take the USB backup of your original file. That is your car exactly as it left the factory, and it can go back on whenever you want: before selling it, or before a dealer visit.
Which fuel should I run afterwards?
We will tell you what your map has been written for. If it is written for super unleaded, run super unleaded, because putting the cheap stuff in undoes part of what you paid for.
My car already has a map from somewhere else. Can you work on it?
Tell us first. We will read what is on the ECU before agreeing to anything, because we cannot vouch for a file somebody else wrote and we are not going to build on top of one blind.
Will it show up at a dealer?
Assume it can. Modern ECUs log writes, and we would rather you went in knowing that than found out at a service. If you want the original file back on before it goes in, the USB backup is there for exactly that.
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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.