thought i would write up my thoughts about my custom remap by MRC Tuning
am doing this for 2 reasons really, firstly to let others who haven't had a remap know what its like from a novice golf owner, secondly so that others with remaps could see whether my experience is similar to theirs:
my car - 2006 MK5 Golf GTI 5 door DSG
TORQUE!!
biggest difference i have noticed is the torque and throttle response. I found that before the remap (even after i had some boost leak issues fixed) foot down in 6th at around 70/80 was pretty flat crept up in speed. After the remap i tap the throttle in 6th and it pulls like a train. I find that changing gear at 5500rpm is almost optimal, i feel that the power drops off after that. The remap i got is quite linnear and doesnt give you a big kick in back, is very smooth and constant. also when im driving in a spirited fashion i really feel the car pulling and pulling after every gear change when before I really didnt find i was hitting nearly as much of the power band.
on a private road i did a power run before the remap from one point to another - top speed 110 then after the remap was getting into 5th gear at around 124ish, first part of this run is up hill so I could really notice the difference in torque.
POWER:
from a standstill the car feels much more aggressive running through the gears and makes me very happy i opted for DSG, you can see the traction control working very hard through first gear and a touch in second. 0-60 times i couldnt comment on but i would have thought over a second quicker (could be wrong on that one but thats what it feels like)
again through the rev range the car pulls very hard from 2800rpm to 5600rpm then dies off a little. I think this is a trate of the k03 turbo and again was far more noticeable before the remap. having driven a clio 172 for a while you get the power boost between 4500rpm to 7200rpm and very little elsewhere. so having the power low down in the range for me is a very pleasant change.
FINAL THOUGHTS
i guess like many people considering getting a remap i was concerned about the car being covered under warranty and insurance issues. I very quickly ruled out being bothered about Insurance. Warranty issues are a Grey area i suppose, i figured that it would be very unlikley that my local VW garage wouldnt repair anything that went wrong with the car due to the Remap - but would still be a little worried if i had to get it taken in for a major problem. I think generally its easier for a VW garage to go through VW warranties then have a big dispute with the customer who may end up taking the car to a specialist to get the work done. so in my view its in their interest to go through the warranty.
would i recommend getting a remap? I certainly would, has transformed the car for me and am still getting used to how much power it has now rather than wanting more when i first picked up the car. For every day drivability and instant power access its a winner all round
