hi all I've owned my meg 250FF Cup for over 4 years now. I've only ever modded cars brakes and nothing else. Would a map and other bits genuinely make my car quicker? A mate has a custom mapped 265 from paul at RST running and yet it when we have a "play" there is literally zero difference be that in gear or standing start. I ask as I'm ready for something new but don't really have the pennies yet for what I want so thinking maybe a few mods to make it feel like a new car again. Thanks for replies.
If there is nothing in in between yours and your mates then either his is a weak engine yours in strong or it already has a map on it. There's no chance a car running stock power will have the same pace as something running around 50bhp more and upto 100ftlbs more, never mind the mid range gains [emoji23] Mine was noticeable quicker than a Mates facelift 265 which is running around 280/290bhp and that was before hybrid when I only had 330bhp
I'm tempted to take it RST and get mine RR'd and if not get it mapped. What are the best mods Jamie then? Best bang for buck?
I've had mid box chop is the decat better than this? Or is this literally for sound where as the decat is power and sound?
Lol midbox is for sound only. Decat you're taking out the restrictive catalytic converter to free up the exhaust flow and hence generate more power Sent from my SM-G920I using Tapatalk
Not worth swapping the exhaust? Jamie's bang on - these cars have a fair amount of gain for little spend on a map and decat.... then a whole load of stuff in the middle that makes no real difference but, arguably, if you're spanking it round on track then it'll keep heat levels down (oil cooler, FMIC etc) Then there's potential to go nuts, but it's stupidly expensive. Forged engine, different fuelling setup, uprated clutch etc. A completely stripped Megane with a map, less restrictive exhaust, and sticky tyres is likely to be as quick as one that's had loads done to it.
There is a lot of variables in outright performance. Firstly you may find your 250 is running higher BHP because many do. My RS265 ran 281 as standard. In a straight line you'd need exactly the same gear changes and clutch movement to compare exactly. 50bhp may sound a lot (and torque will come in sooner) but your cars are weighty and so 50bhp is less of a difference than you may think. My RS265 felt quicker when mapped up to 303bhp but on the road with friends there was no noticeable difference. On track the biggest performance improvement you can make for reasonable money is tyres. Decent track tyres make huge differences (I'd say then do the brakes/do them at the same time but you already have).
I'd agree. Trouble with 225/230/250/275/275/300/etc etc is this value is just part of the performance. Just one point in the rev range before you snatch another gear. A short almost inconsequential position that you'd miss if moving up early. What it tells you is part of the story but is a good indicator to what's below. I've seen high peak power values but essentially no more power in the middle of the Rev range where you spend all your time and expect flexibility. Best way to gauge the real increase is to look at the extra area under the graph on the new power plot. Compare that to the original area. That's your actual gain across the Rev range. This varies wildly from map to map and is due mostly to the torque being produced from boost across the Rev range. An engine coming on boost early and holding high figures will generally feel and go better than one which is more progressive which may have more top end. Like the term "stage" when applied to tuning, peek power quotes are all relative and no two average performed are the same even if the actual peek value is. What needs to be considered more than most things here is the retarding force acting against acceleration. Not just mass but drag. Drag is what power needs to overcome and unfortunately an aspect of profile drag (drag produced due to form, skin friction) is produced as a product of the velocity squared. So if you increase the speed by 2, you increase the drag by 4. Increase speed by 4, drag increases by 16. This is why cars all start to struggle in with high speeds. Massive HPs needed to break 150mph on a standard non slipstreamed car. So if you want to accelerate the mass much quicker than another you not only need a lot of force to move it, overcome the friction but also work against the ever increasing drag. Big power differences are needed to yield a discernible difference. So I agree you may not notice a massive difference. Point the other way round is all those diesels you don't easily pull away from. In fact my mildly recalibrated 175 has only 193bhp but on the motorway keeps up with the neighbours Golf R quite easily from 50-100. This is down principally to the 420Nm, lower weight and similar drag value. Pulls away from Focus STs quite easily.
There is a really old magazine article that ended up on the net in which various tyres were tested on a Porsche 968 round Castle Combe by Mark Hales. The tyres were old previous versions of the Dunlop DZ03, Michelin PS etc (DZ02 & Pilot Sport MMX3 I think). The time gaps were really quite stark, ISTR the true track tyre (Dunlop) was 3 seconds a lap faster than the Michelin and this at Combe which is a fairly short track. Shame I can't find a link to the thing any more.
