Im in the process of getting a Renault Megane Scenic, which comes with the 1.5 DCI 100PS (tyre shredding NOT on the agenda!).
I’m considering getting it remapped once I’ve got to know it a bit better.

Looking for an improvement in both powah and economy.
I know from a bit of research that most modern cars leave the factory tuned mostly to lower emissions, rather than maximising power and economy.

Has anyone else had this done and did they feel it was of benefit?
From what I’ve read a proper remap is much better than just getting it “chipped”.

My Trafic got a mild remap, bigyinn (2.0DCi 115bhp), taking it to maybe 130bhp.

Was definitely worth it. It was no slouch before, its noticeably quicker now, and more economical. I don’t thrash it but the difference is noticeable.

Are you in central Scotland?

i have a scenic, im pondering whether to get a remap, as it currently struggles to go much above 50mpg, which i dont think is very good.

Renaults are designed to have very low CO2 emissions so that they qualify for lower taxes in many countries. Low CO2 equates to excellent economy. So whilst you’ll get more power it’s unlikely you’ll get better economy.

If you eliminate the EGR you’ll probably get more power and slightly better economy but you produce a lot more NOX (you’ll thus be contributing to a pollution source that kills a couple of thousand a year in the UK)

You definitely produce more soot of which the particle filter will only remove the big particles, the very fine stuff which is arguably the most dangerous for health will go straight through.

So go ahead only if you wish to poison your fellow citizens.

Edukator, there is no DPF in that age engine anyway. If you do a bit of reading you’ll see that both uplifts in power and economy can be had in modest quantities.
I wasnt planning on getting rid of the EGR at this stage, although they do have a habit of clogging up, so the removal is a moot point. If its already clogged it has the same impact as removal anyway.

So go ahead only if you wish to poison your fellow citizens.

We do less than 6k miles a year, so I doubt i’ll contribute much to the nation’s respiratory problems, but thanks for voicing your concerns.

there is no DPF in that age engine anyway

A good reason not to over-fuel it then as it will produce a lot more soot.

I have done some reading and power gains on older diesels are achieved by over-fueling so you really won’t get better economy at the same time. The only way you can improve both is to eliminate exhaust gas recycling which means combustion temperature goes up and NOX with it.

It’s just plain anti-social.

As the owner of a 6 year old Trafic, this thread has my attention. I assume there must be some downside to the remap? Otherwise, why would Renault not have made it with increased power and better fuel consumption?

As the owner of a 6 year old Trafic, this thread has my attention. I assume there must be some downside to the remap? Otherwise, why would Renault not have made it with increased power and better fuel consumption?

The usual response to this is that they are tuned to cope with the lowest common denominator – things like lower grade fuel. I am not an expert but this sort of sounds logical.

I think they’re tuned by the manuf primarily to reduce emissions in general, so the pecking order in terms of priority in their eyes is:-
Emissions > Economy > Power.

Hence why you can see improvements in terms of power and economy when they are tuned properly.

When they are tuned properly they are tuned to avoid excess deaths from cancer and breathing difficulties.

Find me a tuning specialist that claims improved power and economy without using some form of the conditional which means the claim isn’t binding, and doesn’t block the EGR. Some claim you’ll be able to use a higher gear because the engine produces more low down torque to justify their claim. I challenge you to find any chipping company that can produce a graph with horsepower versus specific fuel consumption that shows less fuel use per horsepower on an engine with the EGR still functioning.

Chipping companies block the EGR. This company is typical of the EGR removers and tells you that’s it’s illegal but you’ll never get caught as there are no roadside checks. So it’s down to your conscience and acting as a responsible member of society.

Surely a responsible member of society would invest their energies in preventing the war machine which is a far larger polluter than civilian transport?

I tuned my old Citroen ZX and both performance and economy improved considerably.

Same with a Peugeot 806 (both were mechanical fuel pumps, so not a remap as such, but principle is the same)

Tuning generally improves drivability (and economy) due to increased torque throughout the rev range.

You can pick up tuning boxes on Ebay for about £50, which may be worth a try…

There is also a recent system which plugs into your OBD2 port to give the equivalent of a remap, which you can change between cars when you sell on… last I saw they were over £100, but:

I’ve just found this for a fiver

Go on, I dare you…

JHJ, A fiver you say? What could possibly go wrong?
Edukator, as I said Im not going for a “chip” because I dont believe they are much cop. I’d rather take to a place that knows what they are doing, pref with a rolling road so that values can be demonstrated, not just quoted as fact.
I didnt ask about the environmental concerns (I am aware of them), what I did ask was for some real world experiences, not conjecture about shonky boxes which probably do little more than block or modify certain signals from engine sensors to the ECU, which in turn force the ECU to react to what it “sees” going on.

A good remap should make the vehicle more drivable. I would avoid the black box chips as they only alter things like fuel pressure.

Edukator – Troll

Find me a tuning specialist that claims improved power and economy without using some form of the conditional which means the claim isn’t binding, and doesn’t block the EGR.

The guys that did my mondingo, car tuning clinic. Promised power and economy and delivered, and no EGR bypass. What do I win?

If you’re in Scotland, try Paul Winston at Angel Tuning Scotland. He does a proper job, none of this box nonsense and the power gains I got from a van and car (admittedly not Renaults but he does them too) are exceptional. He’s the only man I would trust.

My local Renault dealer used to be one of the local main people to go to for getting cars chipped.

It sort of died off after a while, Superchuck I think they dealt with. Couldn’t you find a 1.9 Megane Scenic and have more power and torque to start with?

Beware that the 1.5 engine us considered a throw away engine if they go bang..

Its a good deal I’ve got it for and my 16yo Spazda 323 is on its last legs. So it’ll do for now. At least its way more practical than the spazda.