Ford focus chip / remap

[The-Best1-Around]

Hi all, 

Brand new here and wanted some advice or pros and cons and prices. 

I have a 14 plate Ford focus 1.6 TDCI and I find it has a lot of lag sometimes and got to drop it a gear to get it back up to speed etc. I know it's a diesel and only a 1.6. Can anyone recommend a chip or is it a remap I need to help with his I have been told there's some out there which help with MPG and speed/acceleration. Is this true? I'm not turning this into a racer.... It's a family car and just that bit more. 

Do you think it's a good idea 💡 👍 or not? 

Not sure if I get notifications when you reply so maybe reply to my inbox. 

Thanks 

Ben

[Stoney871]

Take a look at Superchips Bluefin or TDITuning.

http://www.superchips.co.uk/

https://www.tdi-tuning.co.uk/

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)

[Jonro2009]

I’m looking into this myself Clive, for my 1.5 diesel lump. Do you know how the 2 differ? I have been looking at a bluefin remap recently and they offer a different map for manual/powershift, tdci tuning have just one map. 

Which company has the best reputation when it comes to diesel tuning? Does there seem to be a preference on here?

[Stoney871]

The TDI system is a module that plugs into the fuel rail and tweaks the system directly.
The Bluefin is a proper plug-in remap via the ecu so is more thorough and intensive.
Both are readily removeable for servicing / mot purposes.
I had a diesel focus with a TDI box and it was pretty decent and I've applied a Bluefin to my previous and current ST's and very happy with the improvement.
Tbh I'd say that the Bluefin would likely suit you better as it will greatly reduce low rev lag.

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)

[drsdriver]

Definitely get it remapped. Superchips is a good company or try more bhp in Crewe Cheshire. Had my 1.6 tdci Focus mk3 done there . Superb rolling road remap . 115bhp to 136bhp & 270 NM to 336 NM torque. 

Made the car very quick and much nicer to drive with effortless overtaking . Mpg improved to 60 mpg average over the whole tank . 

They have a website morebhp 👍

[mattwlkr]

9 hours ago, Stoney871 said:

The TDI system is a module that plugs into the fuel rail and tweaks the system directly.
The Bluefin is a proper plug-in remap via the ecu so is more thorough and intensive.
Both are readily removeable for servicing / mot purposes.
I had a diesel focus with a TDI box and it was pretty decent and I've applied a Bluefin to my previous and current ST's and very happy with the improvement.
Tbh I'd say that the Bluefin would likely suit you better as it will greatly reduce low rev lag.

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)
 

I'll second Bluefin, reduced the lag of my 1.8 TDCI proving smoother power delivery and no more cutting out at Junctions because the revs were to low. I used to get a kick of power then it would fizzle out, now is over a broader range.

[Ryan_Tango]

I went for a custom map on mine, went from 115BHP, 290NM to 150BHP, 350NM, it pulls like a train and overtaking is a breeze, pulling out at junctions is much easier and if you give it the beans is very quick, power is much smoother and uses most of the rev range up to 4.5k 5k then starts coming off.

[Domainmaster25]

3 hours ago, mattwlkr said:

I'll second Bluefin, reduced the lag of my 1.8 TDCI proving smoother power delivery and no more cutting out at Junctions because the revs were to low. I used to get a kick of power then it would fizzle out, now is over a broader range.

This is what keeps happening to me, cutting out at junctions, going to have to invest in a bluefin myself.

3 hours ago, Ryan_Tango said:

I went for a custom map on mine, went from 115BHP, 290NM to 150BHP, 350NM, it pulls like a train and overtaking is a breeze, pulling out at junctions is much easier and if you give it the beans is very quick, power is much smoother and uses most of the rev range up to 4.5k 5k then starts coming off.

Where did you get the custom remap and what was the damage on cost mate?

[Ryan_Tango]

1 hour ago, Domainmaster25 said:

This is what keeps happening to me, cutting out at junctions, going to have to invest in a bluefin myself.

Where did you get the custom remap and what was the damage on cost mate?

West Yorkshire Tuning mate, cost was £250 you can stay and watch what it involves and simulating new parameters really interesting stuff but your head may explode after a few hours I ended up going to Asda to burn a few more hours lol

[Jonro2009]

Thanks for the replies, sounds like a bluefin is going to be my choice, I would have considered ‘morebhp’ if I didn’t live so far away.

@NSP1 this thread may be of some use to you

[NSP1]

6 hours ago, Jonro2009 said:

Thanks for the replies, sounds like a bluefin is going to be my choice, I would have considered ‘morebhp’ if I didn’t live so far away.

@NSP1 this thread may be of some use to you

YEAH, thanks. Seems we were both thinking the same thing. Will have to have a think as it’s £365 for mine. 

[Arjan98]

On 4/12/2018 at 8:38 AM, Ryan_Tango said:

I went for a custom map on mine, went from 115BHP, 290NM to 150BHP, 350NM, it pulls like a train and overtaking is a breeze, pulling out at junctions is much easier and if you give it the beans is very quick, power is much smoother and uses most of the rev range up to 4.5k 5k then starts coming off.

Hi Ryan know it's been a while since this post. I've got the same car and thinking of a remap as well. Have you had any problems with reliability with this one? 

[Botus]

On ‎4‎/‎11‎/‎2018 at 11:14 PM, Stoney871 said:

The TDI system is a module that plugs into the fuel rail and tweaks the system directly.
The Bluefin is a proper plug-in remap via the ecu so is more thorough and intensive.
Both are readily removeable for servicing / mot purposes.
I had a diesel focus with a TDI box and it was pretty decent and I've applied a Bluefin to my previous and current ST's and very happy with the improvement.
Tbh I'd say that the Bluefin would likely suit you better as it will greatly reduce low rev lag.

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)
 

my view is reading and writing a map on a regular basis is likely to cause long term issues, some other brands limit the amount of times one can do this (I presume to ensure the longevity of a critical chip that was designed to have as few as 1 to 3 maps written to it during its lifetime).  It might take a 1000 writes but would be rather a nuisance to die at the 10th time

on any modern car its always best to get the vehicle software as up to date as possible before you add toys and or start to remap.  As its better to start from best/latest position and improve than to have a mix and match setup - also far less likely one needs to have ford plug stuff in at a later date.... a great example would be the overheating / clutch slip software issues (if applicable) fix them then play...

as for the maps from superchips, gone are the days of a well written map after a dyno went anywhere near a car, its a case of the computer say go - most cope with this - now give me 200 quid more than its worth.  I had a big issue with awful throttle response on a 335d it was much worse than the later map BMW offered and hardly any faster, slow laggy with a throttle response that was so much worse I went back to the standard map. customer service wise they were pretty good and they tried a few other maps but they were all very similar, worse control / throttle response (tiny bit faster that you mostly can't use unless the roads straight as it comes in all woolly 2 seconds after you asked for it)

as for wanting a map there's two things to take stock off, before you get your pennies out

1) emissions on later cars and or some fault in the eng management is presenting lots of focus tractor owners with poor throttle response and or drivability issues.

2) a tractor off boost will be flat as anything, no map can get the revs up so the boost comes back. you either wait or change down a gear

 

[Deano12]

Can I chime in here and ask if people have heard of a DimSport remap? I've got a choice of bluefin or this DimSport one. DimSport seems to get a little more out of it with their stage one remap? 

 

Thanks. 

[Stoney871]

Never heard of them.
Bluefin have been around for a good while and have a solid reputation.

Sent from my SM-G965F (S9+)

[Ryan_Tango]

18 hours ago, Arjan98 said:

Hi Ryan know it's been a while since this post. I've got the same car and thinking of a remap as well. Have you had any problems with reliability with this one? 

No issues with reliability whatsoever, and now the new owner has had it for around 10 month ish with no problems

[Deano12]

Do I have to order from SuperChips direct or can I get Mr garage round the corner to do it? I'm not very good with cars... and would prefer someone else to do it?

[TomsFocus]

46 minutes ago, Deano12 said:

Do I have to order from SuperChips direct or can I get Mr garage round the corner to do it? I'm not very good with cars... and would prefer someone else to do it?

You don't have to be good with cars for this, just computers...  Simply plug the handheld reader in next to the steering wheel, copy the map, upload it to computer and send to Superchips.  They send the new map back to the computer, copy that to the reader, plug the reader back into the car and upload the new map.  Nothing to do with cars at lol!

[WES180]

38 minutes ago, TomsFocus said:

You don't have to be good with cars for this, just computers...  Simply plug the handheld reader in next to the steering wheel, copy the map, upload it to computer and send to Superchips.  They send the new map back to the computer, copy that to the reader, plug the reader back into the car and upload the new map.  Nothing to do with cars at lol!

That's not how my Bluefin was, my new map was preloaded in the handset so was just a case of plug it in and press yes to upload the new map and store the original map in the handset memory to be able to change it back.

[TomsFocus]

2 hours ago, WES180 said:

That's not how my Bluefin was, my new map was preloaded in the handset so was just a case of plug it in and press yes to upload the new map and store the original map in the handset memory to be able to change it back.

Even easier then!  Definitely need to send the map to Superchips on some cars/engines though.

[Botus]

only instructions I've seen for bluefin was to do exactly at TomsFocus says.... read map, send to superchips, they tweak and you download the modified map and push it on to your car

if you've ever had the car remapped by ford (post your orig bluefin).... never reload the one on the bluefin, start a fresh with same procedure - some cars die pushing a blufin updated map on top of a later genuine map

[WES180]

Maybe they went down that route so that they can sell generic Bluefins rather than model specific that already have the map installed. I had mine in 2009 on a Mondeo ST TDCi and the only time it was connected to a laptop was to get a factory reset so I could sell the Bluefin on.