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It's great reading all your threads on the mods done to your cars.

This has made me wonder how many of us now have one that is unmodified?

Mine is currently unmodified and i'm thinking of keeping it that way... will I retain more value this way? Does this mean i'm mssing out on what this car can really do?

your defo missing out on what it can do.... unleashing its power wont do any harm and will actually improve perofrmance and economy.

i expect there to be very few unmodified examples around.....but why would you want a standard 380bhp one when you can buy or have a 450bhp one.....?

well worth doing as soon as i was taken in a rs4 with a remap and full milltek with about 450bhp i just had to have it !

juice wrote:unleashing its power wont do any harm and will actually improve perofrmance and economy.

i think you will find that it will do harm to the engine in the long run as you are pushing the car outside of the safe limits set by the manufacturer.

Maybe BUT these engines are so well engineered (chocolate CAMS aside) that they are quite capable of taking more than the standard manufacturer output.

Contigo wrote:Maybe BUT these engines are so well engineered (chocolate CAMS aside) that they are quite capable of taking more than the standard manufacturer output.

maybe dont come into phil, the build may well be great however, the engine will sustain long term damage - this is the same for any re-mapped car.

The reason why manufacturers spec to a certain standard is to keep the life of the car well within the warranty period, If all RS4's had a custom remap from day one there there is potential for more claims for failed MAF's, turbo's etc......

Once this car is out of manufacturers warranty then it seems like a good time to get the remap done (if you want the extra torque) to experience the real power of the engine.

I don't think you can for sure that a remapped car WILL sustain long term damage if it is regularly serviced and oil changed, we are seeing failures of MAF's, turbo's, cams on standards cars as well as remapped cars so there really is no evidence to backup that claim.

I think you can safely say though that running the car at a higher power output and great boost levels will cause more stress on engine components and will eventually cost you more in terms of servicing and repairs.

Mine was standard for a week Such a different animal when even slightly tweaked well worth doing.........

No problem having a remap if you don't use the extra power that often.
If you spend time on motorway it wont have that much effect on life.
But the more time you spend using the extra power/torque the quicker components will wear out.
If you thrash a stock car habitually, it will wear out quicker than a remapped gently used car.
I have a 100% standard car and have had an MTM Stage 2 before - miss the top end but you get used to the extra power so why bother?
Still tempted to get a custom map for driveability rather than extra power though as standard maps are usually emissions focused.

The custom MRC map completely changes the feel of the car. It's more torquey and driveable in every gear and goes like the stink if you floor it.

Mine was standard for 2 days

Still 100% standard, had it for a few years now and not really considered the remap, as 380bhp has always seemed to please me (when I haven't got a boost leak or a faulty MAF).

Curious about the drivability factor though...? More on this please??

I recently had a generic re map at MRC (Stage 1)

Other than this it is a totally standard car so i can swap it back if i wish later. Following this up grade, It is such a better car to drive the whole car seems smoother to drive and tick over seems less lumpy.

Strangely enough you seem to boot it less as it doesn't need it to feel quick hence MPG is better.

This is my second RS4 B5 the first was a Revo car and this is now an MRC car both were otherwise standard. i have to say that when i got the second one which was six years after the first one i was disappointed with the standard car, so much so i didn't use it.

The MRC Stage 1 up grade that i now have makes for such a better drive and as a consequence it is now getting used.

I have attached a Gtech meter graph to demonstrate the difference between standard & MRC St 1...

Mbelle, driveability is enhanced because the standard map is geared around getting emissions as low as possible for the test cycle used for measuring them by the authorities. Hence there are certain engine speed/load conditions where the map isn't ideal. This text below is from Wikipedia. So MRC generic or custom? I suspect custom as I don't want 420 bhp.

"For the emission standards to deliver real emission reductions it is crucial that the test cycles under which the emissions have to comply as much as possible reflect normal driving situations. It was discovered that engine manufacturers would engage in what was called 'cycle beating' to optimise emission performance to the test cycle, while emissions from typical driving conditions would be much higher than expected, undermining the standards and public health. In one particular instance, research from two German technology institutes found that for diesel cars no 'real' NOx reductions have been achieved after 13 years of stricter standard"

Mine is standard and I have been happy to leave it that way until I find myself wanting more oomph. That should then refresh the car for another 5 years...

I agree with Neckarsulm, it is worth considering that in standard tune the fuelling could be quite lean in places (they're tuned to satisfy environmental regs, which is a compromise) and that's not necessarily healthy long-term. A decent remap should rectify this and therefore could result in a healthier engine.