Hi im thinkking of getting my a4 remapped, its currently 130bhp and looking to take it to about 170bhp, just wondering would i have to upgrade the clutch or anything else? and is there any common problems with remapping that would damage my engine in the long run?

 

Do you have a low-boost 1.8T or is it a non-turbo engine? Without a turbo, there's no way you're going to get 40hp from a reflash. If you are boosted, you'll likely need to upgrade the diverter valve but your clutch should be fine. Anytime you raise the output of the engine by a considerable margin, you'll accelerate the wear on components, but a basic tune shouldn't blow anything up.

 

If you're going to spend the money on getting you ECU flashed, you should put together some upgrades that would actually benefit from it. I would recommend a ko4, but if you're keeping costs low, you need to do an intake system, switch to a nicer FMIC rather then the side mount, and get a 2.5" cat-less down pipe and exhaust. After all that, with a flash you can boost your ko3 to well over 20psi, and have a fun, but reasonable power increase. As for wear on the engine, running more power and not beating the hell out of it will be fine, keeping it stock and red lining it all the time will burn it out. But your stock internals should be safe till about 300hp (don't quote me on that, boost and torque are major factors too) but you can enjoy much more then stock power and still be safe. PM me if you need any info on finding parts and what installation would take.

 

A few reasons - by pegging the power at a certain level, it can reduce the potential emissions and keep the dreaded RFT down. Also, these cars are often produced and sold in most European countries, some of which have far worse quality fuel than we do in the UK. Whatever map is loaded at the factory has to be able to deal with the worst potential combination of crappy fuel, extremes of temperature and humidity, etc., and still run reliably.

Remapping by a reputable tuner should lift the restrictions put in place for reasons such as that without upping the power and torque so much that it unduly damages any of the engine or drivetrain.