Bluefin Superchips Reliable ECU Tuning?

LYellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 12:03
Last edited 22/05/2020 - 12:04

Hi Guys,

Wondering if anyone has had experience with Bluefin Superchips ECU tuning.

As it shows on their website its an easy OBDII reader where you have to send your Cars VIN number to the UK based company and they will send you an ECU tuning file which you install yourself with the OBDII connector.

It seems a lot less expensive than other ECU tuning, as it is just a stage 1 ECU tune.
Seems like one of the best bang for your buck mod.

Anyone had any good or bad experiences with them?

How did they or you deal with warranty if something goes wrong?

Automotive

Comments

  • Euphemistic on 22/05/2020 - 12:27

    What could possibly go wrong? If you brick your ECU how are you going to get hem to come and fix it from the other side of the planet. What if their ‘tune’ causes a change that reduces the lifespan of your engine or screws up your transmission map?

    How could this possibly be a scam? They’ll ‘send a file’ and you’ll get ‘better performance and economy’. How will you measure the results quickly enough to get back to them if they don’t perform as claimed.

    How does a standard ‘file’ for a vehicle perform any better than the tune developed by the manufacturer with millions of dollars and thousands of hours of research?

    • pegaxs on 22/05/2020 - 12:30

      OP's next thread. "Installed a tune and it bricked my car, what do?" or "Installed a tune and it melted 3 pistons… what do?" or "car went from using 8l/100km to now 15l/100km… what do?"

      • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2020 - 12:34
        +3

        Opportunity to upgrade pistons. :D

    • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2020 - 12:33
      +1

      The ECU tune is easily verifiable.

      A stage 1 generally feels significantly different. The rate and timing of the fill strokes and forced air is what makes the difference.

      Manufacturer tunes are very conservative. They are also tuned so the power is present in mildly spirited road driving.

      One can further verify the upgrades on a dyno.

      It's not a scam. Well, not all of them at least.

    • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 12:42

      They specialize in European cars, which is why they are UK based.
      They have an AU website which they support from.

      I know its not a scam as it seems they are quite reputable and have been around since 2005.

      Im just seeing if anyone if AUS has had any experience with Bluefin Superchips themselves.

      https://www.superchips.com.au/bluefin.html

      Edit: Sorry Superchips Founded in 1977

      • Euphemistic on 22/05/2020 - 17:47
        +1

        Fair enough. Seems you have some idea what you are talking about, unlike lots of posts.

  • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2020 - 12:29

    Had one on a GTI. Worked well. Wasn't as aggressively tuned as others but it can be removed before a service.

    I have some direct ECU tunes and those can also be masked for warranty purpose.

    • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 12:47

      Was it the Bluefin For Golf GTI?

      How were you able to remove it? Using the same OBDII reader they provided?
      I thought dealerships were able to trace if the car had previously been ECU tuned.

      • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2020 - 12:52
        +2

        Yes.

        Yes.

        Last sentence wasn't really a question but they cannot if the codes have been removed. This was on a Mk6 so I'm not sure if newer ECU leaves some traces of changes made but the Mk6 was no detectable.

        After all, it is all software. If programmers can make Trojans and viruses untraceable in a PC, they can make software that is fully deletable on a car's PC.

        (My dealership manager knows I tune my car to shits because we use the same tuner. It's at their discretion to make a fuss. Be good to your mechanics and you won't have drama.)

        • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 13:15

          Yeah thought so, how could they track it if its been removed and they cant prove damage was from the tune.

          I just got off chat with one of the blokes, says that Stage 1 and Stock ECU flash is always stored on the Bluefin device.
          So removing it and tuning back to stage 1 is quite simple.

          Thanks for your input, gives me a bit more confidence in purchasing one of these!

          Ill be sure to be good with my service dealership haha, I still have another 2 years of warranty on my car.

  • brendanm on 22/05/2020 - 13:30

    Nothing wrong with tuning by obd, as long as the tunes are good. Depending on the vehicle and ecu, they will flag the number of times the ecu has been flashed. Some ecus can't have the stock tune read via obd, and have to be "virtually read".

    How much are they doing it for?

    • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 14:02

      I have a Renault Clio RS200 Cup 2015 Manufactured in 2017 and still have 2 years warranty on it.

      This is the tune I have been looking at.

      -> https://www.superchips.com.au/renault-clio-rs-200-ecu-tune-r…

      $700 for a Stage 1 tune.

      The warranty will only void engine and drivetrain (as long as they can prove it) due to the tune.

      Although the operator said that I can remove the tune and re-tune it with the Bluefin device.

      So before every service I guess I can just remove it?

      • pegaxs on 22/05/2020 - 14:05

        2015 Manufactured in 2017

        Um, you what now?? It's a 15MY made in 2017??

        • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 14:11

          Yeah lmao 2015 model, manufactured in 2017.

          Hence why I have 5 year warranty until 2022.

          It was a dealer used car and I was apparently the first owner.

          So I still got the 5 year warranty from the manufacture date.

          • pegaxs on 22/05/2020 - 14:27

            @Yellow Alpaca: What you got was an old stocker that has sat around on the docks or in a holding yard to 2 years.

            If you have warranty, then don't modify the car until 2022. If you have any engine or drive line issues, they may just wipe your warranty if you start uploading tunes or changing engine parameters.

            And congrats on being brave enough to own a French car…

            • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 14:45

              @pegaxs: I think its actually build date 2015, compliance date 2017.
              I just check the VIN again and it has 03/17 on there before the VIN number.

              So would have been in storage for 2 years before it was compiled in Aus?
              Not sure how all this works.

              I did buy the car with about 25K on the odo and was the first owner so yeah not too fussed.

              Yeah im thinking that as well, to just hold off until warranty ends although 2022 is a while to wait!

              Haha I love it, its a CUP edition and love how Raw it is.
              I don't plan on keeping the Clio for that long, just wanted to have some fun with it!

      • brendanm on 22/05/2020 - 15:10

        Does that come with the handheld tuner? If so that seems like a very good price.

        I would personally just do it and flash it back before taking it in to them, but that's just me, and I have all my stuff flashed, but none of it is in warranty anyway.

        • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 15:31

          Yep its all done in your own garage, its a handheld Blufin Device and it has stores both Stock flash as well as the Stage 1 Flash on their.

          Yeah seems like a very good price, just skeptical if it will damage any components in the near future.

          Have you had any issues with flashing your ECU's and re-tuning?

          • brendanm on 22/05/2020 - 15:44
            +1

            @Yellow Alpaca: The device is included in the cost of the tune though?

            No issues at all, better power and economy. I used to do tuning and dpf delete software for people with navaras, they were always happy with the results. Tunes my jet skis, same thing.

            • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 18:12

              @brendanm: Yeah $700 for the whole package!
              It sounds super cheap for what it is right?

              I think I have enough info from here to make a decision, just wanted to know how safe it is.

  • maybeamacy on 22/05/2020 - 13:52

    How do these effect the overall reliability of your engine/gearbox? I've been thinking about getting a bluefins tune too but am scared it'll add too much extra work for the engine/gearbox. Do you need to get the car serviced earlier, etc?

    • Yellow Alpaca on 22/05/2020 - 14:10

      Same feeling I have, hence this post. tshow gave a pretty good insight of his experience with his GTI MK6

      They mentioned they do not have a stage 2 for my car as it will need a gearbox cooler.
      They said it is completely safe for a Stage 1 without any modifications.

      They seem to have done a shitttonne of testing as the operator I spoke to knew there were limitations of my Clio RS EDC gearbox hence why they couldn't provide the option of a stage 2.

    • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2020 - 15:21
      +1

      Most major plug and play tunes are fairly conservative.

      The ones to watch out for are custom or unheard of "tuning house" products that boast very high numbers.

      Generally you'll have your top tier guys like Brabus, APR, ARB, Manhart… (No where near an exhaustive list). These guys have a close relationship with the manufacturers and will have several test vehicles. In the northern hemisphere, many of these tuned cars are available as brand new vehicles directly from a dealer.

      Bluefins isn't in that league but they are certainly no ricer.

      • maybeamacy on 22/05/2020 - 16:30

        Cheers - I checked the figures for bluefins/APR and it looks like they're similar tunes but there's a large price gap. Is there any reason one should pay extra for the APR? The same can be said at the dyno sheets of custom tuners I'm looking at. They all look pretty similar to me.

        • [Deactivated] on 22/05/2020 - 17:01

          I have a feeling the tunes become fairly the same across the board after a while.

          When a new model is released, the tunes are all over the place. Obviously the ones blowing up engines will be phased out. The ones with weaker numbers will "move in the direction" of the stable and better ones.

          Personally, I tune all my cars directly as I used the OBD ports for other things so I can't be stuffed mucking around with pluggable tunes. Also, my warranty is usually super void.

  • iforgotmysocks on 22/05/2020 - 18:06

    I'd ask this question on https://www.ozrenaultsport.com/

  • 30751 on 21/04/2021 - 18:58
    +1

    Re-maps are only evident during spirited driving (2500 + rpm) - not noticeable during town driving as you would be off boost.
    Remaps from reputable companies are very similar. Go with the one that appeals to you.
    More enthusiastic driving would require shorter service intervals.

  • [Deactivated] on 21/04/2021 - 21:44
    +1

    @ OP

    I got a full exhaust system for my MK3 Clio RS Redbull and it was running rough , acceleration had a lot of lag and didn't feel smooth so i went for a stage 1 superchips not for HP gains but just to smooth it out.

    I got it about 2 weeks later or so and it was super fiddly i thought it was a dud and i got scammed, the blokes were very fast to respond to me and help me out and in the end i got it working.

    It definitely resolved the issue i was having (lean condition) but the tune they give was really bad (as i would find out later) , i took the car on a track day and before the day i did an oil change with a new oil filter and put THIS in. The car only had 88,000kms on it and never burnt a drop of oil beforehand and clearly non-turbo so i thought nothing of it and it had impeccable service history (every 5k stamped)

    Fast forward to the day i kept an eye on my oil levels and it consumed a fair bit , over the course of the day it literally drank 1 litre of that oil. mind you there were times where i was driving at 130* degrees for short periods before backing off and letting it cool down.

    No other issues that day but i did a used oil analysis on the oil and the guys at nulon asked me if my car was hotted up , i said no just bolt ons and a small tune and he said the car was running extremely rich and there was a lot of fuel dilution in the oil and that the 0w-40 oil had sheared down to a 30 weight (after 1 track day).

    I don't know if the oil was shit or the tune or a combination of both but i am glad i checked on my oil level otherwise it could have been disastrous , my fuel economy went to shit too i was genuinely running around 12L/100km all from a 2 litre naturally aspirated engine on a car that weighed 1150kg kerb and most of it was just general commuting to work.

    Looking back i was happy i got the exhaust i did it was great , but as for the tune i have to say based on my experience it was ok in the short term and did what i needed it to do but it probably would have done more harm in the long run as i feel the tune was probably extremely out of whack.

    I only paid $650 at the time which was a bargain but i would say choose another more reputable company and chase up some forums and find out what experiences people have had with their tunes , generally speaking stage 1 tunes are relatively safe even for turbo applications they just pump up the boost a tiny bit.

    But as for your warranty , kiss that goodbye.

    • Yellow Alpaca on 22/04/2021 - 10:39

      Thanks for providing an story on your experience, sorry to hear you encountered these issues with the tune!

      I guess the issue with these tunes are they aren't custom tuned to the health of your engine, Each and every remap is the same for every model/variant car so if you've done mods it doesn't custom tune it for what mods you have.

      I actually got this tune done 3 months ago and couldn't be happier, better fuel economy, reduced turbo lag. Its now taking off the line aggressively, increase torque steer, I can feel the extra power from the very first drive. Haven't had any stutters or any issues with the oil, I don't take it out for track, although do daily drive it with the occasional spirited street driving.

      My car is completely stock, just a Resonator Delete and the ECU remap from Bluefins, at this moment I'm extremely happy with it, ever since installing it I haven't had any errors or concerns with this tune on my MK4 RS Cup.

      The fact that I can flash it back to stock and put the tune on from my own driveway definitely is a benefit I think for warranty purposes as well. I've still got another year on the Warranty so if anything goes pear shaped easy to flash it back to stock before turning the car in.

  • paulh1977 on 28/04/2021 - 10:58

    I have done this with my Skoda but using a REVO tune and not bluefin, done in castle hill by a specialist centre. 40 mins and bang all done and was painless, more power and pickup as the turbo spins up sooner and is better on fuel and ihave had it on over 2 yrs and never had a single issue with it. Being done in sydney any issues i can go back to them directly. I have heard lots of good things about bluefin but downloading the tune file and doing it yourself i would worry in case you brick the ecu.

    Thats my opinion.

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