Straight answers

Our files are written by specialist calibrators and deliberately kept inside factory tolerances, which is why our headline figures are lower than some rivals quote. We will not tune a car that already has a fault, and we keep your original file so it can be put back at any time.

Yes. Any remap should be declared, even a Stage One. It is straightforward, and our reversible approach makes MOT and resale simple.

No. Disabling emissions equipment is illegal for road use in the UK. We only carry out this work for genuine off road and motorsport vehicles, against a signed disclaimer, and it is software only. Any hardware work is not something we do or arrange.

Less than most people think. There is no industry body defining them and no measurement behind them. They are naming conventions, and every tuner sets their own, so one company's Stage 2 can be another's Stage 1+. As a rough industry consensus: Stage 1 is software only on completely standard hardware. Stage 1+ is software with light bolt-ons such as a panel filter or induction kit. Stage 2 assumes supporting hardware, usually a sports cat or decat downpipe and often an intercooler or intake. Stage 2+ adds more of the same. Stage 3 means the engine breathes differently, so a hybrid or larger turbo, injectors and fuelling, and usually clutch and gearbox work to cope. The practical takeaway: never buy a stage, buy a number. Ask what hardware is required and what the actual bhp and torque figures are for your exact engine. That is what we quote against, every time.

We read the file out of your ECU, and the TCU too if we are doing the gearbox. If the car has already been modified by somebody else, we restore the factory original first, because writing on top of an unknown map is guesswork and we will not do it. Your original is saved to your account before anything is written. The file then goes to the calibrator who adapts it to your exact ECU version, engine and hardware, rather than pulling a generic file off a shelf. It comes back, we write it, we check the car over and start it, and we do not leave until it runs right. You keep the original forever.

No, and we would rather tell you that plainly than dress it up. Right now we are a software tuning service: established calibrations from specialist tuning partners, adapted to your specific vehicle. Custom dyno tuning needs a rolling road, and bespoke road tuning needs datalogging experience we are still building. We are expanding across the UK, and as our training and capability grow we fully intend to bring calibration in house and offer dyno and custom work. Until then we will not pretend. Worth knowing: for a Stage One on standard hardware, an adapted proven calibration is what most of the industry actually delivers. Anyone offering a genuinely bespoke, dyno developed map at under two hundred pounds is not telling you the truth about one of those things.

No, not as a matter of course. Tuning does not cause problems out of nowhere, it multiplies the ones already there. An engine light, a misfire, a boost leak, a slipping clutch, a tired DSG, a clogged DPF or an overdue service will all get worse with more torque through them, and it is your bill and our reputation. We check before we write. If you have been told no and still want to go ahead, we will do it for a fifteen pound assessment fee and a signed contract waiving liability for anything that follows. That is not us being difficult. It is us making sure you have decided with your eyes open, in writing, before we touch it.

Straight answers, because most places will just take the money. Pops and bangs and burble maps retard ignition timing so fuel burns in the exhaust instead of the cylinder. Those temperature spikes melt the ceramic in a catalytic converter, which then blocks, and a blocked exhaust can take the turbo and the engine with it. They also load the exhaust valves and turbo, and unburnt fuel can wash the bores and thin the oil. Great noise, real cost, and we will not fit one to a car with a healthy cat you want to keep. DPF Off is software only from us, so it is only ever appropriate on an off road vehicle where the filter has already been physically removed by a garage. If the filter is still fitted and we switch off the regeneration logic, it fills, blocks, exhaust back pressure climbs, exhaust gas temperatures spike and turbo thrust bearings and injectors take the punishment. EGR Off raises combustion temperatures and NOx in exchange for a cleaner intake, so it is a trade, not a free win. Speed limiter removal does not upgrade your tyres, cooling or driveline, and the factory limit often exists because of exactly those. Fault code removal is the one people misunderstand most: deleting a code does not repair anything, it hides the warning, and since May 2018 an illuminated engine management light is an automatic major failure at MOT. We will only clear codes for faults that have genuinely been fixed, or for hardware legitimately not fitted to an off road vehicle. We will not mask a live fault so a car sneaks through a test. Hot start fixes and intake flap fixes are the genuinely benign ones, because they correct logic rather than switch off protection.

Yes, and it is one of the best things we do. We only write software, so we are no threat to your servicing, diagnostics, MOT or fitting work. We come to your premises, the customer stays yours, and you can present it as your own service if you prefer. Trade pricing applies from the first car, with better rates by volume, and we can either invoice you or pay a referral fee, whichever suits your books. Our Back to Stock and ECU replacement services are usually the ones garages find most useful day to day, for warranty claims, MOT prep and replacement control units that would otherwise mean a main dealer visit. Email us with your garage name and roughly how many cars a month you would put through, and we will come back with trade rates and a partner account.

Yes. We hold factory files for the vast majority of vehicles, so we can return a modified car to its original map even if we never touched it. Useful if you have bought a remapped car, you are selling one, or a warranty claim or MOT needs it standard. If we did the original tune, reverting is free for twelve months.

Yes. We move your original data onto the replacement unit so it behaves like the one that came out, which normally avoids a main dealer coding visit. Bear in mind some manufacturers pair units to the car electronically, so send us the details before you book and we will tell you honestly whether it is doable.

No. We tune ECU and TCU software only, nothing else. No induction kits, no exhausts, no intercoolers, no fitting and no parts supplied. If your car needs hardware before a Stage Two file, your garage does that and we write the software afterwards.

Travel is free within ten miles of West Bromwich, which takes in Birmingham, Walsall, Dudley, Wolverhampton and most of Sandwell. Further out we charge 45p a mile for the round trip, worked out and agreed before you book so there is never a surprise on the day. We are happy to travel, we just will not pretend the diesel is free.

Every paid job in a calendar month earns you one entry. Each month we draw one member to win a free tune, announced publicly.