View Full Version : TDP Wicklow - Mapping
Hi,
Recently bought myself an Apexi Power FC for the S14, but finding someone competant enough/experienced enough with the Apexi's in the 6 Counties is proving to be a hard task.
I see on TrackDay Performance's website that they list Apexi's as 1 of their specialties, but having heard some horror stories about other folk that think they can map them, only to have the engine go pop after a short while, is kind of daunting, and putting me off going to them.
So basically, im just wondering if anyone has any experience with Rob Thornton and the guys at TDP regarding mapping, namingly an SR20DET, and more precisely with the PFC...
Cheers
Nicky
Podge in his S13 with a PFC got Robbie to do an extreme map and a year later its still mint..
Ahhh here we go!!
Go ahead and elaborate...
Go ahead and elaborate...
There will be more mixed stories on this thread than the sun!
There will be more mixed stories on this thread than the sun!
Great :confused:
I suppose though, its the same for everywhere.. Hit and miss i guess.
Just thought i'd try and find out a few personal experiences from a few guys a bit closer to them than myself, as theres very few folk up here that have had work done by them. Would rather trailer the car down South than have to head across the water with it, but if needs must, then i'll be hitting Horsham Developments...
East coast customs are meant to be savage!! they must be as close to ya??
About 15 or 20 mins away, but again, heard some serious horror stories about them not knowing Nissans in the slightest. Great when it comes to Evo's, but thats about it..
But, i have no personal experience, so im not going to go bad mouthing them, its just that they aren't pushing their experience with the Apexi's as much as TDP are, if ya know what i mean...?
About 15 or 20 mins away, but again, heard some serious horror stories about them not knowing Nissans in the slightest. Great when it comes to Evo's, but thats about it..
But, i have no personal experience, so im not going to go bad mouthing them, its just that they aren't pushing their experience with the Apexi's as much as TDP are, if ya know what i mean...?
You wouldnt know what ta do!! Like a yoke cud have blown up on a lad cause he was driven the bag outt it with a new turbo or watever and he blames the tuner next thing the tuner gets a name for blowin up stuff!!
"i have no personal experience" is what you do not hear enough in this country.
i myself have had no personal experience with robbie or TDP but when it comes t me getting my car done have a guess where it is going.
i know a few lads that have had work done by robbie and they all swear by him. chuck, greg, podge dan moorehead(i think) have all had their car mapped by him and had had no problem with it. i have read a very very bad story about robbie, it was in the old shop and people say it was due to rushing jobs to get the work done and new shop sorted that caused it. iv heard robbie can be hard to work with as its his way or the high way. but then again iv heard he is the best in the country at the same time!
my advise would be find out who he has mapped for in motor sport terms and see what they say.
This is true.. Definately a hard decision, especially considering Willy Mac has his Skyline in with ECC at the minute, though its not running Apexi...
Back to square 1.. lol
my advise would be find out who he has mapped for in motor sport terms and see what they say.
Thats what im looking to do lad, hence asking drifters on a drift site about getting someone to sort a map for a drift car :p
Must get in touch with the guys you listed and see what they say about his work.
Cheers
westward engineering,martin tracey knows his shit
most other tuners in this country will rape ones car
A couple of months ago i wouldnt go next or near TDP but of late im hearing nothing but good stuff.... Mike deane and his gang swear by him and Alan Sinnott reckons he's spot on. Lot of big names in the south got their cars done by him and are very happy.
Jay Rockett
14-07-09, 09:28
Yeah i'd defo recommend TDP, robbie is brilliant with mapping and know's power FC's like the back of his hand!
again no personal experience but I've heard nothing but excellent things about them, just look at the power their R32 is putting out :D
nissan_doctor
14-07-09, 11:35
Robbie can do great work but the quality of his work seems to depend on how high profile in the scene you are.
Also, at the moment robbie i selling motecs and is puching these over pfc at the moment.
Dunnedriftin
14-07-09, 13:04
Iv had no personal experience with robbie, but all i have heard is excellent reports, and he knows his stuff about SR & RB engines!
He mapped my Chaser and I have had no problems with it. It has been to a few drift days, and has had some hard road use and it's still going strong.
Even when somebody changed a setting through the hand commander, which meant the car was running shit, Robbie took the car back in and mapped it again free of charge. You couldn't argue with that. :D
go with robbie.. thats who im getting to do my car when ive it back...:D
Dreamworks-silvia
14-07-09, 13:47
We all hear of the horror stories but as we know there are two sides to every story lads not sending the car up with the supporting mods to suit there big shiny turbo is 90% of the problem robbie mapped my car and have no problems with it and all at WKD use robbie and they have yet to have any problems or stories.
mick-skyline
14-07-09, 13:54
well here we are another TDP therad, just like any other company IMO....
youll get mixed reports from everyone about anyone, best way to go is try them yourself.
ive had very reputable people at my car and came off the worse so now i look at how thier own demo cars operate and then see how much info they can give on the car that your looking to get work done on.
as soon as i have funds in the bank my car is goign straight to robbie for a HKS F-con and getting mapped by him too, so time will tell. and watching how his own skyline performs anytime its in the garage for work its for the gearbox not the engine so cant be that bad, also with doing a number of the drift and rally cars over the years all getting spanked all day everyday they get used and still no problems...... does this not speak for itself.
dont get me wrong i used to like everyone else and think the worst because of stories but now i see for myself as its the only way.
my skyline was mapped by him and hasnt missed a beat........well recommended
mick-skyline
14-07-09, 14:05
my skyline was mapped by him and hasnt missed a beat........well recommended
doesnt mean much coming from you, youll recommend anyone that doesnt get your car dirty :p
as Frank said a few months back id have never gone near him!!! Mike Deane does all the work to my car and he swore by Robbie so i said id head there! He is shit hott at what he does, he mapped the car to a safer bhp and even gave me a cut price for stickers on my car!!
He is the best in the country but you will need to bring earplugs!! :):)
Thumbs up from me anyway lad!!
Goldstone drift
14-07-09, 14:32
TDP are easily best out their bud :D
i think the majority of the horror stories are from when they were in the old premises, i know a guy that worked there and as they were so tight on space, they got the instructions to do things quickly and keep the money roling in.
I think now in the new bigger more established place, they realy are doing the jobs right. 90% of rally and drift guys support TDP stickers, i certainly wouldnt keep stickers on if i had any problems!
Llloyd Hutchinson, who works on a SERIOUS amount of rally and historic rally cars swears by Westward Engineering, and even he has stopped sending cars to them and has been using TDP with no probs for a good while now!
Im going to TDP anyways. They were even doing a special price on pfc maping a while back, not that thats any use!
i think the majority of the horror stories are from when they were in the old premises, i know a guy that worked there and as they were so tight on space, they got the instructions to do things quickly and keep the money roling in.
I think now in the new bigger more established place, they realy are doing the jobs right. 90% of rally and drift guys support TDP stickers, i certainly wouldnt keep stickers on if i had any problems!
Llloyd Hutchinson, who works on a SERIOUS amount of rally and historic rally cars swears by Westward Engineering, and even he has stopped sending cars to them and has been using TDP with no probs for a good while now!
Im going to TDP anyways. They were even doing a special price on pfc maping a while back, not that thats any use!
now he's not recommending power fc's to people
now he's not recommending power fc's to people
i dont think that he is not recommending them, he has better and newer systems in stock and is just pushing them i over a PFC
quote tdp
'A better ecu would be the answer to getting good gains safely. The Power FC is very limited in what it can do how fast it can do it.
A MoTeC M4 ecu would make that car fly and drive so much bette also. We will be announcing specials on MoTeC M4 ecus for DTD members this week'
when i was talking to robbie 6-7months ago he was pushing power fc's,now he says there very limited in what it can do and how fast it can do it,
iv never had much dealings with him and most people on this site seem to like his work
mr.jailbait
16-07-09, 13:33
quote tdp
'A better ecu would be the answer to getting good gains safely. The Power FC is very limited in what it can do how fast it can do it.
A MoTeC M4 ecu would make that car fly and drive so much bette also. We will be announcing specials on MoTeC M4 ecus for DTD members this week'
when i was talking to robbie 6-7months ago he was pushing power fc's,now he says there very limited in what it can do and how fast it can do it,
iv never had much dealings with him and most people on this site seem to like his work
thats robbie talking absolute bollox as usual.
power fc's are excellent ecu's for the money.
with a 20x20 resolution they are easily good enough for 95% of performance cars out there.the reason he's trying to promote motec's and diss power fc's is complete profit margin talk.he knows anyone can pick up power fc's very cheaply these days,but motecs are very rare and pricey.more money for robbie.:rolleyes:
yes,motec ecu's are excellent pieces of equipment,but they are not needed for most of your average drift or track cars.
only reason id buy a good motec ecu would be for a high end drag car that needed launch control and anti lag.
anything else get a power fc.
im glad you said it not me:D,ill be sticking with me PFC and going else where for a map
mr.jailbait
16-07-09, 13:36
everybody swears by robbie,yet they have no one else to compare him to,as they have only ever got 1 car mapped.
thats like going to mc donalds and saying they have the best burgers by far.
even though youve never been to burger king.:rolleyes:
jonosilvia
16-07-09, 13:39
has he mapped anything for you, if he did how did you get on
i like burgerking lol,this same thread is on different fourms and most people on here recommend tdp but the majority of people on other fourms recommend different tuners,my mate has had 12 of his own cars mapped with martin tracey and never had a problem,so i think ill be going that direction,
stiv on sxoc is highly recommended also
mr.jailbait
16-07-09, 13:46
got a car 'mapped' by him.
wasnt 100% happy.
brought it elsewhere,and dicovered it was running too hot and knocking like a cunt.
and discovered his dyno reads about 15% higher than it should.
he's still new to mapping with a lot to learn yet.
bring it to someone with 20 years experience.
do it once-do it right
danmoorhead
16-07-09, 15:30
guys ive all my cars maped by robbie and i never had any prob and i drive the fukin shit out of em all!!!! never had a problem with himand im running a pfc in the 13 at the min!!!!
jonosilvia
16-07-09, 16:03
got a car 'mapped' by him.
wasnt 100% happy.
brought it elsewhere,and dicovered it was running too hot and knocking like a cunt.
and discovered his dyno reads about 15% higher than it should.
he's still new to mapping with a lot to learn yet.
bring it to someone with 20 years experience.
do it once-do it right
sound was this long ago
mr.jailbait
16-07-09, 17:35
about 4 years ago.
guys ive all my cars maped by robbie and i never had any prob and i drive the fukin shit out of em all!!!! never had a problem with himand im running a pfc in the 13 at the min!!!!
For anyone on here thinking of buying Dans car, he's only messing. Most mechanical sympathy ive ever seen, never even broke a rocker ;)
James Deane RX7
16-07-09, 18:08
Well if you ask me robbie and the TDP crew are great, i sent my s14 up to him in may 2007 and got an omex fitted, it made 350bhp and never missed a beat and it wasnt that i was taking it easy on the engine:D I drove the ring out of it untill sept 2008 when they put the rb26 into the s14 and that made 600bhp it was scary:eek: he also mapped my new SRX7 and that made 403bhp...i never had a fault with my cars and trust me his dyno readings are accurate, you will see when you drive your car after being mapped
mr.jailbait
16-07-09, 18:12
is this the same james deane that made a magical 370-380hp on a gtss:rolleyes:
James Deane RX7
16-07-09, 18:17
nope, never said that, you must be thinking of the wrong guy
mr.jailbait
16-07-09, 19:39
it must be the other james deane that had his car reviewed a while back on modified motors.
common name alright....
Lad we all know that magazines go on with rubbish, TDP might not have said that. Eoin Ryan had his jzx100 in a mag and they said all this stuff he did and Eoin said it was all bull..
mr.jailbait
16-07-09, 22:11
the same fact was claimed more than once.
it made me laugh each time i read it.
mick-skyline
16-07-09, 22:19
thats robbie talking absolute bollox as usual.
power fc's are excellent ecu's for the money.
with a 20x20 resolution they are easily good enough for 95% of performance cars out there.the reason he's trying to promote motec's and diss power fc's is complete profit margin talk.he knows anyone can pick up power fc's very cheaply these days,but motecs are very rare and pricey.more money for robbie.:rolleyes:
yes,motec ecu's are excellent pieces of equipment,but they are not needed for most of your average drift or track cars.
only reason id buy a good motec ecu would be for a high end drag car that needed launch control and anti lag.
anything else get a power fc.
right for those of you that think power fc's are the doggs they are actually flawed, if you open your eyes long enough to look around and see it, dont get me wrong they are a good ECU for the money and do alot of things the standard ecu cannot, i have even had 2 in 2 different cars the first one was great and never gave any bother, but second one skipped on cruise, sitting at a constant 3k it would start to hold back then drive grand again for a few days, thinking it was just mine i looked into the problem and found that a number of others had the same problem all over the world. (NOT HEAR SAY IT DID ACTUALLY HAPPEN ME!)
everybody swears by robbie,yet they have no one else to compare him to,as they have only ever got 1 car mapped.
thats like going to mc donalds and saying they have the best burgers by far.
even though youve never been to burger king.:rolleyes:
yes i have, ive had cars mapped by different places, 4 different places to be exact and only 1 of which i was happy with, so now im going to someone i have researched and found to be in good capability at the engine im looking to get mapped, so ill let you know how i feel about the map when its done.
got a car 'mapped' by him.
wasnt 100% happy.
brought it elsewhere,and dicovered it was running too hot and knocking like a cunt.
and discovered his dyno reads about 15% higher than it should.
he's still new to mapping with a lot to learn yet.
bring it to someone with 20 years experience.
do it once-do it right
and who in this country has 20 years experience??? TDP maybe one of the few that do or near enough anyway.....
is this the same james deane that made a magical 370-380hp on a gtss:rolleyes:
yeah because its not the owners that exaggerate thier readings now is it?? my last skyline sold with and dyno'd twice with 300rwhp was up for sale by the latest owner claiming 417bhp having done nothing but ad a carbon bonnet...please think about it....
mr.jailbait
17-07-09, 08:23
westward engineering are around a long time
and who wrote this.......
http://www.driftworks.com/forum/drift-car-projects-builds/57766-james-deane-s14-5-2008-spec.html
mick-skyline
17-07-09, 12:10
westward engineering are around a long time
and who wrote this.......
http://www.driftworks.com/forum/drift-car-projects-builds/57766-james-deane-s14-5-2008-spec.html
looks like the owner to me
mr.jailbait
17-07-09, 14:11
the owner,who goes by the name james deane....
Robbie has been looking after my cars for the past 5/6yrs now, my only problem with his services is turn around time but thats to be expected as he runs a business, can't fault his work or loyalty to me as a customer...
Sure if James said he had 380hp and went that well with 350 then fairplay i reckon... Only advantage of saying it was 380 is to any potetial buyer.
About 10 % of people out there say they right BHP when they are selling cars
enough bitching about owners of cars lads, this thread is asking about MAPPING and MAPPERS.
Oh yes back on topic : Christopher colombus was my all time favourite mapper
Where would we be without him....
James Deane RX7
17-07-09, 18:04
well lads i was only giving my view on tdp, they are great if u ask me...didnt mean to start a big b***h fight:eek:
to right peter,back on topic
in this months mij issue 15 the diary of a drifter,Nigel Colfers jz brift build,on page 65 nigel said 'with TDP not willing to complete the car before round 2 east coast customs took on the job with very short notice'
now before anyone says anything in not having a dig at TDP im just wondering why this came about,was it he didnt have the time etc
it seems to me thought this was added as a sly remark,
but maybe im wrong,what way would yous interput this?
Dreamworks-silvia
17-07-09, 18:41
oh yes back on topic : Christopher colombus was my all time favourite mapper
where would we be without him....
ha ha brilliant:d:d
to right peter,back on topic
in this months mij issue 15 the diary of a drifter,Nigel Colfers jz brift build,on page 65 nigel said 'with TDP not willing to complete the car before round 2 east coast customs took on the job with very short notice'
now before anyone says anything in not having a dig at TDP im just wondering why this came about,was it he didnt have the time etc
it seems to me thought this was added as a sly remark,
but maybe im wrong,what way would yous interput this?
id say they didnt have the time to finish it and wouldn't rush the job to get it done and risk a horror story for not only one of the biggest names in irish drifting but the whiole WKD team. and where right to refuse to rush the job
ive had work done on my old car by tdp,injectors fitted,z32 fited power fc fitted and car mapped cost 604euro car camwe out with 282bhp 312touque which was good power from standard 180sx turbo.car ran like shit when cold idle anywhere between 700>2200rmp when warm car went good except for knock level hit 1040.tdp blamed z32 wanted me to pay for fitting of another 1 and also to get it remapped which never happend as i sold 2 weeks later.my friend has had 2 cars mapped buy tdp no problems and due to take a 3rd ther in comeing weeks.i have my silvia booked in for next week at westward eng next:) il let ye know how it goes.and either way james deane with 350 or 380 is a gifted driver whats 30bhp to him lol
id say they didnt have the time to finish it and wouldn't rush the job to get it done and risk a horror story for not only one of the biggest names in irish drifting but the whiole WKD team. and where right to refuse to rush the job
but why print it,it kinda looks bad,but if your version is true fair play to him he must be busy
it was porb printed because the two other cars(wez, jonny P) were mapped by robbie and was bad wording to explain why it was sent to ECC.
chucks car was mapped on the friday of rnd 2 tho
mick-skyline
17-07-09, 21:40
to right peter,back on topic
in this months mij issue 15 the diary of a drifter,Nigel Colfers jz brift build,on page 65 nigel said 'with TDP not willing to complete the car before round 2 east coast customs took on the job with very short notice'
now before anyone says anything in not having a dig at TDP im just wondering why this came about,was it he didnt have the time etc
it seems to me thought this was added as a sly remark,
but maybe im wrong,what way would yous interput this?
my take on it is any good tuner wont take a job on umnless they know they have time with the car to get it 100% right, especially on a track car, and as TDP are competeing in TOTB and time attack amongst other things then time is obviously an issue with some jobs. having said that i cant see why it would have been printed, but thats writers for you, although i think it was written bu Colfer was it not??
anyway back on topic as jailbait lost me after i said about an owner exaggerating thier figures then he backed me up on it when tryin to prove me wrong but anywho...... to find the best tuner MHO is to try out who you have heard to be the most succesful in the buisness and make your own mind up from there.
my take on it is any good tuner wont take a job on umnless they know they have time with the car to get it 100% right, especially on a track car, and as TDP are competeing in TOTB and time attack amongst other things then time is obviously an issue with some jobs. having said that i cant see why it would have been printed, but thats writers for you, although i think it was written bu Colfer was it not??
anyway back on topic as jailbait lost me after i said about an owner exaggerating thier figures then he backed me up on it when tryin to prove me wrong but anywho...... to find the best tuner MHO is to try out who you have heard to be the most succesful in the buisness and make your own mind up from there.
it was writting by colfer
i didnt realize i was off topic,
your dead right mick,to find the best its always a chance,as you said you've been through 4 tuners and only prefer one,its trial and error and im sure people recommended the other 3 tuners to you but they werent to your liking,
one mans rubbish is another mans gold as they say in blaney hey
i have only had 1 car mapped but had it with both westward and tdp... origionally left it down with westward got phonecall following day sayin car couldn be mapped as he could not increase boost so he charged me 150 to fit plugs that i suppplied and to do some minor tweaks to fuelling so he said... he told me to buy new external wastegate and retuen to him...
i took it to tdp for second opinion, robbie ran car on dyno and found it runnin dangerously lean(wez tested car when i bought it and it showed car was runnnin slightly rich) so was lean after leaving westward... robbie also discovered the car was still runnin a rb25de fuel pump somethin martin failed to notice.. robbie also found the boost increase problem was somthin to do with bov there was no vacuum line runnin to it so once that was sorted he could increse boost and map car.... in my opinion he is very good at wat he does and ill continue to take cars to him
i have only had 1 car mapped but had it with both westward and tdp... origionally left it down with westward got phonecall following day sayin car couldn be mapped as he could not increase boost so he charged me 150 to fit plugs that i suppplied and to do some minor tweaks to fuelling so he said... he told me to buy new external wastegate and retuen to him...
i took it to tdp for second opinion, robbie ran car on dyno and found it runnin dangerously lean(wez tested car when i bought it and it showed car was runnnin slightly rich) so was lean after leaving westward... robbie also discovered the car was still runnin a rb25de fuel pump somethin martin failed to notice.. robbie also found the boost increase problem was somthin to do with bov there was no vacuum line runnin to it so once that was sorted he could increse boost and map car.... in my opinion he is very good at wat he does and ill continue to take cars to him
There was almost 2months between westward and tdp looking at the car/ You took off the wastegate + found a rip in a hose before you went to tdp.
Once you go altering parts that can affect the boost you could run rich or lean. the fuel pump could have deteriorated over the 2months aswell.
I think €150 was fair considering the time spend fitting the spark plugs,setting the car up on the rolling road + trying to map it.
Back to original poster : Tdp have probably mapped more drift cars than any other tuner in the country, most of them sr20's running pfc's ,so have no douth that robbie is competent enough + experienced enough to map your sr20.
but that hose still didnt sort boost issue and surely the rb25de pump wouldn be able to run car at the higher boos level
quote tdp
'A better ecu would be the answer to getting good gains safely. The Power FC is very limited in what it can do how fast it can do it.
A MoTeC M4 ecu would make that car fly and drive so much bette also. We will be announcing specials on MoTeC M4 ecus for DTD members this week'
when i was talking to robbie 6-7months ago he was pushing power fc's,now he says there very limited in what it can do and how fast it can do it,
iv never had much dealings with him and most people on this site seem to like his work
when i got my car mapped the last time about xmas robbie was not pushing the power fc,s when i got my car first mapped about a yr ago robbie was not pushing the power fcs always either the motec or the hks
ive had my silvia mapped by robbie and all i can say is it hasnt missed a beat since in over a yr wit near 340 brake horsepower and torque he,s the best in ireland end of ive also send other cars there tat have had a bit of work done and mapping done there and they r spot on
who else have you been to podge?
mick-skyline
18-07-09, 07:16
it was writting by colfer
i didnt realize i was off topic,
your dead right mick,to find the best its always a chance,as you said you've been through 4 tuners and only prefer one,its trial and error and im sure people recommended the other 3 tuners to you but they werent to your liking,
one mans rubbish is another mans gold as they say in blaney hey
im not 100% sure on who wrote it but i think thats the way it was done.
i didnt mean you were off topic either i was :rolleyes:
yes the 3 others came highly recommended too but im not going naming names due to the face that its better to try someone and make your own decission
who else have you been to podge?
stiv in mod docs fo mine
i also brought another car to robbie after cda couldn map it and robbie mapped it ok and is running well since;)
nigel colfer DOES write his own section for MIJ
he is on here so pm hime to find out why robbie couldn't map it
Powered by vBulletin® Version 4.2.5 Copyright © 2024 vBulletin Solutions Inc. All rights reserved.