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Having had our new <i style="mso-bidi-font-style: normal;">Antara
SE Nav 184PS Manual S/S [/i]for over a
month and having returned not much more than 28 MPG on an urban cycle I decided
to take the plunge and buy a Bluefin unit from Scottish Superchips in
Glenrothes.
The unit is a DIY hand-held (re)mapping device and is an
alternative to having a dedicated race-chip hard wired into your engine. Each unit is particular to a certain make/model
of vehicle with its EPROM pre-programmed with an optimised ECU map, for better
BHP, Torque and a marginal increase in MPG.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
ffice
ffice" />
The unit connects via the Antara's diagnostic port and by
following the instructions on its screen (along with having read the
instruction manual) the car's original data is downloaded, analysed and stored. Then, if the Bluefin detects that it is the
correct vehicle, a new map is uploaded to the car's ECU.
If like with my 2013 Antara, the Bluefin finds the OEM data
is not what it is expecting, it informs you that you need to install the CDROM
software onto your PC and connect the Bluefin via the supplied USB cable. Once installed onto the PC, the software
connects your Bluefin to a dedicated server and the OEM ECU data is uploaded to
the support team. The team the produce a
custom map for your vehicle. Once a map
has been produced you are notified by email to reconnect your Bluefin to the PC. The new map is then downloaded onto the
handset.
Having got your custom map you have to run through the
process again at the Antara's diagnostic port and if all goes well you will receive
a message informing you: ‘Bluefin Installed'.
The difference can be felt immediately. The car feels almost silky smooth, like going
from a V-Twin to a V-Four and is a lot more responsive off the mark. As for improved fuel economy, the company
estimates that you will save about a tank of fuel over a year; not a huge
improvement but, better than nothing given the increase in BHP, Torque and
driving experience in my opinion. After
a while you forget about it and wonder if anything is still ‘going on'. Dropping back to the VX OEM data for a few
days is easy enough to do and, it serves as a reminder at how ‘rough' it was
before the Bluefin.
I am unsure yet as to whether it has done anything to the
DPF regeneration cycle as, to be honest, I think I have only ever noticed 2
taking place in the 2.7K miles that we have covered!? There must have been more I'm sure but,
perhaps the combination of the Bluefin upgrade and a bottle of Wynn's DPF
cleaner/regenerator to every third tank of fuel is keeping my system nice and
clean? Who knows? It's all working
nicely for us so far.
Anyway, back to the main subject: Why did I choose a Bluefin
over a dedicated race-chip? Because it
is so easy to uninstall the modified ECU mapping and then revert the car back
to the original data. The car can then
be sent off for its annual service and have any software updates installed by
the VX dealership as required. Similarly, it could be put back to default if
the Antara needs to have something done under warranty, just to be on the safe
side!
If when trying to re-install the Bluefin it detects any post-service
ECU changes, it is just a matter of going through the PC connection and upload
routine to get the map re-modified by the Bluefin support team to take into
account any changes made by VX. Simples!
I hope my ‘article' proves of interest to some of you fellow
Antarians out there …
-LaZ-
SE Nav 184PS Manual S/S [/i]for over a
month and having returned not much more than 28 MPG on an urban cycle I decided
to take the plunge and buy a Bluefin unit from Scottish Superchips in
Glenrothes.
The unit is a DIY hand-held (re)mapping device and is an
alternative to having a dedicated race-chip hard wired into your engine. Each unit is particular to a certain make/model
of vehicle with its EPROM pre-programmed with an optimised ECU map, for better
BHP, Torque and a marginal increase in MPG.<?: prefix = o ns = "urn:schemas-microsoft-com
The unit connects via the Antara's diagnostic port and by
following the instructions on its screen (along with having read the
instruction manual) the car's original data is downloaded, analysed and stored. Then, if the Bluefin detects that it is the
correct vehicle, a new map is uploaded to the car's ECU.
If like with my 2013 Antara, the Bluefin finds the OEM data
is not what it is expecting, it informs you that you need to install the CDROM
software onto your PC and connect the Bluefin via the supplied USB cable. Once installed onto the PC, the software
connects your Bluefin to a dedicated server and the OEM ECU data is uploaded to
the support team. The team the produce a
custom map for your vehicle. Once a map
has been produced you are notified by email to reconnect your Bluefin to the PC. The new map is then downloaded onto the
handset.
Having got your custom map you have to run through the
process again at the Antara's diagnostic port and if all goes well you will receive
a message informing you: ‘Bluefin Installed'.
The difference can be felt immediately. The car feels almost silky smooth, like going
from a V-Twin to a V-Four and is a lot more responsive off the mark. As for improved fuel economy, the company
estimates that you will save about a tank of fuel over a year; not a huge
improvement but, better than nothing given the increase in BHP, Torque and
driving experience in my opinion. After
a while you forget about it and wonder if anything is still ‘going on'. Dropping back to the VX OEM data for a few
days is easy enough to do and, it serves as a reminder at how ‘rough' it was
before the Bluefin.
I am unsure yet as to whether it has done anything to the
DPF regeneration cycle as, to be honest, I think I have only ever noticed 2
taking place in the 2.7K miles that we have covered!? There must have been more I'm sure but,
perhaps the combination of the Bluefin upgrade and a bottle of Wynn's DPF
cleaner/regenerator to every third tank of fuel is keeping my system nice and
clean? Who knows? It's all working
nicely for us so far.
Anyway, back to the main subject: Why did I choose a Bluefin
over a dedicated race-chip? Because it
is so easy to uninstall the modified ECU mapping and then revert the car back
to the original data. The car can then
be sent off for its annual service and have any software updates installed by
the VX dealership as required. Similarly, it could be put back to default if
the Antara needs to have something done under warranty, just to be on the safe
side!
If when trying to re-install the Bluefin it detects any post-service
ECU changes, it is just a matter of going through the PC connection and upload
routine to get the map re-modified by the Bluefin support team to take into
account any changes made by VX. Simples!
I hope my ‘article' proves of interest to some of you fellow
Antarians out there …
-LaZ-