Stage 1 and Stage 2 remaps.

Most people find SK Performance because they want an exhaust. The remap is what we do when the software should match that hardware, and it is also worth doing on its own when the exhaust is staying standard and the car simply feels flat.

We scan before we write anything. A car with unresolved faults, a blocked filter or a boost leak does not get a performance file laid over the problem. Diesels with DPF or AdBlue questions start on the DPF and remap page, so we are not tuning around a fault.

Stage 1

Software only, on a standard, healthy engine. The original file is read and saved where the ECU allows it. The work is aimed at the mid-range you actually use: pull, throttle response, and fuelling and temperatures kept sensible.

We do not publish one horsepower number for “a Stage 1”. A small three-cylinder turbo and a six-cylinder are not the same job. You get a realistic expectation for your engine before we start, and we do not invent a figure to win the booking.

Stage 2

A Stage 2 file assumes the engine can move more air. On most turbo cars that means a sports downpipe or a high-flow section, and often the intake to suit. The file is written for that hardware. Booking the exhaust and the map in one visit means the car leaves with pipework and software that match — not a louder car still on a stock file, and not a file written for a downpipe you have not fitted.

If the downpipe conversation includes a catalytic converter, the exhaust page is the place to start. Road-going UK cars keep the cat. A Stage 2 file can be written around a high-flow cat. A de-cat is an off-road and motorsport build, and it is treated that way.

What we need from the car

A healthy engine. Service history helps, and so does any recent fault code. Bring it on the fuel you normally use. If an exhaust job was started somewhere else, tell us what is actually on the car. We write the file for the hardware fitted, not the hardware that is still on order.

Why the file is done here

• The original is savedWhere the ECU and the tool allow it, the stock file is read and kept before anything is written.
• Stage 1 and Stage 2 stay differentOne is software on a standard car. The other is a file for hardware. We do not blur them to make a quote sound bigger.
• Welded and written in one placeThe people who fabricate the downpipe are in the same unit as the laptop. The file matches the pipe that was fitted.
• No file over a faultIf the scan shows a problem, we stop and talk about it. That includes DPF and AdBlue faults.