Compare Alfa Romeo 159 engine balancing or remapping job quotes from specialist garages

Alfa Romeo is a quintessentially Italian carmaker known for the style and elegance of its sporty vehicles. In a 2008 episode of Top Gear, Hammond, Clarkson and May set out to prove that you can't be a proper petrolhead until you've owned an Alfa. The brand's iconic status also stretches beyond the small screen, with its cars appearing in a slew of blockbusters, including The Godfather, The Graduate, Octopussy and The Talented Mr Ripley.

At the 2022 Autocar Awards, the Alfa Romeo Giulia Quadrifoglio was named a future classic, earning praise for being "sublime to drive and beautiful to look at" - a statement that perfectly captures the spirit of the brand.

Car remapping, sometimes called ‘chipping', involves changing your car's engine control unit (ECU) programming by overwriting the manufacturer's settings on the microchip. This process is done by plugging a laptop into the vehicle's OBD port.

Engine remapping is different to engine balancing, which involves altering components in the engine itself rather than making changes to the car's computer.

A car remapping service can give you better fuel economy, improved driveability and control, increased power, and a better throttle response. It is highly customisable, so you can choose which aspects of performance you want to improve, and you can also have multiple remaps so you can switch between them depending on your needs.

However, remapping often makes your insurance more expensive, and it only benefits cars with a turbo; if your vehicle doesn't have one, the difference after remapping will be minimal.