I have worked on engine test beds in a research and development department and seen the care taken with engine mapping; my attitude is "if the manufacturers do not do it, neither will I"
If you want to achieve a specific purpose ( more power for instance ) and are not too bothered about engine life, then all options are open !!
In some respects I can agree but not all - not all chipping is about power
- if Vauxhall/Opel had enough care on the 24V then it wouldn't suffer from borewash on startup
- The ignition and fueling maps have to cover a huge variety of petrol octanes so are very cautious
- Manufacturers have to get by noise regs - drive by at 30mph test etc and they do that the best way they know how (stick a flat spot at the test speed)
There are always benefits from a decent re-map and they outweigh the potential downsides by giving better fuel comsumption more torque and sometimes a few extra horses and a little bit more avaliable revs at the top end
Now a cheap cut and paste hack - I think you might be better off staying with std maps
