Simon
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| posted on 6/3/08 at 09:50 PM |
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Diesel tuners?
Chaps,
What are peoples thoughts on, and experiences of the numerous diesel tuners around.
Some seem to be piggy back ecus, some are a remap.
Costs, reliability, performance increases, consumption decreases (from what I've heard ), that sort of thing.
Probably won't do anything about it, but might be interesting to know first hand experience/recommendations.
ATB
Simon
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Danozeman
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| posted on 6/3/08 at 09:51 PM |
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The tuneit boxes are sposed to be good but not cheap.
I was gonna get one from here for my passat.
diesel tuner
They do make a noticeable different to power and mpg car make depending. I once drove a 130 tdi passat chipped to 165. went like stink and gave an
easy 65mpg. That had a tuneit box on.
[Edited on 6/3/08 by Danozeman]
Dan
Built the purple peril!! Let the modifications begin!!
http://www.eastangliankitcars.co.uk
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graememk
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| posted on 6/3/08 at 09:56 PM |
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i have a 1.9cdti (150ps) vectra my brother has the same, he has a tuning box i have a re map
remap much better but £500 and stays with the car
tuning box £80 not as smooth but can be taken off
both give just under 200ps
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neilj37
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| posted on 6/3/08 at 09:59 PM |
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calvinx had a piggy backed ecu fitted to his deisel golf and believe me it made a difference. I have been looking at the bluefin
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onzarob
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| posted on 6/3/08 at 10:25 PM |
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The choice is sometime governed by the ECU some can't be flashed on the fly others can, VW/Audi cars are fairly straight forward and most
people report benefits in power and MPG, I personally can't get my head round that they may be shortening the life of the engine.
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hobbsy
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| posted on 6/3/08 at 10:26 PM |
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I would recommend SP Tuning, he has a website but also on eBay:
http://stores.ebay.co.uk/SP-TUNING
Based near Hinckley but will come to you.
Very professional, there are a lot of other guys out there who don't know what they are doing and just bought a cheap kit and could potentially
drop you in the poop if it all goes wrong.
He was a regular mechanic for years but now just does remaps, mostly on recommendation.
He did my current tintop and a mates Seat Leon TDI recently.
When I had an issue and needed to go back to the dealers and then re-remapping he did it FOC.
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itiejim
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| posted on 7/3/08 at 07:21 AM |
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Angel tuning in Warwickshire are excellent, they will come out to you and flash your current system. Worked wonders on the 2.4 Alfa 156 I used to
have.
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britishtrident
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| posted on 7/3/08 at 07:49 AM |
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A guy called "Rover Ron" sells a wide range of black boxes for most european diesels, he has may happy customers and his boxes have been
tested by the motoring press.
http://www.tuning-diesels.com/
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bimbleuk
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| posted on 7/3/08 at 07:52 AM |
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As above a custom map specific to your car will always be better but obviously costs more. When I bought mine for an A4 TDi I had the choice of an
analogue or digital piggy back box. I went for the digital Dragon interceptor and have been using it for 4 years.
Because my car had 130K miles when I bought it I haven't used the full potential but still gained a noticeable 20% gain on mid-range torque. Yes
economy went up by about 3-5 mpg on average. I would say this is mostly from the fact I never rev the car above 3K RPM even though peak power is at
4200RPM. No need with the increased low end torque.
On the early A4s mine (its 13 years old!) with a mechanical pump the chip simply adds a bit more fuel. No changes are made to boost or anything else
that I'm aware of.
Now it has 180K miles the engine is still showing no signs of wear and with the chip turned off is still bang on the factory power figures. The clutch
however can judder a little bit on a hot day after a hard drive but I'm not surprised after 180K miles!
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hobbsy
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| posted on 7/3/08 at 09:40 AM |
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I'd deffo go for a remap over a "tuning box". Especially when if you go to the right place a remap can be had to sub £200. Maybe
even £150 on some models.
How much are the "boxes". Also be wary of the boxes that seem to good to be true, they are very crude and will just add more DERV
everywhere! So you'll get more power but also crap economy and a lot more smoke
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ned
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| posted on 7/3/08 at 11:30 AM |
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My bora was remapped long ago when Chris Gamlin owned it, I think at around 60k. It's now done 166k and going strong and still on the original
clutch.
Driving sensibly the consumption will be as good or better, moreso on a long run but when the extra grunt is there I personally think it tends to get
used more so fuel consumption won't improve noticably or dramatically imho but depends how you drive.
So many people have chips or remaps done and I don't think I've ever heard of an engine problem that was down to the modification.
Ned.
beware, I've got yellow skin
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hobbsy
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| posted on 7/3/08 at 11:48 AM |
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One thing to bear in mind with SOME of the VAG cars e.g. B6 Audi A4 1.9TDI is that you'll get through dual mass flywheels quicker - especially
if you go for a higher state of tune. It the extra torque that kills them.
They may now sell a one-piece flywheel upgrade (downgrade in terms of NVH?) which would be wise if you want big torque. Especially as dual mass
flywheels can cost £400 or £500...
Then again it struggles to put it all down through the front wheels at lowers speeds / gears.
Hence my switch to a RWD diesel BMW which puts it down far better 
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Gav
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| posted on 7/3/08 at 12:55 PM |
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As far as reliability is concerned, last time i was in the Seat dealership in preston they were offering REVO as a factory option with full warrenty
on the Cupra models.
Mines got a Revo remap but its a 1.8T petrol
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