Board logo

Freelander 2 performance?
RazMan - 11/7/11 at 07:01 AM

I've just put a deposit down on a Freelander 2 (2 litre diesel) and wondered if any Landy owners can offer some advice on performance or other experiences.

As it is a bit on the sluggish side (compared to what I'm used to anyway) I was thinking about fitting one of those 'get power quick' modules to boost the power - I had one on my old 5 Series a few years back and it went like a rocket! There is one called Powerbox / Ecobox which gives a claimed 30% extra oomph and I just wondered if anyone else had fitted one.

Any advice will be gratefully appreciated as always

tegwin - 11/7/11 at 08:03 AM

I have always been a bit sceptical of these bolt in "powerbox" type things.,.. all it does is fool the ECU into doing things it shouldnt be doing...

Can you not get a proper re-map put on the ecu? Worth looking at what other cars use that engine and what power figures they are getting.... see which parts are interchangeable? (possibly turbo?/larger intercooler?)

nick205 - 11/7/11 at 08:30 AM

Fed up with the Meriva already RazMan?

Daddylonglegs - 11/7/11 at 08:42 AM

I'm with tegwin on this one. I'm always a bit wary too. The power can be increased, but by all accounts, the EGT also rises if you're not careful and this can lead to other 'issues'.

I run a Discovery 1 300TDi and have had loads of issues getting it back on the road (18 months worth of issues to be exact ). I ended up replacing the EDC electronically managed fuel pump/system with a mechanical one, and the power is a little down on what it was before but although I have lots of info on getting more 'power' out of it, the EGT is a major consideration.

I'm not sure how these chips affect EGT but I am guessing they are related?

Someone with a bit more knowledge will be along soon though I'm sure

HTH

need4speed - 11/7/11 at 08:43 AM

My lad works for Land Rover and removed one of these boxes from a Freelander one (TD4) and fitted it to mine, seemed to make no difference to the fuel consumption. Went out towing a trailer one day could hardly pull away then I did get moving 40mph was the max speed. Unplugged the box pulled like a train again. Needless to say it sits somewhere in the garage gathering dust.

Dave.

balidey - 11/7/11 at 08:44 AM

quote:
Originally posted by tegwin
all it does is fool the ECU into doing things it shouldnt be doing...

Is that really the case though?
Manufacturers can put out the same spec engine in different trim levels, and if an engine is capable of higher power levels, but has been held back on the ECU to meet emissions then one of these piggy back devices doesn't fool the ECU, it gives it back the power that had been restricted previously.
Well thats how I understood it.
Its the cheap resistors on ebay that actually do fool the ECU into running very lean.

RazMan - 11/7/11 at 09:44 AM

quote:
Originally posted by nick205
Fed up with the Meriva already RazMan?


Damn right! It's far too 'sit up & beg' for my liking .......... and I keep thinking of Postman Pat for some reason


When I installed one of these boxes on my 5 series (2.5) it made huge difference to performance levels with only a small hit to fuel consumption, although it was a fine line between performance and black smoke trails so you had to be careful. Nowadays the modules available seem to be a little bit more advanced so I have hopes for a little more finesse

[Edited on 11-7-11 by RazMan]

paulf - 11/7/11 at 05:26 PM

They intercept the fuel pressure and mass airflow signals and so increase the system pressure, the old type units just had a fixed increase but the newer so called digital units have an internal map that increases pressure more at certain revs and loads and are supposed to be very good .I fancy putting one on my rover 75 which has the same engine and looked it but am a bit reluctant to overstress it as it now has 238,000 on the clock so decided not to.
Paul

RazMan - 11/7/11 at 09:40 PM

Looking on eBay there seem to be a raft of these modules now, most are less than £100 but others are over 3 times the price, yet give similar performance claims. I reckon I'll give one of the budget ones a try ..... but which one? I quite fancy the switchable versions so I can bimble about in the snow on the 'eco' setting and still have the odd track day on the 'power' setting