diesel performance tuning

[pinkhelmets]

Anybody have experience r know about these plug-in performance tuning units?

There are various makes available which all claim the same, basically big performance gain. But prices range loads from about 50 quid up to more than £300. The performance gain claims might be slightly different but all roughly 25 to 30 bhp more for me, so what should I go for? Is there any reason to spend loads or just go for a budget one that does the same job?

 

[miggy]

Pinkhelmets give these guys a ring and make some enquiries. Obviously the cheap ones could be lacking something, after all once its fitted how do you yourself know if this product is working or not?.

Diesel Tuning | World Class Diesel Tuning Boxes from TDI Tuning

 

[Erbs]

the only proven way i know is a re-map on the ecu, these plug in boxes claim to give better mpg but i have yet to hear that is the case,they are cheap to buy for a reason

a re-map you will deffo notice the difference in performance and mpg

 

[gsmtech]

There are various sorts of plug in devices that make all sort of claims..the real cheap ones, that plug in under the hood normally just have a resistor to fool the engine into overfuelling. This is is not a good thing, you can trigger all sorts of alerts with other modules connected to the ECU.
The really expensive units, can actually flash your ECU with a new map,...they sometimes have a choice of maps, you only need to connect them up flash the map and then disconnect the device, you can reconnect if you ever want to restore the original map or apply a different map. In effect they have generic maps loaded onto the device.
The best option is a custom remap..i.e: they check all your cars components, clutch, turbo etc, read ecu fault codes...then stick your car on a rolling road to find out the current BHP, gradual ECU tweaks are then made until they reach the most stable performance/stability rate on the rolling road and you know exactly what you gains you've made as BHP before and after is all logged.
Generic remaps where a chap comes out to you with a laptop, dont take into account the wear and tear, condition your vehicle is currently in. If you have lots of miles on the car, a remap can cause the clutch to start slipping or definitely reduce it;s life some OEM clutches are not rated fo the higher torque and BHP that remaps provide.

 

[Exos]

Do not waste your money on the cheapo ebay ones, you will only cause damage to your car. Ask yourself is £99 really worth it and is it something that compares to a £250 - £350 unit or a remap.

Either get a remap or Superchips do a device called a Bluefin, which re-programmes the ECU for you.

There are some others on the market, that do something similar

 

[fes_786]

im in the tuning game

the plugin boxs are a scam

the bluefin is like a tuned generic map for your particular car / engine type and they are pretty decent but it will only work on your car i.e. it locks to ur vin no

ur best bet is to get a proper custom tuned map for ur car / engine

 

[The Dentist]

I don't know about the cheapo ones but mine got done properly. When I say properly I mean a full custom job which includes upgraded clutch, breaks, wheels. You cant go from a low powered car to a high powered car and still leave the same components it won't handle it. You want more breaking power. You want the mechanical bits to be able to handle the extra power otherwise you will be spending more money on repairs. Mine is an a6 2litre tdi

 

[fishaman]

try the dtuk website there boxes really work
got a dtuk red box and wow what a different car mine is vectra c cdti 150 ( 190 ish with the box)

 

[pinkhelmets]

Thanks for all the replies.
Thing is you can read the confusion yourself above, so many people say the plug in boxes are shit yet so many all over the net say how much improvement is gained from plugging a box in...
The car is brand new, it is a sportspack version with all uprated extra cost parts, including suspension & brakes. I'm not worried about long term damage as i only keep a car for its first 2 or 3 years. Even repairs arent important, I'm fine with that. Fuel economy is irrelevant to me really.

It is a turbo diesel and this seems to mean that performance gain is a certainty? I didnt really want an ecu remap, just the simplicity of plugging in something that can be removed. The Bluefin doesnt seem to be available for my vehicle anyway, so now it is back to the high cost of a remap or go for these plug in units that 50% say are crap & 50% say are great.

DTUK say go with theirs it certainly works well, but obviously they wouldnt honestly tell me if a cheap version done the same job. OK so yep I'm leaning towards the DTUK version but to me it just seems like the same box of electronics that is basically inline resistance which adds more fuel... exactly like the cheap ones lol.

 

[Thommo]

The bluefin isnt half bad, I got one for the mini when i had it and once it was mapped with the bluefin it was like shit of a stick, so i give it some credit.. A remap to the car itself is probably best but you can be looking at mega bucks for that, i think i paid 150 for the bluefin (i still have it but not the mini, hoping they get $acked at some point so you can load your on map on any car instead of them being locked to one car.) and its prob the best 150 quid i spent on the car.


wow i can type shit but i cant type h-a-c-k-e-d .... over censored imo.

 

[fes_786]

it would help if we knew what car make model, engine size, year and what stock bhp is

might be able to either point u in right direction or recommend a plugin selftune device

 

[pinkhelmets]

I haven't collected yet as stock deliveries are not for another month, but its the new shape Merc A200 cdi AMG model, I think its 136bhp. I know it cant ever be a 2-litre A250 at 211bhp but its still good if you can add a bit more performance on the 1.8L standard (which seems certain on turbos).
I'm more interested in a plug-in option that can be removed in a couple of years. Brakes are uprated perforated disc type, suspension is lowered & uprated, wheels/tyres are upgraded, basically the same as fitted to the A250 model. There is also an A220 model but that wasnt going to be available as soon as the one I went for, but this is about 170bhp and likely just an alternative mapped ecu? Economy may be reduced but thats fine if I gain ~30bhp

 

[fes_786]

sorry to say the new cars 2008+ come with anti tuning protection

so no self tune version or plug in boxs

just a proper remap which will involve reading ecu on bench via tricore method

be very choosey on who does it as 1 slight mistake and ecu will b locked

theres a company called pendle performance down south and the guy knows his stuff and its a proper dyno remap all custom tuned for ur car

i highly recommend u give them a call

Home

try and take it to there office

 

[smirnoff_rules]

after 30 years in the trade l have learned if u want a fast car buy one .. over tuning a car does work but u will just kill turbo and clutch or even the engine ..

 

[Erbs]

I agree with smirnoff, theres a reason the manufacturers make engines that are well down on power, its to give more reliability and longevity

I have a Transit and all i have done to mine is blank off the EGR valve and use 2 stroke in the diesel and i have noticed a difference on its a lot quiter now and i get better mpg