Engine tuner

[Bearly awake]

Anybody any experience of using one of these? I'm not expecting more power AND mpg, as it states ;-) but am wondering how well they work 

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/262622177663

[mattd0312]

Good question, I'm interested to know too!

[Kris-H]

Not sure if its the case for this item, but in general, these miracle tuning boxes normally just trick the engine into thinking its cold so it draws in more air to boost performance. If you want to see a realistic improvement and performance then remapping is the way to go

[Old Peter]

Welcome to the club, Chris.

I have not heard much support for these "miracle" boxes, and personally I would not bother with them.

Remapping has succeeded for many members who would like a bit more power.

Peter.

[Drago]

Hi chaps,

Are we just talking about remapping diesel, or petrol cars too? I've a young colleague at work who has a petrol Honda Civic type R and races at Santa Pod. Recently had his engine remapped and it's now kicking out over 290bhp, up over 60bhp to it's previous "tuned up" best. Anyone on here remapped a 2.5 3.0 V6 by any chance? If so, what was the increase in power?

[Bearly awake]

On 7/4/2017 at 6:57 PM, mattd0312 said:

Good question, I'm interested to know too!

Have just ordered one, will let you know...

[Lazlo Woodbine]

I would dig into what the box actually does before hooking it up. I'm not against any particular one but more against the principle of them and the marketing of them being a magic plug-n-play solution. I have electronically "tuned" several diesels and each one responds differently and needs individual settings. A fixed tuning box cannot do this.

On my Golf TDi for example I increased the fuelling with a potentiometer. This works by modifying the return signal from the injector pump to the ecu to fool the ecu into making the injectors stay open longer. The range on the potentiometer is 500 - 2.5k ohms. My car didn't over-fuel at 700 ohms but others have done at 1.2k, a massive difference. I also modified the boost pressure sensor in the ecu with a potentiometer to again make it think the values it was reading were something else, in this case I made the ecu see less boost so it would compensate and give me more. Again the settings needed vary wildly across the same engine in different cars. It works for me but as far as real engine tuning goes the fuelling is a bodge and nothing more. 

These boxes work in much the same way, modifying ecu signals to put more fuel and air into the engine. They are not magic, they will not give more power and economy. They don't give the buyer the knowledge or ability to adjust them whilst at the same time bypassing the safety protocols of the ecu.

Unfortunately reliable power costs more than a tuning box.

[DAN@ADRIAN FLUX]

Hi,

If anyone needs any help with insurance for a re-map, chip or tuning box then please feel free to drop me a line. I'd be only too pleased to try and help.

Regards,

Dan.

[Lazlo Woodbine]

Pfffft..

[mike_msch]

Your looking at a couple of hundred quid to have a genuine remap. I would not ever risk plugging one of the eBay devices into a daily driver.

[Simon F]

Hi, I had a genuine remap done to my 3.0 V6 diesel XF.  Result is incredible!  Turbo kicks in at lower revs with more pressure.  Added about 60BHP to the standard 240.  With the Jag (same with a Volvo D5 I did the same to) you have to have the ECU removed unlike many cars where you can plug into the OBD port.  A mobile guy came to the house and did it at my kitchen table.  £350 worth spending