[Aussie Ed]

Hi All, Has anyone any experience of installing / using Turbo Diesel Tuning box? I am particularly interested in the kit available from www.tdi-tuning.co.uk Looks to be flexible (even re-usable if change vehicle), easy to fit (plug & play concept)and user adjustable for various requirements ie mpg, torque etc. Whilst my vehicle is Captiva there may be other vehicle forums who can provide comment. Is this a really good piece of technology or clever marketing?
Aussie Ed

 

[bigiainw]

I used one on my Captiva for a while, power and torque were good, economy was not so brilliant. I've had my car remapped and the DPF removed and that seems a better solution to me, and comparible in terms of cost.

 

[K.L.Richards]

I've posted my thoughts on these and re-flashing the ECU before, so wont go on about it again.


The only thing I would point out, is the model of box for the Captiva is £290 (all bar a penny) and it says it will give MPG improvement of between 4-6mpg, which isnt remarkable, if you ask me, as you could get that by removing excess weight, ensure tyres correct pressue, drive with a little less right foot etc...



But the point I'm making, is that I calculate you will have to drive arround 10k miles to see a return based on a 5 MPG improvement. So that would be 10k miles to recoup the £290, then another 10k miles to see a saving of £290.... Not really ground breaking.



Against the reported adverse effects of the way it "fools" the car which is reported (and disputed, but not going into it here... search the forum, think it was OldRoverBoy gave some interesting info in previous posts), to reduce the engines "lifetime" by running the engine above the tolerances specified by manufactures. If that is true, the £290 saving in the second 10k miles, may have been eaten up with extra servicing or repair bills.



Your call... as I said, the forum is littered with posts on ECU flashing, and Tuning Boxes.... I just dont think they are worth the high investment.



If you do buy one, come back and tell me I was wrong...

 

[Oldroverboy]

KL. spot on To anyone thinking of diesel tuning boxes/emaps think long and think hard. Remove all excess weight is the best idea and a bit light footed is even better, By the way, just did Carmarthen gatwick -london carmarthen at an average of 55 mpg in the epica at 70mph! it can be done!
Edited by: Oldroverboy

 

[jester]

KL. spot on To anyone thinking of diesel tuning boxes/emaps think long and think hard. Remove all excess weight is the best idea and a bit light footed is even better, By the way, just did Carmarthen gatwick -london carmarthen at an average of 55 mpg in the epica at 70mph! it can be done!

But not in a Captiva

 

[Aussie Ed]

Thanks to those of you who provided feedback. Apologies if this subject been listed previously but I am new'ish on the forum and not aware of previous issues raised pre 2012. Although the MPG isnt shown as a great saving (gosh - maybe we actually have an honest supplier here), there could be benefits on torque for anyone towing caravan. I'll investigate other websites and get concensus. There might be someone out there who will say it's fantastic and did just what was advertised.
Thanks again chaps.

Aussie Ed

 

[K.L.Richards]

no problem re-raising the issue. let us know what you do and if you go for it, hope you will have positive news to report.

 

[bigiainw]

Aussie Ed- you won't get 4-6 mpg, you'll be lucky to get any saving at all. I drive like a nun when I try and I could get the box to make no improvement, although in "fooling" the ecu, the trip computer showed an improvement of about 5mpg, but when I worked it out by calculator, fill to fill , it was simply lying and I went from 32mpg average to 29mpg average under the same driving conditions.