ECU tuning boxes - snake oil?

[Eddles]

Does ECU tuning boxes for diesels like this actually work and decrease FE, or is it snake oil? It's a bit pricey at $500 for my engine.

[COcyclist]

I also have found the price of a tuning box pretty steep so I don't have first hand experience. There are a number of threads at tdiclub.com on chips and tuning boxes. Most people there feel they improve diesel fuel mileage by a couple of mpg on the highway. Since they also make more hp you can lose the mileage gain by hotrodding around with your new power.

It would take a long time to break even from a fuel savings standpoint but it might be fun to have.

[vtec-e]

I'm interested in hearing from anyone thats used this from an MPG point of view. Sure there's more power but i'm sure most folks here would hypermile a ferrari if given the chance! (Oh there's a mental image!!)

ollie

[Eddles]

Originally Posted by COcyclist

I also have found the price of a tuning box pretty steep so I don't have first hand experience. There are a number of threads at tdiclub.com on chips and tuning boxes. Most people there feel they improve diesel fuel mileage by a couple of mpg on the highway. Since they also make more hp you can lose the mileage gain by hotrodding around with your new power.

It would take a long time to break even from a fuel savings standpoint but it might be fun to have.

I wouldn't hodrod the car after the addition so yeah, like the other guy said, it'd be interesting to hear about the actual MPG changes. A couple MPG is most definitely not worth the investment, and overall, I think it's far too expensive to worth trying out, as it's most likley not to improve MPG.

[theunchosen]

Hard to say if that unit would help. The idea behind tuning is the car comes from the factory in some sort of balance. If its a sports car the vehicle is tuned to deliver the most power as possible. If its an econo car its tuned less aggressively to give better fuel economy.

The gains are relative. If you're vehicle has loads of power and is tuned for that, you could see big improvements changing the ECU fuel map to something less aggressive with less horsepower. I can't tell you what your current fuel map looks like or what is the optimum for your car so you don't have to push it too far to get the same power that you normally need.

Tuning kits can be worth it, but as was said it will take a while to make back the cash. As you have a diesel the issues of emissions and ignitions issues are not relevant, but until someone pops up and has used one on a similar car I wouldn't suggest it. Other mods are cheaper and just as effective(If you had a gasser leaning out the fuel map is very beneficial but you have a diesel so its pretty lean already).

[Eddles]

Makes sense. Thanks to everyone!

[AXMonster]

Eddles, phone Superchips and ask them. They will either recommend a Bluefin, or a trip to their rolling road.... or there's a tuner up your way that does specialist one off maps for customers. I think its RS Tuning in Leeds Cost is normally £450 IIRC, but if you are a member of www.tdocuk.com (free membership) it will cost £395 with before and after dyno runs and graphs.

What can be done is the injection advanced and the rail pressure increased. This will give very good FE benefits, but emissions will go out of the 'regulation' limits. This is nothing to worry about tho as its something the manufacturer has to do when the car is produced. Won't affect MOT

I used to be a Diesel engine calibration engineer for Ford, so have a bit of knowledge on this subject.

[Eddles]

Le Ouch... I doubt I'd make up the cost of the tuning in savings considering the age of my car! Also I'm a little environmentally conscious as well, don't want to fill the air with all those NOx...

But thanks for your advice, much appreciated!