HDi engine tuning at the ECU level

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Thunderbird

HDi engine tuning at the ECU level

Post by Thunderbird »

Salut!
Does any one has experience on HDi engine tuning at the ECU level (Engine Control Unit)? By upgrading the base program on the EPROM it is possible to improve considerably the torgue and power (usually called chip tuning).
On a Xantia HDi for instance, torgue may go from 250N/m to near 300N/m, and power from 110Hp to near 140Hp.
In this operation, injectors, intercooler, etc, are kept the same, so I admit there may be some risks involved,...
The main question is Are these risks minor, when compared to the gains?
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Post by np »

www.vanaaken.com
They do "black boxes" that you plug in under the bonnet.Their based in Britain,but you can fit the box yourself.I had my non ecu 1.9td boosted to 115bhp,185lbft of torque.25bhp increase over standard.I/C,injectors etc remained standard.Had it done 2 1/2 yrs ago now at Vanaaken,done about 35000 miles with no problems.Car much improved.Will be getting a Xantia or Peugeot 406 HDI 110bhp next.Will upgrade that at Vanaaken to about 130bhp.
Jon

Post by Jon »

I've just got a Dragon Performance tuning box which claims to take my 90BHP Xsara to 115BHP.
Its a simple plug in fit, it goes between the common rail injector plug connections.
See www.mrhoot.com The unit is £249 plus carriage, although I bought mine direct from Dragon on Ebay for £212.00 including VAT and carriage brand new with a 3 year warranty.
I will report further on this when I get round to fitting it!
At the moment, I can only see the advantages, I too would be interested to hear opinions as to the risks involved. If I think that it is in fact too risky I won't fit it. Then sell it.[?]
Thunderbird

Post by Thunderbird »

I know a case where it was noticed a slight increase in the heating of the engine oil temperature. That was ok most of the time, except in very hot summer days (long trips, urban use, or in a more sportive driving). No engine harm was noticed. The car was a Nissan.
This may be related with the efficiency of the cooling system. Apparently, HDi's cooling system is well dimentioned...
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Post by JohnD »

I'm about to fit a VanAaken black box to my 2.1 Xantia. They tell me it'll increase BHP to 126 and torque to around 200lbs. I'm towing the caravan to Spain next week, so we'll see.
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Post by Bangtwister »

er why?
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Post by JohnD »

Why what???
Thunderbird

Post by Thunderbird »

I will try the Upsolute solution.
Xantia 2.0HDi:
Power: Base: 110Hp. New: 136Hp.
Torgue Base: 250Nm. New: 293Nm.
They have two interesting options for the HDi engine:
1. Wireless remote controled changing between previous and new tuning.
2. OBD no physical intervention replacement of prevoius program.
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Post by bernie »

<blockquote id="quote"><font size="1" face="Verdana, Arial, Helvetica" id="quote">quote:<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"><i>Originally posted by Thunderbird</i>

I will try the Upsolute solution.
<hr height="1" noshade id="quote"></blockquote id="quote"></font id="quote">
What's the Upsolute solution.?[:)][?]
Thunderbird

Post by Thunderbird »

They're just another engine chip tuning provider.
They have, however, an interesting solution where both programs are kept and you can change between them with a remote control.
The previous program is interesting for snow use and hot days where engine temperature can be an issue.
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Post by Mosser »

I used to have an Upsolute chip in my Seat Leon, It took the standard 180Bhp up to 225Bhp with a simple chip change and it made a huge difference to the power and low down torque, but i suffered quite badly from heatsoak in the intercooler if running at full power for more than 10 seconds, I could have done with fitting a bigger intercooler too i suppose
But they ar well worth the money and the support and backup was excellent, i got a free firmware upgrade when they released a new version that increased the power by another 15Bhp
martyhopkirk

Post by martyhopkirk »

Thnderbird - posted a fitting guide to one of the little black boxes on this thread....
http://www.andyspares.com/discussionfor ... IC_ID=8891
not had any problems with mine (aside from the awkwardness of fitting) or overheating problems whilst getting a respectable gain.
I also changed the air filter to a K & N aftermarket cartridge type to increase the air flow. my next move will be to re route the air intake and bring it higher in the engine compartment to do 2 things, get more air and avoid the risk of it scooping up water in our lovely August summer!![:)]
As far as i can see the only advantage to remapping the ECU as opposed to piggy backing the black box is the fact to the naked eye it will look standard.
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