15 replies to this topic

[chrisrhondda]

Hi all been scouring the internet for a good while now even with previous cars and am undecided on which product is best, I have clearly made my mind up to avoid the cheap ebay tuning boxes as from all the bad reviews etc. i've come across, so I was just wondering has anyone purchased any of the above products or maybe something different, and which one would you recommend for

1. Reliability
2. Best Results

Thanks Chris

[Mike77]

Personally I wouldn't a tuning box, too many negative reports, remap is fine, which I opted for, but you are stuck with this as a permanent fixture. Bluefin a bit more expensive, but you can remove the map if needs be. All in all its down to personal choice and finances.

[salsheikh]

Personally I wouldn't a tuning box, too many negative reports, remap is fine, which I opted for, but you are stuck with this as a permanent fixture. Bluefin a bit more expensive, but you can remove the map if needs be. All in all its down to personal choice and finances.

+1 on what Mike says. Some people have not had issues with tuning boxes but it is down to personal preference.

[Stoney871]

I run on a Bluefin remap and have had no problems since putting it onto my car after I bought it in 2011.

[chrisrhondda]

Thanks for getting back to me, great to see your feedback. I am going more towards the bluefin I think at the moment, what sort of gains did you get from your remaps if possible ?

[Stoney871]

I had the car checked on a VOSA rolling road test unit and on three runs I had an average of 148bhp.
My fuel economy is fine and low rev lag is pretty much reduced to nothing.

[gopacic]

I remapped with this company http://www.smchiptuning.com/. Didn't go on rolling test. 20.000km and counting, no problems so far, everything like Stoney871 said.

[Lenny]

Remapped from 90bhp to 125bhp 268nm Torque mpg. 1280km per 55ltr Diesel

[Dal.]

I had a tuning diesels Synergy box on my Mondeo ST TDCi and it worked without fault.

http://tuning-diesel...rgy/Synergy.htm

I liked the fact you could "un map" the car in 2 minutes. As std it was 152bhp / 295lbft but rolling roaded it went to 172bhp / 355ftlb. I averaged 50mpg during my ownership.

[fyl]

I run on a Bluefin remap and have had no problems since putting it onto my car after I bought it in 2011.

Stoney871,

Was your car stock and did the Bluefin's improvement claim accurate based on your Dyno results post bluefin ? I am considering getting the Bluefin but folks told me a custom remap is better as Bluefin is still just a generic map.

Appreciate your thoughts.

[Stoney871]

The car is stock, no performance mods other than the remap and a green cotton air filter.
The Bluefin specs stare the car should gain 20bhp so should only reach 133bhp but the VOSA tests came up with 149, 147, and 148.
I must have either been very lucky or the maps are actually even better than Superchips quote.

[fyl]

Thanks Stoney871 for your feedback. Just wondering did you also dynoed on the VOSA prior to the Bluefin remap so that you what you got @ stock ?

[Stoney871]

No, the remap was added and then i had a chance when working with VOSA on Vehicle stop checks to wangle a free dyno.
The Bluefin remap was admittedly a special deal I got from Superchips as the works mechanics were trialling the remapping for works vehicles, for a fee (£185) I was able to acquire an extra licence for usage of the group map.
That may explain why the map is higher than the official spec i suppose.
It may well have been optimised for Police usage and I was lucky to jump in on the deal.
About 9 or so of my oppos who drive Fords also availed themselves of this servce as there were maps available for the 1.6, 1.8 and 2.0.
(BTW, my works vehicle, a 2.0 2009 Focus also has a map and is a real rocket)

[chrisrhondda]

This sounds good to me from all sides, however i am still undecided part of me is saying go for a bluefin as their on offer for January, then another part of me is saying DTUK's CRD2 box which claims to take it between 140-150bhp which is considerably more than bluefin http://www.diesel-pe...1.8-tdci-115-ps or the last and final would be a remap with longlife exhausts in my local caerphilly depot ?

I've read through loads of reviews some say the bluefin is incredible and well worth every penny but others say its a waste of time go for a remap? decision decisions lol

[FOCA]

Tuners/ Mappers/ performance parts suppliers often exaggerate the figures, it can be a mistake to choose one product over another because its manufacturer/ supplier claims a few more Hp than another.

Often its the more "respected"/ "established" tuner that claims the smaller Hp gains, and the less well known tuner claims the biggest gains -

"claims" is the word -

Different dynos read and work differently, 1 may read higher, one lower, only the power from the wheels is measured, the crank power is "estimated" (guessed) dyno figures are "corrected" due to temprature etc, a typical car producing 125Hp at the wheels, suddenly becomes 180Hp at the crank, so where did the lost 55Hp go? did the gearbox absorb it? no, it would get too hot, gearboxes are not as inefficient as that, (thats more than 40% of the power) might as well say you have a 1000Hp car, but only 125Hp makes it to the wheels because only the power that makes it to the cars' wheels is important - it makes no difference what the "crank" Hp is.

The shape of the power and torque curves are important, a car with a wide, progressive power and torque curve may be quicker than an identical car (measured in the same way on the same dyno) that has a higher "peak" power over a narrower range and lets not forget torque

A famous quote :-

"Power (figures) sell cars, torque wins races"

Power figures sell remaps, tuning boxes, performance parts, too, it seems, but you've got to take them with a big "pinch of salt"


The Superchips Blufin is a remap just like a "custom" remap - Superchips can upload your original map and modify it to your modifications/ requirements, some "custom" remaps are just generic maps bought off the net, often all they dio is turn the fuel pressure up this is whats called a "tuning box" remap.

A dyno run with "before" and "after" charts/ plots with a road test and a custom remap (a proper "live" remap is not always possible on all cars/ cpus/ ecus), specifically set up for a particular car and its modifications (after the modifications are fitted), buy an established reputable remapper should ultimately give the best results, (but can be expensive, and may not produce much more power (if any) than a Blufin or "generic" remap)

It is often said that tuning boxes are simply a resistor that fools the ECU to squirt more fuel into the engine, and that the more expensive ones are just resistors too in a nicer box with the correct connectors.

Tuning boxes differ in price and quality - from a £7 box with a resistor (theyve got them now with pictures showing the resistor that looks like a silicone chip!) to microproccesor digital adjustable - multi-map boxes costing £400- £500

I ran one for years - it worked brilliantly - 100% reliable - it was a DT-UK one, it was adjustable and turned up for maximum power, ive recently fitted a Superchips Bluefin, initially with the Bluefin there was more top-snd power but i lost bottom end power realative to the tuning box - Superchips supplied a revised map for my modified car (120psi electronic boost controller, CAIS, gas- flowed airbox, resonator bypass, drag racing FMIC with waterspray, heatwrapped decat, straight-through exhaust, - i said i wanted it derestricted, in the lower gears and not torque- limited as i ran a strengthened trans (Solid SMF, carbon kevlar clutch, heavy-duty backplate 33% more clamping force) and with the total EGR delete and straight-through exhaust a little smoke wont harm it (carbon build up not a problem) but not more smoke than was nessesary for max power/ torque

I installed the rvised map on the car and the bottom end power is only slightly less than the tuning pox alone (at about 1k) but above that it pulls better, and the top end is a lot better, there is a little bit of smoke at startup, and initially on accelerating hard but overall not bad, i will try testing the tuning box AND the remap, but it looks like i wont need the tuning box as it probably wont make any difference with the Superchips map installed

The car has been lightened 155Kgs (so far) and the AC pump/ pulley removed and electric waterpump fitted (less rotating mass/ losses) i got the revised map from Superchips recently, with the bad weather ive not really had a chance to test it properly I fitted a fresh air filter , and timed a 4.86sec 50-70mph in top, im very pleased with that (previously it was 5.7ish) - the car is quick, and i still get 40 MPG

The car is probably one of the most heavily (performance) modified Mk3 diesels around,(not the usual decat, ss exhaust + bigger FMIC) but Superchips produced a map that was significantly better than the DTUK box, (even turned up) , in direct comparison (i time the 0-60etc) or the original "generic" Superchips map i might try a costom remap in the future - it would be interesting to see if i could squeeze a bit more power out of it (not that im obsessed or anything!)