Tuning chip for diesel car?

Garry Edwards

Garry Edwards

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A friend has had his landy chipped and says it's made a world of difference.

Is it worth getting one for my Nissan Xtrail?
I'm not interested in going faster, but am interested in improving the torque and smoothness, and presumably if I drive in the same way that I drive now, the economy should be better too...

If it is worth having, 3 questions:
1. Should I get this one, which is adjustable? Is adjustability worth having? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400059115424?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
2. Or should I get this (slightly cheaper) one, which presumably isn't adjustable? http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/400777541505?_trksid=p2055119.m1438.l2649&ssPageName=STRK:MEBIDX:IT
3. Are they really easy to fit?

Thanks for any advice
 
I would say;

4: stay well clear of ebay stuff and go to a proper remappers to get it done and get a map from a reputable source (Revo, Custom Code, Upsolute, etc, etc)

....and it makes a world of difference. Better fuel economy not too mention a boatload of extra grunt. just make sure the clutch/flywheel combo you have on at the minute will handle the extra torque.

Cheap ebay crap tend to just be variable resistors and will probably make your car run rough as boots and smoke like a chimney. You get what you pay for....a decent remap will cost you at least £200.
 
I had a dastec chip on my xtrail and it made it bit better. I also had one similar to your first link, that made power, but also made a lot of smoke.

Last week I fitted a DTUK chip to my Saab 9-3.. Jesus christ it like a different car!

I would highly recommend having a look at the DTUK website to see if they have an Xtrail chip. They aren't some dodgy eBay seller where you have no idea what you are getting, they are a bona fide company with a depot in the UK. Yes they are pricey, but boy do they work.

http://www.diesel-performance.co.uk

Yes they are very easy to fit. Locate the fuel rail plug, unplug it, plug it into box harness, plug the other end into the other plug harness and job done. Some chips also have a boost control harness, same thing as above, just a different plug.
 
I had a remap from www.angeltuning.co.uk many years ago on a xsara diesel. Very pleased with the whole process, a default map, adjusted to your cars characteristics. More torque, better acceleration and increased fuel economy too (power band came in about 500rpm lower in each gear) I put over 150k miles on after the remap without any problems at all. Very highly recommended, and the way I would go again if I decided to tweak the car.
 
Stay away from chips, they just fool your ECU into throwing more fuel in. Especially those cheap ones. They do sod all and just a con to take your money.

Instead get a "remap". They're a lot better, safer, more torque and hp. With a remap the tuner will get all the files from the ECU and tweak them, or if it's a big company they will have programs ready made for your car and they will just upload the new mapped files.

I have always gone for a remap but I do it myself between me and a friend. We do it on the road whilst we are driving the car so we can tweak it to real situations. I've got my BMW E91 330D to 300bhp and 610nm of torque. Any more than that and I'll need an upgated clutch.

Not sure about remaps for Nissan, but other decent brands to look out for are E-maps (speak to Simon, he's brilliant), Quantum tuning, Angel Tuning and for any VAG car needing a remap I always recommend Revo Tecnik.

Edit: Yes it will be well worth it on your Xtrail. I recommend a remap to anyone with a diesel or wanting more power from a turbo petrol.
 
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Here's a video about how much of a con those Ebay chips are. It's a long watch but very informative.

 
Gave up when the presenter couldn't even open an envelope!
 
Had my civic done with Celtic tuning with a stage 2 performance map and the difference was incredible plus seeing your car on a dyno gives you a buzz. They are a long long way from me in Doncaster but turned it into a 3 day mini break. Elite shouldn't be too far from you Gary and is also a very popular and recommended tuning company.
 
ST4 said:
Careful. Extra wear on the injectors, transmission, rise in premium. IMHO just leave it be
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Not much more wear. Cars come detuned from the factory to cope with different climates and driving conditions. A remap just unlocks that hidden power that's been restricted. All remaps if done correctly are done within safe parameters of the engine and drivetrain. And the rise in premium...if you tell them. there's no possible way of them finding out unless they hook your car up to coding software and compare the files to the originals...which they never do.
 
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Plus a remap would add very little or nothing at all with a good company. My car with remap, 8 paddle ceramic clutch/smf, Eibach Pro springs, fast road setup and grooved front discs/fast road pads was virtually the same price with a performance specialist as standard with aviva.
 
If you are only after better economy, just stick a better intercooler on it. But as others have said a remap every time over a tuning chip. If you do go for a remap, get a custom remap. They should test your car before hand to make sure there is nothing wrong with the engine, a custom map will get the best out of your engine as opposed to just uploading a generic file.
 
A lot of the big remappers also offer plug in chips, so they can't be that bad..

My disco has a remap, yet it's nowhere near as good as the xtrail or the saab with the chip box. Remaps unless done on a rolling road are generic, there is no way around that. They have been made on a certain car and then transfered to another. Some remapperrs might mod the files slightly for your vehicle, but it's still a generic file.
A rolling road remap will be custom made to your car, but not a lot of tuners have the facilities for this.

The eBay generic boxes are dodgy, but not all are. As I said, check out DTUK. I haven't yet found a bad review about them and they've been going 10 years +
 
A lot of the ebay "chips" are often just resistors in a box to fool the engine management into chucking more fuel in. Not ideal at all.

As said go to someone like revo. Sure they make plug in boxes but they still have their own custom maps on.
 
TCR4x4 said:
A lot of the big remappers also offer plug in chips, so they can't be that bad..

My disco has a remap, yet it's nowhere near as good as the xtrail or the saab with the chip box. Remaps unless done on a rolling road are generic, there is no way around that. They have been made on a certain car and then transfered to another. Some remapperrs might mod the files slightly for your vehicle, but it's still a generic file.
A rolling road remap will be custom made to your car, but not a lot of tuners have the facilities for this.

The eBay generic boxes are dodgy, but not all are. As I said, check out DTUK. I haven't yet found a bad review about them and they've been going 10 years +
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There's a difference between a chip from a decent tuning company to those ebay ones. I'd have no problems fitting a well known decent brand(y) In fact most new BMW's are so hard to crack the ECU that a lot of them have to be chipped (plug in) if you want to go down that route.
 
neil_g said:
A lot of the ebay "chips" are often just resistors in a box to fool the engine management into chucking more fuel in. Not ideal at all.

As said go to someone like revo. Sure they make plug in boxes but they still have their own custom maps on.
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Sadly for the OP's case Revo only do VAG related cars, no jap stuff. Although recently this year they have expanded to Ford. Brilliant brand though. Had Revo do my old VAG cars before I got into BMW's and doing it myself...yes I know what to do lol.
 
Thanks for the advice gents, the general consensus seems to be that I would have to spend a lot more money to get a real benefit...
 
CaveDweller said:
Sadly for the OP's case Revo only do VAG related cars, no jap stuff. Although recently this year they have expanded to Ford. Brilliant brand though. Had Revo do my old VAG cars before I got into BMW's and doing it myself...yes I know what to do lol.
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Yeah, I don't know who does outside of vag I just mention revo as an example of the kind of service to look for :)
 
i fitted one to my old 2009 Skoda Fabia 3 cylinder 1.4 tdi, it destroyed the crankshaft within 3 months, the crank just couldnt handle the extra load, the power boost was massive for this little engine, luckily the breakdown guy removed it for me and Skoda put me a brand new engine in
 
neil_g said:
That doesn't sound right. Some of the very heavily tuned vag tdi are running standard cranks.
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I got my B5.5 passat from 130 to 210 on the standard crank, but those 1.9 pd engines are bulletproof. Unsure of the 1.4.
 
205bhp/314ft lb on my Civic 2.2, can go a little more with fmic but stage 3 requires hybrid turbo.
 
andy700 said:
Diesel cars have so much potential, and I say this as a "petrolhead" who had not thought of owing a diesel until 2 years ago.

http://www.popularmechanics.com/cars/alternative-fuel/diesel/le-mans-diesel-winners

Get a 1.9/2.0 remapped to give 200BHP and you will have the best of every World IMO.
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Or a 6cyl diesel if you can. Glad I moved from VAg to get 330D. The power is emense, 300bhp and 610nm torque and still 50+mpg on a decent run:D It pulls in 6th like my old passat did in 3rd.
 
neil_g said:
Even so, most "stage1" maps are 30% increase even a lowly 1.4 should be able to handle that. Surely? Vag always like to over engineer these things.
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Strangely enough they stopped producing the 1.4tdi 3 cylinder the year after and introduced the 1.6tdi, there were numerous failures reported on the briskoda forums where i documented the whole incident about 4 years ago.

I eventually had to go direct to Milton Keynes headquarters who sent a couple of specialists to look at my car after the delaer had had it in his care for over 3 months (DM Keith in Wakefield) they both said the crank was shot to pieces and ordered a brand new engine, there was even metal shards in the sump when they dropped it, up until the specialists being called in the delaer had replaced the turbo 3 times, the second time it actually dropped off on the M62, dealer had apparently never had the top cover or sump off and had it running on a rolling road sending the figures direct to MK head office (of course they never knew i had a chip box fitted as the breakdown guy removed it)
 
had my 1.3 diesel punto remapped by a company in cornwall... guy travels all over uk and specs each car.. went from 70 bhp to 110bhp and now abnout 230 torques... enough to drop a TT off the lights as proved yesterday. Generally drive it sensibly abd 60% rural 40% urban ish and 70 mpg ish over 6 yrs.

Just inform your insurer that it's been remapped. Usually 0-10% loading.
 
I'd say that significant a failure probably wasn't a direct result of the chip box Gary - although it won't have helped.
 
RichardtheSane said:
I'd say that significant a failure probably wasn't a direct result of the chip box Gary - although it won't have helped.
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I was grilled by Skoda wakefield and by Skoda HQ about having a chip box fitted, obviously i said no, they even took several samples of the oil to send Germany to find out if the oil used was the exact grade required (apparently PD engines need a very specific oil) was told everyting was fine with the oil, i actually saw the Crankshaft which was badly work and had hundreds on tiny score marks on it, the guys from MK were 99% sure the car had been chipped/remapped at some stage but couldnt prove it, they were however the ones who made the snap decision to replace the engine but still said it had been chipped but as i was the second owner they had to take my word for it that i hadnt done it.

Got to admit though, in the time i had the box fitted it went like a bleedin rocket, i can only imagine the extra load going through the crank.
 
Gary Coyle said:
I was grilled by Skoda wakefield and by Skoda HQ about having a chip box fitted, obviously i said no, they even took several samples of the oil to send Germany to find out if the oil used was the exact grade required (apparently PD engines need a very specific oil) was told everyting was fine with the oil, i actually saw the Crankshaft which was badly work and had hundreds on tiny score marks on it, the guys from MK were 99% sure the car had been chipped/remapped at some stage but couldnt prove it, they were however the ones who made the snap decision to replace the engine but still said it had been chipped but as i was the second owner they had to take my word for it that i hadnt done it.

Got to admit though, in the time i had the box fitted it went like a bleedin rocket, i can only imagine the extra load going through the crank.
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These small engines could be close to their maximum in the default configuration, which is why I am not jumping on the downsizing bandwagon. VAG is also slowly bringing the 2.0TDI towards it's max power levels. Currently it's up to 150 bhp in the regular version. It is easy for them to claim they improved power and efficiency by altering maps and a few little mechanical details.

P.S. It is very impressive you admit taking the dealer for a ride. I hope they are not reading this right now.
 
Gary Coyle said:
i fitted one to my old 2009 Skoda Fabia 3 cylinder 1.4 tdi, it destroyed the crankshaft within 3 months ... luckily the breakdown guy removed it for me and Skoda put me a brand new engine in
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Gary Coyle said:
I was grilled by Skoda wakefield and by Skoda HQ about having a chip box fitted, obviously i said no ... the guys from MK were 99% sure the car had been chipped/remapped at some stage but couldnt prove it ... they had to take my word for it that i hadnt done it.
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Wow.
 
Bloody hell Gary, after the beasting you gave main dealers in another thread, perhaps those are not the wisest confessions.
 
Downright dishonest and probably actually criminal fraud.
 
Meh, I say fair play. How many of us can say we've been 100% honest all the time? Also the biggest robbers out the lot are the main dealers anyway.
 
fracster said:
Bloody hell Gary, after the beasting you gave main dealers in another thread, perhaps those are not the wisest confessions.
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I slagged this same dealer in that thread because they put hundreds of miles on my car without telling me, they had some guy using it every day and they even damaged the rear wing/quarter as well which meant they had to have it in their Leeds bodyshop for a repair, the service manager lost his job over this damage fiasco, he tried to say that the damage to the bodywork was done by me before id taken the car in, he even got a mechanic to say they he also spotted the damage on my car when i left it on the roadside while this mechanic was in his car having his lunch, i only knew about it the morning i went in to pick my car up and got a call asking me if i wanted them to quote for the damage.

After them having the car for about 8-10 weeks i thought they were just winding me up until i got there and saw the damage, the inside roof lining was also smeared with mucky oily finger marks, luckily for me there was some CCTV footage of the car being moved around the service yard with no damage.

it was all documented on briskoda forums.
 
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One dishonest action does not compensate for the other and you also need to be careful what you say out loudly in the public. TP is not just a pub banter - it is all openly written black on white.
 
Does a generic chip really have that much difference?
I know when I had the TVR mapped for drivability, it spent some time being mapped throughout the range, with a tailored adjustment every 200 or 250 revs
 
Byker28i said:
Does a generic chip really have that much difference?
I know when I had the TVR mapped for drivability, it spent some time being mapped throughout the range, with a tailored adjustment every 200 or 250 revs
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By the sound of it you had a custom one rather than a generic map. Generic maps are alright if you're happy with them, but if you want something a bit more tailored then get a custom one whilst the car is getting driven on the road or dyno. That way the map is made for YOUR car, rather than that model...if that makes any sense. Me and my mate took ages to custom remap my 330D when I could have gotten it done within an hour with generic files.
 
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