Jump to content

Td5 Re-Map Tuning - Value & Performance?


simonr

Recommended Posts

There are loads of companies all over the UK offering Td5 remapping. Which one to choose is a bit bewildering to be honest!

What I'm looking for is better low end torque for towing and to improve the (so called) anti-stall capability. It (an 03 plate 110) goes fast enough once it gets going. I've spoken to several people who say their re-map has given just that.

Prices seem to span from about £200 to £600 for what appears to be the same thing (just a re-map, no intercoolers etc). The span seems very big - so maybe they are not all equal?

What in your opinions represents good value (obviously avoiding slagging off any particular suppliers - more interested in the good than the bad).

Si

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Si

Can you not e-mail the different providers and give them a set few questions and see what each of them offer in terms as to what you want to achieve. Peoples views will be different to yours possibly because they have different citerea than you from the map. Some will want top end power, some will want grunt others better anti stall. By getting top end power what are they sacrificing from the rest of the map. With your specific critea the provider will be able to give you the answer you need.

If you have done this already and are now after real time experience I'll shut up. :rolleyes:

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would have no hesitation in recommending Td5 Alive for your remap.

I bought a tuned Td5 Defender to export and Gary at Td5 Alive remapped the ECU back to its original tune for me - but not before remapping with his own tune, so I could compare it with the "big name" remap which was on the vehicle before. It is rare that you get the opportunity to compare back-to-back different remaps - and the difference was very noticeable. Td5 Alive's remap was much smoother on the road, but maybe not quite as powerful outright (but you would only notice this is you went everywhere flat out and even then the difference was very slight). Back at base he revealed that the origin remap used far more fuelling than his own tune, so would likely as not be much less economical. He has since remapped by TDV6 Discovery, making it a much better vehicle to drive.

I used to have a 2000MY Defender which had less "lag" than the later exported vehicle. This is due to later models (including yours) having a different exhaust set-up - fitting a decat pipe will make your vehicle much more responsive.

For details see http://td5alive.com.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

i can second gary at td5 alive he remapped my 54 plate defender and he has transformed it . he will ask you how you drive your truck and tune it to how you will need it. if your not happy he will retune it to how you want it . give the man a call you wont be disapointed.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Silvio sent me two maps for nothing. The Italians believe that maps should be shared and swop them amongst themselves, mostly using the Nanocom to up and down load the maps. Send him a PM or I can email the maps I have if anyone wants them.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Silvio sent me two maps for nothing. The Italians believe that maps should be shared and swop them amongst themselves, mostly using the Nanocom to up and down load the maps. Send him a PM or I can email the maps I have if anyone wants them.

I would love get a copy of the Nanocom maps if you could, Jim, please? Are they for TD5 Discovery or Defender? We have both. email:email address removed by Mod

Thank you!! Simon.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I know there are several people, including Porny on here offering mapping. I have talked to loads of companies - and they all make similar claims (including that theirs is the best). The point of this topic was to see whether mappings from different companies lived up to peoples expectations and matched their style of driving - and if they think they were good value?

I just cannot persuade Nanocom to complete an up/down load without hanging - so I've pretty much given up on that route. I suspect that if it crashes in the wrong place, my ECU will become a brick! Hence wanting to get a grown-up to have a look.

Si

Link to comment
Share on other sites

As well as getting rid of the cat (replace the downpipe), the centre box can go - cheapest=replace with straight thru pipe (some say it's noisy, but I must have been lucky)

Then, as I understand it, get rid of the EGR (porny does a kit for £60+vat)

Then, the remap.

after that, it's a case of intercooler, boost box and remap again. (I won't be going that far)

is that about the right order of things, everyone?

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I would love get a copy of the Nanocom maps if you could, Jim, please? Are they for TD5 Discovery or Defender? We have both. email: scollins@irelandxtreme.ie

Thank you!! Simon.

Just bear in mind... for both Disco and Defender (post 2002) there are two ECU's (more if you include auto) - both flash type... and the files used are different. If they are for the wrong ECU you will get lots of fault codes - as well as a few other problems.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I have a 1999 Discovery 2 that was re-chiped and re-mapped at 60,000 mls. This was done by a well respected and well known company - one which I will not name here.

First of all the chip itself gave trouble but this was sorted out very quickly and no problems with it since. I also installed a larger intercooler and the combination of the two worked very well to start with. Pick up from a standing start was not too bad, but the difference in performance from 50 mph upwards was a revalation !!! This would have been marvelous if only I was 30 years younger and still in my boy racer phase !!!

Not long after fitting the upgrade ( including removing the EGR valve ) I put 235/85:16 Mud Terrain tyres on the car and since then it is a different vehicle. The Td5 engine seems to be very "turbo dependant" and with the larger tyres fitted the gearing is all to pot - especially when towing the caravan. We have done many long runs towing the caravan and cannot seem to get better than about 21 -22 mpg. Off road you would not know if the engine had been tweeked or not - on the road there is still a slight improvement but, with my set up, at least, not enough to warrent the money that it has all cost - and mine cost a lot less than many others seem to pay - I have known this person/company for many, many years.

To my mind I would be better off without the ECU upgrade and finding a turbocharger that would "come in" a lot lower down the rev range. Power from 2200 rpm up is all very well, but I want it to kick in at 1500 rpm - a Discovery is a heavy car and needs the pulling power lower down.

Just my two pennys worth.

Regards,

Peter

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you can't make a turbo spool any earlier by re mapping it.

You can make it spool harder at the earliest rpm available.

I agree the anti stall could be tweaked.

If the vehicle is used mainly for towing then the gearing, ie tyres may be a starter for 10

Link to comment
Share on other sites

when i looked into it on tow occasions (and prior to knowing of Pornys knowledge) for my 99MY non flashable ECU JE Engineering offered the best ££ per Nm gain on a std ECU replacement - it was about £375 IIRC or similar. Had it done at 60k and have done 45K since then economy went up 1mpg or so but overall driveability of the vehicle improved dramatically and i would certainly recommend them on the basis of how it transformed mine. straight through mid pipe and non cat down pipe (the latter as std)

A little latter ££ per Nm for a flashable ECU this time on a 03MYD2 i went with Autologic and again have been very pleased with the results, it goes like stink and better mpg too, much better pulling away and drivability. this still has the cat downpipe on it.

Porny is certainly worth a PM though and it an option i would consider if 'doing it again'

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you can't make a turbo spool any earlier by re mapping it.

You can make it spool harder at the earliest rpm available.

I agree the anti stall could be tweaked.

If the vehicle is used mainly for towing then the gearing, ie tyres may be a starter for 10

Not entirely correct - the amount of gas coming out of the engine drives the turbo which increases the exhaust gas which increases turbo boost at any given rpm and so on. I know it works from experience on a 300Tdi, if you wind the low end fuelling up the turbo wakes up a hell of a lot earlier, so I don't see why the same shouldn't be true of a Td5 that has had its off-boost fuelling increased. A VNT is a much better solution but costs more than a screwdriver :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

... but that fuel needs air to burn, so there comes a point when you can't pull yourself up by your own bootstraps. Plus, excess smoke will be found with too much fuel - you might not notice this in the Falklands with a permanent 80mph wind....

VGT (or a smaller turbo) are the only routes to better low-rev and transient performance - although a smaller turbo will choke earlier and you'll have to restrict your max power.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

In theory you are right, in practice it doesn't appear to be quite so simple. I found when originally buggering around with my old 300Tdi 90, that you could get a ****load more power by winding it up way past the "smoke threshold" when pure physics says that once you run out of air you cannot get any more power by chucking in more fuel. If you wound it in several turns on the max power screw and made it smoke like a stinky old Pajero, it would go a hell of a lot better than when tweaked to "just smoke" - which theory says is impossible because there is no more air to burn the fuel :unsure:

Needless to say I turned it down again after experimenting so I didn't lunch anything, but it was bloody good fun for a couple of hours :)

Link to comment
Share on other sites

you can't make a turbo spool any earlier by re mapping it.

You can make it spool harder at the earliest rpm available.

I agree the anti stall could be tweaked.

If the vehicle is used mainly for towing then the gearing, ie tyres may be a starter for 10

ANTI-stall? of I thought it was the opposite...

Link to comment
Share on other sites

I just cannot persuade Nanocom to complete an up/down load without hanging - so I've pretty much given up on that route. I suspect that if it crashes in the wrong place, my ECU will become a brick! Hence wanting to get a grown-up to have a look.

Si

Simon, I have a Nanocom mk 1 (a rare beast) and I think your problem is more liable to be something to do with your ECU. I always try to upload the existing maps and save them first before doing anything else, and with some ECUs it just does not work. With others it's wham bam thankyou ma'am first time. I have tried the Nano in stand-alone mode without the PC and it does seem to work better.

I get the same problem with the Rovacom Lite we have as well, so I tend to suspect the ECUs in these cases. I once had an idea that it was low battery voltage and tried it with the engine running/battery on charge. Nothing seems to make much difference. Maybe the plugs into the ECU need a good clean.

All in all, you can waste hours mucking about to no avail :(

You would think with the advances in computers nowadays that they could come up with a better system of communication - even when it works the upload of tiny programs takes a long time at about a bit a second.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

This would be a good one for the magazines to do.

Take a stock TD5 and TDCi, a 4x4 rolling road and have a number of manufacturers provide their tune maps.

Then in a controlled situation as possible do a number of runs with each tune and compare the curves. Then a road test to add the not so subjective part of on-road driving and mpg comparisons. Obviously mpg can't be accurate as there could be a number of variables but an approximate comparison would be useful.

Cheers

Steve

Link to comment
Share on other sites

And a word of warning - we have found a few later models where someone - must be at a garage - has swopped the ECU for a non-programmable one. The programmable ones are worth something and the owner will not notice the difference.

Link to comment
Share on other sites

Join the conversation

You can post now and register later. If you have an account, sign in now to post with your account.
Note: Your post will require moderator approval before it will be visible.

Guest
Reply to this topic...

×   Pasted as rich text.   Paste as plain text instead

  Only 75 emoji are allowed.

×   Your link has been automatically embedded.   Display as a link instead

×   Your previous content has been restored.   Clear editor

×   You cannot paste images directly. Upload or insert images from URL.

×
×
  • Create New...

Important Information

We use cookies to ensure you get the best experience. By using our website you agree to our Cookie Policy