Terrafirma Diesel Power Plugs

[TDEye]

Hello,

I am fairly new to the Land Rover world and this is my maiden post on this forum.

I wanted to find out if anyone has fitted a Terrafirma Power Plug? http://www.terrafirma4x4.com/products_php....t=13&grp=81. I have just bought a Discovery TD5 () and want to get more power out of it, mainly for trailing my race car.

Is Terrafirma a well recognised brand for Diesel power upgrades, does anyone know of other diesel chips that are available?

Thankyou for your replies in advance.

[freeagent]

No, they are not a well respected brand for diesel upgrades..

Do a search on here for Bell Auto Services... a google search may also throw up their website.

[white90]

Member Porny on Here

he will supply you and not be a copy of someone elses as others could be

[TDEye]

Thanks for the replies.

Looked at Bell Auto Services, they appear to both tuning and cipping but both appear more expensive than the powerplug and require them to be installed, where as the powerplugs are something that they say I can fit. 'Plug and Play' they call it.

Something odd though. The label on the terrsfirma powerplugs say UNICHIP on them. When I looked up Unichip on Google I got a company called DASTEK. What's all that about?

Tony, who's "Porny" and how do I "Member" him?

[RedLineMike]

the terrafirma powerplugs are rebranded Dastek powerplugs, so although the product is well known its not well known being badged as an terrafirma one

[Happyoldgit]

Tony, who's "Porny" and how do I "Member" him?

I'm not Tony but can tell you what he means is that 'Porny' is a member of this forum

Welcome to LR4x4 BTW.

[steve200TDi]

Just reading the website page - apparently there good for off rading, well thats what it says anyway!

"For off rading and wading in deep water the Power plug can be combined with TFEL052 ECU extension loom."

Steve

[nicks90]

if you want a power upgrade on your td5 i would avoid plug and play boxes.

Generally all they do is add a resistance to one circuit fooling your ECU into injecting more fuel per cycle. It doesnt alter any other settings or the fuel map and is a bit of a blunt instrument.

Get it done properly and have someone put a proper map on it.

I used gary at www.td5alive.com and am very impressed. He also does a postal service, so if you really cant get up there - just send him your ecu and it comes back all fettled and ready to rock!

You get what you pay for... unless its painted orange

[TDEye]

Thanks a lot for taking the time to welcome a new member.

I am sceptical about buying anything that claims to enhance the performance of an engine. That said, reading around on the internet, there seems to be quite a few people claiming that the Dastek Power Plug works differently to simply adding resistance to a circuit.

"The Power Plug interacts with an engine’s ECU to optimize the air / fuel mixture, timing, boost and injector pressures under various loads and driving conditions ....... all the changes occur within this unit and are electrically communicated to your vehicle’s engine control system. No changes are made within the OEM computer, and thus all the engine safety parameters as set by the manufacturer remain in place."

If the Dastek powerplug is effectively the Terrafirma powerplug then I assume the same could be said for them too.

I think, as this is mainly to give me more power for towing, as opposed to giving me more off-road power, I may just take a punt with the Power Plug and let you guys know what happens. I guess if it isn't any good then I can just take it out again and get my money back.

Will keep you posted.

[TDEye]

Thought I would post the update so as to sign off this thread properly. I received my Terrafirma power plug today, and I have to say, it is brilliant.

I fitted it during my lunch break using the instructions provided in the box. The subsequent 6 mile test was seriously fun. The power gain is hugely noticeable in the high rev ranges (I expect more so on manuals like mine than TD5 automatics) and much quicker from standing starts. Haven't towed in it yet mind, which was the purpose for getting it in the first place (that test will happen next weekend), but unless my engine dies on the way home tonight, or something else as dramatic occurs, I would have to say that this bit of kit is a winner and although I am without the help of a rolling road, in my opinion the power improvements match the 40bhp claimed on the website.

All this on a day where the Missus made me peanut butter and tomato sandwiches.

Aaah. Simple Pleasures. Happy days.

Eye

[Toastfrenzy]

How's things with the power plug now? Looking at one myself but after reading the earlier posts in this thread not so sure......

[Philip Tonkin]

Dastek are a really well respected company. I know of a few people who have used there chips on VW. There power output claims have always been a little optimistic though.

I don't know if re-branding them is to bring more kudos to Terrafirma rather than the product i.e. they take the credit for a quality product which leads to better sales of all of their other products. They seem to have sprung up out of nowhere and all of their stuff looks pretty good.

I am sure these plugs are alot more complicated than some of the resistor in a box items on the market but I am still going for the proper remap approach (@IRB) myself, all a plug in box can ever do is trick an ECU into thinking something else is happening. The only exception to this are the very latest which are really just slaves to load onto the ECU different fuel maps.

[yella 90]

Thought I would post the update so as to sign off this thread properly. I received my Terrafirma power plug today, and I have to say, it is brilliant.

I fitted it during my lunch break using the instructions provided in the box. The subsequent 6 mile test was seriously fun. The power gain is hugely noticeable in the high rev ranges (I expect more so on manuals like mine than TD5 automatics) and much quicker from standing starts. Haven't towed in it yet mind, which was the purpose for getting it in the first place (that test will happen next weekend), but unless my engine dies on the way home tonight, or something else as dramatic occurs, I would have to say that this bit of kit is a winner and although I am without the help of a rolling road, in my opinion the power improvements match the 40bhp claimed on the website.

All this on a day where the Missus made me peanut butter and tomato sandwiches.

Aaah. Simple Pleasures. Happy days.

Eye

if your towing with the disco then you would have been far better of spending your money on a re-map from ian (Porney)

you'd get far more bottom end from it, unlike most plug in box's which concentrate on top end.

just as you said, its more noticable at higher revs

ian is very resonably priced and is a belting lad who helped me out a s*** load to get my td5 running, and will also be seeing it again to re-map it and intercool it

dan

[Anderzander]

Another vote for a proper map. I've come across a few td5's now that have been tuned for top end power and suffer because of it. One of them I would say is now useless at towing. I think sometimes they produce big steps in power at the higher revs so people think 'wow what a difference!'

The best drive is a proper map with a smooth torque curve. It'll pull better, give better economy and be far kinder to the engine and drive train.

What's that phrase they have in America? 'BHP sells engines - torque wins races'. iirc.

[Anderzander]

You get what you pay for... unless its painted orange

My new signature if you don't mind!

[Toastfrenzy]

ok...as I would need it for towing, top end performance isn't where I need more power. Got a 2000 X TD5 Auto, been told that I would get a different new ECU by one "re-map" person. For around £300- £350 or thereabouts, true,un-true, doesn't matter...?

[Philip Tonkin]

ok...as I would need it for towing, top end performance isn't where I need more power. Got a 2000 X TD5 Auto, been told that I would get a different new ECU by one "re-map" person. For around £300- £350 or thereabouts, true,un-true, doesn't matter...?

No, the right person can put a new "flashable" chip into your ECU.

[henk]

No, the right person can put a new "flashable" chip into your ECU.

I got a new chip in my ECU at Billing last year (from Bell Autosport) and was tuned to pull trailers and it makes a huge difference

[Mo Murphy]

Aren't Terrafirma the ones who ripped off the Gwyn Lewis suspension parts to sell as their own ?

Mo

[TDEye]

Just to follow up after what was a great weekend for driving.

Here's the improvements that the terrafirma website claims:

40 BHP Extra

60 ft lb Extra

5% to 10% better fuel consumption

If these are indeed accurate then there are significant gains in both BHP and torque. My observations in my previous post were just from my test journey. The real test will happen next weekend when I get to tow. That said, this weekend was bundles of fun around my local roads plus I got full approval from the Missus who wants to steal the keys for herself.

Anyway. I would fully recommend one of these, based mainly on the fact that it (touch-wood) hasn't disappointed, was so simple to install and can be moved from one vehicle to another.

Can I ask why suspension parts should have any relevence to diesel power upgrades?

[mike4444244]

Can I ask why suspension parts should have any relevence to diesel power upgrades?

None directly, it just gives you an idea about a companies business ethics...