Easiest way to get extra bhp?

[new2defenders]

Oh and just to clear things up, me and the old man are going ins on a stage 2 remap, probably from td5 alive. Not the cheapest option but hey, it'll be fun and i've received great feedback from post-tuned defender owners.

[new2defenders]

have the injection system checked out so it's on top manufacturers spec's

That sounds like a good idea! Hadn't thought of that

[western]

check with a few diesel injection places on cost first, as the Td5 has unit injectors as used on a lot of HGV engine, there is no seperate injection pump like the older LR diesels have.

[rusty_wingnut]

if you want more power i'd look at the health of the motor as it is in standard form.

my 300tdi (no tuning just in good health) has no problems keeping up with any average driven car around town. your td5 with disco transfer should be very driveable.

I also think you need to take a step back and have a think, you don't want to be driving a defender like a grand prix car, it's not fun and age is no excuse. your dad's clearly looking out for you a bit by not going for a map and I think it wise to consider yourself lucky to have what sounds like a rather nice truck. Enjoy it and forget how fast it goes, there's more to Land Rover ownership than speed.

[SteveG]

To improve the on road (and off too) driving experience of a TD5 it's good to do the following....

Remove EGR - Go for a good kit with all the right parts, like the one from Ian at IRB Developments. ~£60

Non - Cat exhaust - Replace with standard cat from pipe with a stainless steel straight through one, available on ebay, TD5 Alive, IRB etc ~£75

Remap - A stage 1 remap will provide a good increase in bhp and torque and make quite a dramatic improvement to driving it on road.

If you go off road quite a bit then also change out centre box for a straight through stainless section, as the standard large centre box gets smacked about.

Steve

[bigbeast]

i am looking into a stage 1 remap too mainly just to make it easier on the short motorway journeys i do and the alleged mpg gains..i think irb developments and bell auto services seem to a good choice from what i have heard, although have been in a 200bhp from td5 alive that went like a fly to s**t and didnt hardly smoke either..but bang for buck think am gunna go with bell auto, its closer to me anyway.

ben

[new2defenders]

if you want more power i'd look at the health of the motor as it is in standard form.

my 300tdi (no tuning just in good health) has no problems keeping up with any average driven car around town. your td5 with disco transfer should be very driveable.

I also think you need to take a step back and have a think, you don't want to be driving a defender like a grand prix car, it's not fun and age is no excuse. your dad's clearly looking out for you a bit by not going for a map and I think it wise to consider yourself lucky to have what sounds like a rather nice truck. Enjoy it and forget how fast it goes, there's more to Land Rover ownership than speed.

Yeah this is the other side to it, I am very happy with it as it is im in no way knocking the car, i've come to a self agreement that i'm going to drive it for the next few months and if i still feel the same then i will go ahead with the remap. Otherwise, problem solved!

[muddy]

I think steveg has hit the nail on the head, I'm 18 too i know exactly how you feel,

I'd echo steves comments about removing the middle box and cats and doing the EGR, this will make the turbo spool easier meaning the engines power is much more accessible, right when you need it at junctions ect ect. From the td5 90's i have been in they really are not short on power once you know how to drive them.

Will.

[discomikey]

my dads TD5 disco has been chipped, 195BHP and it outdrags all corsa's (well my 200tdi will outdrag my sisters 1.0 litre corsa down the drive) and nearly all other makes of hothatches of around its age. you just might need to learn to use more right foot before changing up, ride it to the redline, this is how i find you can get more performance from a 200tdi

mikey

[Grant.]

I think steveg has hit the nail on the head, I'm 18 too i know exactly how you feel,

I'd echo steves comments about removing the middle box and cats and doing the EGR, this will make the turbo spool easier meaning the engines power is much more accessible, right when you need it at junctions ect ect. From the td5 90's i have been in they really are not short on power once you know how to drive them.

Will.

Lol, im 18 to!

I have a td5, and I removed the centre box and the EGR and it has dramatically improved the drive ability, at junctions and bits like that, as Steve and Will have both said.

They are cheap and easy to do, and they do make an improvement. As Steve said though, they aren't short on power, just need to drive them differently!!

Im interested in this thread as well though, mainly looking on the torque side, as I do a lot of towing, and a lot of that is motorway miles.

Was thinking, and I am still thinking about getting a remap and a larger intercooler, but mainly cost!!!

[Aragorn]

Yer i would certainly look at doing a de-cat and the EGR mods before a remap, as they cost a lot less, and will also mean you get more out of the remap when you do come to do it.

I dont know what you mean by removing the middle box, unless thats the cat, removing a silencer wont really make any difference to your power, but removing the cat will!

Again the intercooler is a nice addition, especially if your going for the stage2 remaps, but again will help you get more from a stage1 and will ensure the engine remains nice and happy.

Or you could always just bolt in a V8

[FridgeFreezer]

my dads TD5 disco has been chipped, 195BHP and it outdrags all corsa's

Classy - did that come with a dyno sheet or is it just a classic internet guess?

If we're on the accurate measuring stick of what out-drags what, my old Nissan Bluebird 1.6 (oh yes) outdragged 1.8 Golf GTi's. I very much doubt it has anything to do with how many BHP you have and more to do with the fact the average Corsa is driven by a muppet who only knows how to do burnouts in McD's car park rather than actually drive.

Back to the question - beyond a quick remap it really is a law of diminishing returns (as with all tuning), you spend more, you gain less, and stress the engine more and more. Up to you where you stop really, I tend to cost tuning efforts based on what sort of engine I could buy to replace the existing one - for example there's not much point spending £500 tuning a 3.5 V8 when you could buy a 3.9 complete for less dosh. Likewise, there's not much point spending thousands trying to wring big BHP out of a TD5 when you could convert to a 2.8 Isuzu lump, Nissan SL35, or (careful now) a V8 of some sort for maybe £1000 all-in that will do the job as standard.

Of course, if you just want to do it for the hell of it because it's your car and your money then just ignore everyone and do it anyway

[Anderzander]

Good post.

[Aragorn]

Heh Fridge yep your pretty spot on there, as i pointed out in my first post on this thread, a defender with 190hp has 111bhp/ton, which really isnt going to outdrag all corsas etc.

Ok its going to be quicker than your poverty spec models, but the "hot" ones will almost certainly be quicker, our A4 1.8T has approx 120bhp/ton, and a few months back when my brother was driving it we "compared" it against a fiesta zetec-s (which is the warm model, they have the ST too which is quite a bit quicker) and there was nothing in it at all.

The other issue is that even the warm corsas will undoubtedly destroy a defender when it comes to the twisties, because it weighs as much as a fag packet and has sensible suspension and tyres, not two giant beam axles and All terrains.

As fridge also said there does come a point of deminishing returns. I'm sure porny has shown that the TD5 injectors are at maximum duty cycle with the engine producing around 190hp, so without getting into the very expensive territory of getting custom injectors made or modifying the pump to increase pressure etc along with hybrid turbo etc theres probably not much point taking the engine past stage2, just fit a V8 instead!

[Grant.]

I dont know what you mean by removing the middle box, unless thats the cat, removing a silencer wont really make any difference to your power, but removing the cat will!

Lol Thanks, thats what i mean, was confusing myself lol

[reb78]

I dont know what you mean by removing the middle box, unless thats the cat, removing a silencer wont really make any difference to your power, but removing the cat will!

I thought removing the middle silencer decreased resitance in the pipe causing a faster flow of air out of the exhaust thus allowing the turbo to spin up more freely???? Hence making the power more available/useable..

[Anderzander]

What kind of mpg improvements do people get from a re-map?

[Aragorn]

I thought removing the middle silencer decreased resitance in the pipe causing a faster flow of air out of the exhaust thus allowing the turbo to spin up more freely???? Hence making the power more available/useable..

A silencer basically has a pipe running right thru the middle of it with many holes in it, and surrounding this is the wadding/baffling that does the silencing. There is not really any impeding of the airflow going on, as the pipe thru the box is the same size as the rest of the system.

The cat however will be causing a huge restriction and removing it will help a lot

As far as i understand it, the TD5 has two boxes in its exhaust, one smallish one near the downpipe and one larger one a bit further back, the smaller one is the cat, so if thats what your on about removing then thats why your seeing a performance improvement!

[Dinkydave]

How about loosing a few pounds?

There's a couple of companies doing carbon fibre wings and bonnets, there's bound to be a few more CF bits available elsewhere.

Go all "need for Speed"

Ade

[muddy]

Removeing the centre silencer DOES make a difference, yes its straight through, dont ask me how I just know I could tell the difference even from the passenger seat.

Will.

[reb78]

A silencer basically has a pipe running right thru the middle of it with many holes in it, and surrounding this is the wadding/baffling that does the silencing. There is not really any impeding of the airflow going on, as the pipe thru the box is the same size as the rest of the system.

The holes will create turbulence and that alone will impede airflow, so removing it will help. I agree the cat will cause more restriction to airflow, so if i had one, thats where i'd start.

[Aragorn]

i still dont get what you mean by middle box. The TD5 has two boxes, one on the downpipe, which is the cat, and one just before the rear axle, which is effectively the backbox.

If your removing both the cat and the backbox then i would think the exhaust would be a bit loud no?

[reb78]

i still dont get what you mean by middle box. The TD5 has two boxes, one on the downpipe, which is the cat, and one just before the rear axle, which is effectively the backbox.

If your removing both the cat and the backbox then i would think the exhaust would be a bit loud no?

I have a 200tdi 110. It has two silencers and no cat. removing the front silencer is meant to increase power. I assumed perhaps wrongly that the TD5 had two silencers - perhaps the TD5 110 does in which case this is applicable. The TD5 90 sounds like it doesn;t, so removing it is not an option!

[new2defenders]

What kind of mpg improvements do people get from a re-map?

I think it's a little hit and miss i quote from one of the stage 1/2 tuning websites "some people actually notice an improvement in mpg" by the sounds of it its not even guaranteed, just down to the way you drive it!

Oh and by the way i wasn't intending on racing any, corsa's, zetec s engines, golf gti's or what not. Haha i've never raced before and dont intend to, too many accidents and close calls had by my friends to even consider the idea.

The idea of getting these tweaks is just to not get left behind... Or maybe just have a little more "on tap" as its been put so well.

[new2defenders]

So explain to me, whats involved and how much would it cost to remove the cat and what not? And what would i actually end up with at the end of the day? Also! Does anybody know how to learn all these mechanical things? I'd love to do a course over the summer so i actually know my way around an engine instead of looking at it like a bunch of metal bits joined by wires hidden by a big plastic cover.