VEHICLE TUNING SPECIALISTS

Welcome to our newly revised website.

Does it work with automatic gearboxes?

Yes, this is where the separately adjustable throttle sensitivity is of particular benefit. By choosing the appropriate setting the gearbox will change up a bit earlier and down later, helping the fuel consumption and reducing 'hunting'.

Another tuning company told me some tuning boxes just dump fuel into the engine giving worse mpg and emissions. If fuel was crudely dumped into the engine the excess would easily be detectable as black smoke in the exhaust (even with DPF equipped engines). This is the classic sign of an over fuelled diesel engine, as is poor mpg and is not something that happens with the Turbotune provided your engine is in good working order and properly serviced and maintained. (eg clean air filter, clean & fully functioning exhaust gas recirculation valve and crank case ventilation system, no leaks in the intercooler hoses) Finally, if the fuel consumption is reduced, the CO2 emissions will be too since the C in CO2 comes from the fuel!

Someone told me the turbo boost pressure is increased by their tuning box. Does yours do this?

Yes and no! On some engines the extra fuel helps the turbo spin up sooner and more quickly creating a modest but beneficial increase in boost pressure at low rpm. But the maximum boost pressure is still regulated by the ecu and/or wastegate. So the Turbotune doesn't increase maximum boost or alter it directly. If other companies claim theirs does, then they are misleading you unless theirs also connects to the boost pressure sensor. We do have another module (Turbotune 2B) which is specifically designed to alter the boost pressure to increase performance even more. Currently available for Vauxhall, Audi, Saab, Seat, Skoda, VW and some Toyotas & Fords.

Another tuning company told me the timing is altered by their tuning box. Does yours do this?

Again, yes & no! Because the accelerator pedal will somewhat higher up at a steady speed with the module fitted than without it, the engine ecu interprets this a a lighter load and slightly alters the timing and other parameters such as pre & post injection, exhaust gas recirculation & boost pressure etc to improve engine efficiency. This is one factor in reducing the fuel consumption. If other companies common rail boxes are claimed to do this, then they are misleading you unless theirs also connects to the crankshaft position sensor.

Will it affect my insurance?

You should inform your insurance company. The vast majority of owners find that only a small premium increase was charged and often none at all. In the rare event of your insurer declining to cover it, Adrian Flux will, and usually will beat your existing premium as well. (adrianflux.co.uk) Tesco seem to charge depending upon the % increase, for example one owner was quote £30 for upto 10% and £40 for upto 20%. Please don't blame us if your insurer turns you down, just return the unit for a refund or shop around at renewal time. The tuning industry would not exist if insurers always refused to cover mods.

Why do you not quote bhp & torque figures?

Many tuning companies play the numbers game, either outdoing each other or quoting identical figures in copycat fashion. When we have quoted figures, competitors have then changed theirs to show a bigger increase...

Other companies have been forced to withdraw some of their modules, e.g. Mondeo ones, because their claimed BHP figure cannot be achieved. The engine simply goes into LOS (limited operating strategy) mode and flashes the glow plug light. Indeed I have heard from one dyno operator that a very expensive German common rail module did exactly this on a Focus TDCi. Another big company has been investigated by trading standards when the claimed increases could not be achieved by several customers.

We aim to give the best performance that can be achieved but the results will vary from engine to engine and the measured power will also vary from one dyno to another and we receive very very few complaints or refund requests from disappointed customers.

A 5% variation between two dynos for example, means the same engine will show 150bhp or 157.5bhp. Which is right? Both are & neither are. You'd need to take the average of readings from several dynos if you were that bothered. Instead just look for the difference with and without the module.

Quite often you'll see impressive figures quotes by other companies but they will apply to one particular vehicle. Its also possible other modifications were present but not disclosed which may partly account for the results. In other words they are not necessarily TYPICAL. Where we quote figures these apply to the vehicle we tested and show what is possible but no guarantee of similar results with your vehicle is given.

The main reason why you should take dyno figures with a pinch of salt is that a rolling road dyno can only measure bhp and torque at the road wheel. To ESTIMATE the engine (flywheel) bhp a calculation is done to ESTIMATE all the numerous losses between tyre contact patch and the flywheel. Its far from unusual to find this correction factor to be deliberately overestimated to produce an impressive flywheel figure.

Why should I buy from you, your prices seem too good to be true?

There are few UK companies making tuning products, with the vast majority selling on bought in products sourced from Europe and often rebadged. There is nothing wrong with this but buying in a product and adding your own mark up means the price will be higher. The sellers also must factor in the cost of replacing faulty units and we’ve heard that one well known brand is particularly poor in this respect which partly accounts for the high price.... Also resellers seldom have the technical expertise and knowledge to adequately support the products they sell. Indeed one company doesn't know the difference between microprocessor clock frequency and sample rate and others are claiming theirs alters things it can't because it doesn't connect to the appropriate sensors. By designing, developing, assembling & marketing our own unique products, we can pass on the savings to our customers.

Our products suffer from less than 0.25% failure rate which is why we now give a LIFETIME WARRANTY.

© ENERGY TUNING LTD 2011 E&OE