Hi all, trawled a box out of my bitser cupboard a couple of months back that i had totally forgotten i'd acquired some 15 months ago, a "RAPID TUNE" box of tricks.Read the distructions ,hummed & harred over a few weeks, considered the £2300 autobox o/haul in 2007,worried some more remembering the last time i did a head gasket and then proceeded to install.Worried some more over letting the insurance company know,convinced myself it was only going to be for testing and evaluated it over a week.ASTOUNDING! I've only driven a 2.5td once and never a V6, but the staggering increase in torque made overtaking a pure breeze with no drama, you just get pushed back in your seat and you start easing off the pedal.The autobox change downs reduced considerably, and where before i was pulling up some local hills in 3rd, it was doing the same in top, and accelerating.It needed tweaking to give the balance of power delivery that i felt at ease with, but after the week of testing i removed it. That convinced me! It was like i'd removed the turbo.So with insurance due in feb i'll see what i can get, if reasonable i'll refit it and carry out some longer term testing - mainly with a mind to the autobox, i'm still paranoid caring for it, but if the 4hp18 was fitted to the V6 it must be capable of handling the torque.Claimed figures are 300nm torque and 136hp depending on the trim adjustment.I found a clock angle of 1 o'clock just fine, adjustment being from 7 o'clock to 5 o'clock.Didn,t find any tangible difference in trip computer fuel consumption, a much longer test period would be needed.

Ok I've read it twice, and skimmed over it again, and have no idea what your on about.....


Is this some magic gadget you have found that turns your car into a rocket ship or have you noticed that a v6 can move a bit if you push the right pedal?

Sounds like its one of those magic boxes of tricks for fooling the ecu into giving more POWER.........and i think he likes it

D

Yes i liked it!. Apparently previous owner had it destined for a SYNERGIE for towing but sold the synergie on without fitting it.From the details i have it doesn,t actually fool the ecu but modifies accelerator position outputs, the advance solenoid position and boost compensation signals, all i'm sure conservatively set by lucas under citroen specs, and the electronic equivalent of tweaking the pump timing and max fuelling on mechanical pumps.

I would be a little wary of over heating and head gasket problems. I can't of course use anything like that as all mine have mechanical pumps, but a tweak of the fuel screw on the Bosch pump will have a similar effect. Being older I would rather have 50 mpg and a reliable engine.

Peter.N.

Sorry! Didn't read your post properly - again.

how many wires did it have or where did it plug>

Yes they are incredible but do work. I tried one on a Nissan Primeval 2.0tdi. The one everyone said don't buy because its slower than a slow thing with flat tyres. I didn't read the reviews till after I bought the car!! Yes of course they were right. It was that slow as to be positively dangerous. Approaching a traffic island on a dual carriageway at 40mph, no other traffic. Just cruised into the island as you do and had to drop it to second to carry on cos it was just dying!

I decided to buy a box for it, not cheap, the wrong side of £300! But! It was like driving a different car, it was AWESOME! Basically they modify the fueling parameters of the ecu so as to give 15-25% more bhp! and believe me, they do

Generally when a manufacturer makes a diesel they detune them for economy and reliability. These boxes give you some of that back. I should imagine a 2.5 would be an animal with one fitted.

Hi all.

I think I share some of Peter's reservations on this; at the end of the day, everything is a trade off and it's hardly as though the 2.5 is lacking for normal, day to day use. What would concern me specifically is the heat dissipation on a 2.5. Certainly on my current one if you are consistently running between 80 - 100mph (hypothetically, of course, nudge nudge, wink wink) the temp pushes noticeably past 90 towards 100; further still if you are punting hard uphill. Previous ones I have towed with have displayed similar symptoms under load. I really wouldn't like to be trying to get rid of twenty odd percent more heat.

Mike.

Hi Lez, 5 wires, disconnect battery, disconnect EPIC ECU connector.I verified each wire in the installation notes by using a sewing needle on one lead of multimeter and piercing the cable insulation about 4 inches back from the connector,the other probe on the ecu connector pin.Identified each with a tape marker.Cut each wire in turn,stripped and connected the unit pigtail in parallel using screw connector blocks.If/when? i reinstall i'll solder the connections with heatsrink sleeves.The connector harness was then wrapped in self amalgamating tape over the connector blocks and a couple of inches either side purely for mechanical security as all this is inside the ecu box, and the unit slides neatly in the spare ecu slots.Apart from setting the initial trim pot position - i started at the 10 o'clock point - that's it. An hour.Test drive over a decent varied route and tweak.The difference up the 1.5 km hill i used really showed the torque increase, as already stated, it pulled up in top from the earlier change up at 2500 rpm and was still accelerating, just. As opposed to reving to 3500 in 3rd before change up and then changing down again as the revs decayed before cresting the hill.A lighter right foot is evident when driving.

I have been told that the "boxes" (sometimes called Power Box) are a Bad Idea in terms of engine longevity, as they do actually fool the computer.

The chip tunes, in which he ECU is modified through software only, are said to be "mostly harmless", and a much better idea, provided your enine is healthy to begin with. In an engine that is showing its age (uneven or low compression on one or more cylinders, head gasket issues), any power increase will increase the rate at which trouble is coming your way, or so the tuners say. Some of them won't even touch your ECU before they've diagnosed the engine, which includes a run on the power bench, to map out the torque curve to see if there's anything unusual.

The most popular chip tune (non-hardware modification) for the 2.1 TD adds 25 more bhp's and increases torque from 250 to 290 (on average).

They also claim to reduce fuel consumption, but that's only when you don't use the extra oomph.

Hi Peter,No argument with regard to engine & transmission stresses,these are my concerns and hence the reason for the teaking during my testing, obtaining positive changes without crazy or rough power delivery.Only you kow intimately your engine or transmission health.The software argument is a little more contentious.NO progamming does any "work".In the case of engine management computers ,it merely alters control signals by ampltude,phase angle,mark/space ratios etc.These are then amplified either by internal or external power modules to perform relative movement of dynamic devices such as solenoids.The end result is exactly the same no matter whether remapped (software)or an external device (power box)is fitted,something moves on the injection pump!As externally fitted devices are installed in parallel with the external control devices and the ecu, the feedback circuits are still supplying valid returns and thus the ecu is still able to provide exceedance and failure monitoring.Remember, you still have control on how much power to deliver, how quickly and for how long, under your right foot.

Hi Robert

Oh yes, I accept that, if you are restrained enough you will cause no harm, but if you gave the vehicle to a teenager to drive.... Its nice to have the capability as long as you regard it as an occaisional power boost - like the overboost on the Mondeo, but in that case the length of the overboost is controlled. On the other hand if you continually thrash a standard vehicle you can do just as much damage.

An example is my sons P100 pick up, lightly blown 1800 td. We ftted a good secondhand engine with relatively low mileage early last year, he doesn't thrash it from a mad driving point of view but he does carry a lot of weight, typically half a ton - continuously, it struggles, so I helpfully wound the pump up a little, marvelous, he said, pulls away with no problem. It is now parked in my yard with a seized engine! Was it the boost, or was it a 'normal' failure? Ford IDI engines are usually very robust, his original engine had done nearly 200k. The failure started with it being down on one cylinder, I rather fancy that a piston has broken up.

Peter.

my "epic" has just been replaced at some expense so as far as i,m concerned any "epic" increase in power by adding a box like this shortens the longevity and i will be looking for another "epic" set of bills....get my drift