[CPH]

Originally Posted by akshay1234

Ah but most Dealers here tell customers the warranty is void with tiny things like an aftermarket stereo.

Agreed it can be detected. But then again, I dont think a professional examiner will be used by the manufacturer unless something really, really serious goes wrong.

I dont think warranty would be lost. A good part of it depends on your relationship with the dealer.

As for tuning box vs remap. I know youve been in this business since before I was born, so I respect your views completely and have learnt from your posts. So I would take a remap over a box, but if a remap is not available (im not implying its not available in this case) I dont think I would hesitate to take a box, considering my experience with one.

Lack of availability does force compromises. In some cases you can go for it, but in other cases I would avoid it. With naturally aspirated engines tuning boxes are a waste of time. Petrol turbos will not survive really spirited driving with most boxes.

On Diesel engines you have got a performance improvement, but this can be short lived (for the turbo) when not set up correctly.

Being a hopeless hardcore old school developer/engineer I have problems with compromises. Despite my uncompromising stance on these measures for myself, I respect your position. However I feel obliged to state what I would do from the professionals standpoint without the intention to patronise or wanting to be arrogant.

[Vajra]

Well a remap is out of the question in a 9 month old car with a 4 year warranty.

I dont mind going for it 2 years down the line.

To boost performance a box is the only answer.

The questions before me are

1. Why are there no examples of Lineas with boxes on this forum. I must imagine a whole lot of guys have plonked them in. The car begs for it !

2. CPH, the standard box probably has worked with dozens of cars. Why would the turbo blow? I am no engineer so pardon the ignorance.

3. How bad is the car in stock form? I had a Siena 1.9 which I drove for 6 years and 150000 km and loved it. I havent even driven this car. Its sitting in my garage in Pune waiting for me to go and fetch it

[Akshay1234]

Originally Posted by Vajra

3. How bad is the car in stock form? I had a Siena 1.9 which I drove for 6 years and 150000 km and loved it. I havent even driven this car. Its sitting in my garage in Pune waiting for me to go and fetch it

In that case. My friend, GO and drive it. See if you find it powerful enough and only if you want more power then look at tuning options.

[ByDesign]

After spending considerable time talking to people, researching on the internet et cetera, I have narrowed down my search of diesel tuning boxes for my Palio Stile 1.3 MJD aka my medium grey tank.

Details of my ride can be found here: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...e-1-3-mjd.html

So the there are three companies I've looked at who provide tuning boxes.

1. Race dynamics (Bangalore) - Race Dynamics

They used to have the XM series (Getz CRDi with XM400 reviewed here by Furman - http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/test-d...0-figures.html)

I spoke to Mr. Pavan today, who very kindly informed me that the XM series has been discontinued and replaced with the uber cool Dieseltronic series. The product I discussed is called the Dieseltronic Pro. It has P1 and P2 modes with P2 giving 30% boost. And then the E and S modes (eco and stock respectively). The price I was quoted is Rs. 25,000 and postage costs of approximately 200 which is negligible. I did try bringing the price down a bit but to no regard. Now the funky aspect is, this product comes with a remote control, where you can switch between the modes, i.e. E, S, P1 and P2!! No more wiring and switches.

2. Petes Tuning Box (Cochin) - Pete's Automotive Products Pvt Limited

Pete's has been a long standing product in the market, I've read about them quite a bit. I've also read problems associated with the box, engines just not starting, all electronics just dying etc. But again, these are all part and parcel of having one of these under your hood so no complaining.
Spoke to this madam from Pete's, details are as follows. Quoted price is Rs. 28,000 no discount. No pre-programmed modes either, there's just one setting that the box works with. And they also recommend that I stick to their programmed mode. Boost output is around 25%. Will summarize the facts in a bit.

3. Spider Tuning Box (United Kingdom (invaders must die!!!)) - Diesel tuning. Spider® diesel tuning performance systems for tuning all modern diesel cars vans and diesel truck.

I was recommend Spider by a tuning chap in Delhi. Decent reviews, though I haven't heard anything about the box on the streets. The price I was quoted was Rs. 33,000 (though I was promised some discount if I confirmed my interest in the product). Funny thing is, or not so funny thing is, if I order the product directly from the website AND pay for FEDEX shipping to India, the price comes to Rs. 25,000. I doubt this person in Delhi will drop 8,000 if I confirm the product so I didn't think I wanted to follow up. Boost is around 20% for the power, and 35% for the torque **yummy** from the technical specs posted on the website for the fiat version (S103).

SUMMARY

1. Race Dynamics (namma Bengaluru)

(Remote control to switch between 4 preset modes)

Power
Stock - 75 BHP
Tuned - 97.5 BHP (30% claimed) in P2 mode

Torque
Stock - 184 nm
Tuned - 240 nm (30% claimed) in P2 mode

Price - Rs. 25,000

2. Pete's (cochin)

(No readily switchable stages/modes)

Power
Stock - 75 BHP
Tuned- 92 BHP (22% claimed)

Torque
Stock - 184 nm
Tuned - 230 nm (25% claimed)

Price - Rs. 28,000

3. Spider Tuning Box (United Kingdom)

(Shipped all the way from the UK)

Power
Stock - 75 BHP
Tuned - 90 BHP (20% claimed)

Torque
Stock - 184 nm
Tuned - 250 nm (25-30% claimed)

Price - Rs. 25,000 shipped from the UK

My thoughts - Prima facie, I wouldn't want to shell out 3,000 extra for a Pete's box if it isn't markedly better than the other two performance and reliability wise. Plus it's got no modes to switch between (I'm unsure if this is a good thing). Race Dynamics sounds very good, the price @ 25,000 is good, and the performance is damn neat at 30%, that's almost 100 BHP from my tank (man oh man). Plus the remote control? How cool is that? I can be idling or crawling in traffic on the Economy mode or Stock mode, and surge through open roads on P1 and P2. This just takes the cake. Spider, I'm unsure about, even though I've heard good things about it. If I get the Spider, I'd have to install it myself etc. and I'm not exactly sure where I'd get support here. Red Rooster Performance is their dealer in India.

So guys, your inputs is why I'm posting this here. My mind says Race Dynamics, but is there reason to believe otherwise? Thank you!

Note from Support: Merged threads as Palio comes with the same engine as Punto. They will help to keep all the information on this topic in the same thread. Thanks

[Naparajito]

Also please try the race-chip tuning box. it promises more power and costs around 8000/-

[jkdas]

Hei! you need to seach/read more about the remap/boxes. We do have many who uses these here. I dont remember anyone complaining about these stuff; from people who even have used it for 1000's of kilometers!

And IIRC, Pete's box should do more bhp/Nm wise if you get related addons like they suggest.

And you can get these stuff cheaper if you have people in US/UK

[Akshay1234]

One thing I want to mention - the Petes box too has different settings.

1) Stock
2) P1 mode - This is what the box comes with. It is fine without an air filter.
3) P2 mode - This is the +1 setting, giving about 15% more increase. Performance air filter is needed for this.
4) P3 mode - This gives even more power, and is only for racing. An exhaust is needed for this. Also known as the +2 mode

Petes does not call it P1, P2, Ive called it that for now. And these settings cannot be adjusted on the fly, the box needs to be opened for that.

RD seems to be going the right way with their products. Thats great.

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by Naparajito

Also please try the race-chip tuning box. it promises more power and costs around 8000/-

Yes, I just found this out too. That looks like a very tempting offer. Details are here - Chiptuning von RaceChip - Prof. Motor Tuning gnadenlos preiswert

Originally Posted by jkdas

Hei! you need to seach/read more about the remap/boxes. We do have many who uses these here. I dont remember anyone complaining about these stuff; from people who even have used it for 1000's of kilometers!

And IIRC, Pete's box should do more bhp/Nm wise if you get related addons like they suggest.

And you can get these stuff cheaper if you have people in US/UK

Yeah, the cheaper options are working out to be the ones being shipped from abroad. I'll look up some more details and keep this thread updated.

Originally Posted by akshay1234

One thing I want to mention - the Petes box too has different settings.

1) Stock
2) P1 mode - This is what the box comes with. It is fine without an air filter.
3) P2 mode - This is the +1 setting, giving about 15% more increase. Performance air filter is needed for this.
4) P3 mode - This gives even more power, and is only for racing. An exhaust is needed for this. Also known as the +2 mode

Petes does not call it P1, P2, Ive called it that for now. And these settings cannot be adjusted on the fly, the box needs to be opened for that.

RD seems to be going the right way with their products. Thats great.

Agreed, the quick switching possible with RD's product is really tempting. Having to open the hood every time is a bit tedious.

[ByDesign]

Found some tuning boxes for my Palio Stile - Inputs anyone? No one responded to the last post. So the top link is reposted. Ebay Germany has some good hits with international shipping from popular sellers of this product -

1. Chiptuning von RaceChip - Prof. Motor Tuning gnadenlos preiswert

2. Fiat Grande Punto 1.3 JTD 75 PS Tuningbox Chiptuning | eBay

Both really quite cheap. This kind of scares me.

[kdadi]

I have the race chip on my Linea for nearly more than a year now. In fact I have done around 15K kms already with it & happy with it so far. So being cheap doesn't mean losing out on quality

[The Wolf]

RD tuning box, the one with 4 map remote control operation costs 5k cheaper. So, its just about 20k now I hear...

[ByDesign]

Originally Posted by kdadi

I have the race chip on my Linea for nearly more than a year now. In fact I have done around 15K kms already with it & happy with it so far. So being cheap doesn't mean losing out on quality

Thats a wonderful piece of feedback. Im definitely chipping my palio 1.3 mjd after my exterior/interior mods.
Thank you!

[whitelion]

Originally Posted by kdadi

I have the race chip on my Linea for nearly more than a year now. In fact I have done around 15K kms already with it & happy with it so far. So being cheap doesn't mean losing out on quality

KDadi, I would like to know, how you found improvement in performance and whether there is any effect on Fuel Efficiency. I am considering Race Chip option for Ford Figo. Your feedback will be a great help.

[figo_mba]

I will order for a race chip(waiting for salary to pop in my account) and needless to say it was kdadi who has inspired me to get this chip.

More in a SEPERATE Thread soon.

[ronin]

I know I am bit late in posting this. But I have had my Race dynamics box for the last 40,000km on my 1.3Punto along with a K&N filter and its running just fine. In fact I have experienced better fuel efficiency than before and the increase in power tho not drastic, is definitely noticeable in the mid to high ranges. No issues of excessive smoke so far. And the box is always run in the highest power setting. Didnt come with a remote tho.