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