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So the car isn't starting at all right now?

That's probably a good thing - because it will be easier for someone to figure out exactly what is wrong.

I'd suggest your friend calls another mechanic / another service center and has them check out the car and see what they conclude.

"Damaged ECU" wouldn't be very high on my list of expected problems in this case.

cya
R

He has called a local mechanic to check because earlier he called up Hyundai Authorised Service Centre.

As mentioned earlier, service Centre mechanic told that the PINs are broken due to rusting of PINS in ECU.

I'll update the forum what the other mechanic told.

I second Rehaan on this. I suspect the trouble-shooting abilities of the technician who inspected the car. An ECU is also generally placed in a location that offers some protection.

Please get the car inspected by another technician from a different HASS. You can try Hyundai Motor Plaza, as I found the guys there to be quite good at diagnostic abilities (at least in HMP Chennai).

Even if one pin of the ECU is damaged (quite unlikely) and if it is not covered under warranty (please note - the 3-year emission warranty usually does cover the ECU, even after the standard 2-year warranty is over), then there are much cheaper fixes than replacing the entire unit. A good electronic technician (not necessarily an automobile guy) who knows his stuff should be able to find a fix that does not involve a replacement.

For the automatic (dusk sensing) headlamps, you need to set the headlamp switch (RHS control stalk) on the "Auto" setting. This is one step after "Off", "Parking lamps on" and "Headlamp on". It will work in both low beam and high beam positions, but it's recommended to keep it in low beam.

For the automatic (rain sensing) wipers, the LHS control stalk needs to be set to "Auto".

I have not used the rain sensing wipers, but the dusk sensing headlamps work quite well.

Just received a call from my friend.

He called up Hyundai Service Centre at Mission Road and two senior technicians visited his place and checked the vehicle thoroughly. They tried to start car by cleaning the ECU Pins with some spray but car did not budge to start.

My friends car is 2011 manufactured.

Now they have towed the car to Service Centre and will update in next couple of days after diagnosing the problem.

Also while inspecting the car, the Engineer from HASS told that this is the fourth i20 in which same fault has appeared and from these discussions it looks like this is somewhat related to faulty or inferior ECU in i20 manufactured post 2010.

I dont know about headlamps but for wipers there is a setting called auto on the wiper stalk. The stalk should be set to this and you can set the amount of tolerance to rain as well by rotating the inner stalk. Hope this helps

Note to Mods: If this topic is redundant (i20 Perf Mod) then please move the post to an existing thread. Searched hard, Couldn't find perf mod threads on i20.

Hey guys,

Lately I have been reading a lot of threads on performance upgrades, Remapping and other performance mods on different Diesel cars.

My i20 is 3 years old and 52k Kms on the odo. I had opted for extended warranty and that has lapsed now. I was planning on getting some cosmetic upgrades for the car to give it a face lift and this is when I came across the modded Skoda Rapid of bhpian "Mi10". That is one hell of a transformation under the hood and outside.

After this, I have been reading a lot about Modded/Remapped experiences. Sadly, I could not find any dedicated thread/detailed posts about an i20 performance upgrade.

I came to know about a few tuner experts like Code6, T-O-T, Pete's, TDI racing etc., I haven't done more research on these tuners yet. Before taking any decision, I want to hear from bhpians about the idea on my i20 performance mod. I will be pleased to hear i20 modded experience (if any) and all your comments and suggestions. My points and requirements below;

I am layman to remapping/performance upgrade:

1. I want Nice appealing cosmetic upgrades. Projectors with smoked reflectors, Chrome Alloys or Gun metal or any other suggestions.
(1st point is mainly something that would compliment the wolf inside the sheep skin (after perf mod :p ))

2. Performance Upgrade: (stage 1, stage 2 etc., suggestions please)

3. My car is KA-51. But, Preferably suggest the best tuners in Tamil Nadu. Coimbatore, Chennai are preferable. (The point of avoiding language problem else have to cope with little kannada in Bangalore.)

4. Will the performance upgrade force a suspension change or any other hardware upgrades? (I already have flatter and bigger rubbers Yoko A.Drive 195/65/R14)

5. I heard (hear say) about vehicle/Engine stalling in i20 after a remap. Are there any such problems in doing a remap?

Looking forward for valuable comments.

Keep it simple and subtle pal. You want a wolf inside sheep's clothing and want it bling too :)? I would say shod your car with a lovely set of alloys from Lenso and a pair of Hella 4000's/Lightforce is good enough to transform your car on the aesthetics front .

On a diesel car its mostly about remaps. If you change to aggressive remaps you definitely will need better brakes.

Wonder what does the language barrier have to do with tuning ? As far as I know, no roadside mech has yet mastered the art of remapping. I hope you get the drift ;).

The only thing that would need upgrade from the stock setup is the brakes. This unless you are running an aggressive remap, else the stock setup should be good enough.

Haven't heard of any as yet at-least from a few tuners I have known, can you point us to a thread or linky ?

PM fellow member brraj. He should be able to guide you in case you want to know who is the best to approach for remaps.

Thanks so much for your valuable comments.

Initially as part of giving it a face lift, I had a plan to re-paint it to Black (original White) and add up chrome alloys and chrome door handles. Now, since I am on a plan to remap, I would stick to non-jazzy, smoke/matte finish alloys.

True, I shouldn't be facing any hassle with tuners as far as language is concerned. I'v had bad experience at Carnation & Advaith Hyundai and that somehow makes me feel "why at Bangalore!" whenever I think of getting some work done in my car. :Frustrati. In fact I got my ICE upgraded from Coimbatore (my hometown).


I think I will be more than satisfied with the Tune-up mentioned in many sites. (Pete's i20 in particular) 90HP to 115HP and the 220 Nm to 270 Nm (or a similar figures). Basically, I want to keep the mileage not much disturbed.

I will try to find the source of this and post a link in here.

I will be on it in a while. The performance upgrade for me is kind of a road map for me this year. Not doing it right now. I need to start saving that extra every month to make this possible by middle of the year or the 3rd quarter.

I can understand your frustration dealing with both these places. There is a review which has just come up today on the RD Diesel Tronic box. You might want to read this .

Unlikely that a stage 1 remap would affect your mileage as such,do your research on the forum . There is tons of information here and catch up with members who have done a remap. They should be able to answer your questions.

Now you are starting to sound like my manager :D .

Hey,

I do have a 2012 i20 crdi asta(6-speed).

Have got racechip on it at around some 5000 kms.Have done a total of 40k kms till now,of which approximately 30k kms is with racechip.

Though i am very much satisfied with the performance gain because of the tuning box,I started facing problems after initial 20k kms.
Some times the car would make a very harsh sound while idling which subsides once i restart it again.

Couple of weeks back i had to send the car for general service so removed the chip and the surprise came when i tried to start it.The car would give a loud sound and shut off.
Tried couple of times again but the result was same. However the car was completely fine with the chip.

So i removed the chip assesmbly and called up hyundai and informed them that the car isnt starting(without telling the chip and all).
The mechanic came over,did some checks and finally decided to tow it from my parking to showroom.

After couple of days,what they said is the injectors got clogged and they cleaned it.
Now the car is running completely fine and i decided not to use the chip anymore.

I am not sure if mine if one-odd
Case or its quite common with tuning boxes

Hope this helps.

Regards,
Harsha

Anything to do with Mods - be it Cosmetic Face Lifts or Performance Mods, it is important to know something about what is done, if not everything. Because, it is type of sector where most 'laymans' are taken for a ride.

Three ways to mod any car:
1. Sleeper way: You keep it stock on outside and modify it internally (read Performance). You car looks exact like any other harmless i20 until you take off ;). A Perfect example of Wolf in Sheep's cloth.
2. Ricer way: Very Common in most parts of the country. Its all cosmetic and blingy stuff without necessary power to look complete. In one word, All show and no Go
3. Souped up way: The Car looks appealing / good with carefully done cosmetic mods along with suitable mods to make it go fast. Basically, the car is one level up in all aspects when compared to a stock lookalike. Looks, Performance, Braking, Handling everything is adequately matched and done up tastefully.

You need to decide which satisfies the most. All mods take in good amount of money and time, but only some of them earn respect !

Simplest, yet effective performance mod for a Diesel is a fast, safe and reliable remap. Can cost anywhere between 20 - 50k depending on the type of map, type of car and skill of the tuner.
Many tuners offer remaps - and each of them specialize i their own USP.
Pete's are known for Safe, Reliable but standard maps
Code 6 and TOT are known for Fast, Reliable and Custom maps
TDI are known for Fast, yet VFM maps

This again can be narrowed down / selected, depending on your location proximity and the exact need for your car.


Unlike Petrol / NA mods, one doesn't need a complete garage to do things. With Diesel Remaps the scene has changed a bit. Any good tuner with skill and equipment can do a good job at it. So Location doesn't really matter.
But pick the location which you will be spending more time - since any troubleshooting if needed will be easy.

Performance upgrades wont force anything. Its the driving style that will sustain or break stuff in car. I know few people who have done insane stuff on cars and till maintain it with OEM spares for a long long time (i am talking about excess of 1L km on Odo) and then there are few who have blown engines, burnt clutches, broke gearboxes, popped drive shafts on stock cars !
Ideally a good tyre upgrade + upsize (just 1 level) should be enough. However, if you feel something lacking really bad, then you might consider changing them to aftermarket. For example, Verna / i20 have a bouncy suspension setup which messes up the high speed dynamics of the car. A Remap might make you push a little hard, and you may feel that the car is too scary on corners. Again, it depends on what you do with your performance upgrade.

A Remap from any respectable tuner, can be 99% reliable. However there are one off cases where issues crop up. It depends on car, tuner, the map, and all that.
There are some cases where too aggressive maps used without understanding the purpose and science behind it have resulted in Injector failure, Turbo Failure, Valve failure, seized pistons etc..

Hi Harsha,

Thanks for sharing, Can you tell me from where you got the race chip installed? And how come you got things done just after 5k kms? You should be under warranty and this kind of a work under the hood may void warranty.(does it?)

Is this the reason for not talking about the chip with the Hyundai guys?

@Mi10:

:) Have been waiting for your reply. Thanks a ton. Lots of information on it.
I will do some more research about remapping for performance, reliability and handling. After looking at your Rapid and other performance threads I thought I can keep my ride for another 100k kms (52k kms now) easily if I get a remap done.

As stated above by me, If I opt a remap, I want to keep the car for another 100k kms at least. So I would definitely opt for No. 3. "Souped up way" described by you.

I will prefer getting the tune up done in Bangalore as that is where I will be "most of the time". Please suggest tuners who do an all around job. In addition to performance remap, need to consider handling, safety and reliability. All said and done, I will be stepping into tuners not right away but later in this year. Hence I am not keen on charges for different upgrades. Its obviously not going to be same by the time I decide.

:OT
Please try to get the Monte Carlo headlamps back on your Rapid!!

PS: Not exactly a layman(I have earned little knowledge recently). And yes that is why I am seeking advice and comments from bhpians before I step in to the roller coaster ride without knowing that one should buckle up.

Good topic and thanks for it. We have seen some awesome responses to your query. :)

I20 CRDi is a pretty powerful car but the want of "more" is never gonna stop. One thing I strongly suggest is to have your suspension upgraded too. The stock i20 has more power than it can handle. Frankly I never have enjoyed the i20 with more power than the lesser powered Swift, especially around corners.

A stage 1 remap should be more than enough for you, but please do add a good suspension kit too. Tyres can come later.

A friend of mine carried the racechip from UK,so worked out way cheaper than the available options!

Since the injector clogging in my i20 is because of the racechip(this is what i inferred from the whole incident), i dint mention about the "box" to hyundai people!

The main reason i went for the tuning box is to reduce the turbo-lag and have more linear power delivery!

Except for the problems which i have faced recently,i totally loved the racechip on i20!

Regards,
Harsha

I got a RD DT dual channel box for my iGen i20 Sportz diesel, and while the results are not magical (I also have an 1.9 PD Octavia :P) they are pretty good. (initial report: here )
I got the RD box when the car was at 1467kms on the odo (low, I know), and I'm currently at around 3800kms, so it is too soon for me to comment on the ownership aspect and long-term usage effects.
What I will point out, however, is the following:
1. The stock i20 is overpowered at 89bhp for the suspension setup it is running on. You'll need to get stiffer suspension at the least.
2. The car is extremely front heavy (no aluminium engine unlike the hondas/suzukis), and the excessive weight (~1250kgs, I'm told) is very noticable under heavy braking. Oh, if only it was a 100kgs lighter... you might not need any upgrades at all. All of this, however, means, with extra power, you need better brakes.
IMHO, without better suspension and better brakes, doing power upgrades is just inviting trouble (or worse, unless you're an adrenaline junkie).

I plan on getting stiffer springs (lowering springs might be worth considering as well) once the warranty runs out (in 2 years!!) (though I have no idea about availability of said items). Wheel/tyre upgrade to 195/60R15 (or suitable tyres for 16"). Brake upgrade to larger front ventilated disks.

Joke: You could consider getting carbon fibre panels for whatever is replaceable (hood, roof, hatch, doors... etc.?) to reduce weight and then change suspension, brakes, wheels/tyres, add FFE, intercooler, and remap the ECU... IF you have a LOADED wallet! lol: That should give you a real nice setup!

Regards,
-jdr