Tuning boxes on petrol turbo cars?

Jay85

Jay85

Jay85

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Can you not just turn the boost up with something like a dawes device; or are you looking to improve economy etc rather than increase power?
 
Its only a 1.2 tsi engine so not amazingly fast but would like to squeeze an extra 30bhp out of it.

I would love a bluefin but unsure if they do any maps for the vw polo 1.2 tsi engine? I've never heard of a dawes device, what is it exactly?


Im looking at more power rather than economy.
 
Boxes generally do naff all. A mate put one on his Focus ST and a standard ST will still quite easily keep up with it.

I'd be amazed if you manage to squeeze another 30bhp out of a 1.2, a remap on an ST only manages between 30-45bhp and that's with an engine (and probably turbo) twice the size.
 
I got about 30bhp extra out of a 1.9 diesel using one. You might get 30bhp when it is adjusted to the top setting, but I find they run like a bucket of nasty stuff.

I used one again on a 2.0 diesel BMW engined Rover, with similar results. You cannot really run them at 100%, about 75% before you cause other running issues.

Also make sure your clutch can take the extra power. The 1.9 could handle the extra power but the Rovers use to slip like crazy if turned up too high.
 
Jay85 said:
I've never heard of a dawes device, what is it exactly?
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Dawes device:
http://www.kermatdi.com/catalog/hybrid.jpg Hotlinking is bad mmmkay?

It's a very simple boost control device that's essentially just a ball bearing and a spring. - You can increase the boost at which it opens by tightening the spring; more boost = more power.
NOT the same as a bleed valve (which just works by losing some of the boost before the wastegate actuator sees it, and therefore can cause boost creep and idling issues).

I don't know about VAG tuning, but this is a pretty common way of getting more power out of Japanese imports. - I run a standard ECU in mine, but 1.2bar of boost as opposed to the 0.7bar as standard.
As long as you don't go off the top of the existing map, the ECU will cope with it and adjust the fuelling accordingly.

Also works on turbo diesels; a friend of mine put his Terrano on the rollers and made a few more bhp with one.
 
Dawes Device or Bleed valve i would steer clear.

Assuming your ECU can cope with the fueling for higher boost is a gamble.

I would only increase boost if fuel map is changed accordingly.

Back in the day before fancy ECU's bleed valves killed engines.

I learnt the hard way in my fiesta RS turbo using a bleed valve!

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I have looked at getting one for mine. TMC tuning is another company that does them. Apparently my 1.4 would get 25-30bhp and like 50nm of torque extra, just by plugging in the tuning box. Cost about £270 last time I looked.
 
No, I would get it done properly on the rollers by a respectable tuner.

Heard of melted pistons, bent pistons, pistons popping through the head with these crappy bluefin devices etc (if you can buy it on Ebay, it will be ****)

Get it done properly, which will have a guarantee.
 
Rybo89 said:
No, I would get it done properly on the rollers by a respectable tuner.

Heard of melted pistons, bent pistons, pistons popping through the head with these crappy bluefin devices etc (if you can buy it on Ebay, it will be ****)

Get it done properly, which will have a guarantee.
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While I agree that the best way to get your car mapped is to take it to a respected tuner and get a custom map done, there's nothing wrong with Bluefin devices or other devices of their kind.

They're no different to going to a tuner and getting a generic Stage 1 or 2 map put on your car, it's just you're able to perform the upgrade (or downgrade) yourself. Many big remappers sell ODBII units for this very purpose. I think you're getting Bluefins confused with these cheap tuning boxes you can buy which plug into the fuel rail and basically just up the amount of fuel being thrown into the engine.

You certainly can't make a blanket statement that anything from eBay isn't worth buying, you just have to make sure that what you're buying is from a respected tuner, a trusted source and has plenty of good feedback.
 
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If the ECU in your car is mappable then a live mapping is almost always going to be better than a generic map.

For a lot of cars though the only option seems to be chips or bluefin type devices. If you're in the Honda, Subaru, Mitsubishi scene you'd be totally shunned for a generic map rather than a custom live map but with Fords, VAG etc they seem the only things available for some reason?
 
Not on a stock engine, especially something like a generic hatchback.

If you did get a stock engine live mapped it would cost probably 3 times more, and even more than that if you replace the ecu with something that's found more in motosport, like an emerald ecu.

And you would still end up with something similar to an off the shelf map if it's done safely, the biggest difference is that you would be paying a lot more for it to be programmed from scratch rather than simply copied from a map that's been specifically developed for the engine in its standard configuration.
 
mattyfez said:
Not on a stock engine, especially something like a generic hatchback.

If you did get a stock engine live mapped it would cost probably 3 times more, and even more than that if you replace the ecu with something that's found more in motosport, like an emerald ecu.

And you would still end up with something similar to an off the shelf map if it's done safely, the biggest difference is that you would be paying a lot more for it to be programmed from scratch rather than simply copied from a map that's been specifically developed for the engine in its standard configuration.
Click to expand...

Possibly however my Subaru was live mapped on a dyno and cost the massive sum of £300 so as long as the ECU isn't locked it shouldn't cost any more than a generic map from the likes of bluefin.
 
Okay so remap seems to be the safest and most efficient option to best suit the engine in the car where as bluefin is more generic but allows easy removal incase of warranty work etc?


I've done some checks and the most mentioned companies seem to be AMD, Big Fish Tuning, ABT and Celtic Tuning. I know AMD are very good as i have a friend who have used them before for a miltek exhaust system and remap combo. Not sure on the other names though.

Theres also Angel tuning with mixed reviews.


All have stated they can remap the 1.2 tsi engine in the polo to around 125-140bhp and +50nm torque.


Thoughts?
 
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