Diesel Economy Experiment

[maddog]

21ps for £200 doesnt sound bad to me

 

[flango]

So go on! Have a guess at how much the tuning box has raised your fuel pressure?
It won't be completly accurate as it is a dynamic fuction, but will give you an idea. Power up 15%, fuel meter out by 8%....shall we say 12% ish?

Sounds about right to me

 

[merc07]

Well had the tuning box on now for 2 weeks and after the initial wow this realy does something, I am now a little less impressed.

With tuning box the car Dyno'd at 139 Ps and 294 Nm torque (will post spreadsheet with all details on later) so 21 Ps More and 27 Nm more torque, not earth shattering but car definitely more responsive.

However at the last fill car computer indicated 65. 4 mpg, and over 6000 miles this has been accurate to within 0.3 mpg compared to the tank to tank method.

Tank to tank method this time 60.3 mpg so only 0.4 mpg better than standard on exactly the same fuel and Millers DPS4, but now the computer is 5.1 mpg out

So at the moment £200 spend for 0.4 mpg extra and a slight performance boost, probably too early to make a judgement but I'll leave in on as agreed and we'll keep track over the next few weeks or so, but so far not looking good value

Doesn't sound to promising. I have been using a DPT Tuning box, set up for economy for sometime now. It returns 3-4 mpg more around town, slightly better on a run. For the last 3000 miles the computer readout says 40.5 which equates to 38 tank to tank. Without the box it is 35mpg. I have just taken it off again to be sure of the original mpg which on todays 80 mile clear town / motorway driving was 34.5 mpg

I am interested to see the results of a remap as to wether this can be improved. - Car is a C220 cdi estate sports pack.

Cheers
Adam

 

[x332race]

Doesn't sound to promising. I have been using a DPT Tuning box, set up for economy for sometime now. It returns 3-4 mpg more around town, slightly better on a run. For the last 3000 miles the computer readout says 40.5 which equates to 38 tank to tank. Without the box it is 35mpg. I have just taken it off again to be sure of the original mpg which on todays 80 mile clear town / motorway driving was 34.5 mpg

I am interested to see the results of a remap as to wether this can be improved. - Car is a C220 cdi estate sports pack.

Cheers
Adam

10% increase in mpg seems ok to me with Tuning box added..... as you say, will be interesting to see result of remap.

 

[renault12ts]

Photos??

 

[x332race]

Whilst seeing the benefits of a tuning box or remap I am having trouble seeing how to get the full benefit of savings in mpg especially if most of driving on motorways.

As far as I can see, the products work by boosting the power / torque of the engine which enables the car to hang onto higher gears for longer hence promoting savings.....at motorway speeds, surely you will already be in top gear and hence should not make any saving in the amount of fuel used....am I right or am I missing something?

 

[Birdman]

I can't notice any difference in any of the mercs on any different fuels, i can however notice a good difference on my Honda CBR600...maybe down to the lack of feedback in mercs. especially compared to a bike...

Bikes use higher compression ratios than car engines. The CBR600RR's CR is 12:1 (my CBR1000RR has a 11.9:1 CR but it's a 2004 model; the current Fireblade CR is 12.2:1) and it's peak power is produced at 13,500rpm. A rapid flame-speed is crucial at those rpm for complete combusion and this is best achieved without detonation (knocking) at high combustion pressures with a high octane fuel, from what I understand. So a higher anti-knock rating allows increased peak output at high rpm compared with a lower-rated fuel.

The same logic applies to turbocharged petrol engines which while they have a relatively low CR, the fuel compression at the time of ignition is raised because of forced induction so the result is the same as a high CR. A turbocharged engine benefits from a higher octane rating (or RON) in attaining peak power just as does a high peformance motor bike engine (or a race car engine).

FWIW I wonder if the more specialised fuels now available on station forecourts are offered in order to qualify them for use in F1, rather than simply to give the average motorist a few extra hp or mpg.

 

[SpikeUK]

Well, I'd like to thank everybody who has posted as I've found the whole thread really interesting!

I agree - fascinating stuff.
To add my 2p worth..... Olly fitted a tuning box to my 270CDi. Previously it averaged 38.7mpg over 6000 miles. For the last 4000 miles it has averaged 40.9mpg. Not scientific, not climate controlled, but I make that a 5.6% improvement in economy....AND the accelleration is much improved...AND I use it. It was a simple plug-in and it does work.

 

[x332race]

I agree - fascinating stuff.
To add my 2p worth..... Olly fitted a tuning box to my 270CDi. Previously it averaged 38.7mpg over 6000 miles. For the last 4000 miles it has averaged 40.9mpg. Not scientific, not climate controlled, but I make that a 5.6% improvement in economy....AND the accelleration is much improved...AND I use it. It was a simple plug-in and it does work.

What make tuning box is it?

 

[hawk20]

I agree - fascinating stuff.
To add my 2p worth..... Olly fitted a tuning box to my 270CDi. Previously it averaged 38.7mpg over 6000 miles. For the last 4000 miles it has averaged 40.9mpg. Not scientific, not climate controlled, but I make that a 5.6% improvement in economy....AND the accelleration is much improved...AND I use it. It was a simple plug-in and it does work.

Trouble is the weather is warmer; we're all getting more. And differences in journeys, traffic levels, temp, tyre pressures etc etc can all easily account for 1 or 2 miles per gallon. That's before you allow for engines getting looser the more miles you've done. Just so hard to draw firm conclusions for the small changes seen in personal, non scientific tests. But if you are happy, you're happy.

 

[wemorgan]

But if you are happy, you're happy.

I think you've come across a great new product to sell on Ebay.

Simply it will be an empty black box, roughly the size of a tuning box. It'll be called a Happiness Tuning Box. The product should sell well for £9.99 I feel, along with fule magnets etc. If sold in Spring, most buyers should see a few mpg increase.

 

[st4]

I think you've come across a great new product to sell on Ebay.

Simply it will be an empty black box, roughly the size of a tuning box. It'll be called a Happiness Tuning Box. The product should sell well for £9.99 I feel, along with fule magnets etc. If sold in Spring, most buyers should see a few mpg increase.

Your 14 days too late with that post

 

[SpikeUK]

What make tuning box is it?

The box is an Essing from www.dieseltuning.nl.
Power is allegedly up from 170 to 204
Torque is allegedly up from 400 to 450N/m

I can't confirm any of the claims..... because I am not really interested in the actual figures. The car is faster and more economical (not by much, I know).

FYI: The box was installed around October and has actually provided figures for 5000miles (not 4000 as I originally quoted) - so has been used when the weather was very cold too!

 

[x332race]

The box is an Essing from www.dieseltuning.nl.
Power is allegedly up from 170 to 204
Torque is allegedly up from 400 to 450N/m

I can't confirm any of the claims..... because I am not really interested in the actual figures. The car is faster and more economical (not by much, I know).

FYI: The box was installed around October and has actually provided figures for 5000miles (not 4000 as I originally quoted) - so has been used when the weather was very cold too!

Thanks....seems to be same company as DPT

 

[flango]

Sorry I'm being a bit lapse here in posting data, I will post the photos of our tuning box and the spreadsheet from our performance tests to date, been a bit preoccupied with the Ian Tomlinson thread and Mrs F has me decorating the lounge, coupled with that the company I am currently working for got taken over by the Germans last Thursday so to say it is hectic would be an understatement but please bear with me and I'll post soon, Thanks

 

[SpikeUK]

I suspect my fuel consumption would show an even greater improvement had I not started taking advantage of the extra performance. Mid range accelleration is very impressive - there are not many cars out there that can't be overtaken from about 65mph....

 

[crockers]

I agree - fascinating stuff.
To add my 2p worth..... Olly fitted a tuning box to my 270CDi. Previously it averaged 38.7mpg over 6000 miles. For the last 4000 miles it has averaged 40.9mpg. Not scientific, not climate controlled, but I make that a 5.6% improvement in economy....AND the accelleration is much improved...AND I use it. It was a simple plug-in and it does work.

Are you measuring you fuel consumption on the car's computer or by filling to brim and refilling to same and manually calculating the consumption?

 

[SpikeUK]

Are you measuring you fuel consumption on the car's computer or by filling to brim and refilling to same and manually calculating the consumption?

I am using the car's computer. That was for both calculations and for a total of 11000 miles.

 

[SpikeUK]

Thanks....seems to be same company as DPT

Yes. It is the same unit.

 

[Mactech]

I am using the car's computer. That was for both calculations and for a total of 11000 miles.

May I suggest you read posts #99 and #100.