Well OM646 EVO (2.2cdi 170bhp) has a T3 sensor (temp before turbine) and the VGT protection strategy automatically reduces injected quantity when the "EGT" reaches a certain value. This is also important for the ECU to know at a given time if it can activate the "overtorque" strategy on acceleration.
The real exhaust gas temp problems occur at altitude and when towing, and there, the standard maps from us are pretty close to the limit. If we could get away with an extra 30bhp permanently with good durability, believe me, it would be there as standard.
What makes me laugh is the ignorance of these tuning companies with arguments like "manufacturers build in huge tolerances for emissions and bad fuel blah blah" which simply isn´t true: the area where the engine is optimised for emissions is below 2500RPM and below 200Nm torque. Full load is optimised for peak cylinder pressure, exhaust gas temperature, turbocharger RPM, and temperature before the intercooler and it´s pretty much to the limit...
edit: Having said all of that, the A160cdi in question may only have the max torque map reduced compared to the A170cdi, so it may be safe to tune a little. It would be important to check if the bearings and intercooler are not cheaper cost-reduced parts over it´s bigger brother (is the case with 646 evo) If the engine really is the same, then an ECU swap from a 170cdi would be a good option...
Regards
Matt
