A3 TDI Engine Tuning on Ebay

[turbodan]

Ive just bought a 1999 A3 TDi and was wondering how effective these little plug in boxes are that are supposed to increase BHP by 25%?

I realise i dont have one of the PD engines, but one guy is selling them for the earlier audis for about £60.

Are they worth getting? or do they /ubbthreads/images/graemlins/swear.gif your engine up?

Cheers - Dan

 

[imported_CurryMilkShake]

Hi Dan - Hope you enjoy your new motor..

£60 does seem a bit of a bargain, and to be fair I havent tried one so cant comment on how good they are..

However, on the basis of the answers to similar previously asked questions, I opted for a full rolling-road remap rather than a plug-in option.

This, I am over the moon with - but its not a fair comparison as it costs an enormous amount more (£550). In proportion to the value of the car though, and for the performance gain (which was over the 25% on bhp and torque) this still seems good value.

Whichever way you go, you will need to let your insurance company know (though many dont, maybe I'm getting old, but I wouldnt risk it!)
so dont forget to ask them first and factor in any change that makes (mine didnt affect the premium but added £250 to the excess. hmm.)

I understand that plug-in units dont give you the smoothness and natural feel obtained from a rolling road remap where it is fine-tuned to your car.. but at the end of the day its hard to argue with just £60!

 

[imported_monkeytrousers]

£60 seems very cheap for this type of remap.

Do you have a link to the ebay description?

 

[turbodan]

http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/TDI-TUNING-BOX-90-...1QQcmdZViewItem

Thats the link, his latest feedback rating looks a bit dodgy, but some people are raving about the results.

- Cheers for the tuning info CurryMilkShake

 

[MikeA3]

I don't know about that type of tuning box, it looks similar to the dragon box that some people have fitted on their TDI's, those retail at about £300 ish so £60 is a bit of a bargain if it's the same quality.

As I understand it, most of these tuning boxes increase the amount of fuel going to the engine and thats how the bhp is increased, someone else can probably give you the specifics on them.

I fitted a cheap tuning box (£20) to my pd130 and it has given it a bit more kick in the mid range, maybe 15bhp (ish)

Also, i'd agree with CMS and tell your insurance company, the last thing you want is for it to mess up your car and your not covered.

You might want to do a search on here and the oil burner forum as i'm sure this topic has been covered before and it might help you choose the best box for your car.

Good luck and let us know how you get on.

Mike

 

[imported_monkeytrousers]

OK looks like it's not a remap which might explain the price.

If it were me ... I wouldn't touch it. Looks like there is no support if things go wrong and I wonder what it's actually doing to the engine.

 

[turbodan]

Cheers lads.

I aint gunna go for it!

 

[james_suckling]

Do it!

I bought a 'tuning box' from ebay nearly 2 years ago, and have done over 35k since.

It totally transforms the car. It's loads faster with more torque, and better MPG. I'm sure it's not a patch on a proper re-map, but for £100 I'm well chuffed.

The way I looked at it, I can always take it off when I sell the car and get my money back. Best £100 I spent.

They ebayer I bought mine from was called delboy something or other, he since changed the name to Dragon Performance, or something similar.