406oc.co.uk

Hi guys! I know tuning-box chips are a well-covered topic, but I haven't seen any recent posts, and not too many on the HDi90.

Mine is a bog-standard HDi90 'X' Reg 2000 plate Rapier edition. I recently got a straight pipe made up (more for jokes than anything), and was surprised at almost no fuel efficiency loss, and massive upsurge of power! Its safe to say I won't be buying another petrol-engine car any time soon!

Was wondering though, now that derv is running through my veins.. would this be worth a punt? More for the fuel economy, and safe overtaking - I'm not a boy racer, guv, honest!


http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/PERFORMANCE-C ... 4176850b78

And I know its the cheapest, but most of these companies seem to be Italian, and have confusing customer relations! These ones are from a Germany-based company, and seem more or less no-nonsense?


Thanks for reading my ramblings!

Benny

First things first: I see you joined this october, so hi & welcome.

Hats off to the straight through pipe. I think it's very valuable that you've reported your findings. Even better that it's a positive result. I really don't want to piss on your bonfire, but what happens come MOT time?

I'll speak for myself but: we don't discuss it because we concluded a long tine ago that tuning boxes are a waste of money. Just get a proper remap.

The god news is that your 406 will have the Bosch injection system that can be mapped through the OBD port, rather than the later Siemens system that has to be bench-flashed.
The bad news is that maps for the 90 aren't as readily available as the 140 map for the 110 and the 180 map for the 136, and that the absence of an intercooler limits the potential gains. Nevertheless, a remap is the way to go, and how good it is really comes down to how much you want to pay -- top dollar for a cusrom map done with a rolling road.

Keep up the good work, and keep us informed

And happy Christmas.

Hi Benny, welcome.

I must admit I differ slightly to RWB. He had his 90 for 8 years and really looked after it - I had a 90 which was a workhorse and a bit of a dogsbody. I had mine for 2 years and although it was great round town, it struggled on the bypass and on long journeys with the family inside, so I opted for a tuning box. I did my research, read all the feedback etc and settled for one of the Italian ones at around £70. My car had the Siemens ECU so was not so easy to tune and the tuning box was the next best thing.

It was great, the low down revs were really strong and made it much more lively on the bypass. I know these tuning boxes just go between the fuel rail and the ECU but it did work a treat. I had this fitted for 2 more trouble free years before I sold the car ( I gave the tuning box to a mate with a Siemens 406 )

I agree that a proper remap is definitely the best but as a cheaper alternative for mainly local driving it could be worth a punt. I don't believe the power gains are accurate and so should be taken with a pinch of salt....

This was, of course, about a year before I joined the forum so I only really had a limited knowledge of my 406.

if you buy a galletto 1260 lead you can get a proper remap from this guy starting from £75.00 much better than a tuning box
http://www.hdi-tuning.co.uk/index.html

+1 one on steves remaps he is good and will give you all the help you need

Wow, what a great load of replies!

Firstly, thanks RWB, I had been reading this forum for months, and now know its the AUTHORITY on 406 related stuff ;) As for the MOT time, the garage that installed my beautifully loud exhaust system will probably pass it if I give them some more business come MOT time :shushitsasecret:

As for intercooler, this is a potential future upgrade that I'm giving some serious thought about, as I really want to keep this car, north of 200K+ miles even!

Mr Magic, I have thought and thought about a tuning box, probably would help my old girl! Shes more a neglected horse than a work horse, and shes only had a few heavy loads so far (handled and took the weight like a champ!) - so tuning box probably would do the trick. But I'm, kind of savvy with my computer stuffs, so I'm thinking of giving an ECU remap a try with Steve's help.

Dave & ProbablySaneMax (come on, you have a 406 ;)! ) - I have looked at his website quite a lot prior to my first post, and you two have swung my decision big time. Just purchased my Galleto tool (sure theres a Fast and Furious joke there about pizza shops somewhere!), and will be speaking to Steve very soon!


Thanks for all your help guys, and I really can't thank you enough. Will get photos of the big red beast on this forum some time!

Again, go get a straight pipe! If you're like me, and like all of your vehicles free-breathing, you will NEVER regret it! Quite docile at low revs, some say like a Subaru (oo-err!), and got some great laughs from the passengers last night delivering some to a party through a tunnel area (think bbbbrrrAAUUUUUMMMM tsuuuuuuu)


Many thanks again guys,

Bewildered Benny!