Hi all,
Here's my little mini review of the 330d after day 5 of having the tuning box fitted.
I'm an optimist, but I even I took the chip manufacturers claims of a 60bhp increase with a pinch of salt. How wrong was i to judge them so quickly!?! The car feels like a 290bhp car and certainly goes like one!
I paid a little over £100 for it (£130) - and the results have been absolutely astonishing! The power delivery is definitely similar to that of a ECU re-map, which has always been my choice of tuning in the past. But as i stated in my original post, there were valid arguments against a ECU remap this time, safety being paramount. The box has been fitted so the wires are easy to switch back and forth, if the need for switching back to stock ever occurs. OK, so I have to unscrew a couple of torx screws but it's no big deal.
Back to the power delivery: These things have come on leaps and bounds from when I first used one in a MK4 Golf TDI, some 7-8 years ago now. Then, the power delivery was a little harsh - or should I say torque delivery. It was never spread out evenly and would all come in a big lump. With this tuning box, it's lovely and smooth. linear. There's no big harsh dumps and you can feel the extra 120NM all the way until the rev limiter.
90% of my driving consists of city/town driving - and the car potters about like it used to, but the lack of gear changes is very noticeable. I used to average between 39.9 and 40.9 MPG - since I've fitted the box it's been averaging 44mpg. Normally, if I was in 6th and my speed dropped to 50mph, I would notch it down a gear and then let it pick it's speed back up - but now, I can leave it in 6th and the 'wooooosh' it just goes
The performance really is noticeable. Now, as I rev close to the limiter, there's a new sudden burst of power as it climbs higher into the rev range and the car goes ballistic! I reckon - and I haven't done any testing yet - that this car is now a 5.5-5.8 second car. I tested it when it was standard and consistently posted a 0-60 time of 6.0-6.1 seconds.
All in all, very happy with the results.