Does this TDI TUNING Chip Box work?

5p Resistor in a box. Does nothing more than overfuel the car and can cause damage long term. Save up for a remap that actually does what it says

Totally gutted. I went and got a proper remap and all the time i could have spent £30 and acheived massive results. I feel so stupid for not taking up the "too good to be true" offers on ebay.
Oh well, my car runs well and its not broken down yet so i shouldn't whinge

I will make your car go faster (short term though)


As already said, its to trick the engine into needing more fuel = bigger bang.

Do yourself a big favour and laugh at these idiot ebayers that know nothing, save another £200 and get a remap through a well trained specialist that really DO know about engines.

A remap is simply brilliant for the cost vs performace increase.

yep agreed, for more insights on tuning boxes have a search back through the tdi section.

I have slowly come to the conclusion that how you modify the power on your stock TDI is not important.

The same results can be achieved by either altering the mapping/ECU parameters, or changing/faking out the ECU inputs in real time.

Altering the mapping on a TDI is basically at its heart 'overfueling' the car (generic 'offset' maps), although there is more involved with the EDC15 ECU's (smoke map, torque etc)

On a VE engine a tuning box (at least one that alters the 'quantity adjuster' signal, and not the fuel temp(retarded timing)) can give the same bhp power increase as a generic remap.

My last 'tuning box' allowed me to wheelspin in third gear. (I had swapped a resistor to allow more power) I removed it because of high EGT's.

I would say the power increase was comparable to my old wet chips & pp502's.

Add a 'boost mod/tuning box' alongside the fueling box/mod and you are cooking with gas.

Admittedly the main components in a tuning box are just one or more parallel resistor/potentiometers or transistor in series. Most of the electronic components are there to stop the box working during the ignition checks.

Remapping is obviously infinitely preferable, but for most cars with standard clutch/turbo/injectors etc, most tuning companies will limit the power increase to one that is attainable with a hardware mod/tuning box.

For a PD engine a remap is always king, and a box should be avoided.

so if its a non pd then your best off getting a box??

Remaps are better on most cars (not just VAG TDI's).
I've tried a TB and a Map on my old car, and although the TB was good, it wasn't anywhere near the remap for the way it drove or performed.
My personal opinion is this:
If you want the best, research the options and pay a bit more for a Map. If you just want a little bit extra but don't really need the best then buy a reputable TB. If you don't care if your engine goes pop then spend a few quid on a rip off ebay special and enjoy limited miles of smokey and lurchy driving.

If you have a PD or non-standard hardware, then a remap is the way to go.

I would say if you have a standard VE 90 or 110bhp TDI, it is most economical to get a good tuning box.

There are vast differences in the quality and type of tuning boxes out there, so preferably get a used box from a known good manufacturer, Van Aaken, Steinbauer, Dragon, Alpin, PSI etc etc, the list is endless. Even VW make a tuning box (havent tried it).

If you know where to look you can get a very good box for under £30.

Preferably get one that has two or three adjustment pot's, so that you can alter fueling/power, the revs power comes in, and how the power curve ramps up. These usually have wires for connecting to the accelerator pot, and MAF aswell as the fuel pump.

One of the boxes which also splices into the MAP connector to allow adjustable boost pressure is a good idea, but only if you have a boost gauge fitted.

If your car has uprated hardware (clutch, turbo, injectors) a remap is much more sensible, and will release more power in a safer fashion.

Many people scorn tuning boxes (as did I, once) and in some respects they are right, but mainly tuning companies want to sell a 'remap' over a hardware mod, as it is more proffitable, 'mostly' on a modern car there is no physical product, just information, which can be sold over and again.

A tuning box will not melt your pistons, or damage your engine any more than a 'remap' will. Any increase in engine output will shorten the lifespan of the engine.

I guess what i am basically saying is that altering the parameters & values in the ECU can be done by remapping or on the fly by modifying ECU/sensor input/outputs in real time. A remap is just a more elegant solution.

To all intents and purposes there is no difference, the result is the same. It is simply a matter of how complicated you want the electronics to be.

A Genuine TB will not harm the engine.
An Ebay special resistor mod will eventually do it some damage.

I must admit that i thought the EVRY mod was excellent idea for a 2p power mod.

I never tried it as it needed enabling after the engine was switched on.

It is a simple tuning box without the facility to dodge the startup checks. lol

Most of the ebay resistor mods seem to be aimed at fooling intake temp sensors.

Good on 'em if someone can sell resistors for £5, and people are foolish enough to buy them.

I have a 1.9Tdi Leon 08 , new to the deisel world after 10years in the jap world , 4 scoobys , gt4's , 2 mr2's turbos and my last motor was a R33 GTR .
What is a PD ? , VAG ? , what is the best box on the market at the moment as i want to remove for servicing , deffo dont want a remap as the car is a lease company car

It's not worth the hassle of a TB imo on new diesels. It may work for the older non PDs happily but the newer PDs (Pump Duesse technology).

Either get a remap or don't do anything

No down side so far

I put a tuning box on my leon 130 about a year ago, dont know about the power increase... but i did find a noticable increase in torque. So far i havnt had any problems with it thankfully!

Maybe im one of the lucky ones??