...I am interested if anybody has used the TUNINGBOX in an 1.6 auto? Thanks in advance.

Hi StuartB.

I just had a quick look at their website and there is no mention of the transmission type. Best bet would be to email them and ask; if you do can you let us know and I'll update the opening post in the topic

Done and got this back, which is all good;

ello,

thanks for the request. Sure it is suitable to the automatic transmission
without any known problems.

Regards

U. Saretz


BTW he is not French, it was a bad cut and paste the H fell off.

[Shambles]

Well that's good to know. I should have thought that, with them not differentiating between transmission types, that it wouldn't matter.

Merci for the update

[2i30s]

can you buy a tuning box like this one for a 2.0 petrol engine.i looked but couldn't see one.

[Shambles]

Diesel only.

[2i30s]

*#$*$#*

[lozza]

Just ordered one of these from Germany. Will let you know what I think. Tried to extract info out of the many suppliers on the more techinical details of how these things work but everybody is being very cagey. I am concerned that many just ustilise a massive over pressure in the fuel rail to achieve the extra diesel added in each cycle. They would not confirm or deny this but kept stating it is achieved through changes to the timing and fuel injection rates.
Will be interesting. The price variance on the units is astounding from as cheap as 87GBP to $1500aud.

Just ordered one of these from Germany. Will let you know what I think. Tried to extract info out of the many suppliers on the more techinical details of how these things work but everybody is being very cagey. I am concerned that many just ustilise a massive over pressure in the fuel rail to achieve the extra diesel added in each cycle. They would not confirm or deny this but kept stating it is achieved through changes to the timing and fuel injection rates.
Will be interesting. The price variance on the units is astounding from as cheap as 87GBP to $1500aud.

How did it go? Any update?

[Waja]

Was wondering if someone could help me. I recently bought this tuning box from ebay (worked out cheaper as they didn't seem to reply to my emails but through using "Make Offer" i managed to get it for 90EUR) and they seem to have changed the dial (or atleast from the pictures that i can see). I am unsure what to set the level to now...if anyone could point out what setting they have on theirs if they have the same dial, itd be appreciated. Thanks!

[Shambles]

If your dial is at its fullest "off" in the "0" position, then mine would be where your number "4" is.

In other words, a quarter clockwise from off.

[Waja]

awesome, thanks for the quick help! need to make sure i point the arrow at the 4 and not the C or I might run into a bit of trouble  thanks once again!

[Waja]

Ok, i don't know if anyone has run into this problem, but according to images and through following the instructions on the manual that came with the tuning box, I had installed the unit. Gave it a quick test revving the engine in the driveway and everything was fine. Mounted it, packed everything up and decided to take it for a drive. First and 2nd gear, AWESOME response but it seems that after revving to about 2500-3000 rpm in 3rd or 4th the engine totally cuts off, the oil light, EPS and the key light lights up on the dash and the steering begins to lock.

I have changed the settings on the tuning box to 0 (standard with no power increase) and the same thing happens, I did an ecu reset after taking the box off and then plugging it in after and its the same. I thought I had done something permanent to the engine and so I pulled the box out and the engine runs like normal without shutting off or anything! Does anyone know what could be the problem? I dont seem to know what to do 

[Shambles]

I played with my settings after I'd had it a while; I think I logged some of my results on the forum somewhere. However, when set to the maximum (fully clockwise) I experienced very much the same as you're describing, except for the steering problem.

Send Saretz an email describing the issue - they're excellent at responding in English. It could be that you have a badly calibrated unit.

[R_G_B]

Anyone who decides to fit something that tinkers with an engine's electronic control system and high-pressure fuel settings, should be careful to follow the manufacturer's instructions!

The tuning box version pictured above by link_1111 is a newer version than the one referred to by Shambles.

For a Bosch controller, as in the i30, the instructions for the new version of ECO/MICI say to adjust in the range 8-D (or narrower range 9-A for the DIGI model).
The other positions (anywhere from E-7 in the ECO/MICI model) are for other controllers (e.g. Siemens/Denso) - using them on an i30 is asking for trouble!

I have tried every position from 8-D (in an i30CW CRDi after 10,000 Km). Here are some observations:

1. The tuning box does nothing useful to reduce the biggest nuisance of the i30 CRDi - that long wait before any useful response if you ever try accelerating (especially even slightly uphill) in 2nd gear from below 1000 rpm. If you are trying to solve that problem, don't waste your money on a tuning box. Get used to changing down to 1st gear instead!

2. The i30 is already very snappy once the revs hit 1500rpm and the turbo gets to work. At higher settings, the tuning box does increase this power (on my seat-of-pants meter). But in 1st and 2nd gear the unmodified i30 power/torque is already close to the limit of grip from the standard tyres on this front-wheel drive, even on dry roads. You quickly exceed that limit with lots of tyre spinning if you push the accelerator after fitting the tuning box.

3. The amount of black smoke from the exhaust goes up with the power setting in the tuning box. You can't judge this from the driver's seat! Ask someone to look at the exhaust while you give the accelerator a push and you will get the information.

4. The engine runs harsher under acceleration at higher power settings in the tuning box. Whether this is damaging the engine, I do not know. Personally, I don't want that risk, and I would not use the device with a setting above A or B.

5. I have not noticed much difference at highway speeds, but there may be a benefit under certain conditions of speed, gradient, load, acceleration, etc that I have not tested.

5. The people at Autotechnik Saretz seem very helpful to potential customers by email, but understandably they will not detail the voltage remapping from the common rail pressure sensor to the ECU at each setting in their tuning box. Neither they nor Hyundai will take any responsibility for damage caused to your vehicle by fitting the tuning box.

6. It will take a long time with carefully-controlled comparisons to know for sure whether there is a fuel economy gain at any particular setting - many variables affect fuel consumption, including control of your right foot. More black smoke is not normally a sign of improved fuel economy (let alone environmental responsibility).

So take some of the excitement about this accessory with a grain of salt - and be careful to avoid damaging your vehicle while chasing potential benefits.

[Dazzler]

Welcome R_G_B .. thank you for that frank and candid introductory post 

Unlike Shambles (One of my bestest internet buddies..) I am not interested in fitting a tuning box or any other ECU modification  for several reasons (in no particular order)

(a) Happy with current performance of my Manual CRDi
(b) Don't want to have issues with the motor down the track..
(c) don't want to risk voiding the warranty..
(d) Have a very strict (and cheap) insurer who would quickly drop me from their books and dishonour any claim if established such a mod..

Your comments generally appear valid..

[sobocanec]

I have exact looking adjusting switch. When i received from Autotechnic SARETZ it came accompanied with some documentation.
I was able to determined from that, that adjustment range for i30 (and some Kia models) is from 8 to D. (1 is minimum and f is max)
It applies for ECO Bosch. So far my research has led me to believe to set the switch D which is great help if I go long distance on Freeway.
Around town I am using smaller setting: 8 or 9. This has shortest turbo lag and is very easy to spin front wheels in second and very good pick up.
I have also driven in the middle range adjustment A or B.The performance is logically in the middle. Perhaps the best for urban driving or on some
country hilly roads.

I have used the box almost continually since about 5000Km ago. Once I took it off to see how the car behaves without.
At that stage I also disconnected neg. battery terminal to reset memory to the way I drive.
i30 was performing as new. It didn't take me very long to fit the box back.
I am not advocating to get one. It is intiery up to individual. I havent even done to 28000 Km. So only time will tell if any long time demage will happen.

As far as fuel economy goes, I have driven 50Km plus return trip with another person in the car using auto clime on 22, sitting on 100k/h and trip computer showed
4.4/100. That was after fresh refill. But of corse, that quickly went up driving to work and aroundn town...I have to admit that I normaly drive pretty hard.
Over 27452Km:
My average fuel consumption is 5.65
My average speed 57.5Km/h    etc.

Since I use the Tuning box I haven't noticed any fuel savings.

I would realy love to read other similar post from other tuning box users

Best regards.

[DaveCRDi]

I'm new to the forum (I've only had my i30 for 3 weeks), but I thought I'd add something to this topic as it's something I'm quite interested in.

I've been looking at the possibility of getting a tuning box for my i30, but I asked many of the questions that have come up in this thread.

From what I understand there are essentially 2 types of tuning box. One is essentially a variable resistor, which is quite crude, but can work well if you don't overdo the power increase. The other one is a digital unit that takes into consideration the rpm the engine is doing, and adjusts the fuel injection boost accordingly.
This second type seems to work better, and has less of a problem with black smoke being produced from over-fuelling.

I was concerned that the power increase would damage the engine in the long run, but after some research I found that a few of the companies offering tuning boxes have TUV certified software, and to earn this certification they have to demonstrate that the engine won't be damaged through normal use of the tuning box (though obviously turning it up to its maximum will probably reduce component life).
Several of the companies I've contacted that power and torque increases up to 140bhp and 300Nm have told me that the tuning box does not increase the boost provided by the turbo, it just lets it provide the boost earlier in the rev range.

Everyone seems to agree that 140bhp and 300Nm is a sensible safe level to tune the 1.6 115 engine to, and from what I've read the turbo used in the i30 should be fine up to 150bhp.

I accept that the drawback is you are only playing with one parameter, rather than increasing everything as a whole, but the fact that the ECU will still be able to detect exhaust gas temperature and unburnt fuel in the exhaust system and reduce the fuelling to compensate (the tuning box increases the fuelling, but a large reduction in ECU fuelling input will still decrease the fuel going to the engine) makes the system seem pretty safe as long as you run it within sensible parameters.


2 people I know have used tuning boxes, one in a Skoda Fabia VRS 1.9 Tdi, increasing power from 130bhp to around 170, and another in a Ford Focus 1.8 TDCi increasing power from 115bhp to 150.
Both have been using the units for 2-3 years, and neither have had any problems at all.


Regarding warranty issues, the simplest way to avoid problems is to remove the unit before getting any servicing or repairs under warranty.
Also, for those in the UK, there are laws regarding warranties which state that a manufacturer cannot void a warranty simply because the vehicle is modified, and they must prove that the modification caused the component failure.


I'm planning to fit a digital tuning box to my 6 speed 1.6 once I have about 6000 miles on it.

[Shambles]

Thanks for the above, Dave, and welcome to the forums

I have since removed my tuningbox as I no longer feel it's necessary for what I originally planned to use it for. At the start I wanted to reduce the poor low-end performance in 1st/2nd gears and for a while the box did that for me. Instant throttle response and the bonus of a marginal increase in economy.

A few months ago I removed it prior to a warranty repair yet the i30 still behaved as if it was fitted. Even now, after a couple of ECU resets, she still pulls like fury in 1st/2nd. I've put this phenomenum down to the mileage I've covered (39,000 miles) loosening up the diesel engine.

Cheers

[DaveCRDi]

What was the warranty repair for?


I've been considering the tuning box largely for more pull in 6th, although I'm wondering if that will improve as the car gets a few more miles on it, and for more low down torque as I'd like to be able to use 5th in 40mph zones and maybe 4th in 30 zones and 6th in 50 zones.

The car seems to be geared to sit at 1500 rpm in 5th at 40mph, and at the moment that's a bit of a struggle for the engine.

[Shambles]

What was the warranty repair for?

Steering rattle and rear washer pump failure, covered in the "Issues, non-model specific" section

[DaveCRDi]

Ah right, nothing to do with running the engine at 140 bhp then 


I'll see how the engine loosens up once I get a few thousand miles on the clock. If it still complains with lower revs I'll get the tuning box, and if not I might not.

[penak]

The trouble with these tunig boxes is, that they simply fool the ECU sensors so the ECU commands the injectors to spray more fuel. In diesels that is easy, as they always operate on oxygen rich mixture. Up to reaching oxygen equilibrium, and slightly past that, the power increases with increased fuel feed.

In old distributor-pump diesels it was common to increase power by adjusting the pump feed (just turn one screw...). The drawback was REALLY nasty smoke. The same is true with the modern engines, as all the "tuning boxes" can do is increasing the fuel amount injected, they will make the smoking worse.

The correct way of tuning a CRDi is ECU reprogramming, where all the engine parameters can be adjusted, fuel injection, bosst pressure, turbo guide vane angle etc. And that is the way the manufacturer does it BTW.

In europe Hyundai/KIA have at least three distinct power versions of the 1.6L CRDi:
90hp version used in i30 cheaper models. This is actually slightly different, it's VGT turbo has pneumatic vane adjuster, the more powerful versions have electromechanical adjustment.

115hp version uded bu i30 and Ceed, same as above, but with electric vane adjustment directly controlled by the ECU. Uses slightly higher boost pressure and fuel injection to get that small power increase.

I have driven both versions of i30, and in normal traffic, it is hard to sense any difference, as if there is any, it is behind that "war emergency power" notch of the accelerator pedal travel.

The third version in Finland is sold in KIA Soul, and has 128hp/260Nm. Apparently the only difference between this and 115hp version is the ECU "mapping", ie. programming of it's injection/boost/rpm table. All the spares catalog numbers of the mechanical parts in 115hp/128hp are the same.

I have a feeling that we probably will see up to 140hp versions of the same basic engine when the competition forces Hyundai to it. After that level, they have to go to double turbo to keep the behaviour of the engine civilized enough.

What the ECU remappers do is extracting that competitive headroom out of the engine ahead of manufacturer's financial needs. They are currently undetectable in normal service, and also don't increase smoke produced by the engine. The bad side is that they also charge considerably more than the "tuning box" manufacturers.

[Dazzler]

Hi penak..Don't take this the wrong way but you appear to know what you are talking about (and speak with authority) Where is your knowledge derived from (e.g. Are you an engineer or a mechanic or both)

[DaveCRDi]

I mostly agree penak, with one exception.

Primitive tuning boxes essentially increase the signal going to the common rail, increasing the fuel injection at any point in the rev range. As you have said, this increases the smoke the car produces, particularly at idle.

However, there are fully digital tuning boxes which adjust the increase in fuelling for the RPM the car is doing (measured by the number of signals going to the common rail injector), so at idle you get no increase in fuelling whatsoever, and you can essentially "map" it so that you get an injection curve appropriate to the car you are using it in.

The modern fully digital tuning boxes carry TUV certification too, which means they have to demonstrate that they do not damage your engine if used within normal operating parameters. For the latest ones this includes Diesel Particulate Filters (like the one fitted to the new Euro IV compliant i30's).



I prefer the tuning box option to be honest. The absolute worst case scenario is that the car would go into limp home mode, in which case you simply remove the tuning box.

[SRT Metro]

Hi!
Many, many people in Sweden use a tuningbox to their diesel cars with a turbo. Many truckdrivers also use it.
Many Hyundai dealers sell and install tuningboxes from KCR.
KCR tuningbox is the most widely used and they offer 30 day return policy if you are not 100% satisfied.
They also offer 3 years or 80000 km engine warranty by an insurance company for an extra small sum of money.
They have installed over 50000 tuning boxes and has 164 resellers in Sweden and 1095 partners in 13 countries.
They have done tuning boxes since 1997 and i never heard of anyone who has problems with their diesel engines since they installed a tuningbox from KCR.
A tuningbox from KCR is not cheap, but you get what you pay for...  

A link to KCR Homepage:
http://www.kcr.se/render_page.asp?pageid=90

Little info from KCR Homepage:
About KCR
KCRacing Produkter AB is a technical company located in Falköping, Sweden.
We have specialized in power increasing and fuel saving products for diesel vehicles.
We hold the sole agency and develop the best power boxes on the market.
We can offer a complete solution for all kinds of diesel vehicles.
We have several years of experience and our products are market leading in Scandinavia.
We are distributing our products via an excellent sales channel and we cooperate with skilled dealers
where you as customer can buy and get our products installed by professionals.
Our goal is to make you satisfied with our partners and us and we keep all products in stock for immediate delivery.
Give us a call or send and e-mail for further information.
We have today made over 50.000 installations.

[Dazzler]

Another question for penak or anyone else who feels qualified to answer.. If a tuning box works mainly by increasing the injection of fuel how can Shambles and others who have used a tuning box been able to report an improvement in fuel economy?

[SRT Metro]

Fuel saving
Better torque, better combustion
The best torque are usually between 2.000 - 3.000 rpm. After installing the tuningbox the torque increases and the important change is at low rpm.

Example
The torque that a standard engine delivers at 2000 rpm, can be achieved at 1700 rpm with the tuningbox installed. This makes it possible to run the engine at lower rpm with the same torque. This reduces the consumption.

[Dazzler]

That sounds fair SRT but wouldn't most people negate this gain by using the extra torque to drive more aggressively (the whole idea of getting a tuning box I would imagine)

[SRT Metro]

Yes, if you drive much more aggressively than normal, use all the extra power and torque, your car will use more diesel.
But then you also have a car that feels stronger and very fun to drive. 

[DaveCRDi]

Another question for penak or anyone else who feels qualified to answer.. If a tuning box works mainly by increasing the injection of fuel how can Shambles and others who have used a tuning box been able to report an improvement in fuel economy?

The extra torque lets you sit in a higher gear for any given situation, as well as the overall combustion process being more efficient.

It is true though that although a tuning box will give you extra power, if you actually use all that extra power your fuel economy will drop.

Basically if you continue driving in exactly the same style as you did before you'll probably get a slight increase in fuel economy, but the extra torque lets you drive even more frugally than the engine would allow before installing the box, allowing you to get significantly better economy.

[Shambles]

I fitted mine in Aug 2008 purely (and solely) because the power delivery and pedal pickup in 1st and 2nd was lacking somewhat. The box, which I'd set for low-rpm conditions, gave me exactly that; plenty of grunt and bags of torque (technical terms coming out now, see?) although I have never driven aggressively. My consumption sat at 63-64mpg all the time I used the box. I no longer have it fitted as the engine seems to have worn in smoothly and I get the required 1st/2nd acceleration & pickup by default now, although my economy has dropped to around 56mpg over the past 6 months.

It was defo worth the money I paid for the 14 months I used it though