Warranty Nearly Over On Avensis

[lungo]

Hi all,

was wondering if there has been anything new on the tuning box since the last time I looked and I have found nothing, unless I am searching wrong.

Cannot see any information on parts-king T180 box from UK owners.

Have anyone got this and what is it like?

[Heidfirst]

see http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=105296 - same engine/kit afaik

[t-spiritpete]

see http://toyotaownersclub.com/forums/index.p...howtopic=105296 - same engine/kit afaik

Hello Heidfirst, Now that is an epic post to say the least but very interesting though, WOW! I spent over an hour reading it all and found out that we are very tolerant and in the main very polite on the Avensis forum compared to the Auris lads not that I disagree with debate but that was something else!

Reading about the topic of tuning boxes for the 180 2.2d4d engine it makes me wonder why this Auris engine can take any increase in power when the Avensis 150/180 is suffering problems with head gaskets, turbos, and the bottom end .... yes the bottom end bearings which have been modified very recently, more from me on that at a later date. One would think any modifications to up the power would take the engine to an early grave. Any thoughts and comments that don't open the tuning box debate would be appreciated, just the thoughts on the engine reliability before and after modification would be ok .... ie is the Auris d4d engine exactly the same as the Avensis, I believe it is but ......?

Best Regards to all, Pete.

[cabcurtains]

I think this depends on usage, our car has improved drivability and MPG and i can guarantee my wife uses full throttle only 1% of the time so as far as long term damage goes i have no concerns. If she was however a 17yr old loony i would expect the car to kill its injectors/turbo etc etc quicker than normal.

When i worked for Honda we had i-CDTI's running at 250BHP, however the component life was not as long as the standard bench tested 140BHP for obvious reasons. This car would never go market until it could match the 140 for reliability which won’t happen.

Modern diesel injectors seem to want to pack up at about 80k anyway so not take the risk and turn up the wick a bit.

I would ask most owners do they check oil/have it changed often enough/understand about blocked EGR valves/drive cold engines hard/let them run for a bit after a hard drive to keep the turbo lubricated etc etc

Is a tuning box worse than these things?

[t-spiritpete]

I think this depends on usage, our car has improved drivability and MPG and i can guarantee my wife uses full throttle only 1% of the time so as far as long term damage goes i have no concerns. If she was however a 17yr old loony i would expect the car to kill its injectors/turbo etc etc quicker than normal.

When i worked for Honda we had i-CDTI's running at 250BHP, however the component life was not as long as the standard bench tested 140BHP for obvious reasons. This car would never go market until it could match the 140 for reliability which won't happen.

Modern diesel injectors seem to want to pack up at about 80k anyway so not take the risk and turn up the wick a bit.

I would ask most owners do they check oil/have it changed often enough/understand about blocked EGR valves/drive cold engines hard/let them run for a bit after a hard drive to keep the turbo lubricated etc etc

Is a tuning box worse than these things?

I agree 100% with you and having built, tuned and driven many cars with modified engines in my time but what I was getting at was the Avensis has major engine faults with the 2.2d4d even when driven carefully and serviced correctly at low mileage, I know believe me, being a victim!! So how can you reliably tune the 2.2 when it isn't up to normal useage.

Cheers for the reply anyway, Pete

[cabcurtains]

I see your point ;)

Sell it or risk it i say

[lungo]

hi all,

just finished reading the topic via Heid link.

Think I should not have asked this question.

Seems I need to search for 'common faults' on the AVENSIS T180 first then decide.

[Heidfirst]

pretty much all modern high pressure common rail diesels seem to have problems - I know that when I was researching replacing my last car Ford, Vauxhall & VW diesels all seemed to have common known problems going by their respective forums etc..

[SF695]

Toyota Motorsport developed a chip that took the D-cat to 220 hp. One might assume that an inhouse tuning company didn't do anything that might compremise reliability

[downtime]

I'm still very happy with my T180 box.

I took the box off two weeks ago as my car was in for a maintenance and some other work done.

Even though the 2.0D4D Optimal drive is quite ok now as it has loosened up a little bit, I still missed the chip. Last week I attached it again and damn there was a difference. The car is just so much smoother to drive with the chip.

Had a chance to do some comparison now. It's winter here at the moment so the fuel heater takes a little slice from the consumption, but it's clear that the chip is increasing the mpg. Without the chip, same route daily, average consumption was 7.3 liters / 100km. With the chip, again same route daily, average consumption is 6.6 litres / 100 km.

And it can go even less if I'd drive the car like granny. Much easier to get any gains with the chip than without. For example without the chip I could never go under 5 litres / 100km on rural driving. With the chip, easily.