T180 Tuning Box Help

[Rick D4D]

Hi I own an Auris T180 and due to poor MPG I am thinking of fitting one of Kingo's tuning boxes depending on a few things, before I go any further I want to 100% state I am not trying to start an hate thread or anything just get some good feedback.

From what I am led to think a lot of the Rav 4 owners have these boxes fitted so would you all be king enough to give me a little feedback.

1. I know the power is a lot more on tap but if drove the same as before does the MPG seem better?

2. I have heard of some T180 head gasket horror stories so as anyone had a head gasket fail with one of these fitted at some stage.

3. What was the insurance increase?

4. would you buy this again?

5. anything I should know about?

One more for Kingo / John what is the going price on this now and do you still do the 30day money back guarantee if it does not suit my requirements? at the moment we are averaging around 32mpg (car mainly does short 6 mile runs but even on a motor way run 40MPG seems hard to get) so if this helps increases this figure to something I think is sensible then we are happy to keep the box.

[anchorman]

Rick

You will get answers soon from the likes of Big Kev but keep in mind that you have to be very disciplined in not squeezing the accelerator to achieve any fuel savings. You can't have the cake and eat it!

BTW, the head gasket issue is not linked unless you are constantly caning the engine and that applies to not having the chip fitted too.

[bothwell_buyer]

haha - Kingo will offer a same day delivery; 30 day guarantee; fee pie lunch and full money back if it doesn't work.....

well that what he managed for me- but then that was only some other parts!

[Rick D4D]

Rick

You will get answers soon from the likes of Big Kev but keep in mind that you have to be very disciplined in not squeezing the accelerator to achieve any fuel savings. You can't have the cake and eat it!

BTW, the head gasket issue is not linked unless you are constantly caning the engine and that applies to not having the chip fitted too.

I have tried every driving style possible and have found that the lowest revs highest gear gives best MPG but even then its well short of the quoted figures, I was wondering with the box optimizing the fuel mix etc if drove the same way would I see better MPG and the only people who can answer this is people who have a box fitted.

[local hero]

Rick

You will get answers soon from the likes of Big Kev but keep in mind that you have to be very disciplined in not squeezing the accelerator to achieve any fuel savings. You can't have the cake and eat it!

BTW, the head gasket issue is not linked unless you are constantly caning the engine and that applies to not having the chip fitted too.

I have tried every driving style possible and have found that the lowest revs highest gear gives best MPG but even then its well short of the quoted figures, I was wondering with the box optimizing the fuel mix etc if drove the same way would I see better MPG and the only people who can answer this is people who have a box fitted.

Rick there is already an ongoing post about the chipped T180 see LINK this should help with most of your questions, I well remember the very heated debate on the Auris section that got well out of hand, I tried to contribute but as I do not have a T180 my input was pretty much ignored, However I do have a Kingo chipped 140 d4d fitted 40 mths ago it is superb has been faultless caused no problems + I fully endorse it, however as a purely fuel saving device I am not sure whether you will achieve your aim I don't have a T180 so cannot comment, But i had a very enthusiastically driven trip to Wales + back last weekend 240 mls, if iwere to photo my fuel readout right now it is showing 51.4 mpg.. in reality this is probably about 42mpg (brim to brim) I havent checked, but past experience and my scangauge showing 9.5 mpl seems to bare this out, I would bite the bullet try one of Kingo,s "chips" + if you don't like it (you will) return it hope this helps until Big Kev replies with more specific T180 info, as for insurance, see my last post on the link above Stew

[Big Kev]

Hi I own an Auris T180 and due to poor MPG I am thinking of fitting one of Kingo's tuning boxes depending on a few things, before I go any further I want to 100% state I am not trying to start an hate thread or anything just get some good feedback.

From what I am led to think a lot of the Rav 4 owners have these boxes fitted so would you all be king enough to give me a little feedback.

1. I know the power is a lot more on tap but if drove the same as before does the MPG seem better?

2. I have heard of some T180 head gasket horror stories so as anyone had a head gasket fail with one of these fitted at some stage.

3. What was the insurance increase?

4. would you buy this again?

5. anything I should know about?

One more for Kingo / John what is the going price on this now and do you still do the 30day money back guarantee if it does not suit my requirements? at the moment we are averaging around 32mpg (car mainly does short 6 mile runs but even on a motor way run 40MPG seems hard to get) so if this helps increases this figure to something I think is sensible then we are happy to keep the box.

Hi Rick,

Staggered replies....

Q4 : If my Kingo Kit packed in tomorrow, I would insist that he delays his Barbadosian holiday this week until he sends me a new one. As explained before, I got mine second hand from Mereside, and it has proved totally reliable and great fun.

Q1 : Only going by my trip computer at the time, my short journey work returned an improvement of some 4-5mpg. In the real world, and echoing some of Anchorman's veiled comments, you are not going to fit this chip then drive like the parish priest...? You will sometimes play with it, and I have my excuse ready for the polis...."ah was only cleaning out my Diesel Particulate Filter, ossifer"....that should get me off.

Q2 : Cannot improve on Anch's reply.

Q5 : Motorway / Long Trip shows on my trip computer as high as 42-44mpg as long as I stay at about 74mph max. After that, and even more so on Cruise Control,(?), it drops like a stone.....at 80-85 (again only cleaning dpf, officer...) it can easily drop to 28/29.

Q3 : OOPS...SORRY...BAD CONNECTI......

Big Kev

[Rick D4D]

Hi Rick,

Staggered replies....

Q1 : Only going by my trip computer at the time, my short journey work returned an improvement of some 4-5mpg. In the real world, and echoing some of Anchorman's veiled comments, you are not going to fit this chip then drive like the parish priest...? You will sometimes play with it, and I have my excuse ready for the polis...."ah was only cleaning out my Diesel Particulate Filter, ossifer"....that should get me off.

We drive like a 90 year old nun with her mother in the car now to try and get above 40MPG, drive it normal no more that 2300rpm and even on the motorway where down to 35MPG

Q5 : Motorway / Long Trip shows on my trip computer as high as 42-44mpg as long as I stay at about 74mph max. After that, and even more so on Cruise Control,(?), it drops like a stone.....at 80-85 (again only cleaning dpf, officer...) it can easily drop to 28/29. Know what you mean but even now we struggle to get 42-44MPG so if the box helps us get this easily on the motorway holding a steady 75MPH (really 70MPH when speedo correction is applied) then I would be happy. It is strange how the CC seems to hammer the MPG more?

Big Kev

[Big Kev]

I've just been giving this some thought....my Rav 4 is ever so slightly larger than an Auris.

Rick's Auris has the same engine as me, but he is only getting the mpg he has mentioned.

Surely based around the power to weight ratio of the 177bhp engine in an Auris, it should be doing 50mpg without problem ???

I stand to be educated....

Big Kev

[anchorman]

I might be inclined to shut that EGR off.

[Rick D4D]

anyone?

[Parts-King]

Rick

Sorry I only just picked up this thread

Anchs gave a good solid answer up there somewhere ^ ^ ^ As he quite rightly said, you cant have your cake and eat it!

Now the upside of the chip kit is that you get tons more torque, about 70 NM max, that extra torque means that you wont be up and down the gearbox all the time and you can use a lighter throttle. I can provide a box for max power (212 BHP MAX) or a lighter flash file (199 BHP MAX) for better economy. The standard one I supply is 212

The downside is the car will now go like a stabbed rat! If you drive it hard, it will be very quick, but you will not see any improvement in the MPG

We still do a 30 money back guarantee, if you dont like it, return it and you get a refund (less £10 for shipping) It must be returned in an "as new" condition, somebody else will want to buy it after you have returned it ;) The price is £375 The average saving is around 4-6 MPG, but at 40 MPG that is a 10% saving!!!

Kingo

[Rick D4D]

Rick

Sorry I only just picked up this thread

Anchs gave a good solid answer up there somewhere ^ ^ ^ As he quite rightly said, you cant have your cake and eat it!

Now the upside of the chip kit is that you get tons more torque, about 70 NM max, that extra torque means that you wont be up and down the gearbox all the time and you can use a lighter throttle. I can provide a box for max power (212 BHP MAX) or a lighter flash file (199 BHP MAX) for better economy. The standard one I supply is 212

The downside is the car will now go like a stabbed rat! If you drive it hard, it will be very quick, but you will not see any improvement in the MPG

We still do a 30 money back guarantee, if you dont like it, return it and you get a refund (less £10 for shipping) It must be returned in an "as new" condition, somebody else will want to buy it after you have returned it ;) The price is £375 The average saving is around 4-6 MPG, but at 40 MPG that is a 10% saving!!!

Kingo

You talk about the flash map, can I reprogram this box to suit my needs etc? surly its just a case of a few files on my laptop to go with it?

[Parts-King]

Rick

Sorry I only just picked up this thread

Anchs gave a good solid answer up there somewhere ^ ^ ^ As he quite rightly said, you cant have your cake and eat it!

Now the upside of the chip kit is that you get tons more torque, about 70 NM max, that extra torque means that you wont be up and down the gearbox all the time and you can use a lighter throttle. I can provide a box for max power (212 BHP MAX) or a lighter flash file (199 BHP MAX) for better economy. The standard one I supply is 212

The downside is the car will now go like a stabbed rat! If you drive it hard, it will be very quick, but you will not see any improvement in the MPG

We still do a 30 money back guarantee, if you dont like it, return it and you get a refund (less £10 for shipping) It must be returned in an "as new" condition, somebody else will want to buy it after you have returned it ;) The price is £375 The average saving is around 4-6 MPG, but at 40 MPG that is a 10% saving!!!

Kingo

You talk about the flash map, can I reprogram this box to suit my needs etc? surly its just a case of a few files on my laptop to go with it?

Nope sorry you cant, this engine is very difficult to tune so this box has no adjustments on it, it comes pre-programmed so it cannot be messed with once loaded

Kingo

[Jamesbelfast]

For the average driver doing 10,000 miles per year it would take 2 years and 9 months or more to break even assuming he was able to get a 10% reduction across all ranges of driving which is very unlikely in my opinion. Mainly because driving style is very often affected by traffic conditions over which the driver has no control. For example joining a motorway at a slip-road the driver will have to accelerate to meet the omcoming traffic - he just can't doddle along at his/her leisure.

It also has to be remembered that to calculate any savings it has to be done on brim-to-brim fuel fills each an every time you fill up. Once you add any electronic addition to the electronic controls the signals going to the onboard mileage computer will be altered and therefore its output will be affected.

So fit a so-called chip if you wish but don't loose sight of the overall cost and implications.

Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware.:)

[local hero]

For the average driver doing 10,000 miles per year it would take 2 years and 9 months or more to break even assuming he was able to get a 10% reduction across all ranges of driving which is very unlikely in my opinion. Mainly because driving style is very often affected by traffic conditions over which the driver has no control. For example joining a motorway at a slip-road the driver will have to accelerate to meet the omcoming traffic - he just can't doddle along at his/her leisure.

It also has to be remembered that to calculate any savings it has to be done on brim-to-brim fuel fills each an every time you fill up. Once you add any electronic addition to the electronic controls the signals going to the onboard mileage computer will be altered and therefore its output will be affected.

So fit a so-called chip if you wish but don't loose sight of the overall cost and implications.

Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware.:)

I would say if you want to buy one of these for economy reasons then as James says it will take you 33mths to get your money back, Ive had mine for 40 mths so I am in front However if you want to enjoy your driving + have a bit more get up + go then IMO its worth every penny.. Stew

[local hero]

For the average driver doing 10,000 miles per year it would take 2 years and 9 months or more to break even assuming he was able to get a 10% reduction across all ranges of driving which is very unlikely in my opinion. Mainly because driving style is very often affected by traffic conditions over which the driver has no control. For example joining a motorway at a slip-road the driver will have to accelerate to meet the omcoming traffic - he just can't doddle along at his/her leisure.

It also has to be remembered that to calculate any savings it has to be done on brim-to-brim fuel fills each an every time you fill up. Once you add any electronic addition to the electronic controls the signals going to the onboard mileage computer will be altered and therefore its output will be affected.

So fit a so-called chip if you wish but don't loose sight of the overall cost and implications.

Caveat Emptor - Buyer Beware.:)

I would say if you want to buy one of these for economy reasons then as James says it will take you 33mths to get your money back, Ive had mine for 40 mths so I am in front However if you want to enjoy your driving + have a bit more get up + go then IMO its worth every penny.. Stew

[james warren]

Hi I own an Auris T180 and due to poor MPG I am thinking of fitting one of Kingo's tuning boxes depending on a few things, before I go any further I want to 100% state I am not trying to start an hate thread or anything just get some good feedback.

From what I am led to think a lot of the Rav 4 owners have these boxes fitted so would you all be king enough to give me a little feedback.

1. I know the power is a lot more on tap but if drove the same as before does the MPG seem better?

2. I have heard of some T180 head gasket horror stories so as anyone had a head gasket fail with one of these fitted at some stage.

3. What was the insurance increase?

4. would you buy this again?

5. anything I should know about?

One more for Kingo / John what is the going price on this now and do you still do the 30day money back guarantee if it does not suit my requirements? at the moment we are averaging around 32mpg (car mainly does short 6 mile runs but even on a motor way run 40MPG seems hard to get) so if this helps increases this figure to something I think is sensible then we are happy to keep the box.

I have had one for 3 months. Unfortunately my head gasket did blow but I'm prety sure it would have gone anyway. (luckily fixed by MrT) I would be carefull if your fitting it to an old t180. Yes it goes like a scalded cat and yes it will give about 4-5mpg more. Is it worth it ? Only you can decide. That said I don't think it puts the engine under much more stress (you'll just drive it harder)

[Pim]

Is it me or has this topic landed on the wrong forum (RAV4 instead of Auris?)

Greetz

Pim

[Parts-King]

It IS in the RAV4 section

[Pim]

Hi I own an Auris T180 ...

It IS in the RAV4 section

Guess the topic creator wasn't talking about the RAV4 here... but the AURIS.

And there happens to be an AURIS CLUB part on the forum. But that's not here.

Or am i mistaken?

Greetz

Pim

[Davrav]

Hi I own an Auris T180 ...

It IS in the RAV4 section

Guess the topic creator wasn't talking about the RAV4 here... but the AURIS.

And there happens to be an AURIS CLUB part on the forum. But that's not here.

Or am i mistaken?

Greetz

Pim

We welcome anyone here who makes a positive contribution Pim

We've members who aspired to owning RAVs getting information prior to purchase and we have a couple of members who don't currently have a RAV.

If we can help anyone else [and there is a wealth of information and a wide range of expertise to draw on here] we will if we can

[anchorman]

I think the relevance is the common engine. We welcome the views of our firends from the other forums.

And while we are at it, welcome to you too Pim.

[MarsKy]

Hi I own an Auris T180 and due to poor MPG I am thinking of fitting one of Kingo's tuning boxes depending on a few things, before I go any further I want to 100% state I am not trying to start an hate thread or anything just get some good feedback.

From what I am led to think a lot of the Rav 4 owners have these boxes fitted so would you all be king enough to give me a little feedback.

1. I know the power is a lot more on tap but if drove the same as before does the MPG seem better?

2. I have heard of some T180 head gasket horror stories so as anyone had a head gasket fail with one of these fitted at some stage.

3. What was the insurance increase?

4. would you buy this again?

5. anything I should know about?

One more for Kingo / John what is the going price on this now and do you still do the 30day money back guarantee if it does not suit my requirements? at the moment we are averaging around 32mpg (car mainly does short 6 mile runs but even on a motor way run 40MPG seems hard to get) so if this helps increases this figure to something I think is sensible then we are happy to keep the box.

I think the point was comparing the experiences of owners of RAV and Auris T180 engines and the benefits (or otherwise) of the T180's tuning kit.

And it's good to compare - the Auris section has a great thread on the EGR valve.

[anchorman]

.......written by Rick himself!

[Pim]

Thanks guys,

I have taken a deeper look at the Auris section too, got me some questions buzzing my mind (for sure about engine cleaning, but most of that is written about diesels, not petrols).

Anyways, i am not completely familiar with the entire cross exchangability within the Toyota range of cars, so i was simply wondering.

Greetz

Pim