2004 Avensis Diesel - Time To Chip

[Big Nose]

Hi,

After six months' ownership of a 2004 '53' Avensis T4 diesel I've come to realise what the Ds stand for in D4-D - Dull and Dreary.

The car's fine in that it's well built, reliable and a comfortable ride - especially now I've swapped the 17" rubber for Kumhos - but the performance is just so desperately dull, dull, dull.

My last car was a Seat Altea with the 140bhp Tdi VW engine which knocks the Toyota lump of metal into a cocked hat.

Is there anything I can do to make the driving experience involving or should I just go out and buy a white trilby for the rear passenger shelf, start wearing a brown cardigan and develop an interest in book-keeping.

Can the engine management system be reconfigured at a reasonable cost? If it can, does anyone have a recommendation for a chip or chipping company that can do the job oop north in the Leeds area?

Also, if I did get the car chipped would my insurance premium increase and what would be the effect on fuel consumption ?

That's enough questions for now, I'm off to see if I can find a nice Andy Williams cassette - much better in my Avensis than one of those new fangled compute disco things - on www.becomingaboringoldToyotafart.com ;)

[Mkuk0]

I've seen an Avensis with a tunit unit fitted http://www.tunit.co.uk/tunit-product-range.php the guy reckoned it was dyno'ed at 146bhp, and increase of some 32bhp over standard 2.0 lump, dunno how it affected his insurance though. Smooth power flow, slightly better fuel consumption and much better mid range pull. Not cheap though :(

[Penfold]

Is there anything I can do to make the driving experience involving or should I just go out and buy a white trilby for the rear passenger shelf, start wearing a brown cardigan and develop an interest in book-keeping.

strap a garden rake to the boot, put some red food dye in the tank and drive it over the local allotments - its what a tractor is best at :P

[matty2767]

i had a dimsprt rapid fitted increasing mine to around 146bhp. costs an extra £50/yr on the insurance.

it is now more economical and alot quicker. more responsive as you no longer have to wait untill 2000 revs for it to move.

i would recommend it.

[chandler32]

i had a dimsprt rapid fitted increasing mine to around 146bhp. costs an extra £50/yr on the insurance.

it is now more economical and alot quicker. more responsive as you no longer have to wait untill 2000 revs for it to move.

i would recommend it.

what sort of cost was that matty?

[matty2767]

it was just under 400.

[Shoto]

After six months' ownership of a 2004 '53' Avensis T4 diesel I've come to realise what the Ds stand for in D4-D - Dull and Dreary.

Is there anything I can do to make the driving experience involving or should I just go out and buy a white trilby for the rear passenger shelf, start wearing a brown cardigan and develop an interest in book-keeping.

I sympathise as I found the lower powered Avensis diesels somewhat 'tame' - although the demo cars were very low mileage. The same applied to the Passat 140bhp and 407 136bhp diesels. These are big, heavy cars and the respective manufacturers have introduced more powerful diesel versions for good reason.

My T180 Tourer is anything but dull & dreary IMO, but of course it would cost a lot more to move to a T180 than to tune your existing car. I really enjoy the availability of a good amount of torque at fairly low revs and find the car very easy to 'make progress' in.

There are many web sites offering plug-in boxes for diesel tuning, I've never tried them but I'm sure there are plenty of others on this site who can share their experience.

Just a few thoughts, hope they help in some way. ;)

[matty2767]

i agree shoto. when i got my 04 plate there was the passat and mondeo (or whatever they call it now) to choose from. the vectra was just being released. the vw tdi is a really good engine and i have it in my polo but i didnt want to spend £26k. so the option was the avensis but 116bhp was never enough for a car this size. in fact i reckon my 75bhp polo has more pull.

the main reason we got the chip was because when we were loaded with camping gear and had the roof box on we just couldnt move and ended getting stuck behind caravans etc.

like you said i would have liked to ugrade to a 180 or really a 5 series but 140 odd bhp and the extra torque will do me for a while.

the added advantage is the extra mpg i think it is about 3mpg better mainly because you dont have to change down so often. i am getting around 530 miles on a full tank until the light comes on. previously it was 500 ish.

the place i got mine from (and i know him through a friend) said the tunnit boxes werent as well put together as the one i had.

[tom0k]

Drove a 407 Peugeot diesel for around a year it was more responsive than my present Avensis 2d4d. I much prefer the Avensis though - a far better car all round - certainly not a tractor as previously described. I guess the engine has a lot more potential power but is capped to lower wear and tear and increase reliability. Hey, that's the essence of the car......of course I wouldn't say no to a T180......if I could afford one......but wouldn't be bothered with chipping an already decent engine.

[matty2767]

agreed tom. the components will have been manufactured to a certain factor of safety (say) and i have lowered that by chipping.

[Guanocascade]

I have just purchased a tuning box for my T3X 2.2 and found it to perform really well. It wasn't underpowered before but now, it's like driving a different car. It picks up quicker, is far more responsive and you can definately feel the improvement throughout the whole rev range. The economy has not suffered in the slightest either.

I spent months researching various boxes and ECU remaps from different suppliers over the whole continent and decided on the box over the remap as it would not be detectable to the dealer. Cost was another factor with UK firms asking for £400+ and similar items available for £250 on the continent.

My choice came from Germany and after finding they also sold on eBay, had the box delivered and took around 12 - 15 seconds to fit it.

The cost?

£74 delivered!

[Dunkelmann]

another factor with UK firms asking for £400+ and similar items available for £250 on the continent.

My choice came from Germany and after finding they also sold on EBAY, had the box delivered and took around 12 - 15 seconds to fit it.

The cost?

£74 delivered!

Can you give some details please - sounds like something well worth looking at.

[Julian2]

I have just purchased a tuning box for my T3X 2.2 and found it to perform really well. It wasn't underpowered before but now, it's like driving a different car. It picks up quicker, is far more responsive and you can definately feel the improvement throughout the whole rev range. The economy has not suffered in the slightest either.

I spent months researching various boxes and ECU remaps from different suppliers over the whole continent and decided on the box over the remap as it would not be detectable to the dealer. Cost was another factor with UK firms asking for £400+ and similar items available for £250 on the continent.

My choice came from Germany and after finding they also sold on EBAY, had the box delivered and took around 12 - 15 seconds to fit it.

The cost?

£74 delivered!

What box was that then ?

[matty2767]

from what i have been told just beware that it isnt a box that fools the engine it is running at a different temperature than it really is. you will be ok 80% of the year until it gets really cold and you keep stuttering up the road.

[BUDHA]

I have just purchased a tuning box for my T3X 2.2 and found it to perform really well. It wasn't underpowered before but now, it's like driving a different car. It picks up quicker, is far more responsive and you can definately feel the improvement throughout the whole rev range. The economy has not suffered in the slightest either.

I spent months researching various boxes and ECU remaps from different suppliers over the whole continent and decided on the box over the remap as it would not be detectable to the dealer. Cost was another factor with UK firms asking for £400+ and similar items available for £250 on the continent.

My choice came from Germany and after finding they also sold on EBAY, had the box delivered and took around 12 - 15 seconds to fit it.

The cost?

£74 delivered!

any chance you could give details as this sounds as if this could be the answer to my power problem.

thaks in advance,

budha.

[Big Nose]

I have just purchased a tuning box for my T3X 2.2 and found it to perform really well. It wasn't underpowered before but now, it's like driving a different car. It picks up quicker, is far more responsive and you can definately feel the improvement throughout the whole rev range. The economy has not suffered in the slightest either.

I spent months researching various boxes and ECU remaps from different suppliers over the whole continent and decided on the box over the remap as it would not be detectable to the dealer. Cost was another factor with UK firms asking for £400+ and similar items available for £250 on the continent.

My choice came from Germany and after finding they also sold on EBAY, had the box delivered and took around 12 - 15 seconds to fit it.

The cost?

£74 delivered!

Hi Guanocascade,

You've got us all intrigued by the bargain tuning box - please tell us more!

Just searched on eBay but can't find anything like the box you describe - and certainly not at that price.

Any information would be very much appreciated, if I can't get more (affordable) power from my Avensis soon I'm going to have to take up knitting to add some excitement to my life.

Big Nose

[lindholme]

Guanocascade,

Come on, tell all mate.

[matty2767]

http://rapid.dimsport.com/applicazionirapi...&categoria=

[Guanocascade]

Guanocascade,

Come on, tell all mate.

http://stores.ebay.de/mal-electronics-com_...0QQftidZ2QQtZkm

Thanks for all the PM's.

[chandler32]

like this i guess:

http://cgi.ebay.de/Avensis-2-0-D4D-110-PS-...1QQcmdZViewItem

using this to translate the web page:

http://babelfish.altavista.com/babelfish/tr

what do you guys think? an expensive resistor or some clever tuning?

[nwc100]

Ok i need a little help here

i have a 2004 Avensis 2.0 D4D and just bought a Dragon tuning box but the problem is i cant seem to attach to the common rail, as it is so hidden under the engin to be honest dragon dont seem that clued up on where it should go on this car as it looks like a lot of bits need moving on the car first....however there is on the front of the engine a 6 pin connector the same as the one dragon sent me.

Does anyone who has fitted this have some ideas or pictures of where to install it before i send it back for a refund, cheers Nick

[Mkuk0]

Does the lead dragon sent you have a 6 pin plug AND socket in it? In a sort of T shape, with the plug and socket at each end of the T and the plug to the dragon unit at the bottom? If so you need to unplug that lead at the top front of your engine and plug the new lead in plug to socket, socket to plug. Tuck the lead out of the way and attach to your dragon unit. Then try it out. A friend of mine used tunit unit which plugged in like this. Good luck!