I seen plenty of reports about dragon but has anyone tried any others i am thinking about a chip express one.

So simply who's used what make? Did it make a difference? How does the chip itself work?

Thanks

I only ever fitted the resistor mod. Paid £20 of eBay, could of made it for less than a fiver. Noticeable difference straight away.

It works by bypassing the fuel temp sensor and sending a different reading back to the ecu. Because of the temp difference the ecu increasing fuel duration creating more power. After a while of getting the same reading the ecu throws a fault code.

Not read up on how the more expensive ones work. Anyone know where it plugs into?

I bought a digital dragon box off a member on here, lots of people have no issues with them. Unfortunately I did, clogged the injectors and the car wouldn't start :(

I emailed one of the companies and apparently the tuning chip boxes work by basically increasing fuel pressure. In other words more fuel bigger bang turbo spools faster.

If you can get one cheap, then it's probably worth it.

A remap by a decent company is miles better though, and can completely change the way the car responds and drives.

On a PD tdi you don't increase pressure as thats determined by the cam.

He said on common rail cars the chip re configures the rail pressure curve dependent on load. Think he just trying to make something simple sound complicated.

He said on common rail cars the chip re configures the rail pressure curve dependent on load. Think he just trying to make something simple sound complicated.

1.9 TDI PD is not common rail though.

PD - Pumpe Duse, or unit injector in English. The pump and injector nozzle are all in one unit, one for each cylinder.

Theirs alot more to remapping then just upping the fuel rail, well if you want to do it properly that is.

Ask him how it works on a PD engine.

Theirs only so much you can do with a tuning box. For one you have a smoke map, by default it's based on the MAF sensor. A tuning box wont be able to inject more fuel then whats been setup in this map.

If it does intercept more then just temp signals and uses it to increase fuel past the smoke map, then how does it deal with the overboost which is caused by the increased fuel?

I know remap is best before anybody thinks im a complete noob. Just if i can get something cheap till can afford map ill be happy. And i am intrigued how they work. I got back to him and he said their system for pd engines modifies injector pulse width dependant on load and rpm. Im taking that to mean they alter the amount of time the injector is on injecting for, therefor still means more fuel?

I'm curious now time for some reading.

See its got to you too. Sounds like the basic map you mentioned keeps the injectors on for a period of time determined by a number of factors. I believe that the tuning box intercepts these readings and slightly modifies them with its own calculations to increase the length of time the injectors are on. The company say its safe for the engine but i bet it screws up any euro laws skoda had to stick to on production.

might be better saving the money youd spend on a tuning bnox and putting it towards a remap

Buy my Dragon one! It's on the bay now..

Do not confuse this for a cheap resisitor in a box - this thing modulates the info the engine gets on the fly, and adjusts accordingly. Lots of people rate them, I think Wilsy is the only person I've ever heard of with issues (unlucky mate ).

If in doubt, come to me armed with cash to leave as a 'deposit', fit the box to your car, drive around for a bit, see what you think. If you don't like it, don't buy it. If you do, we can come to some agreement there & then.

Everyone's a winner.

This dragon box I have didn't make mine smoke excessively, and it was pretty damn good. The Shark remap I splashed out on is way smoother, but the power difference was negligible - it's all about the delivery for me .

I expect it will sell for around £100 ish.

Where are you based?

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<----- Bristol!

The thing you have to weigh up is this, a tuning box controls fuel and a bit of trickery, a remap (ECU) controls everthing that the engine does, have a look at the boxes on ebay.....do they look like the ECU on your car.....NO, they tend to look like something that you could build yourself given the right tools, I have played with these boxes for a while and while they give you "Bang for your buck" they are the difference between F1 technology and Nascar "balls out" power, one fires you down the road and the smile on your face is pretty big, and the other allows you to drive like a "normal bloke" with the knowledge that just a "press of the loud peddle" will make you smile ALL the way home.

If your going to buy from ebay then avoid the "buy it now" and the £23.00 inc postage.......I pay more than that for my oil.

P.S a true dragon box will make you happy if it cost's you £75-80, once you've used it you'll be putting money away for a "stage 2" and you'll get your money back for the chip

P.S a true dragon box will make you happy if it cost's you £75-80, once you've used it you'll be putting money away for a "stage 2" and you'll get your money back for the chip

Exactly what I did.. You can easily re-sell a second hand Dragon box when (not if) you go for a full map

Ok so the Dragon boxes seem to get generally positive views but what about alternatives like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-1-9-TDI-PD-Diesel-Tuning-Box-Chip-/330666481536?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4cfd421780

I can't seem to find many of the Dragon ones but this seems like it does about the same job.

Thoughts?

And I know this is no alternative to a remap. Just after a little more umph from time to time. Especially with going to Germany quite often

Phil

Hello Phill i have a dragon box off my 04 VRS ,I have the bag you put in to keep it dry and paperwork for the setting if you are interested

I've been running a DTUK PD2 tuning box for 2 years now with no issues. www.diesel-performance.co.uk

Ok so the Dragon boxes seem to get generally positive views but what about alternatives like this one:

http://www.ebay.co.uk/itm/VW-Golf-1-9-TDI-PD-Diesel-Tuning-Box-Chip-/330666481536?pt=UK_CarsParts_Vehicles_CarParts_SM&hash=item4cfd421780

I can't seem to find many of the Dragon ones but this seems like it does about the same job.

Thoughts?

And I know this is no alternative to a remap. Just after a little more umph from time to time. Especially with going to Germany quite often

Phil

I've used the TDI tuning box on a common rail TDI (VP37) worked realy well and gave a good "bang for the buck" it also gave me about 8-10 mpg aswell, wait for one to come up on ebay cheap, and remember to put it a water proof bag as they dont like moisture very much.......£10 a week in a jar in the garage will give you a "good ride" in 5 months time when you get it remaped.

Well the dragon tuning box is working well... Very pleased with the results... also quite shocked at how fast I went up Garrowby hill yesterday!

I have been looking at the TDI Tuning boxes with my dad yesterday as he's quite interested in one for his Sharan TDI 110 after hearing how well this one has worked on mine.

Phil

I had a Steinbauer Tuning box on my vrs for 2 1/2 years before having a Shark remap last August.

Performance wise, I would say there is a slight difference. The remap is smoother, with the power delivery coming in lower down the rev range, and smooth right through to max revs.

With the Steinbauer box, the car felt quicker, but probably because of the narrower powerband (as per the standard car). Ben at Shark did say that the Steinbauer was one of the better boxes.

The advantage of the box is that when you sell your car, it is easily removed and transferred to another suitable car, or sold on to recoup some of the cost.

Whilst I think the remap is excellent, and a better route if you are keeping the car for a long time (or doing other mods), a good quality tuning box may be more suitable in some circumstances, and I certainly wouldn't rule one out in future.

A good tuning box is better than a bad remap, but overall, you won't beat a good remap (like Shark and the other tuners recommended on here)

Oh yes. It's no remap.

It still doesn't do anything till 1800-1900rpm and the power dies off after 3500-4000rpm as normal but the difference being at 2500-3000rpm it pulls VERY strong now and picks up speed much quicker. No increase in smoke either which is good!

Phil