Not a question but a comment. You recently answered a question about chipping or reprograming a diesel for more power. I’m not a diesel guy, but out here on the left coast we have a guy named Steve Dinan. He devoted a lot of his life to “improving” BMWs. You could get cold air intakes, larger throttle bodies, modified mass flow sensors, cat-back exhaust systems, super chargers and , yes, chips all designed to increase engine output. All of these mods were CARB (California Air Resource Board) legal (ie they smoged). Also, if one of his modifications voided the factory warranty, he would replace it with an identical warranty through his company. Only downside, decreased gas milage. I’ve had everything except the super charge on my E36 M3 for years with NO problems after 150000 miles ( still uses less than a quart of oil / 4000 miles). So just maybe there is someone out there who is doing this for diesels.
Thanks for years of great stories and advice.
Bob
Diesels have many mods available.
performance increase almost always means fuel mileage decrease.
Can’t hardly make more power without using more power juice.
We had a thread several years ago where a Ford diesel owner put on the top-name diesel ‘chip’, blew the engine. Not covered by the chipmaker.
not covered by Ford, either.
It really is impossible to “have your cake and eat it too.”
If it was easy…every manufacturer would be doing it.
Like so many aspects of buying and operating an automobile the manufacturer must consider their costs and responsibilities and those of the buyer and give a committee the job of setting the ground rules of each. And then of course we do have the EPA tangled in there also of course. For those who are determined to wring out all that can be wrung out of their car I feel they should accept the cost of doing so and consider it “eating their cake,” and if/when they have a problem afterwards the crumbs that remain are theirs to cry over.or repair as they see fit. Programming higher performance should cancel the manufacturer’s responsibility as certainly as installing a full race cam and a blower, don’tcha think?
Well…you can delete the cats and dpf system on a modern diesel, tune it, and get better fuel economy and more power. Or so I have been told. You will increase emissions. So better fuel economy, but increased emissions. Is that environmentally responsible? Maybe…probably not. You’d have to look at the fuel savings vs increased emissions output and do some math, I suppose.
Diesels are receptive to tuning because 99% of them are turbo engines. Turbo gas engines are very receptive to tuning also. The tuning adds more boost (air), which provides more power, but you’ll need more fuel to mix with the increased air, so generally, fuel economy goes down, as others have said.
Dinan created a fine company. Stood behind his stuff. Steve stepped away to run Chip Ganassis’ IMSA engine program. Sold his business. He is back in some capacity but not the owner.
Increasing the boost of turbo diesels can be done and still pass even California emissions. Durability will take a hit but fun isn’t free!
Increases in power AND fuel economy are possible on newer Diesel engines only because the EPA regs to clean up the Diesel have resulted in them running very poorly. That is what has led to the Glider Kit industry where you buy a brand new truck and use your old engine and drivetrain,
Guess I am a guy that has not had a problem with oem specifications.