Tuning Box Reviews

[Gaz31]

Hi everyone, I'm thinking of buying a tuning box for my is220d in a bid to cure the turbo lag and help with the overall driving experience. I'm not looking to make the car into a rocket ship but a few more bhp, less lag and more torque would please me.

I've looked into a couple of companies and have contacted them. Racechip being the 1st, the cost is 229euro. The box connects to the fuel rail only, I'm unsure if any companies connect there devices to other parts of the engine, aswell as the fuel rail.

The 2nd company I've contacted is tdi-tuning, I have not had a reply yet but I have used them in the past for my Golf. Cost from them is more expensive at 291euro.

What boxes are other people using?

[Gaz31]

Nobody has bought a tuning box for their is220d then?

I had a reply from tdi-tuning, they said that their tuning box connects to the fuel rail as well.

[Guest bigbullhead]

Bump!!!!!

[Gaz31]

I bought the Racechip one in the end, haven't fitted it yet though. Just reset the ecu over night but waiting for it to stop raining to fit the box. I went for this one because it has good reviews, seems to be a big company who sell worldwide and the price was excellent. Delivery in 2 days from Germany to France too. It only connects to the fuel rail like most boxes on sake, I found one or two that also connect to the boost sensor but I wasn't prepared to pay between £350 - £400. For what I want I'm sure t he racechip will be fine

[Guest bigbullhead]

Have you a link ?

[Gaz31]

Here: http://www.racechip.com/chiptuning/lexus/is/xe2/220d-130kw/index.php

I went for the pro2 box, the ultimate is not worth the steep increase in price

[Guest bigbullhead]

Very tempting !!!!!! Keep me informed what it performs like

[Gaz31]

Will do, I doubt I'll be fitting it until midweek though. I'll post an update when it's fitted

[Gaz31]

So I had a quick look today, I connected the harness and tried to find a route so I could decide where to mount the box. Unfortunately there is not much space to the right hand side of the engine bay and the harness us not long enough to mount it on the other side by the Battery.

I contacted Racechip to ask where to fit it and they replied with a couple of pictures of the engine bay, one a general picture and one showing the fuel rail- nothing that helped me to mount the box. I replied to them asking where they fit the box and they just replied with "you can mount the box wherever you like" - Great help and fantastic customer service!

So for now I'm a bit stuck, I have fitted these boxes to otter cars and there has always been somewhere obvious to mount it but there isn't on the IS. I hope someone who has installed one will come along and point me in the right direction!

[Guest bigbullhead]

Let me know how you get on with fitting it and when you have it fitted a month post some figures on here as I am still very interested

[Gaz31]

So with a little help from a fellow member on here (cheers Tom!) I have managed to get the tuning box fitted. Tom told me he has fitted his box in a spot behind the left hand side headlight. The box wedges in here very nicely!

I've only had chance to have a quick 5/6 mile drive so far but early impressions are good! Pick up and low down revs are much better, there is still turbo lag below 2k revs but not as bad, pulling away from junctions is not as scary anymore! The car pulls much better through the gears and I'm sure the need to drop a gear will reduce. The car is much quicker overall, but the change is not as much as I have seen on other cars. Overall i'm very happy with it, the main reason I bought it was to help below 2k revs and it has done this, whether mpg will change or the characteristics will continue to change remains to be seen! Oh and no smoke too, I suppose the dpf sorts this out

[Guest bigbullhead]

Give it a month and come back and tell us all you have found also did you fit a K&N filter to aid airflow? And pictures of installation would be nice too

Look forward to your review and if any problems which I doubt there will be

[Gaz31]

There was one fitted to the car when I bought it so I couldn't comment on how good they are, I just gave it a clean last week. Installation is really basic, all you need to know is that the box can be stowed behind the headlight. There are conduits you can cable tie to for the routing.

I'll let you know how it goes over time

[Gaz31]

Give it a month and come back and tell us all you have found also did you fit a K&N filter to aid airflow? And pictures of installation would be nice too

Look forward to your review and if any problems which I doubt there will be

Sorry i just realized i never updated this. The box worked really well, The lag was much improved, car was definatley quicker (but i doubt to the calimed 230bhp) and mpg was slightly better. 6th gear seamed more usable too.

[jimmeredith]

Just fitted a lindop box to my 220d car is much better round town. turbo lag is way better see if it improves the fuel economy as well