Your Experience Required-- Best Remap For A Is220D 06 Model.

[The Fly]

Hi all, Like all of you my gearbox ratios are strange, is it possible to remap the engine to help the car accomadate such strange ratios. and to get rid of the Turbo lag that kills it below 2k revs. your help and advice is most welcome.

[noby76]

I dont think you need to spend money on a remap! just drop down a gear or two and you will be within the power band. I know most diesel drivers prefer to stay in say 4th or 5th gear even when they are cruising at 30MPH which gives the notion of making the car use less fuel but people forget using the wrong gear ratio based on your speed can actually labour the engine and actually chuck more fuel into the car to get it going when say you crusing at 30mph in 4th gear and floor it. Just drop it a few ratios down to match the right gear to the speed travelling. all Turbo engines suffer from lag be it petrol or diesel cars and most ways manufactures overcome this is using small twin sequential turbos rather than a single big one so its not a problem which is unique to Lexus only. Merc, VW, Audi BMW's all suffer from turbo lag. its a dissadvantage of driving a turbo charged car until its fully spooled then away you go.... I think your manual should list the gear ratios one should use based on speed travelling!!

[The Fly]

Thanks for the reply, and I do understand what you are saying, but to keep a Diesel car constantly at around 2k revs means that every time the car slows down in traffic or goes round a corner, the driver has to constantly change into second, which is a pain. As for the lag, I have had Mercs and BMWs diesels and never had any lag like this one, its unreal, It just does not seem right to stay in low gears and rev them like a petrol engine. Dont they use the same engine in the toyota with a different gearbox? do they have the same problem ?

[ColinBarber]

Dont they use the same engine in the toyota with a different gearbox? do they have the same problem ?

Yes, in the Avensis, Rav and others. You may want to visit our sister site to ask over there

http://www.toyotaownersclub.co.uk/forums

[fjcfarrar]

The big problem is that if you go to enough expense and effort to successfully make the engine do what you want, which is essentially to make it drive a bit more like the Petrol IS; it will inevitably gag down more fuel - thus removing the only conceivable advantage the Diesel has over the Petrol IS.

[noby76]

Thanks for the reply, and I do understand what you are saying, but to keep a Diesel car constantly at around 2k revs means that every time the car slows down in traffic or goes round a corner, the driver has to constantly change into second, which is a pain. As for the lag, I have had Mercs and BMWs diesels and never had any lag like this one, its unreal, It just does not seem right to stay in low gears and rev them like a petrol engine. Dont they use the same engine in the toyota with a different gearbox? do they have the same problem ?

I have just had a look and unfortunately lexus mapped the Tourqe band(400NM) of IS220D between 2000-2600 rpm where as BMW's , Merc and Audi tend to kick in around 700rpm lower i.e from about 1300rpm which makes them drivable with higher gears at lower speeds. my guess will be lexus made it slightly peaky to be a bit more sporty(revvy) as thats what an IS is meant to be!! a sporty saloon. if changing down gears to keep it in the tourque band is a mission for you then maybe the remap will be your best option but how reliable that will be for the engine and turbo once this is done I wouldnt know. engineers at Lexus had thier reason for setting it between 2000-2600rpm.

[The Fly]

Thanks Noby76, I do agree with you, thanks for your replies, just hoped someone had done a remap that worked.

[Tango]

I was given a 220d F Sport as a courtsey car by Lexus Cheltenham a couple of weeks ago and the service manager said it had been chipped. It was a bit quicker than standard and although I didn't notice the turbo lag so much, sixth gear was still a waste of time and first gear needed a lot of revs to pull away comfortably.

Still dislike the diesel so much for many reasons and still of the opinion that Lexus should never have made it.

[noby76]

sixth gear was still a waste of time and first gear needed a lot of revs to pull away comfortably.

off topic: not having a go Tango but reviews I have read both on here and other websites have IS220d owners or people who have driven them always bashing the 6th gear ratio saying "it was a waste of space, wasnt needed, never used it" etc but Audi's, Mercs and BMW's also made from 2005/6 all have 6 speed gearing but they dont seem to get the same bashing from owners or people who have driven them. with diesels being torquey I think 6th gear is just an overdrive gear i.e. motorway cruising gear with 1 to 5 being the main ratios but people mistake 6th for also being a town(urban) driving gear or 50/60mph ratio which its not...

[Tango]

No, it would be OK on an autobahn, but it struggles on our motorways under 80 mph (sixth gear, that is).

[fjcfarrar]

Hi all, Like all of you my gearbox ratios are strange, is it possible to remap the engine to help the car accomadate such strange ratios. and to get rid of the Turbo lag that kills it below 2k revs. your help and advice is most welcome.

The IS220D is not a bad car, but it has its diesel-related foibles. It is hard to dispel the feeling that the diesel engine is the work of the Devil except he would have made a better job of it, and the idea of a Diesel "sport" is a bit of a laugh.

Everything people dislike about the IS220D can be overcome by reversing the mistake of buying one and replacing it with the real driving pleasure of the IS250 Auto at the expense of inreased day-to-day running cost - and even this is not massive unless you are unfortunate enough to have a major commute.

[The Fly]

Hi All, I seem to have opened the door to other vehicle owners wanting to state maybe I and others maybe bought the wrong car. Maybe so, but as a general 4 door saloon, its a really comfortable, smooth, reliable, well built and easy to drive car with every extra anyone could want inc the best sound system in a saloon. My only concern was "is there any remap that will help with the engine /gear ratio to make it work a little more in partnership. I am not knoocking the car and I have owned Mercedes , BMW diesels for years and the IS220D compares really well, just not as good on fuel consumption. So has anyone out their remaped their IS220D?

[briatore]

The Fly, it can't be done. No one has ever managed to break the encryption on Denso ECUs used in IS, so there's no way to have any modifications done to it. So, no remapping whatsoever. Some people use boxes that alter some sensor or accelerator pedal readings, but I don't think it's a good idea because the negative effects of doing it will show somewhere sooner or later. The only thing one could do with the car is to change the differential gear ratio effectively "condensing" the gears. There are only two types of differentials for IS 220d. The standard one that almost everyone has and most complain about, and the one from IS 220d Sport with the more conservative gearing, so to say. Honestly, I don't think it's worth the bother. Gears that are miles apart are a feature and a part of the car's character. I find the fact that Lexus gave us a gear that we can use only over the legal speed limit in most countries quite charming. I've never found the sixth useful anyway on any car. This car, like any other, is what it is and you love it or not. If you love it, keep it. If not, sell it. Life's too short. :)

[The Fly]

Thanks Biatore, I think I will take your advice and just live with it, I love the car just wanted it perfect. advice taken. all the best.

[briatore]

:)

[noby76]

I love the car just wanted it perfect. advice taken. all the best.

unfortunatley no car is perfect! tho some manufactures are worser than others and as Lexus owners we can all confirm we have experienced small issues here and there...like you said admire the best bits of the car and live with the not soo good ones. at least we can say our cars dont spend more times in the Garages than on the roads.. Lets give Lexus credit cus this is thier first diesel engine on like Audi, Merc , BMW who are over 20years ahead when it comes to diesel engine technology. at Least we can say the Pros of our cars out weighs the Cons. :hocus-pokus:

[The Fly]

Agreed,

[Squidge]

i dont know about remaps and am failry sure they still arent possible at these, i worked at one of the largest remapping companies until about 6 weeks ago.

in terms of the "boxes" you refer to, they plug into the fuel rail and send a false signal back to the ecu saying it is at lower fuel pressure than it is. in turn the ecu corrects this by increasing fuel pressure.

the science behind this is squirting fuel at higher pressure not only puts more in to give more power, but also gives a finer mist of fuel which is meant to give a cleaner burn and more efficiently use the energy in the fuel.

yes they can give more power and yes they can give more economy.

now the downsides, firstly high fuel pressures mean noisier injectors, this isnt a problem for everyone but some people dont like it. secondly it will increase injector wear, not significantly but on an old tired engine its something to consider.

and finally on the economy front, DO NOT BELIEVE THE GAUGE, the box has sent an signal to the ecu saying it is at lower fuel pressure than it is. this causes the ecus fuel calculation to think it is injectining less fuel than it is, the increased reading will therefore be more than the actual gain. brim to brim is the only way to compare.

unfortunately the increase in consumption is probably not significant to not put down to environmental changes. what electrical systems are on in the car, ambient temperature, temperature of the fuel when it was underground at the pump, hills, driving with a head or tail wind, number of people in car blah blah blah.

sorry for the essay just thought id share my knowledge on the tuning boxes to help people with the decision on if they are worth it.

[The Fly]

Thanks Squidge, that was useful. I have not fitted a box or remapped and I am getting the normal lack of any acceleration at below 2k revs and fuel consumption is 35 mpg brim to brim, I have changed my driving habbits and I will live with it. The rest of the car is A1.

[briatore]

Hello The Fly

I just wanted to share something. When I fist got the car, the acceleration was horrible. I had to keep it always in high revs because anything below 2k wouldn't do. It's like, you press the pedal on 1800 rpm and it chokes. It felt like it was losing speed instead of going faster, but that's not technically true because eventually, it would go above 2k and then would start picking up. I'm not sure what exactly happened, but I believe it has to do with the fuel. I changed oil and the filters and started using premium diesel and, of course, I drove it a bit harder, and it gradually, over a few weeks got better. Now 1500 rpm is what 2k used to be. It makes all the difference because I don't have to do 60 km/h in second gear any more. Third works like a charm, and even the fourth when I'm cruising. Subsequently the consumption dropped for about 25-30%. I kid you not. It was around 15 l/100km and now it's around or just above 10.

Yesterday, I took it for the head gasket change, finally (yes, I bought it with the blown gasket and drove it like that for just over 4.000 km.) and I'll let you know if that makes any difference. I'm not sure it will, but we'll see.

[The Fly]

Hi Briatore, I do have some of your simptoms re the performance under 2k revs, but no issue with head gasket, and I am getting 35 to the gallon, on average, 10 sounds like your have a serious problem. even 35 is not good for a deisel, but on the whole the car is a good one. let us know how your head gasket goes. Im sure you will clearly see the difference once its done.

[briatore]

Just a quick update. After some wait for the right original parts, last night the head went back on. The engine is very logical and quite easy to work on. There are so many parts, though. It's a lot of work and it requires attention to details. Brave heart, steady hands, and most importantly, focused mind, and everything goes smoothly. Now there is a lot of attaching back to be done, but I expect the car to be running tomorrow. I've got some photos too, but I'll make a separate thread once it's all finished. :)

[Sterling]

Newbieoldie, How long have you had this fitted for? How many miles had the car done before fitting and also since fitting? Also, do you have a weblink to buy one?

[ULISSE]

As i said many time ago (it was summer 2010) to reduce turbolag on this car best economic solution is install a "Sprintbooster" from Boulekous Dynamic. Easy to install and very effective.

On my car i also have chipbox, EGR circuit disactivated, defap with emulator, elimination of 5th injector, free exaust gas inox 60 mm tube, Subaru sportive silencer, water-alcool injection...etc...etc...but this is another story ;)

The car has worked for around ...mm... i can say 45000 Km....with all these modifications. Now has around 112000 Km and all works good ;)

[bubbles41]

Hi Sterling,

I have done about 3,000 since fitting and about 75,000 prior to fitting and without doubt it has transformed the car as I guess any "box" will do.It picks up earlier and depending how you tune the box for power or economy depends on the outcome, the choice is yours. I have no doubt it has made my car a more driveable vehicle. The link is http://www.lindoptoyota.co.uk then there is a link on their website to "diesel chips". Check every thing out with others makes before you decide there are a few different ones to choose from different suppliers so the choose as they say is yours. Hope this helps

Hi Newbieoldie,

Just got myself a is220 and thinking about a "box" but not sure and wondering how you have got on with yours now you've had it a while.

Thanks.