frsash

I currently drive a Focus RS but need to change to something more economical as I'm leaving work to start my own business. I've been looking at a few options and the front runner appears at the moment is a TDI 150 Golf which can be chipped quite cheaply to give good performance. Also considering a BMW 320D Touring or Seat Leon Diesel.
How much do these cars cost to chip?
What performance can I expect (I'd also be doing the brakes and suspension I guess).
Any other suggestions - I'll be doing about 60 miles a day 7 days a week and need it to be reliable.

Thanks in advance
Ash

peachy wrx

hi! if you considering vw/seat/skoda take a look here mate!

www.jabbasport.co.uk

Christ

Lots of chipping options,

REVO,
Jabba,
AMD,
Superchips,
JBR,
Upsolute

If your doing other mods then look at Jabba or JBR as they do a custom map.

Got my PD150 done at Revo, and cant recommend them enough..

The Chief

Easy

BMW 330d with a DMS automotive tune
260bhp and about 400ft lbs torque (i think)

They are meant to be very quick and the mid range is awsome!!!!

Christ

Rather than facts and figures, heres a couple of clips of my PD150 taken on
a local out of season caravan site...

Standard (0-95, wouldnt quite reach 100)

http://www.haddock.tv/temp/standard.wmv

Revo (0-100):

http://www.haddock.tv/temp/revo.wmv

jonc

Thats pretty impressive, what sort of figures does the Revo chip do, and has it reduced your MPG?

Have to say that with the cost of unleaded, bigger and heavier cars and performance diesels still in its infancy, they are starting to make their mark with petrol heads, diesels are the way forward. I'll be replacing my petrol motor with a diesel in a few years time, who knows what diesels will be like then!

chiark

I've got a 330D sport touring, and am liking it. Get between 35mpg booting it everywhere, and 53mpg on a conjested motorway run at 70.

Fantastic fun to drive, much more involving than a WRX, downside is of course the lack of grip in the snow...

MJW

If you can wait till next year the new E90 shape 3 series will have the 335d in the model lineup - this will be the same twin-turbo oil burner from the 535d so expect shedloads of torque and relatively decent economy

The Chief

You cant grumble at that fella!

whats it like 70-100mph (on private land of course)

frsash

330D would be ideal - unfortunatley I was only wanting to spend around 8-10k on it. I'v seen a couple of 320D tourings in this price bracket but I'm unsure if these can be remapped.
I've always really liked the look of the current BMW 3-series coupe but could only really afford a something upto 323/328. This wouldn't save me a great deal in fuel money so could consider converting one to LPG - any thoughts (You might have seen my other thread about LPG convesions).

The Chief

You can get higher mileage early 330d for around 10-11k

and you can remap 320d from DMS to around 190 bhp i believe!!!!!

chiark

Chief, I've not tried timing performance in any car, but it's fairly swift . It seems to pull as well as the scoob, if not slightly better, at motorway speeds but I couldn't swear to it without having one to run against

MattOz

Chief,

At motorway speeds, on trips to the Ring, my standard (184bhp) 330d would keep up with mildly tuned Scoobs quite happily.

Matt

The Chief

A neighbour has a 530d which must be heavier and he took me in that.
it f**king shocked me when he floored it the mid-range was fantastic!

there used to be a link on scoobynet with two geezers from Denton who had a DMS tuned 330d and they entered it into the gumball rally.

i think they come third overall or something like that!!!!

chiark

Hmm, DMS can map at my office...

MattOz

Chief,

The website is http://www.antandpete.co.uk they have modified the car even more and are looking to do the rally again. Sound chaps, and 3rd overall is an excellent result

Matt

Christ

MPG has actually increased slightly, I think the Revo figures are 190 BHP, and 390Nm torque..

Also with the Revo you can revert back to the standard map through the serial port..

Stuart Knight

iTrader: (2)

Have you considered the Alfa 156 2.4 JTD? I loved mine, went like stink (chipped to 175bhp and 280 lb/ft by Upsolute), still returned over 40mpg and looked gorgeous, handled pretty well too. Only downside was it ate front tyres (12,000 if you turned them round at 6,000). I sold my immaculate 51 plate with 36000 on the clock for £7000

zoog

clio 182 cup?

Andy M3

As a Fabia vRS owner I can recommend the 330d. Spot on car, very well engineered. The VAG stuff is great, however it is FWD with more torque than a standard Focus RS and dodgy suspension. So if you do purchase a VAG you will at the very least have to spend £700 - £1000 getting coilovers fitted to make it keep up with Clio handling !?!? Then there is the map issue. The latest custom code at JBS seems to be favorite, and having seen a RR graph the delivery of power and torque is very smooth, similar to a standard 330d BMW. But I think that is from £600, but there is talk of cars having high inlet temps and uprated i/c's are recommended which means £500+ bill.

I love my standard Fabia (used to run a Volvo T5) but I am desperate for some coilovers, and for moneys sake I am going for a Jabba map.

Go for the 330d if you can, it is a fantastic car with great handling grip and smoooooooth power delivery in the first place, and only gets better with tweaks.

Floyd

iTrader: (9)

They were being kind to you and trying to conserve fuel

F

MattOz

Shhhhh! Don't spoil the illusion for me! LOL

Matt

Andy M3

I would be supprised if a 330d (184) couldn't keep with a classic scoob turbo or a bug/blob eye WRX. The midrange is enough to shove E36 M3s from rolling to 110-120.

Wait until you hear stories of the forth coming 335d having the ability to shut down all scoobies (bar a couple ).

Diesel is nearly the new petrol. I still think engine weight is a problem never to be overcome and obvious down shifting issues. But for a daily motor - diesel for me was the obvious choice (until i drive the 130i !)

MattOz

Andy,

What did you think of the 130i? It looks like it should be a hoot to drive. 258bhp in a 1 series! My current 330d is the 204bhp version and has no probs keeping up when required! LOL

Matt

the moose

Just got a 530D, which will eventually get remapped. For the moment it's easily fast enough, and will embarrass most cars in the mid-range. It's also got build quality to die for, and fantastic handling. It's heavy though, and certainly isn't a car for chucking around in the fabled twisties.

Andy M3

BMW are on the right tracks with most of their cars at the moment. The 130i will be in a league of its own, the only RWD hot hatch i think and of course 250+ bhp will be insane. I would love to see a 135d though - don't think it will happen, probably uninsurable. But i know the 130i does a 8:20 (i think) around the Nurburgring, so not slow to the extent that it is E39 M5 fast around there (nearly) !

Gav

I've got a 54plate 320ci sport coupe at the moment but i'm looking into a diesel too. I do a lot of milage and petrol is costing me a fortune. I never realised how fast the 330d was until i read this, are they still economical too?? How about the 320d in performance??

Gav..

Tiggs

if you want to save money on fuel how will buying a very expensive car like a 530 help?????????????
spend £8k more on the car to save £1k in gas????????

chiark

Gav, I get between 35 and 53(!) out of mine; the average is sitting at 39.8 right now.

I drove VW 4 pot diesels of varying types, and the more bhp they had, the less sophisticated they were... In comparison, the 330D is silky smooth. The 320D is a hell of a lot more refined than the VAG units too, but didn't have the grunt to make me not miss the impreza, so I held out for the 330d.

Tiggs has a point about false economies; I wanted a nice car with room for a family, some poke, which wouldn't depreciate hugely, and wouldn't cost a small fortune to run. The Impreza no longer fitted the bill, whereas the 330D sport touring did.

Don't write off an oil burner before you try one, but on the other hand don't think that spending 8k on a car to save money on petrol is a good idea...

...although saying that, I've already saved £240 in fuel costs after two months, which is fairly shocking! Oh, and 440 quid on insurance, too!

chiark

Pah! What about my old Vauxhall Chevette, eh? Eh?

It was a silhouette special edition, too. Nowt hotter on the roads. And rare as hen's teeth.