[the_random_hero]

So a few of you may have seen I was talking about getting my ECU reflashed in my exhaust thread. Just gotten back from DNS Automotive where the tune was done - and boy, am I impressed. Unfortunately the process wasn't as simple as plugging a hand controller or laptop into the ODBII port and flashing the map directly on, but it was relatively straight forward.
Unfortunately I didn't get any pics, so can only really explain what happened.
1. ECU removed from the car
2. ECU placed on a test bench and connected to a laptop
3. Factory tune grabbed off the ECU
4. Factory tune file sent over to the UK (all done real-time)
5. Factory tune checked, modified and rewritten as a file
6. Tune sent back, loaded onto factory ECU
7. ECU put back into the vehicle
8. Hold onto your hats.

First thing I noticed while driving - the torque hole below ~2k rpm is almost non-existent. 5th gear and 50km and the car still pulls hard, where before you'd be waiting weeks to get up to 100km/hr. In the dry the car will spin first, second and third - pre-tune it would only spin first and chirp second. Accelerating from 100-120 (say for overtaking) is MUCH less painful, so the torque increase is across the entire rev range. I should have gotten a pre/post dyno graph and some acceleration figures, unfortunately I did not. There is the dyno chart that is provided by Superchips, which you can find by clicking here. I know they are often quite overstated, but I would definitely believe the torque figures as it is easily noticeable. Apart from the fact this cost less than some of the plug-ins I've seen (it was $999, with a $300 deposit being made for the bloke to come out from Bluefin UK to perform the work), there is NO way Hyundai will know it's been tuned without comparing a factory and modified ECU map side by side. Warranty = saved!
Now, there were two negatives. First one (which isn't applicable for most of you guys) is that the car is now a bit louder. I was borderline on the exhaust note after de-mufflering it, it's still not -loud- (definitely still legal) but sounds a bit gnarly around that 2200rpm mark under full load. I will be going back to fit a large resonator somewhere down the track.
Second is basically this:
CLICK ME
Makes me all the more keen to get my planned number plates   

I can't comment on fuel economy as I'm yet to do a big drive, however the average increase in fuel economy is around the 1L/100km mark. I have a 500km journey to see my parents in NSW tomorrow, so will give you some feedback on that after the weekend.
Summing up, if you've been considering one of the dodgy plugins - don't. Call up Shane @ DNS (0421 048 618) if you're in QLD OR email Bluefin Handsets, tell them Drew with the i30 sent you and you will definitely be looked after!

[Dazzler]

Thanks for that .. What happens if you get a flat battery though? (will the ECU reset to factory) 

[the_random_hero]

Thanks for that .. What happens if you get a flat battery though? (will the ECU reset to factory) 

No, the map is written to the ECU directly and overwrites the factory map. The exact reason your car doesn't stop running after you pull/reconnect the battery

[mjt57]

First thing I noticed while driving - the torque hole below ~2k rpm is almost non-existent. 5th gear and 50km and the car still pulls hard,

The loss of low end torque pretty well kills it for me. It's what I love about this engine.

What revs is yours doing at 50 kays in 5th. I'm fairly sure that mine's doing under 2,000 rpm. So, if there's no torque happening how can it "still pull hard"?

[Asterix]

First thing I noticed while driving - the torque hole below ~2k rpm is almost non-existent. 5th gear and 50km and the car still pulls hard,

The loss of low end torque pretty well kills it for me. It's what I love about this engine.

What revs is yours doing at 50 kays in 5th. I'm fairly sure that mine's doing under 2,000 rpm. So, if there's no torque happening how can it "still pull hard"?

Hi MJT57
I read it as the torque hole below 2000 rev's that's missing on the stock ecu settings is no longer present, but there's now plenty of torque below 2000 rev's at all time, hence the hard pull. 

[rustynutz]

Ok, can you explain why Hyundai wont be able to tell it's got different mapping to standard?

Also, while the figures look impressive enough, they are pretty much what many tuning boxes quote at considerably less cost..... 

[neoto]

... at considerably less cost.....

and considerably higher risk also

[Phil №❶]

... at considerably less cost.....

and considerably higher risk also

Risk, of what exactly 

[accim]

I'm thinking about tuning my i30 more often then ever. Why? The 116hp is more then enough, but still.. It would be like buying a new car 

Lack of torque below 2,000 rpm.. I never noticed that before, but after driving some other diesels I must admit, that they could have made it "torque-ier" under 2k. Though I still don't know how it is with new i30's (MY2012).

neoto: What about u? Thinking about tuning it? 

[neoto]

Risk, of what exactly 

The injectors and the high pressure fuel pump failure due to exposure to much higher pressure operating point than normal.
It is an additional stress - like in humans, some handle it without any sign, some die young. I had a tuning box installed in an almost new Hyundai CRDi - after a day, the engine refused to start. The box messed with the parameters of the engine so much that the ECU simply went into 'you won't go anywhere with this in me' mode...

@accim: I'm currently moving to a new place (from Štajerska to Gorenjska) and the 'Economy driving' is turned fully on (I mananged to lower my fuel consumption from 5.5 to 5.1 now). It is true that my 90 bhp i30cw isn't really a racer and that I would like it to be a little more sporty, but I (being an engineer) simply don't thrust generic tuning boxes and put one of them into my Hyundai's engine.

My mother has 2011 Opel Astra 1.7 (I think it has around 125 bhp) and I was driving it over last month. I must say that the Hyundai's engine (although rated at 90 bhp) is really well tuned in regards to Astra's one. The turbo-hole is gigantic in Astra - when changing gears, I simply can not rev is high enough in lower gear in order to skip over the turbo-hole after the gear change - it's like: accelerate, change gear, wait 0.5-1 second, accelerate.... In high-dynamic driving, my Hyundai feels sportier and way more responsive.

Without stating what parameters they exactly changed this looks to me like very expensive "tuning box".
You are absolutely correct about low rev torque, some boxes just amplify original torque curve, while digital which come with cd and usb can be altered in this way, to pull from 1500rpm like mine does with noticeable pull at 1500rpm and far better and longer development of torque compared to just throwing everything out @2200rpms.
Wouldn't worry about injectors since they'll only run cleaner now. If your link is correct and you got 148hp i would worry tho about turbine since i got info thats a pretty high number for your 1.6 crdi turbine.

Did you notice with your exhaust loss of "delay" when shifting from 4000+rpms and continuing to accelerate hard? A lot like it was choking before?

@neoto
Again, you car was tuned by total and complete noob! Thats why your ECU went to sort of safe mode. Newer 1.6 CRDi's like yours then had protection which he obviously didnt know how to remove. Here we have atleast 10 tuned with no problems when you have a dude that knows his job.

[mjt57]

I read it as the torque hole below 2000 rev's that's missing on the stock ecu settings is no longer present, but there's now plenty of torque below 2000 rev's at all time, hence the hard pull. 

Yes, you're right. I didn't read it properly.

But it begs the question, what is this torque hole that is being refered to? I'm a first time owner of anything diesel but to me it seems fairly grunty, but it does tend to bog down under 1,500 revs in higher gears.

Is this the "torque hole"?

[Dazzler]

I read it as the torque hole below 2000 rev's that's missing on the stock ecu settings is no longer present, but there's now plenty of torque below 2000 rev's at all time, hence the hard pull. 

Yes, you're right. I didn't read it properly.

But it begs the question, what is this torque hole that is being refered to? I'm a first time owner of anything diesel but to me it seems fairly grunty, but it does tend to bog down under 1,500 revs in higher gears.

Is this the "torque hole"?

Our 2008 1.6 CRDi was reponsive from about 1700rpm (that is why I loved it)

[Asterix]

I read it as the torque hole below 2000 rev's that's missing on the stock ecu settings is no longer present, but there's now plenty of torque below 2000 rev's at all time, hence the hard pull. 

Yes, you're right. I didn't read it properly.

But it begs the question, what is this torque hole that is being refered to? I'm a first time owner of anything diesel but to me it seems fairly grunty, but it does tend to bog down under 1,500 revs in higher gears.

Is this the "torque hole"?

To me the torque hole is the lack of torque I also feel below 2000 revs, just like The_Random_Hero writes.

Me being used to VW TDI engines, feel a lot less torque in the Hy CRDI engine below 2000 revs, than the TDI engines have. Below 1500 revs the CRDi is useless, in my opinion. 

From 2000 revs it does pull very well, then.

[the_random_hero]

Torque hole is a combination of a small engine, fuel mapping/timing, boost pressure, etc and leads to the engine being peaky (if you want an idea of what I mean, go and drive a diesel Mitsubishi ASX - no guts below 2500rpm then a huge rush of torque) - this is definitely one of the better turbo diesels I've driven in that regards, but still not as polished as a Golf or similar.
This tune isn't JUST increasing fuel pressure - what they do exactly isn't public (which is understandable, they are protecting their material), however I was told it's a combination of increased fuel pressure, increased boost and injector timing. Another reason I chose this over anything else is this huge clause on their website. Yet to see ANY other tune come with a lifetime warranty against car damage.
I did my first big drive with the car and hit the 1000km/tank mark, with combined city/country driving, a 'spirited' 150km/hr section, A/C on for half the trip and two people + luggage in the car. 4.5L/100km, which beats the 6-7 I was getting before that.
Also didn't realise that the owner of DNS got a photo while the ECU was on the bench.

[Dazzler]

Thanks for all this info.. I do hope you are not just using the site to advertise this product though  (it is starting to look a bit like marketing) 

Do you work for James the Queensland Distributor?

[the_random_hero]

Thanks for all this info.. I do hope you are not just using the site to advertise this product though  (it is starting to look a bit like marketing) 

Do you work for James the Queensland Distributor?

I don't work in the automotive industry anymore mate. The reason I posted is because there's 9 threads on the front page, full of "I've heard" and secondhand information. When I deal with a workshop and the result is positive, I am very happy to spread some praise around as this helps the business more than anything else.

[Dazzler]

Fair enough. (I wasn't the only one to wonder about your motives)

We have had quite a few attempted spammers and they tend to be very targeted in their posts.

 

[2i30s]

can your mate do a petrol i30 ecu,or only a crdi?   

can your mate do a petrol i30 ecu,or only a crdi?   

No doubt he can, but there is no room in petrol maps for significant gains...only if you have that much money laying around to spend. Then by all means go go go

EDIT
2130, if you perhaps didnt know, your engine is 2.0 beta, which is incredible for turbo kit...~210hp easy, many here have ~300hp on stock 24-7.

...
This tune isn't JUST increasing fuel pressure - what they do exactly isn't public (which is understandable, they are protecting their material), however I was told it's a combination of increased fuel pressure, increased boost and injector timing. Another reason I chose this over anything else is this huge clause on their website. Yet to see ANY other tune come with a lifetime warranty against car damage.
....

Your CRDi 90 or 115 or 128hp?

What you mentioned above and i quoted so far is the same what i have with digital tuning box, the same parameters changed. Totally different to analog boxes which gave raw power  and still torque hole remains etc.

I understand that further details will not be revealed, but what else can be changed beside turbine pressure in theory to be of any use or for better work?

About life time warranty...the best possible move form them and i can bet they did proper job to you because they are aware nothing will happen to the car and that you will never have to use that warranty! Take a look at your first 1000km like you said, did you floor it every second? Did you red line it on highway? Wheel roll with every start? NO! You did economical driving and enjoyed better fuel economy because of increased torque. How is that bad for car?

Did you notice with your exhaust loss of "delay" when shifting from 4000+rpms and continuing to accelerate hard? A lot like it was choking before?

[the_random_hero]

...
This tune isn't JUST increasing fuel pressure - what they do exactly isn't public (which is understandable, they are protecting their material), however I was told it's a combination of increased fuel pressure, increased boost and injector timing. Another reason I chose this over anything else is this huge clause on their website. Yet to see ANY other tune come with a lifetime warranty against car damage.
....

Your CRDi 90 or 115 or 128hp?

What you mentioned above and i quoted so far is the same what i have with digital tuning box, the same parameters changed. Totally different to analog boxes which gave raw power  and still torque hole remains etc.

I understand that further details will not be revealed, but what else can be changed beside turbine pressure in theory to be of any use or for better work?

About life time warranty...the best possible move form them and i can bet they did proper job to you because they are aware nothing will happen to the car and that you will never have to use that warranty! Take a look at your first 1000km like you said, did you floor it every second? Did you red line it on highway? Wheel roll with every start? NO! You did economical driving and enjoyed better fuel economy because of increased torque. How is that bad for car?

Did you notice with your exhaust loss of "delay" when shifting from 4000+rpms and continuing to accelerate hard? A lot like it was choking before?

Lots can be changed apart from boost pressure. As far as I'm aware (please correct me if I'm wrong) one of the 'interceptor' style ECU's can ONLY change fuel pressure - a remap can change fuel pressure, boost, injection timing, smog controls, torque limiting, etc; which is CONSIDERABLY more functional. Just adding more fuel is a lot more hazardous to a diesel!
Out of the first 1000km it was probably 700km highway driving, 300km town driving. I DID skid from the lights, I DID do 150 down the highway (and downshifted to fourth to overtake), I DID have the A/C on for a lot of the time. If I babied it I have no doubts I could have gotten in the low 4's.
Second tank of fuel has had hardly any highway driving, I managed 5.2L/100km. Once again I didn't baby it.
The torque dies off above 4500rpm, less than it did before though. No real point in revving it more than that as by the time you shift you're a bit too high in the rev range for optimal acceleration.

[freakzoide]

Why did you remove the ECU?
It's programably from the OBD port!

[bryand]

. Apart from the fact this cost less than some of the plug-ins I've seen (it was $999, with a $300 deposit being made for the bloke to come out from Bluefin UK to perform the work), there is NO way Hyundai will know it's been tuned without comparing a factory and modified ECU map side by side. Warranty = saved!

Your dealer drives lots of different i30s, of similar (nominal) spec to yours.  If he can't spot that your car has been re-mapped as soon as he drives it ... you've been robbed!
There's no point trying to hide this sort of mod, from dealers or insurance companies.  Build a relationship with the dealer and be open with them.  They are, in my experience, very keen to know what tuning benefits there are, so if you cultivate your dealer, you can keep your warranty.