[TheBunyip]

Disclaimer. I do not have one of these. I do not expect to buy one. Well not for some time as I cannot justify even this reasonable cost to myself.

I have been trying to read up on Diesel Tuning, trying to acquire an 'informed layman's understanding of the subject'. Been on lots of supplier web sites. Read loads of articles. Some were over my head but most have enabled me to continue to build up a picture. My journey is not over. There are still more suppliers here in the UK who have web sites for me to crawl through eventually when I have the time. You already know that this is what TheBunyip does in his quest for knowledge and hopefully a little wisdom.

As the forum members here will know it is a subject that can raise conflicting passions. On some suppliers web sites the alternative approaches are 'bad mouthed' using criticisms that may be sometimes correct, often illogical IMHO or even, I have come to suspect, outright lies.

One Scottish (UK) Tuning Box supplier that intrigues me is a small company called Ronian Ltd. Trading at http://tuning-diesels.com He seems to have started as a one man band a couple of years ago and is growing quite successfully. His Common Rail product is called the Synergy 1 and at £159.00 is fairly competitively priced. The web site appears to be the work of an DIY enthusiast rather than a professional site developer. It is none the worse for that.

The Synergy 1 is described here. http://tuning-diesels.com/tu3all.htm If you scroll down the page you will find a number of customer 'Testimonials' including this one...

SYNERGY1 On a KIA CEED SW 1.6 CDRi 115 bhp (I30 CRDi engine)

OK trialed this thing for a month or more now and have to report… It works as you say!!! Getting smoother acceleration and approx 8 % better MPG, measured with brim to brim filling. Setting is at 6 and getting best MPG results at this setting too. The KIA 1.6 engine is a gutsy little devil anyway but they seem to be starving it at the low end to achieve emission figures. Before fitting, when the turbo kicked in it surged due to the differences in torque. Now it has a much smoother transition  J   Steve, Norfolk

It is worth following the links to his FAQs and further explanation here http://tuning-diesels.com/dfacts.htm and here http://tuning-diesels.com/dfacts2.htm
He offers some interesting ideas on the history and current practice of Diesel Tuning.

I know that not everyone will agree with him and some may foam at the mouth for me even drawing his site to your attention. However I think that those with an open mind will find that this 'oh so practical' man has a site that provides an interesting read even if you are not likely to 'reach for the plastic'.

ENJOY!!

[Shambles]

Interesting read. Thanks for that.

Doesn't specifically name the i30, although does (maybe) include it in the "fits most models".

Also, this puzzled me...

If you are thinking of changing your diesel car and intend to tune it, buy a 2006 or earlier model & without a particulate filter.

Mine does have a particle filter... I wonder what the module does to it...?

The module looks spookily similar to mine, although I would have liked the resistance pot available through-the-body as in their picture.

Thanks again TBY

[TheBunyip]

I should have been clearer. 
He develops maps for each engine. He has one for the Kia Ceed CRDi. which is the same engine as the Hyundai 130 CRDi.

As for his views on avoiding a DPF when buying a second hand car I would have to guess. I would think if any Tuning Box was used to produce maximum power and even slightly overfueled the resulting 'Smoke' would overload a DPF fairly quickly. According to /www.vcacarfueldata.org.uk The Kia Ceed emits more Particulates than the i30 (Still within EURO4) so, in the absence of hard information, it seems that the Kia Ceed may have the cheaper DOC Catalytic Converter fitted to the Australian i30. So anyone considering his product would be well advised to ask him about suitability.

Did you find his writing on MAF sensors and his MAFAM for BMW and ROVER diesels? I was surprised to see how quickly a MAF sensor can degrade.

UPDATE

I emailed Ronian and asked about his views about fitting a Tuning Box to a car with a DPF.

He replied...
No, I sell many Synergy modules for vehicles with dpfs with no problems. I think the current generation of dpfs are better designs and provided you don't use the car only in urban areas, then tuning it should be fine. (cars with dpfs need to be driven above 50-60mph for 20mins or more to regenerate the filter  - the vehicle handbook will probably mention this)

Regards

Ron

[Dazzler]

Thanks for the info Bunyip.. Nice to see you (so to speak)

[Shambles]

Thanks for the update TBY.

(PS.. if you update your post, submit a "bump" post so others can see it, otherwise it will go unnoticed. I only noticed your update as Dazz posted to the thread and his showed up as a new post )