[electroman5000]

Hello everyone! That time has come! After owning my GD diesel i30 for little over 2 years I've finally decided to purchase a so called "tuning box". The decision wasn't easy...countless hours/days of gathering information about the forever battle of "ECU Remap vs Tuning Box"....I've chosen the second one because of few reasons: can be removed quickly and easy; can be transferred onto next car (with some fee for reprogramming or smthg) ; flexible (adjustable) performance settings; greatly improved technology over the years (from a simple resistor in a box to multi-channel real-time fuel and boost adjustment).

*note - I didn't make any photos at the moment (will try to do them next weekend), as the weather was really a bastard here in UK lately. so I was just focusing on installing the damn thing and testing if it works at all.
 
So in the very end, after all the research, I've chosen the TMC Motorsport Tuning Box with bluetooth app control. Quick stats of my car before and after:
kW: original 94 / tuned 120*
donkeys: original 128 / tuned 163*
Nm: original 260 / tuned 335*
and should get up to +15% more fuel economy (depending on driving style)
*these are the claimed maximum achievable figures on the highest performance setting.
I'm not going to advertise the company,just want to say, that after comparing about 10ish different options of tuning boxes available for 1.6 CRDi in UK, their offer was the best performance/reviews/value for money.

I ordered the box on Thurdsay, and already on Saturday morning the DHL guy was knocking on my door, so that was a nice surprise. In the set there was the Box itself, wiring loom with connections for turbo boost pressure sensor, CR pressure sensor and camshaft position sensor, and some standard paperwork.

The installation is pretty much straight forward, all plug&play. The installation process took me about 40 minutes, as I had to dance around the turbo boost pressure sensor, a nightmare to get to the connector. Ended up removing the air filter box. Finally after connecting all the wiring, placed the box itself between the battery and air filter box. Connected to the phone and went for a test drive.
Great feature of the app control is that you can switch the box on/off whenever you like to, or set a timer for a specific setting (eco/sport/sport+) to come on after engine is at operational temperature. And also the other great thing is that you can switch between these 3 settings on the go.

Now about the feel of the car. Hm....I guess the best description would be Smooth . The engine generally feels to be working easier, especially on lower revs.
On the Eco mode the response is very linear, you don't get that great kick after 1800rpm (those who got a diesel, know I'm on about). The boost is still there, but it feels a lot more smoother, yet you still gain speed just as quick as before (at least feels that way).
On the Sport it feels generally more responsive to gas pedal, and is more nippy yet still it remains smooth on acceleration.
On Sport+ (the highest setting) you can feels the greatest difference. It really pushes you into the seat, as you floor it down. 
Now this review is purely subjective, as I've made no measurements of any kind. And the main reason I've got this box, is to gain more milage or kms per liter of fuel.I travel a lot, so even a 0.5 l/100kms (or a 4-5 mpg increase) will make a difference . I've just filled the car to the full, and will see what the fuel consumption is going to be on next visit to fuel station (next Friday or Sunday).

Will make few photos of the product and how it looks like installed.

This topic is not about arguing what's better - tuning box or ecu remap. Just describing my experience.  Updates to follow.
Cheers!

[Dazzler]

Thanks! Awesome post! Very interesting.  I wait with interest for further feedback.  I almost wish I had a diesel again now!   

[electroman5000]

So I've made few photos: Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Imgur: The magic of the Internet
Imgur: The magic of the Internet

Note the super sexy black duct tape, which is holding the air intake pipe  . While trying to remove the clips in order to get to boost pressure sensor, I've successfully broke one of them, so this is a temporary fix, until I get new clip.

Decided to keep the box in a bag, in case it needs to be returned (30 day money back guarantee)

First day of living with the box has passed. The trip computer shows pretty much the same values of mpg (not that I trust those numbers much). The real figures will be determined on a next fill up.
Cheers!

[electroman5000]

Hello everyone! So, it has been 1 working week driving with the tuning box (TB for future references), and I've just returned from the fuel station and have made the calculations. Being somewhat OCD about the fuel consumption of the car, I've been actually keeping all the record of fuel ups since I got the car (2 years ago)    Ssince October the last 15 fuel ups averaged at 54.76 mpg, or about 5.15 l/100km. That consisted of about 85-90% motorway driving (work-home), and the rest of town driving (shopping, picking up GF from work, etc).  The figures aren't that bad, it was fairly cold for some time, and very windy as well for the past few weeks, so can't really complain that much.

After 5 days of home-work-home commute and a trip to city for a meal the fuel consumption figures are.........dramatic drum solo!........... 65.25 mpg or 4.33 l/100km. 
Have to say, that I'm very satisfied and pleased with the result! I have to admit that I was driving exactly as before, not using the full power increase of the TB...and probably some people will consider my driving style as half-granny (at least in town, where I don't see the point of rushing from one traffic light to next one as fast as possible).
To be fair it also got warmer now, and the wind did settle down, so 1-2 mpg increase could be just from that, but still! I'm very happy with the product (so far anyway).

Will post the update after next fill up as well, because I usually was fueling up every 2 weeks, and next week I'll be doing short trip around town per day as well. And then the combined consumption figures will show the final result.

But so far so good!

Cheers!

[Dazzler]

Very interesting feedback. That's brilliant!  Congrats!   

[electroman5000]

Hello, everyone!

My apologies for being quiet for so long.

So, since the last post I've done a lot of driving, and have got some figures to share with you all. The overall average fuel consumption/economy over the last 9585 miles and 20 fill ups was - 57.37 mpg or 4.92 l/100kms. And that gives an improvement of roughly 2.5-3 mpg. Not much, but a little bit here and there all adds up. Plus I can always get a bit more oomph for safer overtaking.

Overall impression from the TB - positive. Really curious what are the actual horse power and torque figures in 3 different settings. Might take her onto a dyno someday.

Hope this helps someone finds useful info here.

Cheers!

[Dazzler]