Freelander 1 MAF'less Remap? Ronbox or one of the many alternatives

Was at a Freelander meet last Sunday organised by a Rover mad guy that has a several Rovers, MG's and now a Freelander. While chatting he mentioned he has a MAF'less remap on his MG ZT TD4 and said it made a big difference plus the benefit of not having to worry about the MAF degrading.
Has anyone else any experience of remapping the TD4 instead of using a Ron box or any of the umpteen alternatives available on ebay?

A proper remap will always be better than a tuning box. It's more expensive, but there are benefits with a remap, that a Synergy can't match.
The main benefit of the Synergy, is it can be moved between vehicles. That's something a remap can't achieve, unless moving all the coded ECUs

Nodge68 said:

A proper remap will always be better than a tuning box. It's more expensive, but there are benefits with a remap, that a Synergy can't match.
The main benefit of the Synergy, is it can be moved between vehicles. That's something a remap can't achieve, unless moving all the coded ECUs

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I think he said the remap was around £150 so defo interested in going that way but In the meantime I'm keeping an eye on ebay to see if a TD4 Ronbox comes up for sensible money. There is one listed atm with a starting price of £125 but I'm not keen on paying that much for one that's five years old. It comes with a Pierburg MAF but a 5 year old MAF will probably be past its best.
Is the Ronbox really that much better than the other makes of tuning box available. There are loads out there for around £70.

Those Ron boxes come up regular on the R40 forums as most have moved on to the 160 upgrade or the xpart 131 up grade. If one pops up I will give you a shout but personally I would not fit one, they can damage the HPFP eventually, there was a big debate about them on the R40 forum.

Had my maf unplugged for a few month now, and thinking about a remap. Just need to find a good mapper.

Arctic2 said:

Those Ron boxes come up regular on the R40 forums as most have moved on to the 160 upgrade or the xpart 131 up grade. If one pops up I will give you a shout but personally I would not fit one, they can damage the HPFP eventually, there was a big debate about them on the R40 forum.

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I suspect that if the Synergy makes the pump leak. It's probably wasn't far off failure anyway. All the Synergy does is alter the pressure on the rail. The pump still has to pump the pressure up, regardless of how much is or isn't fed to the rail. Increasing rail pressure would theoretically decrease actual pump pressure. I suspect that the extra revs available after the Synergy is installed is responsible for the pump leaking.
However altering the lengthening injector pulses is a preferred method of increasing fuel throughput.

The only downside to a MAF'less remap, is it will use slightly more fuel.
Admittedly, unless you drive like me (slowly), a remap is always going to eat more fuel. It's very hard not to use that extra grunt under your right foot.
On a manual with a MAF'less remap, I'd expect 25>30 mpg tops.
Be a top laugh to give it some Welly though
Mike

Arctic2 said:

Those Ron boxes come up regular on the R40 forums as most have moved on to the 160 upgrade or the xpart 131 up grade. If one pops up I will give you a shout but personally I would not fit one, they can damage the HPFP eventually, there was a big debate about them on the R40 forum.

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That would be great thanks, but what's this 160 upgrade you speak about?

Skinny Mike said:

The only downside to a MAF'less remap, is it will use slightly more fuel.
Admittedly, unless you drive like me (slowly), a remap is always going to eat more fuel. It's very hard not to use that extra grunt under your right foot.
On a manual with a MAF'less remap, I'd expect 25>30 mpg tops.
Be a top laugh to give it some Welly though
Mike

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Fuel economy isn't my primary concern as my daily is a company car, so Bertie is only used by me at the weekends and by SWMBO for pootling to the shops and back.

I recently drove a fairly modern BMW 4 pot diesel, according to its (geeky) owner it was essentially a later version of the TD4 engine

He had a remap and a tuning box, both done together so he had 3 levels of "tune" also had the DPF mapped out

Kayos said:

I recently drove a fairly modern BMW 4 pot diesel, according to its (geeky) owner it was essentially a later version of the TD4 engine

He had a remap and a tuning box, both done together so he had 3 levels of "tune" also had the DPF mapped out

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How do you map out a DPF? It's part of the exhaust system and an MOT failure if it's missing.

Nodge68 said:

How do you map out a DPF? It's part of the exhaust system and an MOT failure if it's missing.

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Leaving aside mot legalities he has a full custom stainless system fitted

As Ali mentioned, are the other tuning boxes a worthwhile option? Has anyone tried the alternatives to the Ronbox?

Panic Over said:

As Ali mentioned, are the other tuning boxes a worthwhile option? Has anyone tried the alternatives to the Ronbox?

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A quick check on ebay showed the following makes and it looks like there are a load more.
Tiger Tuner £80
TDI Tuning £80
CR One £55
CR2 £85
CR Tech £80
Tuner Chip £70
Pro-bitz £89
Dynamic diesels £70
Chip Tuning £45
Ronbox £240

But has anyone tried them?
If you try TDI Tuning's site they want £250 or £330.
By the way, when I look for items for my beast, I am given a choice of two TD4's, 109 bhp & 112bhp. How do I find which is mine, please?

Panic Over said:

But has anyone tried them?

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Accidentally clicked on post before finished typing but I was going to ask the same question. They all seem to have good feedback but the Ronbox is four times the price. Is it really four times better?
OK it has a new MAF included but even the version without a MAF is twice the price.

OK, things we know about the difference between Ronbox and A.N.Other tuning chip.

1. Ron is well known and respected. We know he will respond to queries and doesn't try to hide behind ebay. He's been around for years too.
2. The Synergy does more than just tweak fuel (like all the rest) because it comes with and needs a new MAF.
3. Ron gives a five year warranty which is way more than anyone else.
4. The tuning box you get will be designed specifically for the Freelander. Many others claim they will work with multiple makes and models of car.
I guess you get what you pay for but it would still be interesting to hear from someone who tried a different type.

I think the Ronbox can be used in other makes of car. I may be wrong but I'm sure I read somewhere that if you change your car, for a fee they will reset it for you.

He makes them for other makes of cars.

None Synergy brands require you to mess with dip switches to select different tuning levels until you are happy with the performance/fuel economy.
The synergy has a dial going from 1 to 10.
1-5 are for tuning with no MAF compensation.
6-10 are the same as 1-5 but include MAF compensation for a worn Bosch or a new pierburgh MAF.
Also you can turn the tuning on and off and the MAF compensation on and off.

I have the tuning on, position 1. And the MAF turned off.

All units tend to get good feedback, and the more options you want, the more you'll pay. Some boxes are more than the synergy and don't come with another MAF, but promise huge BHP and torque increases. Which is ok, so long as you realise the limitations of the Freelander's drive train.
Mike

Nodge68 said:

How do you map out a DPF? It's part of the exhaust system and an MOT failure if it's missing.

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They remove the inside of the DPF making it straight through then re-programme the ECU not to regenerate it. Apparently as long as the DPF is in situ it will pass the MOT as its only a smoke test.