TD5 Tuning

Hi everyone, I’ve got a Defender 110 TD5 and really wanted to get some more power out of it.
I’ve installed a Serck performance intercooler, Silicone pipes & K&N sports filter so far.
I’m installing an EGR Blank & Allisport straight through S/S exhaust this weekend.
I’m planning on getting a remap by an Alive Tuning dealer near me soon, but I was wondering is it worth upgrading the turbo before this?
If so, what model is best? How much difference will the turbo make? And will I need to upgrade any other parts such as clutch, manifold etc if I fitted a turbo?
Are there any other upgrades I should be looking at also?
Thanks Rob

Lawfs said:

Are there any other upgrades I should be looking at also

Click to expand...

V8 and have done with it

j

@bankz5152 is the man to ask for this.

Cheers

I’d have a Works V8 if I won the euromillions on Friday
Okay thanks, will he see that tag? Completely new to the forum so still trying to figure it out, cheers

Yup.

Depends on what you want out of it to be honest. Id say for the vast majority a VNT turbo isnt really worth it. A Hybrid turbo is much more affordable and gives best bang for the buck.

Makes a fair difference. Spools up much faster, more torque low down and more power higher up.

I believe Alive have them but no first hand experience. CRTurbos PT make excellent turbos however afaik only available through TD5Inside.

Empire tuning have the largest hybrids on the market as far as I know. Friend has one and its brilliant so far.

You shouldnt need to upgrade the manifold with an Allisport one, check ebay for for dewebbed standard ones they can be had for around £160 or so. Worth fitting Wurth (£15) manifold studs at the same time.

Clutch shouldnt have to unless youre really ragging it around. My 110 had a standard clutch (big map, hybrid, big allisport intercooler etc..) recently had it changed for a LOF Powerspec (fantastic btw) but the old clutch was showing minimal wear anyway.

Also remove the K&N filter. The gains are minimal but the clog up fast, can let fine dust in. Standard oem spec paper is more than good enough. I change mine every 6k but it does 300+ miles per week.

Better is to derestrict the air intake. Remove the impellee in the airbox, remove ALL the standard TD5 air intake pipe work and replace it with 102mm pipe (largest I could fit) could go smaller if youd like but id keep it at around 3". Less bends and the more direct the better.

Finally speak to Alive about a MAF delete or rescale with the hybrid. The extra airflow can play havok with them

My 110 TD5 has a straightforward remap from Dynachip which only cost £250
It’s got the standard air intake system and intercooler etc
It performs well, happily sits at motorway speeds even uphill, and accelerates well, limited mainly by the speed that you can change gear.
The remap isn’t even the full power one, as the guy from Dynachip had to turn it down because it smoked too much.

@bankz5152 Thanks for the really helpful reply!
I’ll have a look into the Hybird turbos you mentioned. I just wanted to get the most out of the engine, and thought it was best to get everything fitted before the remap.
I’ve seen a fair few videos of TD5’s tuned by alive & storm tuning over 200bhp, look a lot of fun!
I’ll email Alive about a MAF delete, mines unplugged currently as it’s playing up & put the car into limp mode yesterday. Runs fine unplugged.
Otherwise I’ll look into removing the full air intake as you said, sounds a bit complex for my simple mechanical skills oh
Glad to hear you advise the clutch should be fine, most remappers agreed but some garages said it needs upgrading, must want the extra work

@lightning thanks for your reply! Maybe with just a remap I’ll be more than happy then! I was just looking into turbos and any other upgrades that might be worth having before paying for the map.
Cheers

Well yes it depends on how much of a power increase you are looking for.
If you just want to make it a bit more lively then a straight remap will be fine.
If you are looking for some serious power increases then you’ll need to do the other modifications as well.

Lawfs said:

@bankz5152 Thanks for the really helpful reply!
I’ll have a look into the Hybird turbos you mentioned. I just wanted to get the most out of the engine, and thought it was best to get everything fitted before the remap.
I’ve seen a fair few videos of TD5’s tuned by alive & storm tuning over 200bhp, look a lot of fun!
I’ll email Alive about a MAF delete, mines unplugged currently as it’s playing up & put the car into limp mode yesterday. Runs fine unplugged.
Otherwise I’ll look into removing the full air intake as you said, sounds a bit complex for my simple mechanical skills oh
Glad to hear you advise the clutch should be fine, most remappers agreed but some garages said it needs upgrading, must want the extra work

Click to expand...

Best bet is start with the new map and see how you like it. If you want more buy the turbo

Once you have a look in the engine bay its pretty easy to remove the shi te LR intake and fit a better one.

Cracking stuff!
I’ll have a look into the air intake on the weekend.
I’ll just try the Remap first (then inevitably want to add a Turbo for more fun straight away )
Thanks for the advice, appreciated!

Give Daniel at storm tuning a call, td5 inside are good too I believe but customer service is pretty poo poo

@Discodevon Yeah I tried TD5Inside many times & they’ve never replied once.
Storm tuning barely came back after a lot of messaging & hassling across email/Facebook, his nearest dealer was over 2 hours away.
Alive tuning seemed the best customer service & have a dealer within half hour...
any others I should’ve tried? Thanks

@bankz5152 Spoke to Alive tuning this morning regarding a MAF delete and they advised against it & said there’s no need for it!?

You mean the EGR valve? Not the MAF, you would never delete that, although the vehicle will still run OK without it.
I did that on my previous 90 TD5 and it made no noticeable difference whatsoever.
It would only make a difference if the EGR was defective.

lightning said:

You mean the EGR valve? Not the MAF, you would never delete that, although the vehicle will still run OK without it.
I did that on my previous 90 TD5 and it made no noticeable difference whatsoever.
It would only make a difference if the EGR was defective.

Click to expand...

You do delete it. It can be hit and miss whether or not a rescaled MAF can handle the extra air flow produced by a hybrid or VNT. It will need to be rescaled for sure

For example Allisports & TJ Tyres racers fo not use them.

Alive infact used to sell uprated MAFs to compensate for this, they also sell air pipes with no MAF fittings.

My MAF is deleted in the ECU and unplugged as it didnt like full boost and the top end.

The EGR should be blanked as well.

Cant say im a fan of Storm. Depending on whò you are theyve been known to load generic maps that just up the fueling. Nothing more.

Td5inside while very good are a nightmare to get hold of in the even of an issue.

Empire tuning is worth a call too.

Oh right l never knew you could delete the MAF unit.
Again it depends on how far you want to go with tuning it.
Also consider insurance, most companies don’t mind an “engine chip” as long as it doesn’t increase the power by more than 25%
That’s around 150bhp on a Defender TD5
But if you go beyond that you’ll need to check what the insurance will cost, to make sure you don’t get a shock when you ring them, after spending a fortune on the engine.

Strange Alive are now saying the MAF should be in place & work perfectly fine. Especially if they used to sell a part to bypass the MAF. Do you know if anywhere else sells an uprated MAF or bypass kit?..
My MAF is unplugged currently, Alive said they’ll test it when they do a remap.
Did give Empire a ring & email but haven’t heard back yet. Did have a look for the turbo you said about but it’s not listed online, only the remaps.
Yeah good thinking, I best try a requote to see how much the insurance wants to pull my pants down over the mods... said I was fitting a tracker & they said it won’t reduce the price at all!? Not sure if a better alarm system might bring it down though...

Tracking devices no longer seem to make any difference to the insurance price

My insurance didn’t demand a tracking device was fitted, but having told them it’s got one they say it’s not insured for theft unless the tracking device subscription is active and the tracking device is working!!