Van Aaken Smartbox fitting

Has anyone had problems with the instructions for fitting a Van Aaken Smartbox?

Don't get me wrong, now its fitted it "does what it says on the tin", but when I opened the delivery package and took out the fitting instructions clearly labelled Range Rover 2.5 TDS the illustration was of the engine bay of a BMW 3 series. Surprisingly enough bits weren't where they said they were on the picture, and of course the air duct for the intercooler was right across where I was supposed to see the fuel pump.

When I phoned Van Aaken they were less than helpful, having established they hadn't got an agent near me in Tuscany. I got a very Italian answer in as much as they offered to have a technician explain it to me, but they were all out at lunch.

They eventually came back to me , and agreed maybe it would be a good idea to have a picture of a Range Rover engine bay on the instructions, but would have to wait until one came into their fitting bay. After a little discussion I was able to locate the neccesary plugs and fitted the smartbox.

As mine is an Italian vehicle the fuel consumption is in litres per 100km, so actually the lower the number the better, and today with the cruise control set at 130 kmph on the autostrada I was getting 5.0 litres to 100km ( which I work out as about 56mph.)

I just feel having stumped up a fair amount of cash it shouldn't be too difficult to produce the correct fitting instructions.

english doctor said:

Has anyone had problems with the instructions for fitting a Van Aaken Smartbox?

Don't get me wrong, now its fitted it "does what it says on the tin", but when I opened the delivery package and took out the fitting instructions clearly labelled Range Rover 2.5 TDS the illustration was of the engine bay of a BMW 3 series. Surprisingly enough bits weren't where they said they were on the picture, and of course the air duct for the intercooler was right across where I was supposed to see the fuel pump.

When I phoned Van Aaken they were less than helpful, having established they hadn't got an agent near me in Tuscany. I got a very Italian answer in as much as they offered to have a technician explain it to me, but they were all out at lunch.

They eventually came back to me , and agreed maybe it would be a good idea to have a picture of a Range Rover engine bay on the instructions, but would have to wait until one came into their fitting bay. After a little discussion I was able to locate the neccesary plugs and fitted the smartbox.

As mine is an Italian vehicle the fuel consumption is in litres per 100km, so actually the lower the number the better, and today with the cruise control set at 130 kmph on the autostrada I was getting 5.0 litres to 100km ( which I work out as about 56mph.)

I just feel having stumped up a fair amount of cash it shouldn't be too difficult to produce the correct fitting instructions.

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Hi donald van aaken smartbox put it on my dhse 4 weeks ago with no problem 20 mins tops how much did you pay for the smartbox

Sure the job was easy once I'd reassured myself I had identified the sockets/plugs correctly, but having paid £300 directly to Van Aaken I just feel they should be more professional in their instructions.
Just about to fill in their customer satisfaction form, which will be fun.

You believe your RR is getting 56mpg at 80mph?

down hill, in neutral, following wind (gale). why not?

Off a cliff maybe ?

It wasn't on the back of a flat bed at the time was it???????????

Must say I was surprised but checked on tinternet for conversion tables and they all say to change litres/100 km to miles/gallon put 280 over figure in litres/100km and my trip computer says 5L/100km, maybe its the trip computer thats like everything Italian, prone to exaggeration. It did say at one point I could travel 999 kms on 12 litres of fuel, but that was after driving downhill for about 3 miles from my house.
I'll keep an eye

That's interesting, how often does your mpg readout change? My trip computer only calculates the average mpg, speed and range, so doesn't give an instantaeneous reading unless I reset it at the time.

The results it gives after going thru a tankful of diesel is uncannily accurate too, correct to the nearest tenth of a mile on mpg. Shame that figure is only 22.9mpg!

I reset the trip computer just before getting on to the autostrada and this was the figure I got after a 30km drive on cruise control at 130km/hr. As you say the figure is an average, unlike other trip computers (like the one on the Volvo V70 I used to have as a company car) it doesn't give you an instantaneous reading (which can be depressing as the version I had was petrol with a light pressure turbo and went like the proverbial off a hot shovel but showed 2 or 3 miles to the gallon when you were a bit heavy with the right foot)
As i am about to do the same journey back down the autostrada it will be interesting to see what it shows next time.