Ranger Mods

Will give more once the tyres are shredded. 40kw and 160nm at the wheels increase has been talked about....

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Looking forward to hearing the results!

Interested in results and reasons for picking unichip over alternatives e.g. re-tune.

Had my mates 100 series Land Cruiser 1hd in at Unichip today. Dropped mine off and picked his up.

Not as much power as mine will have but this thing hauls in comparison to when it went it. Vehicle is stock, no add-ons at all except an exhaust and EGR blanking plate.

The before and after on the dyno shows how much his vehicle has transformed. He tows a 3 ton can and he should now feel the difference.

These are at the wheels figures. Also keep in mind this is an AWD not 2WD. Out of the factory 151 kW at 3400 rpm and 430 Nm at the fly wheel. As seen the at the wheels torque is now more than at the fly wheel before.


Now for mine.

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I spoke about the torque limitations on the Ranger in 1 & 2 today. End result is they basically tune around it with the Unichip and the benifet is it can be removed and re used on the next vehicle with a re tune.

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Unichip installed today. 136kw and 490nm at the wheels after tune. Before tune 97kw and 310nm at the wheels so a 40% increase in power and 58% increase in torque. Nice outcome for a stock vehicle with Safari snorkel and 31" tyres.

Have only driven 30km but the difference is really felt through the hills where it is not dropping back gears. Not dropping back gears all the time will certainly save me fuel in the long run but I will give the true fuel economy figures once I have driven to work for a few weeks.I was pretty static at 10.58 L/100km calculated since before the tune. On a trip these figures would usually be lower and I would have at least another 700kgs over stock these days also.

Overall they have a very flat torque curve so it is just smooth rather than a push in the back as such.

That's really impressive. Just like factory, only more of it.

saeb wrote: ↑Wed Feb 28, 2018 6:49 pm Unichip installed today. 136kw and 490nm at the wheels after tune. Before tune 97kw and 310nm at the wheels so a 40% increase in power and 58% increase in torque. Nice outcome for a stock vehicle with Safari snorkel and 31" tyres.

...

Overall they have a very flat torque curve so it is just smooth rather than a push in the back as such.

Not too shabby.
I found the same, very smooth power delivery. But feels more like a car now rather than a lump of lead when coming off traffic lights. Has no trouble holding 6th on steep inclines at 110km/h

Great result Stewart, something I'll be looking at in the future, I'll probably throw in a larger intercooler for good measure.
Which tunes did you go for? as I understand it you can switch tunes on the fly.
Power
Economy
4x4 (low down grunt)
Towing

Single map. I would never change it and 99% of those that have 5 maps never change it so money best spent elsewhere. At the end of the day you want more power so why turn in back.

I ended up going for the 5 tunes. You don't get pre-defined tunes, they just ask you how they want them.

I went with the following:
High - most of the time
Mid - when towing a bit of weight at high speed long distance, didn't want to work the car too hard
Stock - For when i lend it to friends or have it back at Ford
High Idle - When i'm outside the car but want engine revs up, for winching or jump starting cars etc
Valet - And my most valuable setting, for when people i don't know need to drive my car. Throttle response is slow and rev's won't go over 2,800rpm. In combination with MyKey, the speed limiter is set and traction control button doesn't do anything... I've had a few parking attendants say there is something wrong with my car muahahha. I've driven the car in this mode, unless your pushing it, it's not hugely noticeable, so obviously valet have tried to push it and realised something is up.

I wasn't sure if i'd use it that much, more of a whim, but as it turns out, i'm actually changing it a few times a month.

Some good thoughts there James. We all have different needs but I like your thinking.

Thanks for the replies,
smacks do you get a dyno sheet for every tune ? or just for the POWER tune?

I only got a print out for the power tune and stock run overlay'ed, but he did a live run dyno tune to achieve the second tune mode as well. Just didn't bother printing it out.

So hows the fuel economy Saeb?

ira11y wrote: ↑Sun Mar 18, 2018 8:02 pm So hows the fuel economy Saeb?

The same so far but I only ran the last tank out a few days ago. Also 3/4 of that tank was towing where I very rarely do. Unfortunately this tank is going to be the same, so hard to get real comparable figures at the moment. I would say it has defiantly dropped if you don't use the power.

The hardest thing about the comparisons is we are starting to get back to colder weather and I'm lucky if the car is warm by the time I get to work. Summer months with these short drives I use less fuel than the warmer mornings. I also use less fuel on the way home than to work due to the outside air temp.

It does pull like a freight train in 3rd and 4th through the hills though and definitely better on the gear changes. The 2nd to 3rd change sluggishness is non existent with my weight and tyres and that is the biggest thing for me so far.

Will give an update at the start of May, I intend to go through 4 tanks in April but nearly all while towing and 140 litres in day to day for me can take a month usually.

Saeb did you opt for the optional EGT Sensor so it ramps up after the vehicle is upto the correct temperatures? I am going through the quoting process now and one of the things I liked about the Armax ECU was the way to brought on the maps over a sliding scale until the car was upto temp. I believe the Q4 can do this too now with the EGT and Water temp sensors?

They don't see a need for EGT sensor as they base it on a 3D map with engine coolant.

Different trip to last year but I took the same gear so the same weight.

Possibly a little more weight on a weigh bridge as the this years tyres are bigger and heavier.

Last year before the unichip and standard tyres fuel usage was 12.34 lph
This year with bigger tyres and unichip fuel usage was 12.06 lph

So all in all, not much difference. Vehicle and trailer were weighed at 3920 kg which would have been 4020 kg on a full tank of diesel.

The current tyres do cost me at least 1 lph.

At the end of the day it still made it more drivable at all speeds which is what I wanted. We tended to head more on a more East and West path this year also where last year was a North South and when we drove West we had a head wind and when East a head wind, yes we couldn't win.

Temps across the inter cooler at 110kph on a head wind in 6th gear were still only just above ambient temp and usually lucky to nudge 35 degrees unless I put the foot down. I have seen nothing higher than 55 degrees for a short period anyway.

Being as I have the patch loom in place for the Unichip I may plumb in a factory EGT sensor from a DPF model and see if it shows up on the UltraGauge. I will add it to the todo list.

Link to vehicle weights viewtopic.php?f=24&t=1282

Is it easy to install this chip?

Where does it go?

Unichip dealer install only as it requires a live dyno tune. See there site for further details http://unichip.com.au/

Installed under the bonnet behind the fuse box area.

Stewart I'm about to spend a grand on a dyno flash tune but your results here look appealing. I'm often flirting with the GCM.

The various chipping methods have confused/scared me in the past. Is unichip in effect simulating a good flash tune? Also are costs similar?

There are pros and cons of everything.

At the time we took 2 vehicles in.

One being a 100 series TD Land Cruiser and my MY15 PX2 Ranger.

The Cruiser, not having the facility to flash the ECU meant that the Q4 was the best option as it was never going to get a factory update ever again. It changed this vehicle and it just pulls and keeps on pulling and was done so for towing reasons. To this day it runs like it did when the tune was done and is a pleasure to drive.

Now to my Ranger. After the tune the power everywhere was exceptional, fuel economy dipped a little but driveabilty with the larger tyres and all the weight was back to normal and more.

I still stand be the fact that a live dyno tune is a better option as the tune can be optimised instantly. Flash tunes are never going to be written back and forward 100 times to find a 100% tune for each individual vehicle as no workshop would have the time.

Going forward though, I had my glow plugs replaced and PCM update performed. Power was not the same and fuel usage increased. Basically the intercepted tune did not work with the new PCM update and through everything out of whack. So the option was to either go and get the Unichip tune revised to suit the new update or move in a different direction.

At first I thought, do I really want to spend more money to revise the Unichip tune everytime there is a PCM update or do I just get rid of it, drop some weight and move on with life. I chose the later and sold the Unichip, planning to drop some weight and then came across Barry for BPT Motorsports in WA.

His option was appealing, it allowed me to flash a tune but also revert it back to the standard tune if I wished too. Maybe because I had an issue or because of a warranty issue. Chatting back and forward I went with his option and have not looked back.

What swayed me is he owns a Ranger and his wife owns an Everest. He did all his own R&D on his own vehicles and still does to this day, so I knew the tune would be safe and be tested to it full extent in all areas. WA has a hotter climate so I also knew it had been tested at higher temps. I know he is not using a brought tune and I know it is not a that is close enough tune.

Although it is not a tune to my specific vehicle I'm still confident that it is a good tune. Keep in mind that every MY15 or MY16 etc uses one tune across every vehicle that leaves the factory. There are possibly 200,000 MY15 PX2 with the identical factory tune that came from Ford. Yes, some will put out slightly more or less power due to slight variances in sensors voltages but its still the same tune.

Barry is still developing his tunes and even yesterday I have flashed a new tune for the PCM and the TCM. Where before I was not happy with the 2nd to 3rd gear change, the newer beta TCM tune made a 98% improvement and the beta PCM tune has dragged more power out of the engine with even more mid range torque. I have to say, it now overrides any other tune I had done, Unichip or other.

Power would have to be in the 140kw and torque well into the 500's nm at the wheels now. So I'm thinking 180 something kw and high 600's touching 700 nm at the fly wheel. It really does haul, last weeks tune was peak boost of 19.5 ish PSI where today 22.5 PSI. I would not go higher without replacing the turbo though.

Barry has been able to help me on a a few occasions and I him, he now has one of my modified usb dongle for use with Forscan anyway.

I say get the BPT tunes.
PCM tune & TCM tune. Transmission tune is worth its weight in gold as it is.
Get the Ngauge where he will also store your stock tunes.
Then drive it like you stole it.

You can contact them here https://www.bptmotorsport.com.au/ and tell him I sent you from the forums.

I went the Q4 like Saeb as well. While i haven't yet made the plunge to BPT's system, I've also started thinking similar to Stu.

The UniChip is good, in fact it's great.
But like Stu said, it becomes complicated when ECU updates are performed
It doesn't provide any TCU adjustability
And i'm 100% convinced that the car doesn't know it's real fuel usage. (Although I've been told by tuners that it does... i'm just not convinced that their claim is correct)

I seriously want the TCU tune, it's something I've been looking at for a couple of years. And BPT are the only ones that have recently come to the market with a solution in Aus. Before the solution even existed I felt it was something that was needed, and having spoken to the BPT guys, it sounds like an awesome adjustment. (They are extremely accommodating and easy to talk to which is a plus)

smacks wrote: ↑Thu Jan 10, 2019 1:33 pm I went the Q4 like Saeb as well. While i haven't yet made the plunge to BPT's system, I've also started thinking similar to Stu.

The UniChip is good, in fact it's great.
But like Stu said, it becomes complicated when ECU updates are performed
It doesn't provide any TCU adjustability
And i'm 100% convinced that the car doesn't know it's real fuel usage. (Although I've been told by tuners that it does... i'm just not convinced that their claim is correct)

I seriously want the TCU tune, it's something I've been looking at for a couple of years. And BPT are the only ones that have recently come to the market with a solution in Aus. Before the solution even existed I felt it was something that was needed, and having spoken to the BPT guys, it sounds like an awesome adjustment. (They are extremely accommodating and easy to talk to which is a plus)

And i'm 100% convinced that the car doesn't know it's real fuel usage. (Although I've been told by tuners that it does... i'm just not convinced that their claim is correct)

You are 100% convincingly correct. Intercepting anything will always make something think it is doing something it really isn't so no your DTE will never be correct.

You could always get the ngauge and just do the TCM tune at the moment then purchase the PCM tune at a later date. It will be doubtful that the ngauge will come to other aus tuners at the moment due to contractual obligations.