(G) tuning a new stock 1.4 turbo engine

I recently purchased a mk2 Uno Turbo from Avanti Motorsport in standard form with a completely rebuilt engine and turbo. I am breaking the car as the engine is a conversion for my X1/9 that already has its suspension and wheels uprated - I think its going to make a nice car.

Upon purchasing the Uno I decided to MOT the car (it hasn’t been on the road for a few years so needed some welding and brake work etc) to run the engine in gently and get to know the car. I have since put over 1000 miles on the clock using it as my daily driver for work.

I now want to get a bit more bhp out of it and since it’s a nice new lump I want to do it without damaging its reliability. Frank from avanti tried to see if a chip was available from Italy that alters the ignition timing and fuelling when the boost is turned up, but it was no longer available. He said it was essential to avoid melting pistons from a weak mixture with a boost set to 1 bar.

A guy up the road from me has an X1/9 with a 1400 turbo in and he said that he had to get an aftermarket ECU in order to get it tuned safely. However I have since contacted unichip and they informed me of the following:

Thank you for your interest in the Dastek Unichip, which is indeed compatible with your car.
As for power gains it is very hard to say as no two petrol engine are the same. If you want a rough guide then For a Turbo depending on how much you can turn the boost up by you should see a gain of 15-20% more power but a massive increase in torque.
I've taken the liberty of pasting in a semi-standard response, which may help you to learn more about the Unichip & its lesser known functions.
As you are probably already aware the Unichip is a piggy back computer, that works in harmony with your standard ECU, it is mapped specifically to your car, and allows the operator to program it exactly to suit the thousands of differences from one car to next, that pre-programmed chips can't take into account, such as cam timing, manufacturing tolerances, different fuel qualities and pressures, and any aftermarket components.
Therefore we don't really go in for saying what power increase you will get, instead what we do promise is that at full throttle you will have the maximum power available safely, and at part throttle the car will be as economical as possible. At the end of the day, all any chip or engine management system is doing is to provide the correct amount of fuel in relationship to the amount of air being consumed, and ignite it at the correct time, so provided that they are equally accurate, they should all come out with the same result, providing they are mapped to the individual engine in question by a competent tuner on an accurate dyno.
This is where the Unichip wins, as they are not for sale pre-programmed, but mapped to each car by a skilled tuner on a dynamometer, we don't supply Unichips to anyone who doesn't own their own dyno. If at any time in the future, any changes are made i.e. cams, headwork etc. simply pop back into any authorised Unichip dealer, where the Unichip can be remapped to suit.
The Unichip offers more than just timing and fuel adjustments, we can do more than most sub £1000 race ecu's (this is ECU only, not including mapping costs!), such as launch control, shift lights, variable cam control, full throttle gear changes, nitrous control, ignition correction when nitrous is activated, etc..
The UNICHIP can be used for the following functions:

Alter ignition timing in a 3D map down to 0.1degree resolution.
Alter fuel mixture in a 3D map by +-50%.
Control variable valve timing.
Control variable induction systems.
Control turbo wastegate solenoid systems.
Record maximum boost pressure.
Record maximum RPM.
Water injection control.
Nitrous oxide control.
Automatic secondary map when water or nitrous is active.
Automatic switch back to primary map when water or nitrous is low or de-activated
Road speed governor delimiting.
Calibration of electronic speedometers.
Conversion of electronic speedometers from KMH to MPH.
Drive additional fuel injectors, with variable blend control.
Launch control.
Full throttle gear changes.
Idle speed stabilization.
Conversion to individual throttle bodies on certain cars.
Conversion of mechanical injection systems to full 3D fuel & ignition control.
Conversion from flap type Air Flow meters to less restrictive Hot Film meters.
Multiple maps to suit different fuels.
Shift lights
Alter or implement rev limits
Alter or implement boost limits.

So guys, can anyone out there with some knowledge on the subject point me in the right direction? Once in the X19, the engine will be charged cooled due to restricted airflow. I have a Pipercross induction kit that will be facing one vent and the oil cooler will be facing the other. I want to achieve around the 150 – 170 bhp mark. Many thanks

Rob Warren–

Julian if you read this I saw your turbo exxie when you were loading it off the trailer at the NEC some years back – Very nice and sounded great

fast road cam, hybrid turbo, fse boost valve, uprated intercooler, stainless steel exhaust, induction kit, easy see 150-170bhp

I'm running an original SuperChip (quite dear i think and dont know if still available) - and have the boost wound up, not too many mods and it really does fly, but i was told the SuperChip is safe, i dont know how this helps you but maybe you could give superchips a ring and see what they can do for you?

you cant chip an uno turbo ecu, anyone trying to sell you one is just selling you an expensive bleed valve,

? But i dont believe that, ive got the original superchips documents and certificate for the chip?

(might have to run it on a standard ecu and see if theres much difference?)

A superchip for the Uno Turbo is ********, i rang them a few times years ago when i first got a UT and they told me they could chip it or £245 or some crazyness... I then asked what it would involve as that was alot of money and they told me themselves that it was "setting the boost to 1bar" which as we all know is basically fitting a bleed valve... Uno turbo ECU's are 100% unchippable !

I find this!! and have sent him an email confirming which ecu's they work with, ive always thought they were a no go like everyone else, Ant! http://cgi.ebay.co.uk/ws/eBayISAPI.d...m=320233924374

I hope the 10 bhp is not coming from just raising the rev limiter Ant!

Spotted this too...

that guy must be soo rich..

he has a hundred for Fiat Uno / Punto at 34.99

seems to have around 70 ish of 69 types of chip from £30

Thats nearly £150K worth of stock

http://stores.ebay.co.uk/Powerchips-...QQftidZ2QQtZkm

Do I smell BS here? .

looks like a scam,

read his feedback, i asked my mate and he said he's copied it from somewhere, and he'd be able to read and compare to the standard chip to see if any diff, 10 bhp aint going to blow your boots off, but combined with other mods hmmm! hopefully it would adjust fuelling and spark to match but not holding my breath, apparantly there is a new megasquirt out which is miles better to setup and use than the old one going for £250 seems a gudden he put one on his partners 205 gti that he's transplanted a citroen 2.0 turbo engine into, with bigger turb and injectors, runs and drives upto now just needs a lil more time to finish, he is very good and always to busy, Ant!

What sort of power should I expect from a 1301cc turbo engine with

Lightened & Balanced bottom end
Ported Head
T25 turbo with as much boost as is reliable
RS500 Intercooler

And then something to control the fuelling and ignition properly?

Matt

this is what he said, The ecu in the uno controls the timing,fuelling and rev limiter. The turbo pressure cannot be changed by the ecu. So the chip only handles these parameters.

The chip contains changed fuel and ignition maps it order to give more fuel required by the higher turbo pressure. It will work as a stand alone chip but you really need to up the turbo pressure to get good results.

The 1.4L you have has the cat. The mk2 come with the 1.3L turbo engine initially that doesn't have the kat. The chip is for the 1.4L ecu only.

Kind Regards
George

I just spotted, my superchip also came with an additional box that sits on the bulkhead alongside ecu.
They also fitted a basic valve for adjusting the boost - which can be quite amusing when you turn it right up

mate, i wanna see ur RS500 intercooler fitted

i didnt know anyone else had been as silly as me in fitting one lol

Dunc