The Quest for Efficient Power
I've dinked around in the past with methods to boost the power out of my TDI VW. I've been turned off by the smoke output from everything I've tried.
Recently, I got the opportunity to drive a car that had been, in essence, returned to it's Euro roots. The injectors were replaced with the Euro-spec size, and the ECU had been re-flashed to run the Euro program. Boost and fueling were then optimized from there.
The result was oodles of power, very little smoke. So... I've started down the trail.
I installed the injectors last night - bracing myself to deal with some smoke until I send the ECU off. The surgery took about an hour. Butt-dyno screamed WOW! The TDI crowd likes to measure power in 3rd gear, 45-60 runs. Mine dropped from 6.6 seconds to 4.3, averaged from data logging in two directions, confirming the butt-dyno suspicions.
I need to back off turbo-response when I've got the pan off tonight for an oil change as tromping the throttle is causing spikes over 23 psi, but this is by far the cheapest 20-25 hp I've ever stuck in a car.
For those that don't know me, the car in question is an over-weight (3200 lb) station wagon that has averaged 47 mpg over the last 40,000 miles. Diesel is fun!
