[Stan]

I test drove the XE with the diesel engine and think that it's a great engine, quiet, adequate power, and good economy. However, I would like to add a tune to the engine when I get my XE, probably next month. Has anyone put a tune on the XE diesel yet? I have a Malone 1.5 tune on my VW Sportwagen and love the difference it makes, but I haven't been able to verify that Malone has a tune for the Jag engine. But I found that Race Chip has a tune that they claim gives it about a 25% increase in power and torque and a 5 MPG increase in economy. This really sounds great, but I find it hard to believe. Has anyone used the Race Chip yet?

 

[Edge]

I actually did some searching up on it and found reviews that they were garbage. They say to take it to a tuner and let them figure it out.

 

[Kingpin]

Are those numbers proven or are they just saying it on paper? If they have dyno sheets showing a before and after, then there's a good chance its true. First I would start with that. Rather not get this and then find out it's actually a very small incremental increase.

 

[Edge]

It's not even a matter of a small incremental increase, it's how are they achieving those numbers. Need to see AFRs and all of that to know if it's something reliable that won't hurt your engine over time

 

[Stanislav Novikov]

what time will the diesel 0-100km/h
after the chip?
who ever made the chip?

 

[Stan]

That's not a bad idea. Now I just have to find a good tuner in this area. Anyone know of a good tuner in the Sacramentio, CA area ?

Stan

 

[Edge]

I know of Force Fed Motorsports in Sacramento, to be honest I don't know enough to vouch for them and I think they're website is temporarily down at the moment. Worth a try to maybe check out reviews and what not ?

 

[Stan]

I contacted Malone and they said that if I let them use my XE as the prototype they will develop a tune on my XE at no charge. Since their parent company isn't local they would have to use a local tuner to do the work, so I'll wait and see which tuner they want to use and if I'm comfortable with their capability I'm certainly going to go along with this.

 

[Streamline]

I contacted Malone and they said that if I let them use my XE as the prototype they will develop a tune on my XE at no charge. Since their parent company isn't local they would have to use a local tuner to do the work, so I'll wait and see which tuner they want to use and if I'm comfortable with their capability I'm certainly going to go along with this.

Now that is some pretty exciting news. Definitely gotta keep us updated on that. That's a deal you can't go wrong with at all.

 

[Stan]

The only downside is if they use a tuner who doesn't really understand how the Jaguar engine is responding to tweeking and possibly doing some damage, or voiding the warranty. That's why I'll be looking carefully at who Malone wants me to deal with. But if it's a good tuner I can't wait to have my 2.0 tuned. I know with VW if you have your diesel tuned you also need your automatic transmission tuned to accept the additional torque (my VW is a standard, so I didn't have to do anything with the transmission), and since my Jag will be an automatic they may need to do something with the transmission (torque converter?) also.

Stan

 

[Streamline]

To build an automatic transmission you have to upgrade the clutches, input shaft, torque converter, up the line pressure, increase the cooling, etc. Thankfully, your transmission will start to slip before it blows up or anything extreme.

 

[Stan]

I'm not a mechanic, so I have no idea what needs to be done. I just know what was required if you had a VW turbo diesel and wanted a Malone tune. You had to do something to the transmission because of the added power and torque.

 

[Paris]

I believe it there is a speed shop can provide more power, more torques and extra miles without hurting your engine (cars/driver/passenger) - the manufacturer will did that before them.

For me it should be more power/torque less mile - extra mile less power/torque.

 

[Stan]

Paris, what you're saying would be true, except for environmental regulations. Vehicle makers have to tune their vehicles to meet certain environmental standards, not make the engine run the best that it can. With my Volkswagen Turbo Diesel I had 140 hp and 236 lbs tq, which is shown on the purchase documents and in VW advertisements. And the car was getting around 40 MPG driving up here in the foothills on two lane roads with very little traffic. After getting my Malone 1.5 Tune I took the car to a speed shop and had them put it on the dyno. It recorded 170 hp and 300 lbs tq. My gas mileage with the tune went up to around 43/44 MPH driving over the same roads as before. You can really feel the difference in performance, especially when towing. I tow a small trailer with my motorcycle or my ATV on it and often go over the Sierra Nevada mountains. With the Malone Tune I know which gear I use for different parts of the trip up steep grades (I have a 6 sp standard transmission) and without the tune I had to be one gear lower for that same stretch. I live in a county that does not require a smog check except when you buy and when you sell a vehicle, otherwise a Tune might be a problem, but as it is I'm willing to have the tune and just reverse it if I ever want to sell my VW, which I don't see happening for many, many years.

 

[Paris]

Thanks Stan,
so, it is should be "more power/torque less mile - extra mile less power/torque and environment above all"

 

[Streamline]

It's not really that simple of an equation to be honest. It could be " more power/torque - better mpg " or it could be " more power/torque - less mpg "

It's really dependent on what your tuning for and what you're looking to get out of it. You can make it a lot more efficient with a bit more kick, or you can add a lot more kick and make it less efficient. Really depends.

 

[Kingpin]

Sometimes I find that getting a real feel for the car and discovering all the sweet spots is a good start. With some of my past cars that was the case and resulted in me putting off engine performance mods in favor for suspension. That was a decision I thanked myself for times too many to count.

Anyone here taking a similar route?

 

[Streamline]

Most definitely. You can't start adding on everything without knowing what you yourself are looking to enhance. For example, I may actually like the suspension, so I'm not going to go and buy coilovers immediately. I'm going to drive it and ensure I really like the suspension the way it is.

 

[Stan]

Kingpin, I guess if I was a more aggressive driver I would be more critical of the XE suspension, but driving the XE at a normal pace on a couple two lane twisty roads in my test drive I found the suspension to feel very good. While I wasn't really pushing it there was no noticeable body roll and it felt well planted on turns.

 

[Stan]

I'm in contact with a technician at Malone LTD and he has me working with a VW/Porsche/Audi speed shop to get a base line and begin developing a tune for this engine. My guess is that they'll develop a number of tunes, like they have for the VW TDI. On my VW I have the Malone 1.5 tune, which doesn't require any mechanical changes. The VW advert data says that the engine has 140 HP and 236 lbs-ft tq. With the Malone 1.5 tune I took it to a speed shop and it dyno'd at 162.23 hp and 293 lbs-ft tq. On a motorcycle we figure that the engine is rated at the crank and you lose about 10% at the rear wheel, so I'm guessing that a car would be about the same, so I went from 126 hp and 212 Lbs-ft tq to 162.23 hp and 293.23 lbs-ft tq. Not a bad deal when I also picked up about 2 MPG fuel usage.

If I can gain a similar increase with my XE without making any mechanical changes I'll be one happy camper.