Chipped Defenders

[standardman]

Is it something that is worth doing ? I have seen several companies around suggesting good increases in BHP or would a buyer avoid such a vehicle in the future on resale. The vehicle is a 2008 110 Defender.

[anonymous-user]

Done right it can be ok, done badly and it'll wreck it.
Depending how much of a kick up the arse it's given you may want to look at beefing up the transmission to cope.
Tends to be a slippery slope, lubricated with cash.

[Sarge 4x4]

Had a Autologic upgrade on my 2010 USW Puma and it made a huge difference to performance and got rid of the limeter (80mph), but you don't get more power without loosing something, i.e. MPG............ dropped to sub 15mpg when towing with my 18 foot BJ trailor fully loaded.

Was a good upgrade if you did not look at fuel.

[camel_landy]

Residuals... If it was me, I'd steer clear of ANY car that has been chipped as problems are not always immediately apparent (e.g. internal damage due to increase in EGT, etc...).

Frankly, a Defender is not built for speed (it's not built for comfort wither but that's another matter!!). If you want a quick car, go and buy a quick car!!

M

[mat7w]

camel_landy said:

Residuals... If it was me, I'd steer clear of ANY car that has been chipped as problems are not always immediately apparent (e.g. internal damage due to increase in EGT, etc...).

Frankly, a Defender is not built for speed (it's not built for comfort wither but that's another matter!!). If you want a quick car, go and buy a quick car!!

M

This is not strictly true... I have an orange td5 90 and my brother has a late td5 90 also. They were both chipped (inc Intercooler and exhaust) from new by Twisted and have both done over 100k HARD miles. Mine is running 200hp and I have the choice of a few sports cars to play in, but I have more fun in the Landy on a country blast. In my opinion the Defender is restricted so much in standard form that I cannot drive a standard one as it is soo gutless! The Land Rover map is rubbish especially in the puma/tdci defender... Charlie @ Twisted has spent a lot of time and money perfecting the software for them, and now can make them a much better vehicle to drive, smoother, with more torque.

Matt

[camel_landy]

mat7w said:

camel_landy said:

Residuals... If it was me, I'd steer clear of ANY car that has been chipped as problems are not always immediately apparent (e.g. internal damage due to increase in EGT, etc...).

Frankly, a Defender is not built for speed (it's not built for comfort wither but that's another matter!!). If you want a quick car, go and buy a quick car!!

M

This is not strictly true... I have an orange td5 90 and my brother has a late td5 90 also. They were both chipped (inc Intercooler and exhaust) from new by Twisted and have both done over 100k HARD miles. Mine is running 200hp and I have the choice of a few sports cars to play in, but I have more fun in the Landy on a country blast. In my opinion the Defender is restricted so much in standard form that I cannot drive a standard one as it is soo gutless! The Land Rover map is rubbish especially in the puma/tdci defender... Charlie @ Twisted has spent a lot of time and money perfecting the software for them, and now can make them a much better vehicle to drive, smoother, with more torque.

Matt

You pays yer money & takes yer choice...

M

[heightswitch]

Puma defenders were actually re-mapped about 3 times out of the landrover factory as warranty service upgrades because of the driveability issues the std one has!!

You can get very good re-maps which don't increase power but massively increase the driveability in the mid range..Anyone who has driven a Puma defender any mileage will know that 5th is a gear which in std form doesn't seem to do too much..6th is high... and you find yourself quite often in road conditions where 4th is a bit too low..5th won't develop revs or pick up quickly for overtaking and 6th is a bit too high...

Regards the power / drivetrain issues well all I can say is that after a period of being overtaken on motorways by standard transit vans the re-map option looks good...now a std transit runs the same engine and box so I wouldn't really worry too much about overstressing the drivetrain.. 120hp - 150 hp isn't really in sports car territory!!

My advice is to do your research there are many products out there some maps are good and some not so good.

N.

Edited by heightswitch on Sunday 20th May 11:07

Edited by heightswitch on Sunday 20th May 11:08

[C Lee Farquar]

I've had mine remapped by Allisport. I also went for their bigger intercooler, at a later date, and that made a fair bit of difference. They also took off the speed limiter.

I'm happy with it, it has a wider power band and is more fun to drive. I don't calculate MPG so I don't know if it uses more fuel, it's not noticeably thirstier.

I don't see an issue with making a Defender go quicker, it has as good if not better underpinnings than an Overfinch Classic.

[Twisted P]

General tuning advice:
Use a reputable firm, make sure their programme was developed on a dyno & not on a B road on a sunny day, test the results before you pay, tell your insurance company, dont opt for the highest gains (usually not true), dont fall for the more power AND better economy story. Tuning if done right is well worth the investment. If driven right can return better economy, the two dont usually come both together though. Thousands of LR have been tuned, we tune hundreds each year. So far no reason has been found not to...assuming you follow the above tips!