[[email protected]]

I use 98/99RON with this box here in the UK ... it is a lot more "consistant" using the higher Octane stuff.

@[email protected] any idea why the new engine performs better?

The new engine has quite a few modifications, including running both direct and indirect injection. The indirect injection will help to prevent all the stuff in the jar in the above picture from settling in the ports and on the backs of the valves. Principally its there for emissions reasons, NOx and PM are lower (especially in certain situations) using indirect injection.

I haven't pulled the two engines apart to compare, but looking at the data, the new car makes more power in the higher RPM at the same boost level. It would appear that as part of the changes Kia have made the engine breathe a little better at higher RPM. Introducing indirect injection will probably have reduced swirl requirements, meaning they can (potentially) have straighter ports, bigger valves and/or a slightly hotter cam profile. Its not going to be major changes, but there's definitely an appreciable difference.

 

[bello01]

Thanks for the technical info on the new 1.0 TGDI engine.
That is a big bonus having port injection as well as direct injection.

I believe Toyota have gone to port injection control as well as direct injection.

I have a 2019 Picanto 1.0 TGDi with your box on. Been pleased with it.

The oil catch cans I have fitted are certainly doing there job of preventing/minimising carbon build up on the intake valves.

I might consider the 2021 Picanto 1.0 TGDI model onwards in the near future, either that or a I20N!

 

[Cold Sausage]

Wow. This is the first confirmation the 1.0 is both port and direct injected. We speculated about it but never could find anything definitive. Now I wish (as an Aussie living in a state with terrible roads) they would package this engine in models that were designed for comfort, not sportiness. I'd love the base model Picanto with its 14 inch wheels and "comfort" suspension to be offered with this engine mated to the 4 speed auto.

 

[Greybeard2]

Bluespark Tuning Box now installed.. Still running it on the factory "C" setting and must say, I am impressed with the overall feel of the car.

It seemed to take about 100 Km to settle in, which surprised me initially. Might simply be the ECU had to also adapt to the switch from 91 RON up to 98 RON fuel. The car performs well and is heaps more usable at even lower RPM than before. Previously 70 KPH was minimum speed for 5th gear, now more like 60 KPH is manageable. Nothing is brutal about the tune, it just achieves good results across the entire rev range and is smooth and quicker overall.

Fuel economy in city driving seems still excellent, possibly due to the increased torque and use of lower revs. Fuel economy is noticeable better on really short trips, where consumption was previously surprisingly high, (just for first few Km, till motor warmed up).

Took me about an hour to install, as I took some time to find a way to feed boost cable with it two plugs down to lower connector. Eventually I used a poly tube to find clear route and then taped boost cable to that, and it pulled down and through. Second time round I am sure it will be easier.

I look forward to trying settings "D" and "E" in the next few weeks.

 

[bello01]

Bluespark Tuning Box now installed.. Still running it on the factory "C" setting and must say, I am impressed with the overall feel of the car.

It seemed to take about 100 Km to settle in, which surprised me initially. Might simply be the ECU had to also adapt to the switch from 91 RON up to 98 RON fuel. The car performs well and is heaps more usable at even lower RPM than before. Previously 70 KPH was minimum speed for 5th gear, now more like 60 KPH is manageable. Nothing is brutal about the tune, it just achieves good results across the entire rev range and is smooth and quicker overall.

Fuel economy in city driving seems still excellent, possibly due to the increased torque and use of lower revs. Fuel economy is noticeable better on really short trips, where consumption was previously surprisingly high, (just for first few Km, till motor warmed up).

Took me about an hour to install, as I took some time to find a way to feed boost cable with it two plugs down to lower connector. Eventually I used a poly tube to find clear route and then taped boost cable to that, and it pulled down and through. Second time round I am sure it will be easier.

I look forward to trying settings "D" and "E" in the next few weeks.

Well done Dave. Enjoy it....Good to hear positive feedback for the 21 MY onwards.

 

[Greybeard2]

Now moved up to Map "D" . Low down similar to "C" but much improved mid throttle response. Map "C" might even be be a bit better at really low RPM. "D" seems to lift mid range and really picks up at 3000RPM. Think dyno curves really probably only shows full throttle figures, but the more typical driving situation, the mid throttle improvement is really nice.

 

[al_kaholik]

The area under the curves is what matters to most people. That is where you do your driving and the higher they move above the stock curve, the more power is available at the given rev range.

I’d still love to see what this could do on the 1.5Tgdi but with the rising fuel costs now is not the time for me to explore that!

 

[Greybeard2]

Some fuel economy feedback-
I do about monthly run to a sporting activity in the country and have taken readings before and after installing Bluespark tuning box.
I am now running on setting D and enjoying the car greatly with it's improved torque and easy improved daily driveablity.

Pre Bluespark run - 87.6 km, car computer claiming 5.2 l/100km and round trip duration 1hour 27 minutes.
With Bluespark run - 87.5 km, car computer claiming 5.1 l/100km and round trip duration 1hour 24 minutes.

Summary the difference on fuel consumption was very marginally better. Certainly best to simply say no deterioration in consumption, whilst enjoying a much more willing drive, so a very good and positive outcome overall.

 

[iooi]

The area under the curves is what matters to most people. That is where you do your driving and the higher they move above the stock curve, the more power is available at the given rev range.

I’d still love to see what this could do on the 1.5Tgdi but with the rising fuel costs now is not the time for me to explore that!

These boxes can actually increase MPG in certain situations due to better mapping.

 

[Back again]

These boxes can actually increase MPG in certain situations due to better mapping.

Just sales patter. The only way to improve mpg is to drive slower.

 

[al_kaholik]

Just sales patter. The only way to improve mpg is to drive slower.

Not true. Have you ever had a remap done professionally and driven the car in the same manner or at the same speeds?

These boxes can actually increase MPG in certain situations due to better mapping.

Agree. I had a remapped diesel for a long time. They respond very well and still deliver good mileage even when driven hard. The problem as always with a remap is being sensible once it’s done. Not something I can guarantee at the moment…

 

[BAWITHLOT]

I get 4.8L/100 out of mine currently with the VPower fitted and highest setting. The extra lowdown torque is the reason!

 

[Cold Sausage]

Just sales patter. The only way to improve mpg is to drive slower.

Makers of road cars will always build in a "safety" margin to accomodate poor / variable fuel quality, octane ratings below spec, bad driving habits (too high a gear, etc) and lack of servicing. As a result, they tend to be fairly conservative with advance curves which in turn reduces torque and power.

So yes, with a professional tune, the engine can run more advance over stock which translates to lower throttle settings to achieve the same outcome - at the expense of the owner needing to be more vigilant about servicing and buying good quality fuel.

Even in the very old days of carburettors I took my Corolla to get the same sort of thing done back in 1986 and economy improved noticeably (I was told the car got 6 kW more on their dyno which was not bad for a 49 kW normally aspirated car with a single carb). Felt a heck of a lot better to drive as well.

I honestly wish modern car makers could add a function to their internal header unit interface whereby the owner can acknowledge an "agreement" to let the engine run at design limits rather than conservative ones (so has a warnign about servicing, oil changes and fuel quality / octane, etc). Sort of like the higher end graphics cards of today with stock factory "overclocks" which are 100% stable, no durability compromises and simply allow the silicon to work at its potential.

 

[iooi]

One word "Emission's" that is why they will not.

 

[al_kaholik]

You can still get dealer/warranty approved tunes from some brands. VW and Ford spring to mind but I'm sure there are others.

I'll use VW as an example as its my previous bread and butter. The E888 comes in many forms of tune, which in general is just software. Very high power models get bigger turbos or different manifolds, but by and large its software tuning. Those high power engines meet emissions standards because of tolerances and being well built. Most of the same internals are used throughout a number of the power outputs in the range.

Same thing has been happening with digital cameras for years whereby its cheaper to build a single model and then change the software to unlock or lock features for different models.

 

[Cold Sausage]

One word "Emission's" that is why they will not.

True. In the Polish Picanto racing series a simple ECU modification, K&N intake and exhaust mod gave the 1.25 litre engine 74 kW instead of 62 kW. That is a lot with no actual mechanical modifications. But it obviously did not meet road going emission standards with those mods.

 

[Back again]

True. In the Polish Picanto racing series a simple ECU modification, K&N intake and exhaust mod gave the 1.25 litre engine 74 kW instead of 62 kW. That is a lot with no actual mechanical modifications. But it obviously did not meet road going emission standards with those mods.

To get that kind of increase on a N/A engine with only simple mods is going to need some serious ignition advance and that will require some special fuel to prevent the engine turning into a grenade.

 

[BAWITHLOT]

To get that kind of increase on a N/A engine with only simple mods is going to need some serious ignition advance and that will require some special fuel to prevent the engine turning into a grenade.

Nothing special at all for 12kW, It is the same basic formula we have been using for years, Air, spark, fuel and exhaust. If you improve or modify those on any engine then you get a power increase. I have an Australian car that went from 220kW to 220 rwkW through just induction, exhaust and map modification. Car is still going strong a after modification and now has 199K on he clock!

 

[Cold Sausage]

To get that kind of increase on a N/A engine with only simple mods is going to need some serious ignition advance and that will require some special fuel to prevent the engine turning into a grenade.

I strongly suspect (though I have no proof) that Kia deliberately dull down the top end performance of their engines in the pursuit of official (and unofficial) fuel economy and emissions targets. Those Polish competition Kias are nothing special and they were certainly not even remotely hand grenades. The fuel was the same fuel sold for cars on the road. The stock engines are simply sealed and that is that. The power gain is simply because the engine is not throttled down in torque delivery above around 5,500 RPM unlike the road car. Those extra 12 kW come in during the last 1,000 RPM compared to the road legal engines. The torque curve up to around 5,500 was more or less comparable to the road car though slightly higher due to running very slightly more advance plus the intake and exhaust mods.

 

[Jon_H_GT]

True. In the Polish Picanto racing series a simple ECU modification, K&N intake and exhaust mod gave the 1.25 litre engine 74 kW instead of 62 kW. That is a lot with no actual mechanical modifications. But it obviously did not meet road going emission standards with those mods.

Please do you have any more info on the details of those modifications, suppliers etc., or a link please? I've been looking for info on these Platinum Cup cars but not found anything useful. Understand much of it is probably only relevant to competition cars but still of interest.