re chipping Toyota Hilux

sh1kar

Well-Known Member
I have had my Hilux for 14 months now, gone thru one service and very happy 3l Invincible. I have seen a few forums and threads here regarding re chipping. I am seriously considering this to get

1. better fuel economy - 11k miles on I am getting 24-27 (max on long trips) mpg. I am not heavy right footed
2. bit more power would be good

What experience do people have? I am particularly interested in

How do they work/stress the engine etc?
What performance improvements have you experienced?
Do they impact warranty?
Do they impact insurance?
Where do you get them - somebody mentioned Lindop Toyota and where fitted?

Appreciate your comments

thanks

David
 
I have an 08 plate HL3 which has only done 34k, and I recently enquired with one of the companies who offer these things, and believe it or not, he talked me out of it.
Basically saying that until an engine like that has done over 50-60k you wont be getting the best out of it anyway, so little point. secondly, he also said that any company that was selling their product on the grounds of fuel efficiency was talking nonsense, as that side of things comes down almost entirely to how you drive, and not what they have done, under the bonnet. He basically said you could increase horse power etc, but that is will vary from one car to the next as to how effective that is on fuel consumption.
Like I say, he was a salesman, and was completely not pushing me, just giving me the facts and basically saying its not worth it. That said, I know others who swear by them.......??????
Mine is the 3lt auto and is comfortably getting the good side of 30mpg and more out of a long run (somewhere around 500 miles to a full tank). its running on road tyres though, which will make a difference...

(I had also been recommended lindop Toyota by someone who swears by his chip/remap whatever it was, worth giving them a call perhaps....also worth considering that not all insurance companies will touch you if you have had a car chipped, others don't care, but expect premiums to go up a fair bit...)
 
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I mentioned the Lindop chip in a post so...

61 plate Invincible Auto.

1. Sitting on a motorway at the legal limit the on board computer gives me 36 mpg ish average.
Around town and commuting I get around 30 mpg.
This generally gives me 350 - 400 miles per tank.

2. The extra power is very noticeable and useful especially acceleration.

Lindop will tell you that the engine is not pushed above its design parameters, in 40,000 miles I have no reason to disbelieve this (see comment on fuel filter warning below). Not sure how they work.

I took it off for servicing to save a discussion on warranty issues didn't bother last service as it is out of warranty now.

I told my insurance company that I was having one fitted, they didn't charge me any extra and said it was noted on the policy.

Fitted it myself, tools needed 10 mm socket and cutters to trim wire ties. Extra components, wire ties and for me a small sheet of foam to trap the unit between the battery and the body. Takes 10 minutes the second time you do it!

The only issue I have is the fuel filter warning light came on and the vehicle went into limp mode took the unit off and had Toyota look at the vehicle, they couldn't find a fault, cleaned the fuel filter reset the warning light. Ran for a while without problems then refitted chip, after a couple of months the same problem occurred, I reset the warning light and again the light came on. I have left the warning light on and will replace the filter shortly.

Bought it from Lindop Toyota as as stated for £375 iirc.
 
Another vote for the Lindop Toyota Chip which has an adjustable power switch to choose the power levels

I'm getting an average of 33 and a tanks lasting between 470-500 miles

As regards the limp mode have you tried using a lower setting as suggested in the instruction sheet ?
 
I have chipped 2 cars now, neither a Toyota I'm afraid.

One is a Defender 90, 15 years old with 80,000 on the clock. Chip has been on there since about 40,000. It's switchable from 130bhp to 190bhp, so it's interesting to compare the differences. I get about 5% better consumption when it's set to 130bhp, probably because I enjoy the 190 setting too much. In 190 mode it's great. Lots of power - unusual for a Landie.

The Audi was recently chipped. Gone from 235 to 285. On a long trip I get an extra 1mpg. Around town I get about the same as before. But again, it's much for fun to drive with the chip.

If you want to do it for economy, I would say forget it. If you want a bit of fun and a much more capable vehicle when towing up hills or loaded up, then it's a good thing to do.

Just my experience of it.
 
Re chipping and Re mapping are two completely different ways of achieving the same thing, a re map is much more preferable than a chip as it fine tunes your particular engine to run at its optimum, with a chip you will get increased performance and possibly better fuel consumption with a map you will get both, Not sure whether your particular model of Hilux can be re-mapped but if it can i would take this over a chip every time.
 
I've chipped my last 5 cars, 4 of them from new. Driven 450,000 chipped miles. Zero issues (1 chip failed, but quickly replaced under warranty). Very noticeable power gains, but absolutely zero difference to fuel consumption. Ive always told insurance, no effect on premiums. Ive always removed before servicing etc - probably voids warranties.
 
Re chipping and Re mapping are two completely different ways of achieving the same thing, a re map is much more preferable than a chip as it fine tunes your particular engine to run at its optimum, with a chip you will get increased performance and possibly better fuel consumption with a map you will get both, Not sure whether your particular model of Hilux can be re-mapped but if it can i would take this over a chip every time.

This is quite correct, however in some instances where remapping is the choice it may not be reversible unless you have a programmer/fuel controller or swap out the ECU
 
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Another vote for the Lindop Toyota Chip which has an adjustable power switch to choose the power levels.

As regards the limp mode have you tried using a lower setting as suggested in the instruction sheet ?

Tried everything from level 6 upwards, I'm guessing I've used some dodgy fuel and the filter is very slightly blocked. Performance is still good.
 
Ive chipped both of my Hilux trucks and fitted them to a few of my mates too I got mine off ebay its called blue spark £124 it works very well im very pleased with the power increase and fuel consumption is a lot better :)
 
Custom re-map for you car is really the only sensible way forward.
You tell the man what you want to improve, where you want the extra power and torque, and how much.
All engines are individuals, the factory settings are designed to get the the vehicle through emissions testing
and to keep drive by noise down, what they don't do is produce smooth and even power delivery along with sensible MPG.

Neil. :)
 
I have had several cars with remaps and modifications
driving one now!
lot of smoke and mirrors when it comes to a new file for engine management

chipping and "mapping" are just two ways of delivering a new software file to your car's ECU.
they are in effect the same thing

Chipping tends to be done on cars that do not have a writeable ECU

"Mapping" through OBD ports is done when your car has a "flashable" or "writeable" EPROM (Erasable Programmable Read Only Memory)... like a USB flash drive
Some "tuners" use piggy back systems which will sit in series with the ECU and alter the output

The actual file that is uploaded (either physically through soldering or refitting a chip, or remotely through OBD flash) is usually a generic re-engineering of the cars OEM engine management

On turbo cars it can remove aspects that are put in place to protect the engine by running overly rich and also remove limits to control emissions.

Unless you have other physical modifications on exhaust, intakes, cams or turbos this is all you will ever get and need


Custom "tunes" to take advantage of higher boost capabilities or lower intake/exhaust temps can be delivered much more easily through a EPROM system and require you mapping to be done "live" whilst on a rolling road and plugged into the OBD system
the logs produced allow for the tuner to tweak the map to request the maximum performance

99.9% of the maps out there are generic and "off the shelf"


anyone who says they get better mileage from a tuned car is lying!
You might in theory but you ALWAYS drive them harder as you now have more power!
 
anyone who says they get better mileage from a tuned car is lying!
You might in theory but you ALWAYS drive them harder as you now have more power!

Really, Oh well you know best it seems, so explain the following.
Average fuel consumption 63mpg, except in winter when it drops to 44mpg.
Post re-map average 68mpg all year round.
Pre re-map best ever mpg was 71mpg, post re-map 84mpg.

Neil. :)
 
There are both addon's and remaps that specifically increase mpg, also actually tuning a factory engine to run more efficiently will offer better fuel economy, then again NOT driving like my grandma or Lewis Hamilton will also save on fuel...
 
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I've been doing an experiment at work, one if the lads reakons I won't beat his consumption as my lorry is 360bhp to his 340, but I'm managing to just about average 10mpg, where he is getting 7.7mpg, it's ALL down to driving style. My sedate driving adds 10 mins to the whole day but saves massively on fuel, doing the same work.
 
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