# Re-mapped Fiat 2.8jtd 2002/3 by Boosters



## nicholsong

I had my Fiat 2.8jtd re-mapped by Alex who trades as Boosters. 

He offers two versions an Italian off-the-shelf one for about 250 quid and his own programme for 350. He came from East Anglia to meet us at Peterborough Services. He plugs his computer into the 16-pin(?) diagnostic socket and it took 20-25 mins. (plus another 20 mins for him to get a signal for his portable credit-card reader!)

He quotes figures of an increase of 35% in BHP and 30% in torque. Less for the Italian one.

I have no way of verifying those figures but all I can say is that the MH goes like **** off the proverbial shovel. I can now cruise up hills in the high-ratio 5th gear, using 2200rpm at 65mph. Overtaking is also much easier as I do not have to wait for a 500 metre gap before pulling out. This all makes decision making much easier and I do not have the frustration of seeing the revs and speed drop off, or having to drop down a gear and revving to keep the speed, so driving is much more relaxing and pleasurable.

Even a slower speeds I am often one gear higher than before, e.g. 4th on bigger roundabouts.

Alex showed me the power profile on his computer screen before and after the re-map and whereas before there had been a 'flat spot' at 2000 rpm it now has a higher and level reading from low up to high rpm.

Although the re-map was not specifically for increased mpg, Alex advised that it would achieve this by virtue of being able to use higher gears. I have driven 1,100 miles since it was done and the mpg has increased from 23mpg to 26mpg for mixed driving and to 27mpg on mostly Autobahn cruising at 63-65mph.

Had I had the re-map done when I bought the Arto 4 years ago I would already have saved the cost.

I know some people with my base vehicle have fitted a lower-ratio 5th gear and I had contemplated that but with the re-map the power now matches the ratio.

In addition it has cut down journey times a bit and has made driving much more relaxing.

I can thoroughly recommend doing this re-map.

Geoff


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## teemyob

Hi,

I have had a remap from Superchips, not the motorhome mind.

They claim 40% power and torque boost and money back MPG improvement for Turbo Diesel drivers.

I have to say it feels more powerful, not 40% mind.

But MPG has become very erratic, failing to attain more than previously so far. And we have done around 2,000 miles since.

TM


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## eurajohn

Hi Geoff good to hear that you are pleased with the result.
Assuming that your van was the standard 127hp version you are now up to 171hp very impressive (the best Fiat could manage on that engine was 146).
I have no idea what records you use to obtain your MPG figures but for a van the size of yours maintaining around 65mph the 27mpg is amazing to say the least.
With the 30% torque increase and the 35% horse power increase be gentle with your driving style or you will find the clutch will not cope.


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## nicholsong

John

Thanks for the warning - I am aware that the re-mapping can put a load on the drive-train in general, but as i drive quite conservatively I hope to not overstrain it, including the clutch.

As far as Fiat's quoted bhp, I am given to understand that there settings a downrated to cope with third-world diesel, so maybe they could be higher ex-factory but Fiat have no way of knowing final destination.

Alex says he does uprate vehicles for dealers who advertise a higher power version of their vehicles - for which they charge about 1,800 quid.

The mpg was full tank to full tank, including inserting the pump nozzle to the same pont and 'blipping' it to ensure same fill. The 27 mpg was probably only achieved because most of it was on Autobahns across the North European plain from Chemnitz to Katowice so pretty flat(and boring)

If I get 25-26mpg I shall be happy.

Geoff


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## TheNomad

Good luck with living with the increase; but I'm thinking that a 30% torque increase on the Manufacturers spec really is a MASSIVE extra amount of strain to put on all mechanical parts of the entire engine and drive train....clutch, drive shafts, UJ's.

You might find that the clutch isn't able to cope with that for too long....I've seen a lot of posts elsewhere from people who've had their clutches expire not long after such engine remapping.


Was you insurance company OK about the power upgrade? Did they charge any extra premium?


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## wakk44

Initially I was also very pleased with the remap on the last truck-a 2.8 JTD.However,I had to have the clutch replaced with only 20,000 miles on the clock so I can only echo the above advice,be careful with the drivetrain.


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## locrep

Alex showed me the power profile on his computer screen before and after the re-map and whereas before there had been a 'flat spot' at 2000 rpm it now has a higher and level reading from low up to high rpm. 

Was this information recorded on a rolling road ? Amazing increase in power, Fiat should be ashamed of their R&D department.

Dave.


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## TheNomad

TBH I don't think Fiat should be ashamed at all. 

They have the impossible task of balancing power versus torque, versus mpg versus reliability versus longevity versus cost; and have to sell the base vehicle to perhaps 20 or 30 countries, to be used in a million different ways by 10 million lead-footed white-van-man drivers.

We need to keep in mind that these are commercial vehicles. 
They are designed to be thrashed to death for 100,000 miles per year for three or four years; and in the main will be bought and run by big fleet operators, with a VERY critical eye on overall whole-life running costs.


The number of sales that Fiat manages to achieve in that very competitive marketplace, year after year, tells me that they've got that balance between all those conflicting factors just about spot on.


You don't get 30% more bhp, or 30% more torque, without paying a price somewhere else in the engineering scheme of things. 
Run an engine and drive train that was designed to be very reliable when loaded with 130bhp, at 170bhp instead for any great length of time, and my guess is you're going to find out where in the mechanicals that price-to-pay manifests itself.

If you want a luxurious powerful vehicle, buy a BMW etc. 

What you've actually bought is a basic, commercial vehicle.
A very very extensively researched and designed commercial vehicle, by some of the best automotive engineers on the planet, with access to tens of millions of euros in R & D budget.
But your MH is still simply a basic white-van with a caravan body bolted on to the back. That's all it was ever designed to be.

They are very very very reliable if kept to the design spec that those engineers spent years and tens of millions in designing and extensively testing.

Horses for courses, but personally I'm very happy to chug around in my white-van within the bhp and torque envelope that all those professional designers and builders engineered into it for reliability and component longevity.


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## nicholsong

locrep said:


> Alex showed me the power profile on his computer screen before and after the re-map and whereas before there had been a 'flat spot' at 2000 rpm it now has a higher and level reading from low up to high rpm.
> 
> Was this information recorded on a rolling road ? Amazing increase in power, Fiat should be ashamed of their R&D department.
> 
> Dave.


No.


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## blackbirdbiker

Alex did my Hymer B584 2.8 jtd neary 4 years ago. I did over 3000 miles on a Europe trip and the findings were very poor to say the least.
We started at Dunkirk with a full tank and after 2 refills we wern't happy, as previously we got 28mpg now it had gone down to 22mpg, sure we had plenty of power but at what cost??.

Half way through the trip I phoned Alex and told him my findings and straight away he said he would sort it out when we got back home. Anyway 3 times over the next 2 years we had different settings and still poor mpg so I asked him to put back the original mapping and this year we were gettin 28.5 mpg on our French trip so that solved the poor economy.

I have to say Alex was very helpful and willing to do all he could for our us.

Now we have sold the Hymer and have a Burstner on the later Fiat and I will not be remapping.  

Keith


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## wilse

Well we had ours remapped back in 2010 with Boosters.
Not a Fiat but a renault.

The drive before was awful.
I'm very happy with what boosters did, and have had no issues.
It's not 100% perfect, but it's a Renault not a Porsche!

If you want to see what was done, [fancy graph] here is my old link.

http://www.motorhomefacts.com/ftopict-86172-.html

As for MPG ours didn't really get any better, 26-28mpg but Alex said it wouldn't improve this anyway.

w


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## TheNomad

Wilse - just had a look at the "fancy graph" he gave you.....thanks for showing it.

But I'm wondering why only the very top portion of the graph is shown. The "Y" axis should go right down to zero.

Someone has cut out all the rest of the graph below that little top part....is this possibly to imply that the "new" versus "old" increase is proportionally much bigger than it actually is?

Also, I'm not clear on what the "Y" axis is actually measuring....I think it says "Load", but I don't understand what that means. How is his kit measuring/defining "Load"?
In other power graphs I've seen it's BHP, which is a much clearer and empirically prove-able measure.

Was that small part of the whole graph that you've published actually the only part that he supplied you with?


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## bubble63

nicholsong said:


> John
> 
> Thanks for the warning - I am aware that the re-mapping can put a load on the drive-train in general, but as i drive quite conservatively I hope to not overstrain it, including the clutch.
> 
> As far as Fiat's quoted bhp, I am given to understand that there settings a downrated to cope with third-world diesel, so maybe they could be higher ex-factory but Fiat have no way of knowing final destination.
> 
> Alex says he does uprate vehicles for dealers who advertise a higher power version of their vehicles - for which they charge about 1,800 quid.
> 
> The mpg was full tank to full tank, including inserting the pump nozzle to the same pont and 'blipping' it to ensure same fill. The 27 mpg was probably only achieved because most of it was on Autobahns across the North European plain from Chemnitz to Katowice so pretty flat(and boring)
> 
> If I get 25-26mpg I shall be happy.
> 
> Geoff


hi geoff

had a simular job done by alex with the same outcome

much better 6th gear and mpg has gone from 20mpg to 23mpg 18%

well pleased

watching the clutch 

neill


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## wilse

In fairness, I can't quite remember, as it's been 3 years.

I saw other stats on the laptop. If memory serves the BHP increase was around 30 BHP.

However after having driven both pre and post boosters, you don't need the graphs to show you what's what.

The WOW power remap had a bit more oomph, but it chucked smoke out like bad chimney. This is why I went to Boosters.

The thing that really surprised me was the quietness of the engine, and most hills are tackled in 5th, whereas before we were looking at 3rd/4th.

As for clutch wear, this is difficult to know. We've done 30k with this, and all is good so far. I would expect the clutch on a commercial vehicle to last fairly well regardless of remapping.

Driving styles may have a lot more to do with clutch life.


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## nicholsong

wilse said:


> In fairness, I can't quite remember, as it's been 3 years.
> 
> I saw other stats on the laptop. If memory serves the BHP increase was around 30 BHP.
> 
> However after having driven both pre and post boosters, you don't need the graphs to show you what's what.
> 
> The WOW power remap had a bit more oomph, but it chucked smoke out like bad chimney. This is why I went to Boosters.
> 
> The thing that really surprised me was the quietness of the engine, and most hills are tackled in 5th, whereas before we were looking at 3rd/4th.
> 
> As for clutch wear, this is difficult to know. We've done 30k with this, and all is good so far. I would expect the clutch on a commercial vehicle to last fairly well regardless of remapping.
> 
> Driving styles may have a lot more to do with clutch life.


I agree with 'wilse' the graphs and how they displayed are not important but the improved performance is noticeable and although he has 30K experience my 1K experience is the same - i.e. that most hills can now be taken in 5th instead of 4th/3rd.

30 bhp increase is what Alex stated to me.

Geoff


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## claypigeon

I had my 2.3 engine remapped by boosters then I got through two clutches within 15,000 miles when I had the third clutch fitted by a Fiat expert he said it was a miracle that I hadn't wrecked the gearbox and driveshafts as the engine had far too much power. The third clutch was uprated with stronger springs.

Dave


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## gavinskii

nicholsong said:


> I had my Fiat 2.8jtd re-mapped by Alex who trades as Boosters.


I also have an 2002 2.8JTD, is yours the direct injection engine or the later common rail?


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## nicholsong

gavinskii said:


> nicholsong said:
> 
> 
> 
> I had my Fiat 2.8jtd re-mapped by Alex who trades as Boosters.
> 
> 
> 
> I also have an 2002 2.8JTD, is yours the direct injection engine or the later common rail?
Click to expand...

My understanding is the the designation jtd' is for the common rail and that previous one was something like 'itd', but that would need confirmation by somebody else.

Geoff


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## eurajohn

gavinskii, the JTD is a common rail.
claypigeoen says his van is a 2.3 so will be the later multipoint version which is basically a refined development of the single rail concept.


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## TheNomad

"idtd" stands for "Injection Direct Turbo Diesel".

"JTD" stands for "uniJet Turbo Diesel"



The first, "idtd" version of the 2.8 turbo diesel engine had "simple" mechanically driven fuel injection. Produced from 1994 to 1999.

But the later (from 1999 to 2006) 2.8 "JTD" version has a common-rail (hence the name "uniJet"), electronically (ECU) controlled fuel injection system.




They just stuck an "S" on the end of the engine type code to differentiate these second generation "JTD" 2.8 turbo diesel engines engines from the first generation "idtd" engines:- the idtd engine has the code 8140.43 and the JTD engine has the code 8140.43S


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## eurajohn

Production years do not necessarily correspond to registration years, I had a 2001 reg that was pre JTD.

Base vehicle will often sit around before conversion and also stick on dealer forecourts before registration.

I had a rather heated difference of opinion with a well thought of (on this forum) trader at a show a good few years ago when wishing to buy a cruise control from him, he was adamant that my 2001 reg van could definitely not have a throttle cable, he was rather rude and in the end insisted on showing me how wrong I was, so off to my van we trudged only for him to hum and ha a bit then to say well I've never seen that before, I asked if he was going to apologise to which his reply was do you want to buy a unit or not, after his attitude I said not from you and went to Conrad Anderson who were superb, although slightly more expensive.


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## TheNomad

Eurojohn - totally agree.

The check-test for what type of 2.8 turbo diesel engine you've got is NOT the first road-registration date of the motorhome (which could be a year ir more AFTER the chassis cab rolled off the PSA production line and was then sold to a Motorhome converter).


The easy check-test for any owner is just to look at the engine code number for the individual vehicle, which should be on your registration documents, and is also actually stamped on the engine block.
If there's no "S" at the end of the number this means it's a 2.8 idtd engine, an "S" at the end of the engine block number means it's a 2.8 JTD engine.


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