by nickoslux on Wed, 15 Aug 2012 4:05 +0000
I bought a 2012 dual cab SR5 in May and was a little disappointed to say the least with the engine, it accelerated quite well as long as the revs were up but it lacked that low down grunt i expect from a turbo diesel, (read: hopeless for towing). I had a Rodeo 05 before that and i know it has less power and torque but it is geared accordingly and you could tow with it all day with very few gear changes, those Isuzu motors sound like a tim full of marbles but they just keep on going
I reckon this Hilux its a bit overgeared for the amount of torque the engine has, after all these are suposed to be a workhorse not a racehorse, on the gearing does anyone know if the gearing is any different on the sr to sr5 as the sr5 has 17" wheels and the tyres measure nearly 31 inches and the sr/workmates have 15's and they measure 29". Are the diff ratios the same.
Anyway i bought a chip (the fuel rail pressure type, don't really want to name it) but was sadly dissapointed with it, there was only one setting i could feel or time any extra performance and it chuffed out black smoke like an old jallopy.
So i sent it back for a refund, and then installed a Beaudesert exhaust, that made a small difference, the engine felt a bit freer and seemed to rev a little easier. Then i decided to try a Steinbauer chip. Wow what a difference, it still doesn't nail you to the seat (it is a 4cyl diesel after all) but a noticable difference it is, it has much more low down lugging power than it had, much less gear changing, so much better to drive. Was a bit concerned about the extra fuel consumption but just did a full tank, approx 150kms around town, 30 mins low range in heavy sand and the rest highway and the fuel light came on at 740kms. Pretty happy with that. So far i can't fault this chip it has made the vehicle so much better to drive. I know there are chips out there making claims of 50% or more increases, but the steinbauer says 20% and i think it is every bit of that, very impressed, and i couldn't find any negative issues on these on any forum.