TME ECU upgrade
 

I have a '96 manual 855R.

I am thinking of getting the TME ECU upgrade with stainless cat back exhaust.

Has anyone done this to an 850/ 855R?

How useable is the extra 45bhp, can you feel it in acceleration, torque etc?

Will it affect the life of the engine- currantly 85K miles?

I am getting 21mpg is this likely to altered significantly?

Basicaly £1000 is alot of money, is it worth it?

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

If it was me and I was spending that kind of cash, I'd put the AP brakes on before I did anything to improve the performance.

Frankly, the car's fast enough - it's the brakes that aren't up to the job.

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

Agreed Simon!

Already done that, within six months of ownership as the standard brakes were awful.

Managed to get a kit off the 'For Sale forum' for £360- my biggest ever bargain!!

Just need more speed }>

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

Fitting a manual boost controller will give you extra power and wont be a £1000 , obviously its not the intelligent solution but for £30 you cant really go wrong as it spins up the turbo faster than std and boosts hard low down , your right foot is the boost limiter !. there are other ways - like a bleed valve or having a unichip fitted as that is so versatile.

i can send you installation pics on a T5 .

regards Dave Slater

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

Have a look on my website www.Kalmar-Union.com

I have the full stainless steel exhaust systems in stock. NEW PRICES
£380 plus VAT for the sports exhaust system from the cat back. £580 plus VAT for the very special downpipe with cat. Together, these will give arround 12bhp. On your earlier car, just the fitting and correct adjustment of my bleed valve kit (specially made for these cars £55 plus VAT) will give as good an improvement as ANY expensive ECU upgrade.

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

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RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

Phil,

Sorry we have not been able to get back to you in the last couple of days. Your assumptions re TME products are wrong. Firstly the TME upgrade is NOT repeat NOT a chip it is a re-mapping of the Volvo ECU which is wholly undetectable either by the ODB2 diagnostics or visually.

If the upgrade is installed without an appropriate CAT back exhaust, Stainless or Mild Steel, the CAT will over heat causing irreparable damage. When combined with the appropriate TME CAT back exhaust the power increase is at approximately 50hp.

You refer to evidence please look at www.tme.se or the appropriate page in our brochure which shows both power and torque curves for standard 855R and TME modified 855R.

The additional advantage of the TME over some (probably most) chips is that if after installation you further modify the engine the TME product will sense the modifications a react accordingly whereas often the chip will not without further interference from the installer. Additionally there is no soldering required, no piggy back chip and no physical interference with the components.

I researched the various options before I had my car tuned and went for the TME options as the most reliable and power productive of all the products on the market. I was so impressed that as is now known we took on the TME distributorship. Since then the car has travelled 50,000 miles without missing a beat.

In addition we have many satisfied customers including serving police officers.

Additionally whilst testimonials can be misleading when selectively quoted comments such as "Wow" and "the best £1000 I have ever spent" are comments received from just two of our customers.

Happy to post you a brochure if it helps,

Sentley

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

Sentley, I've posted frequently about the necessity to adopt a holistic approach to tuning complex vehicles like the 850/70, especially when you are considering reliability.

The downside is of course cost - but £1K is still cheaper than a few hundred followed by a blown or damaged engine or ancillaries.

The other downside is the rapacious nature of insurers - even the mildest tuning additions such as air filters attract punitive extra premiums, god knows what a 50hp hike would do to your policy!

I do NOT advocate failing to inform the insurers, even if the modifications are as invisible as you say; if there is an accident with injury involved, your vehicle records may be siezed by the courts, which of course would show that the vehicle had been tuned without the knowledge of the insurers.

As a lawyer, I'm sure that you will agree that honesty is the best - if the most expensive - policy in this case.

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

Hi Sentley,

Firsty - good to hear from you, its been a while!

My point on the thread was about the gain stated, rather than the mod itself. I understand completely that it is a re-map, and I understand the need for the cat back exhaust. I also made it very clear that I wasnt dissing TME!

I know that the TME stuff is quality gear, and that the gain will be substantial - I stated that in my original post. My surprise was at the quoted figure of 45BHP - thats all.

I've visited the TME website on many occasions - infact you will see that it has been on the links page from <www.t5r.org> for some time, along with Swecar Tuning.

All the Best!

Phil :-)

RE: TME ECU upgrade
 

I'm one of those very satisfied Police officers !!- keep the good work up Sentley!