Moose to Gazelle - The 79 ute has been chipped

I have just had the performance moderations made to the ute in that a 3.5 inch Taipan exhaust was fitted together with a chip and an EGT gauge. The fitment of the exhaust was not without its difficulties due to the stretch and the confining nature of the big rear tank but it was all made to fit in the end. The overall change has been absolutely incredible. It’s gone from Moose to Gazelle. It freakin FLIES! I have had it tuned specifically to assist with the heavy weight of the vehicle and towing. The work was undertaken at Turbo engineering in Thomastown. They have used their own chip which is a complete tuning system as opposed to a fuel rail or fuel pulse module. Ray spends some 4 hours on the dyno with each fitment adjusting both fuel and boost to ensure all the planets align with the additions and to ensure that things can’t be over-fuelled (meaning more heat etc). As an interesting aside, for those who have posed the question in respect to the death zone for the V8 motors as far as Exhaust Gas Temperatures (EGT) are concerned 520C is NOT what you want to see on your gauge. 520 means you’ll be looking for a new motor real soon (EGT probe is aft of the turbo in this reading).

I will be writing it up in due course on the build blog but the immediately noticeable differences are;

-Wholly more responsive – It’s like driving a fully tuned petrol V8 (I kid you not, there is that much difference!)
-No flat spot when accelerating from standing start. Torque band is a lot wider . The vehicle just accelerates cleanly and powerfully.
-Much more acceleration on the highway. At 80 kph in 5th gear you can put the foot down and she climbs effortlessly upwards. Towing is going to be a dream as will dragging heavy loads up bloody high sand hills.
-It sounds a whole lot meaner at the back end with the 3 inch system and sports muffler (and this is important according to the crown prince!)

If this thing is tuned down, I’d be frightened to know what can be achieved with it bedded down and tuned right up. Quite simply these are one of the best mods I have ever made to a vehicle. If you were thinking of spending the dollars on this type of mod, do it but do your research and go to a recognised diesel expert. IMHO a simple plug and play fuel module is not what you want in your $70K ute.

Give me a week or two to drive her a while, decipher the dyno results and throw a load on behind her and I will give as comprehensive write-up as I can in the build blog.

Grinning like an 18 year old buck on “P” plates.

Mick ;-)