MK3 Focus Sport Diesel - Tuned

Nolz · 15-07-2012, 03:42 PM

Torque before - 296nm. Torque after - 370nm
Power befre - 95kW. Power after - 110km.

I've come from a reasonably quick FG XR6T so I'm not unfamiliar with the tuning world. However with the Focus I wanted to take it easy, I've got no.1 bub on the way and to be honest I wasn't prepared to pour as much money into the Focus as I did the XR6.
I made a few inquiries and did a bit of googling and made the purchase of a bluefin tuning unit. Despite making mention of my make and model on a few occasions I was given what turned out to be the bluefin for the previous TDCI Focus. Result....no go. I returned the unit and got my money back.

By this time I was getting real antsy so I made a few inquiries and it turned out that Tunehouse in Marrickville had the software ready to rock and roll

By this time I had managed to save up the $1899 required and just couldn't hold back. Knowing how much a tune can wake up a stock car I was expecting a lot.

Jim at Tunehouse didn't fail to deliver. Peak torque and power figures certainly aren't anything to brag about however the you need only look at the graph to see where the biggest gains were made. What figures and graphs don't let you know is how buttery smooth the motor has become, as a result the DSG is now almost flawless. Jim has dialled out the peaky nature of the turbo in standard form and its power is now damn near seamless, its just a wave of torque that just keeps pulling. Its silly to say however it feels as if there's a mini V8 under the bonnet, probably the only way I can describe how the power is delivered.

Jim said this was a reasonably conservative tune to ensure that no check lights come on and it retains the reliability of the DPF as if it were stock.

It wasn't cheap however I did get a loan car and I can rest assured that the FOCUS has been tuned by someone that is as particular with his customers cars as he would be with his own. After talking to the team there, there's no denying that there is a real passion for motorvehicles. It's not just a pay cheque for them.

I was surprised to see how little drivetrain loss there was with the power and torque figures.

Questions are welcome. www.tunehouse.com.au come highly reccomended and I can't say well enough how pleased I am with the result. I've used other tuners before which were GOOD. Tunehouse however is another level of

Franco Cozzo · 15-07-2012, 04:53 PM

Awesome, is that a remap, not a plug in chip?

I'm looking at getting mine remapped but I have some other mods already. Looks like this is the benchmark for us.

Its impressive, the sheer amount of torque its picked up from 1800 revs, thats what I'm after, not an overall high number but improve how it comes.

Nolz · 15-07-2012, 07:22 PM

Custom Re-map whilst on the dyno. Not a generic plug in tune.

My car is stock apart from a 2.5" DPF back exhaust. So Damo, I'd imagine your results will be even better. If you've spent some money on mods already I do think a custom dyno tune is the way you make the most of it.

This is my 3rd tuned car so I understand there's a lot more to it than peak figures. I can't emphasize enough how much better the cars power delivery has changed. Seamless comes to mind and smooth, oh so smooth through the whole rev range. I know there's not much of it but he's worked on the whole usable 4000rpm's to make sure it stays strong and consistent all the way through.

Turbodiesel · 15-07-2012, 11:43 PM

That looks impressive Nolz, I didn't know tunehouse did diesels.

I know Bluefin doesn't have any software for the new models so that's good you found an alternative though.

How long did it take? Just an upload and away you go or did he have to spend some time tweaking?

That's a pretty hefty price but it sounds like it was worth it

Nolz · 16-07-2012, 09:21 AM

It is a lot of money, in fact as compared to the old turbo falcon it's probably $500+ more expensive for an equivalent dyno tune. But these guys are a lot more thorough from what I can see.

The car is on the dyno the whole time, it's run, its tweaked and its run again and so on until the numbers and results are what the tuner is after. Jim was working on my car well into Friday night (I think the base dyno run was done at about 830pm!). So it's not just a plug and play, its a tune unique and customised to my particular vehicle.

In fact I'm so impressed with their dedication I'm going to give the Ford dealers the flick and take my car to Tunehouse exclusively.

I dropped the car off on Thursday night after work (6ish) and was back there to pick it up on Saturday afternoon 3pm. I don't think they got stuck into it til Friday night/Sat day.

Executer · 16-07-2012, 05:39 PM

Mate, is the graph in rear wheel power? if so, thats really nice. Cant wait to get mine done.

Franco Cozzo · 16-07-2012, 06:01 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Executer

Mate, is the graph in rear wheel power? if so, thats really nice. Cant wait to get mine done.

Rear wheel drive Focus?

Its front wheel power

Nolz · 16-07-2012, 06:31 PM

Definitely at the front hubs.

The first bum dragger I'm actually happy to own and drive.

**DJM83** · 16-07-2012, 07:04 PM

TH are pretty pricey for tunes thats for sure, i know XR5 tunes are bloody expensive, dont think id ever go there and if i want a custom tune im glad i live in QLD.
Long as your happy with it.

ConradP · 16-07-2012, 07:10 PM

Wish the NA focus benefited this much from a tune.