2018 Adria Coral 670 with 130 bhp uphill power or lack of it!

[Wingman123]

Just running in our new motorhome and recently took it to Newquay in Cornwall where I noticed that the slow hillclimbing ability.
Does this get better when fully run in or would it be advisable to remap to 150 bhp after warranty period?
Has anybody used a remap specialist for more power and what are the results in power increase/fuel economy?
Would be great to hear from any positive or negative stories.

 

[Kannon Fodda]

I read elsewhere on MHF that Fiat have indicated that they don’t consider the Ducato engines to be run in until perhaps 15,000 miles. Yes that is the right number of noughts. So your new engine may have some way to go before best performance is achieved.
But a MH is a big heavy lump. It’s not going to attack hills with the free spirit of a thoroughbred car. It will be all about getting the right gear, perhaps lower than you expect for higher revs. If you have the comfort matrix auto do engage the hill up button.

 

[TerryL]

We bought our 130bhp Ducato with 5000 miles on it - it took another 5000 before I noticed it slowly improving. Now got 118,000 miles on the clock and it runs a dream - think it may finally be "run-in"!

 

[Pops 1]

You think that’s slow, you should try my Burstner A class with the Fiat 100hp engine!!

 

[gpat]

Yes. It will get better when it frees up

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[Phill D]

yep it will improve. but for hills you want the Torque not so much the extra power.

my 2.3 130 has been professionally remaped ( after warranty) to 180 bhp and 420nm torque thats + 100nm

flies up hills.... done 20,000 miles since and would not go back.

ill get my coat now; before the clutch / engine mountings/ gearbox worrier comments come rolling in....... .

 

[cmcardle75]

My first van had 68bhp. Fiat Ducato 1.9D normally aspirated diesel! Exactly the same power as our Peugeot 107. I once towed a 1500kg caravan behind it (the van, not the 107!). I have to do research on the internet to be sure it would be able to do 56mph on the motorway beforehand. 4300kg total weight with 68bhp. I even managed to overtake some bimblers on single carriageway roads!

No need for cruise control. Just use the accelerator as a foot rest.

 

[Phill D]

oh and its an Adria Coral 670 2.3 2012 had it from new

 

[WESTY66]

yep it will improve. but for hills you want the Torque not so much the extra power.

my 2.3 130 has been professionally remaped ( after warranty) to 180 bhp and 420nm torque thats + 100nm

flies up hills.... done 20,000 miles since and would not go back.

ill get my coat now; before the clutch / engine mountings/ gearbox worrier comments come rolling in....... .

Don’t worry Phill, my Adria is 180bhp also, no worries there.....
But then again mine is the 3.0 auto

 

[Wingman123]

Thanks for all your input folks to the question to remap or not to remap.
I think Phil has convinced me but could I ask him and anybody else with the same engine, what was the effect on fuel economy and insurance premiums before and after. Also was the remap carried out by a recognised national organisation or just a one-off backstreet guy twiddling with his computer!

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[Spriddler]

flies up hills.... done 20,000 miles since and would not go back.

I'd say that was a gearbox fault and not a remapping issue.

 

[RustyRuss]

Phill D tell us more please! Where/who did you use for the re-map? How much to buy and install? Was it a “plug n play” system like the one I put in my old Peugeot 307? Does it genuinely have a re-map or does it inject more diesel per “squirt” from each injector?

Cheers!

Russ

 

[Boringfrog]

Thanks for all your input folks to the question to remap or not to remap.
I think Phil has convinced me but could I ask him and anybody else with the same engine, what was the effect on fuel economy and insurance premiums before and after. Also was the remap carried out by a recognised national organisation or just a one-off backstreet guy twiddling with his computer!

Got my 2.8jtd remapped by Celtic Tuning and while it has increased the available power if I hit a hill doing 65mph in fifth (5 speed box) it will slow down and need dropping to 4th, if I hit the same hill doing 75mph it will fly up. What gear and revs are you using to pull 3.5t uphill?

 

[Boringfrog]

Phill D tell us more please! Where/who did you use for the re-map? How much to buy and install? Was it a “plug n play” system like the one I put in my old Peugeot 307? Does it genuinely have a re-map or does it inject more diesel per “squirt” from each injector?

Cheers!

Russ

Put you reg in this site, gives you remap options.Link.

 

[Bernie P]

..... Fiat have indicated that they don’t consider the Ducato engines to be run in until perhaps 15,000 miles. ......

The Fiat commercial agent in Guildford told me 50,000 miles before it was properly run in. A years average mileage for a commercial vehicle.

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[RustyRuss]

Thanks Boringfrog, enquiry sent.

Russ

 

[Phill D]

Thanks for all your input folks to the question to remap or not to remap.
I think Phil has convinced me but could I ask him and anybody else with the same engine, what was the effect on fuel economy and insurance premiums before and after. Also was the remap carried out by a recognised national organisation or just a one-off backstreet guy twiddling with his computer!

nil insurance cost via Comfort ins, fuel economy is as i expect, i tend to do the 69mph cruise controlon and drive ( on motorways that is ) on a decent run id get 26 +mpg
remap was by Avon Tuning, small workshop with all the toys. very prffesional.

 

[Phill D]

Not plug and play a proper remap.
cost depends on what level of map you have.

go to Avon tunning web site and put in your vehicle type and it comes up

 

[Boringfrog]

Thanks Boringfrog, enquiry sent.

Russ

I got mine done a my local garage who are a Celtic franchise, paid about £250 a few years ago.

 

[Richard n Ann]

I'm surprised you find it slow. How fast do you drive on the motorway? Ours is 130bhp don't know the torque figure but it's got plenty of power, it would probably struggle holding 90mph but 70 is no problem, the only hills it slows down going up are in the pyrenees and they are very steep.

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[Wingman123]

Got my 2.8jtd remapped by Celtic Tuning and while it has increased the available power if I hit a hill doing 65mph in fifth (5 speed box) it will slow down and need dropping to 4th, if I hit the same hill doing 75mph it will fly up. What gear and revs are you using to pull 3.5t uphill?

............It depends on the hill gradient; if you know Looe in Cornwall travelling out towards Newquay we had to go down to first gear for the steepest parts. I always try to keep it just above 2000rpm which is maximum torque on the engine curv, but most steep hills on B roads in Cornwall were painfully slow. Ok on A roads when we could finally get into sixth gear 50/60 mph and on cruise. Did not want to press for full throttle as engine only had 1500 miles on the clock. I will add we only had half tank of diesel and 25% water and full gaslow tanks. On the back we had two electric bikes with batteries removed to the habitation area to balance the weight. Other stuff in garage could have been reduced for this short trip to Cornwall. Think we had probably used all our payload up which is under 500 kgs for this model.
On most motorways it's fine and a delight to drive unless stuck behind lorries only doing 50 mph.
Think I need to do more mileage before considering remap.

 

[Boringfrog]

............It depends on the hill gradient; if you know Looe in Cornwall travelling out towards Newquay we had to go down to first gear for the steepest parts. I always try to keep it just above 2000rpm which is maximum torque on the engine curv, but most steep hills on B roads in Cornwall were painfully slow. Ok on A roads when we could finally get into sixth gear 50/60 mph and on cruise. Did not want to press for full throttle as engine only had 1500 miles on the clock. I will add we only had half tank of diesel and 25% water and full gaslow tanks. On the back we had two electric bikes with batteries removed to the habitation area to balance the weight. Other stuff in garage could have been reduced for this short trip to Cornwall. Think we had probably used all our payload up which is under 500 kgs for this model.
On most motorways it's fine and a delight to drive unless stuck behind lorries only doing 50 mph.
Think I need to do more mileage before considering remap.

Yeah, I would wait until nicely ran in. Max torque on mine now is at 3294rpm up from 2886rpm, so that quite a bit higher up the rev range than yours.

 

[cmcardle75]

Don't be fooled by the "torque is king" nonsense. It is utter tosh. You can swap torques by using something called "gears". Your maximum hill climbing (along with any other maximum acceleration) is found by putting the revs at the maximum on the power graph (choose your gear accordingly, if manual) and putting your foot to the floor. A "torquey" engine just means the power graph is flatter, so you have a wider power band and the exact gear isn't quite so critical. But you'll still get maximum power/torque at the wheels by using the gearbox to put the revs at the maximum on the power curve.

 

[Phill D]

Don't be fooled by the "torque is king" nonsense. It is utter tosh. You can swap torques by using something called "gears". Your maximum hill climbing (along with any other maximum acceleration) is found by putting the revs at the maximum on the power graph (choose your gear accordingly, if manual) and putting your foot to the floor. A "torquey" engine just means the power graph is flatter, so you have a wider power band and the exact gear isn't quite so critical. But you'll still get maximum power/torque at the wheels by using the gearbox to put the revs at the maximum on the power curve.

I quite agree .... but it dont half give you a considerable amount of flexibility.

 

[Boringfrog]

A torquey engine is what you want, the ability to drive up and down hill without the need for gear changes, my 1.9td was so tiring to drive as I was up and down the box continuously.

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[Emmit]

The Fiat commercial agent in Guildford told me 50,000 miles before it was properly run in. A years average mileage for a commercial vehicle.

I would tend to agree with the above.
Our 'van didn't really want to know until it had done well over 35000. Since then it's been a case of gradual but noticeable improvement. It's now got 56000 miles.

 

[IRHP]

............It depends on the hill gradient; if you know Looe in Cornwall travelling out towards Newquay we had to go down to first gear for the steepest parts. I always try to keep it just above 2000rpm which is maximum torque on the engine curv, but most steep hills on B roads in Cornwall were painfully slow. Ok on A roads when we could finally get into sixth gear 50/60 mph and on cruise. Did not want to press for full throttle as engine only had 1500 miles on the clock. I will add we only had half tank of diesel and 25% water and full gaslow tanks. On the back we had two electric bikes with batteries removed to the habitation area to balance the weight. Other stuff in garage could have been reduced for this short trip to Cornwall. Think we had probably used all our payload up which is under 500 kgs for this model.
On most motorways it's fine and a delight to drive unless stuck behind lorries only doing 50 mph.
Think I need to do more mileage before considering remap.

Not surprised they are painfully slow if you don’t go much above 2000rpm. No reason not to put your foot to the floor with 1500 miles on the clock. Probably do it some good. There are times mine will not go up a hill at just over 2000 rpm but drop it down a gear and it will pull no problem. It’s a turbo diesel, get that turbo working.

 

[Terry242]

Just running in our new motorhome and recently took it to Newquay in Cornwall where I noticed that the slow hillclimbing ability.
Does this get better when fully run in or would it be advisable to remap to 150 bhp after warranty period?
Has anybody used a remap specialist for more power and what are the results in power increase/fuel economy?
Would be great to hear from any positive or negative stories.

I have the same engine and had a re-map with only 250 miles on the clock, its now got about 15k and I've had no issues. It was carried out by Quantum at one of the shows and cost £250, I think I saved 50 by having it done at the show. I recall that they quoted an increase from 130 to 158bhp.
I average between 25 and 30mpg depending on speed and conditions. Its finished now, but I never had any problems throughout the Fiat warranty despite the van being serviced by them and going in for several recalls.
Recommended.

Terry

 

[Boringfrog]

Not surprised they are painfully slow if you don’t go much above 2000rpm. No reason not to put your foot to the floor with 1500 miles on the clock. Probably do it some good. There are times mine will not go up a hill at just over 2000 rpm but drop it down a gear and it will pull no problem. It’s a turbo diesel, get that turbo working.

Max torque 1800rpm max BHP 3600rpm, need to get up and over 3k revs....

 

[TerryL]

Fiat 2.3 Multijet 07 with 118,000 miles on the clock and usually pulling 3850kg. I tend to cruise at 60mph indicated (58mph on the satnav) which gives me 2250rpm. I keep an accurate watch on consumption and over 11 years I've averaged 26.8mpg - that's fill-to-fill, not the computer which is always very optimistic. Being an "old school" driver I don't let the engine labour at low revs so although the turbo would be happy to give me the power (at a cost in consumption of course) I just drop it down a cog and let the engine run freely.

I do occasionally consider having it remapped to maybe improve the economy and possibly avoid the gear changing but generally I'm on the fence when it comes to opinions on whether it's good or bad.

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