Mercedes Vario Tuning

Anton2k3

Adventurer
Hey guys,

Has anyone looked into getting the Vario's remapped? A little more poke and possible increase in fuel economy would be nice.

Ta


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surfer4life

Observer
Looks good anton, if you get it, let me know how you get on with it. The only thing that puts me off is that these engines are meant to last so long coz there is no real strain on them, with mine having over 250K on, i would be a bit hesitent about doing this.
 

andylod

Tea Drinker :-)
Just seen this Anton ..... I seemed to have been thinking the same as you .... actually had the van done this week by a chap in Bridgwater http://www.ad-ae.co.uk . Young chap who was recommended by Quantums.
The price of £299 was originally advertised on Quantums website and they stuck to it for my job.... its now gone up to £499 ... The bridgewater guy will do it for £400 if you contact him direct.
The job entails removing the ECU which is mounted on the side of the engine ( bit of a fiddle ) . Then take the ECU apart (gulp) . Adam then had to solder a resister on the board then connect it to his laptop and power it up. Quantums then remotely take over and remove the original mapping and load up a new rewritten version. Once its loaded Adam disconnected his laptop cleaned the housing, removed the soldered resister, resealed and assembled.
Once it was fitted to the van we started it up and did a few checks, then we took it out for a test drive.
The difference is amazing. forgetting the figures the difference in actual torque on the road is brilliant. The van still feels gentle and smooth at low revs but the power really starts to come in around 1400 revs and pulls nicely right through to 2400. I am really looking forward to this weekends event to get a good feel of how much difference it makes towing.
I have to say Adam really knows his stuff and is a nice chap. I would recommend him highly

I'll keep you posted

Andy
ECU on bench.jpg
 

Anton2k3

Adventurer
Thats great, thanks for the info Andy. As usual, you seem to have taken the plunge first again, thanks for testing the water! How does it fair on hills in 5th, do you lose speed or does it just power up? Before we converted ours into a camper hill were easy in 5th, now however, it slows quite a bit.
 

surfer4life

Observer
Thats great, thanks for the info Andy. As usual, you seem to have taken the plunge first again, thanks for testing the water! How does it fair on hills in 5th, do you lose speed or does it just power up? Before we converted ours into a camper hill were easy in 5th, now however, it slows quite a bit.

a hill, in 5th gear:Wow1:!!!!! there must be something wrong with mine :)

Nice one for the info andy, mine does lack a bit of power on certain hills, although where i live is full of very steep inclines.
 

andylod

Tea Drinker :-)
Our van is short and quite light (4.5 tons fully laden) so actually it drives a bit like an empty van anyway. It certainly does power up hills in top now without any trouble. Goes like a rocket :)
 

Dragonsmaug

New member
1998 Vario at altitude

We are in Kyrgystan on our way to Mongolia and chickened out of taking the Pamir Highway for lack of power. We have noticed that upward gear change becomes almost impossible because of lack of torque at about 1500 rpm above 2000meters or 6000 feet its odd because if you get to 1800 rpm + then there is plenty of torque . Yesterday we spent 2 hours in second gear when with just a little more power we could have got into third and cut our journey time in half. I will definitely be visiting Bridgewater on our return , thank you so much for the info.
ChrisP6123359.jpg
 

andylod

Tea Drinker :-)
Hi Docka

Not sure exactly the MPG because i haven't checked it, but it certainly fells more economical, seems longer between fills and cruises along effortlessly..

Andy
 

Arfur's World

Observer
Hmmm ... might need to get this man lined up for Christmas. I got Arfur's reclassification through as a Motor Caravan, so also need to get the restrictor taken off :D hate getting overtaken by trucks going uphill >.<
 

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