The officially claimed figures of the Fiat sourced 2-litre turbocharged diesel unit powering the Jeep Compass in India stand at 170 Bhp and 350 Nm. These numbers is what the engine delivers, but how much is actually delivered to the wheels?
Well, this is where the Dynamo tests come in to picture. As per the dyno test by Bangalore based Race Dynamics, the stock Jeep Compass delivers 134 Bhp and 280 Nm at the wheels. This means that there is about 20% loss in power and torque due to transmission, etc.
Race Dynamics, a Bangalore based company which specializes in performance enhancement systems for cars and motorbikes. They have now come up with a dieseltronic kit which helps to increase the power output from Jeep Compass’ engine by 15%. With the addition of the tuning box from Race Dynamics, the output received a significant upgrade to 151 Bhp and 320 Nm. This means, output at the engine stands at approximately 195 hp and 400 Nm.
As far as working of the kit is concerned, in simple terms it creates a mirage and makes the engine’s Electronic Control Unit (ECU) believe that the fuel pressure and turbo boost is low for the given throttle input. The ECU in-turn starts injecting more diesel to meet the pre-specified figures (set by the OEM) and results in additional power and torque output, at an obvious cost of lower fuel economy.
OEMs don’t usually allow such modifications in their cars and a detection of such a kit can lead to cancellation of warranty on the vehicle. Performance enthusiasts usually remove these kits before sending their vehicles to the Authorized service centres for scheduled service.
The Dieseltronic tuning box can be purchased from Race Dynamics at Rs 26,000. However, this isn’t the only price the owner will be paying for the performance upgrade as such enhancements can reduce the overall life of a diesel motor by 10-20%. Although, considering the fact that these engines are designed to last for around 3 lakh kilometres, most owners won’t get affected by the reduced engine life.
Currently, the Jeep Compass starts retailing from Rs 16.59 lakhs (Sport Trim with diesel motor, ex-showroom) while it competes with the likes of Hyundai Creta, Mahindra XUV500 and soon to be launched Tata Harrier aka H5X.
